One of our pastors, Tobey, had already been approved by the presbytery to plant a sister church, so the date for that was moved up to this year. Tobey will be planting a church in Lincoln, and we are looking towards being a part of that particular church body. Jode and I have not been a part of a church plant before, and we are looking forward to it.

Jode is still working at UNL, in the Housing Department, and has finally started school! We are excited to get him going on the path to getting his Master’s Degree-this has been a long time in coming. He is very busy with his class, and is amazing in his efforts to continue to spend time with us as a family.

I am at Starbucks still, for now, and is busy with home and children. There are only five at home now (Cori is in the dorms), but it seems like they are going to all be leaving so quickly. Nathan and Anna will be working a whole lot more this summer, with Cassie hoping to find a job. This leaves me at home with the two little guys, and I feel sometimes like I hardly know what to do with them! I am so used to having older siblings around to help, and got very spoiled by all their assistance.

Cori is going to school, and living in the dorms. She is doing very well in her classes, and is missed here at home.

Nathan is going to be working this summer, painting, and will be a senior next year. Just the fact that we are beginning to discuss majors is unbelievable to me!

Anna is working at a hotel, as a maid, and busy with her school work. She is also beginning the process of getting braces. Our first (but not our last, I suspect) orthodontic patient is very gracious about the whole, painful process.

Cassie is working at a ranch, helping with teaching horseback riding lessons (and takes her own lessons also), and cleaning the stalls, grooming the horses, etc. She is very, very adept at this, and loves it.

Ben is busy with school, and trying to fend off a certain little brother who is always saying, “Isn’t Ben done with school yet?” With the winter having been so cold, we are looking forward to better weather, and getting those two outside!

William is in kindergarten this year, and is doing beautifully. He loves school, and wishes he could do it longer each day (this will wear off soon enough!).

We now have three cats, one dog, and that’s it in the pet department.

We have been working on the house, new tile in the downstairs bathroom, and are looking towards re-tiling the upstairs one, the kitchen, and hopefully a completely new bathroom by this summer for the downstairs.

That’s it for now!

This fall, Jode and I have begun teaching at a home school co-op in Lincoln. We are really enjoying teaching there, even though we teach two different classes. Jode is teaching on Christian Worldview, and I am teaching on Film-making-the art of film, culture, and Lordship. We both have good classes, with most students interacting (!), and find that even though Tuesdays are really hectic, we love it. It is a blessing to be doing this together.

Cori is going to college, commuting with Jode each day. She is majoring in Journalism, and is just doing great.

Nathan is not doing Tae Kwon Do this year, as we decided the school here in town does not offer what he really needs. He is enjoying his school year this year, and most of his classes are being taught through the co-op, which takes quite a bit off my shoulders.

Anna is also taking most of her classes at the co-op, and has a part time job. Whoever said Anna could grow up out there is in big trouble with me. She is growing into quite a beautiful young woman.

Cassie is enjoying horse riding lessons (a ton!), art classes, and reading. She also is growing to be quite beautiful, but would fiercely deny it! Still a bit of a tomboy, but I suspect she will outgrow that soon enough.

Ben is reading like a madman, and asking me questions like, “Mom, if we live have 17 miles to go on this trip, and are going 75 miles an hour, how do I figure out how long it will take me to get to the end of this trip?” I have not had a nine year old ask me this stuff yet, so I suspect he will be good at math. Ha!

William has begun school here at home this year, and is loving it. He is eager to learn to read (and his mother is eager for him to learn to read), talks all the time, loves Legos, and train tracks, and is all around BOY! Very wrestle-y much of the time.

We now have a zoo of three cats, the beast dog (who, incidentally, grew to be over 55 pounds-so much for a “small dog” I was hoping for…I should have known), and a beta fish that is over a year old (I thought they only lived three months).

I am still working one night a week, Jode is at the university still, and we are fixing up the house-fencing the yard for the beast dog, tiling the bathrooms, kitchen, hallway, painting the exterior (just the trim), and updating cabinets and the downstairs bathroom. Just a typical season in our household!

We are possibly looking at having to visit Jennifer’s family this summer-her father is having surgery this week. Also, we hope to see Grandma Marcia at some point this summer. With swim lessons, school planning, and more of the kids being gone, it is a new season for our family. Cassie is busy with horse lessons, and the youngest boys are busy running around, spreading Legos into as many corners of my hope as possible.

That is the update!

And, Cassie took this one, from the inside of the car. Quite creative, I think. I have always thought she has a different perspective than the average bear…

First, click here, and then click here.

Some days are harder than others.

Jode is still working at UNL, and we are waiting for them to hire him permanently. The university hires temporarily and then permanently after so long, so we hope to hear soon. I think we will hear by the end of May.

Cori is starting at UNL in the fall-very exciting! She already has a job to start full time for the summer, in May, which is awesome.

Nate is doing the teen thing of working, hanging out with friends, and spending money. He hopes to head back to NY this summer to work at camp again, and we hope he can too. He is good at it, and enjoys the work.

Anna is hoping to work this summer, and is disappointed not to be able to de-tassle. She suffered from some heat exhaustion last summer, and now is sensitive to heat. But, we hope she can find something around town this summer.

Cassie is hoping to do nothing this summer. LOL But, swim lessons are in store for her, like it or not!

Ben is growing, and looking forward to baseball this spring. They are pretty serious about baseball here, and he is really excited to be signed up for it.

William is growing also, and just always wants to participate in anything anyone else is doing. He will start schooling in the fall-I can hardly believe it! He is awesome at recognizing letters and the like, which is a great sign of things to come.

And me? Plugging away at house, home, school, working one day a week, and the usual shlock. It is very exciting for me to see Cori graduate-a big deal for a home school mom. Jode and I are doing very well, and that is especially nice. Although, I confess we are both bored with how everything here looks the same-field after field, and compared to NJ and NY, nearly nothing to do. We will have to look harder for new things to see here.
The Lord is faithful, and full of mercy-His love endures forever. His grace is amazing, and we are thankful to see His blessings in our lives!

Now we can join the millions of families that can shout, “Whose turn is it to take out the dog?” or “Who let the dog get in the trash?”

But, seriously, Jode and I both hope that this puppy will allow us the opportunity for further healing in the family. Not to sound as if we would foolishly put our hopes in this dog behaving well at first, but I mean that we both want us to all work as a team to train the dog. The children have responded well, and we are enjoying the time it takes to get to know Fezzik.

And, the cats have done well so far…..!

It is also a blessing to see the children, and how good it has been because of them. We are thankful to have, in some ways, grown up with them. They have been a great group of people.