It's Been a Year!!

Has it really been a year? Uh yes, it has. A whole year and 1 month and 13 days. Since I LAST blogged. I am so sorry for those of you who actually used to follow my blog. Oops. Well here is a recap of my last year:

As you last saw we got a dog...she is gone. Enuf said. My dear friend Leia, has instilled in me the perspective that if you have a pet, it should earn it's keep. That dog did not, it's now gone. We did increase our family by 8 new cats (momentarily). Gracie, Avery's sweet 8th bday kitten has had 2 litters of 6 kittens each. We kept 2 from the first litter...we will not keep any from this litter. I mean it. These kittens will have NO personalities, no NAMES, no dear sweet faces, or soft purring bodies, or 12 eager hands petting and holding them. None of it. Because we are not keeping them. None of them. Unless of course the little all grey one happens to like me the best....then NO!

I am still homeschooling. Still a mom. Still have 6 kids. Still one hubby. I still live in the same house, which seems to shrink as our children grow. I still love to read. Still hate laundry. See, not much has changed.

But, I have. I have changed. In the last year I HAVE changed. I have learned new things and accepted some old things. I have come to terms with the fact that my house isn't as clean as I'd like. I now drink coffee, to keep me going till bedtime (I know, it's a drug, do you see my face...it's the face of ambivalance.) I am now able to understand WHY God gives us children as helpless infants instead of 14 yr olds. I am able to say that I can and have spent a whole weekend without my husband or children.(It was needed, deserved and it was beautiful...I will do this again...someday)

I am okay with the fact that I will not be making dresses out of the 50 yds of fabric in my garage accumulated in the past 10 yrs with the hopes of becoming the maker of clothes for my little girls. I have lost over 20 lbs. I hate to excercise (okay, that is not new) I am totally secure in the love of my husband. (For many years I struggled with this, but I no longer feel the need to do so, interpretation: I am no longer freaky and needy, yes, my husband is relieved.) Public school is not for my family. (We tried it for one of our kids this year, he learned ALOT, not all of it good, some of it great, but just not worth the cost.) Kids grow up so fast...this I have learned in a way I have never fully appreciated before.

I am not 18 anymore...I know really and truly... I'm not. I am 31. I don't feel particularly "old", but neither am I particularly "young". That realization came upon me quite suddenly. I was not depressed by it though. I feel more cautious with my time...is this time being spent worthily...interpretation: would I rather be taking a nap?....you know like "old" people do? I do not, for the first time in years feel overwhelmed. (This is a big change...I have spent years in chaos mode.)

I am content. I love my life. It's not always easy, not always fun. not always simple, not always clean, not always orderly, not always serene, not always predictable (okay NEVER predictable), but it IS the life the Lord has graciously bestowed upon me, and it is full of wonderful richness, not in money, but in vitality and splendor. MY life is etched in smiles of 6 little people, rather 5 little people and 1 towering giant. It is good and well with my soul.

I will be more faithful with this blog...I will update again soon with tales of the hilarious everyday life I enjoy...and you will flock to me and read, captivated, intrigued, (maybe not bored), and virtually participate in the life that I love. Hang on it's going to be a wild year.

Andie (a name only my hubby calls me anymore...but you can too)