So my last post was several years ago and most of the blogging community has migrated elsewhere, as have we. As much as we loved our country home, we moved about 5 miles away to a home in the town limits. No animals other than one lone cat, Max.

This new (to us) home has a better layout on the main level for our larger-than-American-norm family and we still have a large yard for the kids to play and do what kids need to do.

I originally started this blog to document the building process of our home and to share photos with family and friends afar. Facebook has become that sort of avenue for me now. It appeals to that need for instantaneous updating on so many people and interests all at once, in one place. I once explained Facebook to my mom as being the same for me as her needing to read the local paper everyday to keep informed or watching the nightly news. New era, new way of seeking information.

So here's the Christmas letter version of what the kids are up to now (and I never have time for Christmas letters anymore!)

- J is 23 and graduated in Dec. with a geology degree. He is working full-time for our town in the planning department but spends each and every second other than work fishing, planning to fish, or researching fishing.
- G is newly 21 and is a junior at the Univ. of Alabama (Roll Tide!) studying communicative disorders. She is planning on going to grad school in speech pathology after earning her B.S.
- M is a senior at our local Catholic college preparatory school (the other two also graduated from here) and is planning on community college to begin her 4-year degree in nursing. She continues to dance and will be having her last dance recital in late April. {sniff, sniff}
- L is a freshman at said college preparatory school and enjoys ultimate frisbee, reading and Scouts. No career plans yet but he has marked pirate off his list by now.
- E is a 5th grader in our homeschool. She loves, loves, loves art and when she isn't reading, she is drawing. She continues to take musical theater class at our dance studio. (We still use Mother of Divine Grace as the core of our curriculum.)
- C is in the 3rd grader. She takes a ballet, tap and jazz class and also added clogging to her repertoire.
- Not sure G ever made it on the old blogging posts but she is 5 and in kindergarten. Bubbly and giggly, just a fountain of energy. She also takes a ballet, tap and jazz combination class for her age.
- Our newest edition is Ben. He is 2.5 years old, the spitting image of Lucas at this age, and the light of all our lives! Never a dull moment with he and G playing together!

The hubster and I will be celebrating our 25th anniversary at the end of May! He is now a permanent deacon in the Catholic church at our home parish and still works in the nuclear industry as a operation training dept. supervisor. He teaches our parish's 2nd year confirmation classes and heads up several major projects as he can, like the Spring Mega Fair upcoming at the end of April.