2010 from the rearview

I'm cracking myself up over the title of this post.  This year has felt a bit like a rear view, ifyouknowwhatImean. 

For those of you who only visit my blog once a year, here's the recap ... if you'd like the abbreviated version, check facebook for my 'year in status updates.' 

For the ladies, here's the longer, slightly more detailed version:

We won’t be sad to say goodbye to 2010.  Even though a new year can't change circumstances, there are just some years that seem more deserving of a swift kick in the pants, ya know?

We began 2010 excited about Sustala baby #5 joining our family! We learned we were having a boy and named him Jackson Erin, after Ed’s grandfather, Pawpaw Jackson and my youngest brother, Erin. Sadly, Jackson was stillborn at 24 weeks due to a cord entanglement. As you can imagine, it has been a difficult journey to grieve the loss of our little boy. As always, God has been present in every detail. His hand has been evident at every turn. I’ve tried to write about our grief and the journey of faith it has required on this blog in hopes that it may one day minister to someone else. This has been the loneliest journey of my life – even though I know I'm not alone.  Ed and I are both surprised at just how difficult losing Jackson still is – even eight months later. The pain that lingers is not something we could have anticipated. Our children have struggled through this in their own ways – they mention Jackson frequently and say often they wish he had lived. Jadyn got upset when I was talking with a woman I didn't know.  When she asked how many children I have, I answered, "Two boys & two girls." (I don’t feel comfortable burdening everyone I meet with what happened)  Jadyn exclaimed, “MOM! You have THREE boys!!!” Awkward…but precious nonetheless.   It warms my heart how they embrace him as part of our family.  In the picture above, Jordan is holding our "Jackson-bear" because we wanted him represented somehow.
This year also marked having three official homeschoolers! That has been quite the adventure, but still remains a beautiful, wonderful fit for our family. I have enjoyed the time I get to spend with each of the kids one-on-one as well as the time we have together as a family. The flexibility it provides has come in very handy (again) this year as well!

The kids have had a busy year. Jordan (10) joined a homeschool choir called Joyful Sound! I continue to be amazed at the doors God opens for her! She gets to do her two favorite things:  sing and dance!  She has also had a lot of orthodontic work – which will continue next year with braces, as we work to correct her under bite and hopefully improve articulation.
Jacob (8 ½) has taken his soccer interest to a new level, playing junior select soccer. He loves the professional coaching and the seriousness of the players.  If he sees a ball, you can bet his feet are on it - juggling, kicking, something!  He continues to excel in academics, especially math. He is in his second year of cub scouts, as a bear. 
Jadyn (5 ½) is in Kindergarten and is into all things creative. She has been lucky enough to participate in one of the Joyful Sound! show choirs with Jordan as well as taking gymnastics.
Jace (2 1/2) is a short and stocky, happy, extremely busy little guy who loves music, trains, balls and anything his big sisters and brother are doing! He makes us laugh every single day.  It took him a while to start talking in more than single syllable words, but now we can't shut him up! 

Despite (or more likely because of) the heartbreak this year, we have been able to get away a little.  Ed and I went to San Antonio a couple times, went to Dallas and made a trip to Chicago.  We also rented a beach house in Galveston with the kids in May, which was just heavenly!!  It was so wonderful, we're hoping to make it an annual event. 

We are ending this year bitter sweetly...
Bitterly, we are saying goodbye to Ed’s sister, Stacey & her family as they move to Southeast Asia. It’s a wonderful opportunity for their family, so we are excited for them, but sad for ourselves!
We are also working on repairs to our house after a recent flooding episode. You can read more about that here.  :/
Sweetly, we are looking forward to my brother, Erin’s wedding in three weeks!! We are honored to participate in the day as a bridesmaid, groomsman, flower girls and ring bearers :)  We look forward to ‘officially’ welcoming Beth into our family!

As difficult as this year has been, we know God only has good plans for us – and He will be faithful to bring good even out of our suffering. We pray that you will sense His blessings and provision in your lives as well!

Merry Christmas, blog friends!

No grey matter here!

As has become customary, it is feast or famine around this blog! 

Very little grey matter here.  :)

Here's the high (and low) lights of the last few weeks. 

The day after Thanksgiving, our family was decorating for Christmas.  About half-way through decorating the tree, Ed said, "Why are there wet footprints on the floor???"

We searched for the cause of wetness - checking the usual places:  Jace's diaper (the kid has serious talent) and wet socks.  No dice.  Then, Jake exclaims, "Dad!  There's a giant puddle over there!"

*cue parent freak out*

The puddle appears to be coming from our bedroom/bathroom, so naturally Ed runs that direction.  To find our bedroom carpet and bathroom floor soaking wet along with dripping water coming from our closet ceiling.  :) 
Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas! a big ol' mess!

Ed runs upstairs to the bathroom above ours where he discovers a flooded bathroom which clearly originated from a sink that had the drain plugged (by a washcloth), the water turned on full blast (and of course, the door closed).  The water ran from the bathroom to Jace's room on one side and the gameroom (AKA our school room) on the other :/

All eyes immediately turn to Jadyn.  Funny (or not) how in times like that, everyone knows exactly who the culprit is.  In most homes, you might assume the two year old.  Cause two year olds do stuff like that. 
In our home, we have a Jadyn.  Cute as a button she may be.  But the child does not think through her actions.  She is impulsive, creative and curious - not a good combination.  I've decided that God has provided Jadyn to be sure I never become prideful as a parent.   :/ 

Long story short - the majority of our carpet has to be replaced along with the {brand new} hard wood floors in our family room as well as some sheet rock, paint & door frame repairs.  Mostly a giant inconvenience at the most expensive time of year - and, y'all, homeowner deductibles are freaking high!!!  I guess since Ed works in auto insurance and I think of the typical auto deductible being around $500, I just assumed it would be $500 - $1000.   La la land is where I was a livin!   Wish I could go back!  ;)

The other biggies around here - I can't remember if I've mentioned or not, but Jordan joined a Christian homeschool choir called Joyful Sound!  Amazing that she can be included in such a thing ... just another example of how God continues to open doors for her that I couldn't have imagined ten years ago!  Not only is Jordan in the choir, but she is also in one of the show choirs, so she gets to do her two favorite things - sing AND dance!  :)  It turned out they were in need of another child in the show choir and Jadyn just happened to be in the back at rehearsal, learning the dance, so her lucky little self got to join the show choir for the Christmas performance, even though she's not technically quite old enough!!
At any rate, Joyful Sound! does ministry concerts the first two weeks of December - all over Houston to all sorts of people/groups/places.  We are talking about 3-6 concerts per DAY!  Amazing outreach to so many - and I was beyond excited to participate this year.  The girls were loving every minute of it! 
A couple days into ministry season, Jordan was struck by a stomach virus.  Thankfully, it only lasted a couple days, but as soon as she was well, it hit me, Jace and Jadyn - and by yesterday Jake was in the mix as well :(  Its been a long week, but everyone appears to be on the mend (assuming Ed doesn't become the final victim!).   The worst part has been missing so many concerts.   We still have the big Christmas concert this weekend and next week for ministry, so still plenty to look forward to!

I hope things are a little less eventful at your place :)