Lakehouse and More

It's been a while since I have updated, and I apologize! We've been pretty busy. The weekend before this past, we went to Grandma & Grandpa's lakehouse. Since they are still at the coast, they were unable to come, but we invited some of our friends. All in all, we hosted a total of 6 adults, and 5 kids! We had SOOO much fun, even though it was pretty cold outside. Because we arrived on Valentine's Day, it was only fitting that we make Valentine's cards for one another! Mommy brough a pint-sized picnic table for us to sit at. I made one for each of my friends, and also my parents. By the way, I have received a number of Valentine's cards in the mail, and would like to thank everyone for thinking of me! Everyone brought games to share. Here we are playing my personal favorite! It's a fishing game, where you pretend to catch fish. Even my sister joined in for this one! We didn't just "play" fish though. We really went fishing too! We got some worms and shrimp for bait. I was brave enough to handle the shrimp, but the worms were too dirty for me! Here I am with P. Daddy, patiently waiting for a fish to jump onto my line! I even used my lucky fishing pole (thanks again, Lele, that sure has come in handy)! I never caught a fish, but my friend Nate did! Here he is, posing with his dad and the fish! We played outdoors a lot, despite the freezing cold temperatures! I learned a new game, bocce ball. Dex and I played all afternoon! We also had a daytime bonfire which was fun. We roasted marshmellows and made S'mores. We swam in the hottub, and stayed up late! We read stories together, and played with toys. We built a kitty cave in the living room. We took a short ride on the golf cart (then it died and was out of comission for the remainder of the weekend). We ate some awesome home cooked food! I even got to ride my bike. All of us kids were wonderfully behaved and it was seriously the best weekend I have had, in a very long time!

On a more serious note, just to update everyone on happenings in our family...P. Daddy had his hours/pay cut at work. His company doesn't appear to be in trouble, but they are seriously cutting back to avoid future troubles. This pay cut is going to cause some changes for us, but we are prepared, and confident that God will take care of us throughout difficult times. Mommy did not get the job she applied for, however they are offering her some temporary contract work, which is better than nothing. It's actually going to work out wonderfully for my sister and I, because it means we will get to stay home with her longer (my parents decided to continue to homeschool me until next year, because we don't have the money to send me to the right school this year). She will get to stay home with us, AND earn some extra money. She has also decided to continue to babysit one baby boy. Because P. Daddy's hours have been cut, he's going to be off on Fridays now, which will be helpful to Mommy (while she works), and of course LOADS of fun for my sister and I! We've had to put off any dreams of getting another car. For the time being, Mommy's car is in working order, so we're keeping our fingers crossed on that one! My sister and I will be giving up our Kindermusik at least for the summer session, and Mommy and P. Daddy are trying to cut out any and all luxuries (the only exceptions being cable/satellite/cell phones). We know that this situation is temporary, and we will get through it together as a family! Thanks to all of you, for your thoughts, prayes, and support! We are very fortunate to have such wonderful family members and friends in our lives!