I miss blogging days and an update!

Goodness! Is anyone still out there?

So much time has passed since I last posted. Let me give you a little update. I don't think I could catch you up on what's happened since I posted last but I can tell you where we are today. 

I actually miss the blogging days. I really felt there were more intentional relationships formed because you had to choose to see someone's blog....they didn't roll through the news feed like social media platforms do. PLUS I spent more time writing on my blog than I ever did posting a post to Facebook.

Ok let me get you caught up to where we are today. 

Jaclyn is married, it's been 3 years already. She and my son-in-love have a beautiful daughter who is now 9 years old and is in grade 4. They also have a sweet little boy who just turned 2. They have an apartment in town which is only 10 minutes away. It's wonderful to have them so close. However I think we sort of take that for granted. I really do wish we would see each other more. I loved when the kids were smaller and we used to spend our Wednesdays together touring around. It's harder to do now that the kids are in school. Jac continues to work at the hair salon. Her hubby is working at a concrete fabrication job in a nearby town. Both of them love their jobs. 

Sugar Pie is our 1st adopted child from China. She is about to turn 13 on the 13th of May. She's been home with us since she was 4 1/2 so I feel like she is my 9 year old. She is in grade 6 this year. We homeschooled both the little ones since grade one and Sugar Pie asked if she could go to public school for grade 7 so we decided it would be wise to have her and her brother finish off this school year in an elementary setting rather than plopping her in a JR high from a homeschool setting. 

She is doing well. She plays beginner drums at our local College of Piping and Celtic Arts Centre and enjoys it. She LOVES soccer. She's about to begin her 6th season this year. She enjoys drawing, reading, rollerblading, playing outside, painting, spending time with friends. She's really quite a social butterfly. My sweet little ladybug. She wasn't initially a momma's girl but it didn't take long to win her heart. She became very attached to me. She has really just in the last 6 months or so began to spread her wings a little more and become more independent. It's good. It's a transition for both of us though. She is dressing the way she likes now with her own style. I used to have no problem picking out clothes for her but I can't anymore. I miss her wearing her sweet little cupcake dresses. lol. Now she loves black and plaids and ball caps. She's very sporty. It's amazing to see her bloom. She is so kind and gentle. God has blessed us with her. She is a blessing to everyone.

Hunny Bunch is our son who also came from China. Just turned 11 on Saturday past. April 28th. He was also 4 1/2 when he came home so I feel like he's my 7 year old. He is in grade 5 and was also homeschooled since grade 1. He loves to learn and is a sponge. His best subject is math although he would not admit it's his favorite. It's nice that he has his big sister in the same school with him for this year since he'll be by himself next year at elementary. He is doing well. He's a very independent little guy, always was. He accepted us at his family from day one. God knew we needed him in our family and that he needed us. He is bright, witty, funny and compassionate. He works very hard at tasks to prove himself. He takes pride in accomplishments and loves to hear he's done a great job. He is at the College Of Piping also and plays the bagpipes. He's VERY good at it actually. The pipes are a lot to handle for a child but he's got the hang of it. He actually won a scholarship last spring for piping so he takes lessons 2 times a week rather than one. He loves sports too. He usually plays soccer each summer however 2 years ago he tried golf and didn't mind it but wished he has chosen soccer. This year he is in soccer again. He is quite competitive so it's good for him to play in a team so he learns to work in a group rather than being too independent. He LOVES to read....I often joke that I might be the only mom who has to tell their kids to put the books away and go outside and play. lol. He is an amazing young man and God has great plans for him. He is a young man of his word and has amazing integrity. He's a blessing to us and others. 

My husband is doing well....I guess if anyone's life was consistent it would be his. That's a good thing actually. He doesn't adapt as well to change. His diabetes is still well controlled. His dr says he is the poster boy for diabetes. He still has bad days. The change of seasons seems to effect him greatly, especially from winter to spring. He finds the heat is hard to work in and has a harder time regulating his blood sugar readings. He still works for Mazak. It's been over 10 years now. He's a very hard working man who loves his family. He continues to work Mon-Fri away from home and then he's home with us for the weekends. Thank goodness for skype! I don't think it would work otherwise. He still loves to golf. This past week he's been working in Toronto and has been out golfing 4 times! It's good for him...he needs the exercise, it's important for diabetics to have good circulation. Gosh on May 12th we will have met 20 years ago. I love him more and more as the years pass. We sure have been through a lot together. 

So for myself, I spent a lot of time devoted to homeschooling and raising the kids this past 6 years. I'm glad I was able to do that and that Shane's job provided that freedom for us. It was a gift to the kids and myself to be able to spent that time with them. Teaching them and getting them caught up to par with other children their age. Having them both being older at adoption came with a few challenges. One being the language. We enjoyed Homeschool. I took it very seriously...maybe too seriously by times. By the time they left for school I think I was running into a bit of burnout. I was eager to see how they were getting along and if there were any gaps that I needed to fill between school and homeschool but I soon came to realize that they were much further ahead than I thought. That was a huge relief.  What am I doing with all my time now? Well let just say...it's been 4 months and I think I'm starting to finally feel like I only have one roll now rather than 2 with the kids. I was still teaching them sort of speak but now they see me as Mommy which I have been waiting for. When I was homeschooling them I was also working at a job I can do from home so I would get up and homeschool the kids, do the regular duties around home, have supper, run them to activities, then once the kids were in bed I would do my work until 1-2 am some nights. I'm now able to do my work while they are in school and can free up my evenings with them. The home based business that I run is amazing. It's been a blessing in so many ways for our families health, wellness and I'm able to bring in 1/3 of the family income again. It's been a true blessing for me to not have to work outside of the home. 

Well if you made it this far I thank you from the bottom of my heart! I quite honestly am glad I did it. I really need the practice to blog again. It's a release and it feels good. 

So looking forward; I'm about to go on my second trip with a mission team to Mozambique Africa at the end of May for two weeks. I'm looking forward to seeing my African family. I've been staying in touch with many of them via Facebook so it will be nice to see them in person. Shane is using 2 weeks of his vacation to spend home with the kids. He has been wonderful to do this. 

We are looking forward to out family vacation next spring to Disney in Flordia again. Jac and Tyler are coming with the kids so it will be a wonderful time and we'll be creating lots of memories! 

 Currently I've been working on a few renos here around the house and trying to focus on my Young Living Essential Oils business. 

Once again thank you for sticking with me on this long post. I truly appreciate it. Please leave me a comment to let me know your here. If there is enough traffic I just may pic this up again. :)