Life East of Erhard

Hello ladies! This is officially my first post to the new blog....so this might get lengthy...

Life East of Erhard has been good - very busy, but very good. First an update on each of my beautiful babies...

Ella - is in 1st grade this year, and so stinking smart I'm worried she's actually going to be smarter than me someday! She's taken 15 spelling tests this year, with 8 words each and (I'll grab a calculator quick here) that equals 120 words. She's gotten 118 of them correct on her tests - so she's been earning a little cash with her good spelling tests. I think she's hoping I'll take her on a shopping spree at the American Girl store in the cities...but what she doesn't know, is that it'll take acing spelling tests until she's 20 to earn a shopping spree at that joint!! :) She's happy that spring is here - her and dad dug out the little kid 4-wheelers and bikes this past weekend and I've washed all the kids winter gear three times in the last week with all the mud! I'm a living breathing "Mrs. Wishy Washy!!!" Ella is getting so responsible - she's "offering" to do chores when she gets home from school. That means feeding and watering our dozen chickens, 5 rabbits, 4 cats and 3 goats....and we're still gonna get that llama Lindsay!!! I'll be in touch...

On to Marie....Oh Marie...(almost 4)....if you can imagine a girl who knows what she wants, when she wants, why and how she's gonna get it - that's my girl. She's a VERY active young lady - who just yesterday chose to stay home and chop wood with dad rather than go shopping and to an orchestra concert with me, Ella and Grace. yeah - chop wood, her choice - no joke. Kevin said she was a "stellar" wood chopper too mind you. This spring she learned how to drive 4-wheeler too - last summer she headed straight for a bush and that was the end of that. She's a huge help around here with the daycare too - Marie keeps busy filling sippy cups, keeping track of lost socks, fetching toys, entertaining the babies - all without being asked to. She loves the little ones - she's been begging for a baby brother....stay tunes. ;)

Grace....my sweet little Grace. She is 3 1/2 and seriously an angel! She's constantly reminding us how much she loves us (and it's a LOT) and that she's a big girl because she's 3 AND a 1/2 now. She loves to play with the animals and she's OBSESSED with Rapunzel. She's afraid to cut her hair for summer because then it will turn brown....can't even trim her bangs folks. So...we are GROWING it out - done arguing with her.

Kevin....is doing great. He had carpal tunnel surgery on both his wrists (one in Dec. and one in Jan) - so he was out of work for a total of nearly 3 months, but back at it now and life is good. He can sleep through the night for the first time in years without waking up in excruciating pain. We've been doing a "Biggest Loser" competition within our family, and he's dropped just about 40 lbs since New Years...so my hubby is hot again! : ) I'm proud of him for taking better care of himself...now if I could just talk him into quitting chewing. *gag* He spent lots of time at the cabin this winter, hunting and fishing, and they're going 4-wheeling this spring. Speaking of cabins...we now have a cabin in the woods, so if we're ever looking for a rustic gathering place, let me know! :) It's connected to 10,000 acres of state land, so there's TONS of places to go hiking and walking, etc.

Me...busy. Daycare is going good - I'm in a transition period right now, I had one family leave (which is a GOOD thing) and another one starting. It's going really well, I really love working at home and not sure that I'm going to be able to give this up any time soon. I've been a crazy scrapper this spring - trying desperately to get caught up with all my pics. I spent a long weekend in Cross Lake in March scrappin and got like 60 pages done...only about 100 to go til I'm caught up!!! Yikes! I took over as superintendant for our Sunday School as of the first of the year, so I'm busy planning Easter activities for the kids and VBS - looking forward to that! I'm the fulltime organist at our church - which I love! I forced byself to learn the organ...and LOVE IT!! Still plunking away on the piano - trying to arrange Christmas music for a holiday album next fall...but let me tell you, it's not easy to write Christmas music as the snow is melting. I'm looking forward to summer - I can't wait to get back in the garden! I'm tired of paying $2.49 a lb for tomatoes...!!! I've been trying to convince Kevin that I could garden FULL TIME and we'd save enough money over the winter months by putting up our own produce that it would make sense for me to not work! ha ha...he's not buying it. :( I have also been trying to be the "Biggest Loser" - it's going well. I've lost 20 lbs since New Years and I workout every morning at 5 and I feel so good. Love the energy that it gives me. Just can't kick my chocolate habit. : ) Any suggestions? I turn 30 on Monday - and I'm FREAKING out about it....I have found no less than 20 gray hairs on my head in the last couple months?!? My mom is 51 and barely has any - what is up?!? Stress? Oh there's a little. : )

Anyway - sorry for the babbling - I'll need to write more often I guess! I'm so excited to hear what all of you are up to - I can't wait to see the green jacket (green is my fav color!!), I'm so excited for Elizabeth and Mikaela, I need to meet the newest sister and get together with Lindsay (like we've been trying to coordinate for months now)...I am very much looking forward to next time we can all hang out! Miss you all! Thank you for including me in this blog...it means a lot to me! I know I'm not the best at keeping in touch - but please know that you are all in my thoughts often and I know what a blessing it is to have you in my life!