Hello Friends!

Hi. My name is Kayte. Do you remember me? I used to blog almost daily. Nowadays, I am surprised to post weekly.

There are a few reasons for this:

1. I am busy. Laundry... need I say more?

2. Most days, I find myself genuinely fulfilled in keeping my home and caring for my family. Not to say that I don't need you anymore... but I don't. ☺ Okay I'm being funny. I never needed to blog. But it did help fill some need I had. A need to talk, share, relate... have friends. I still do need those things. But I know someday when my children are grown and I have oodles of free time to sit and talk, share, and relate to the point where I may talk, share and relate so much that no one wants to be my friend. And then I'll have to get a fluffy pampered little dog to torture with endless babble. In the meantime, I'm feeling very satisfied with the tasks that occupy my hours. And they are occupied, indeed. (Laundry, remember?)

3. Life here is bit...hmmm... searching for the right word... unsettled? Changing? In transition? My mother in law's graduation to Heaven has changed our lives. That is how it goes when someone important dies. And so we have been adjusting. My mind is full of thoughts on all this... and well... it is a big jumble still. So to sit and write what is truly on my heart is difficult. And I'm afraid it wouldn't be helpful. It may actually be hurtful to share too much. Our family is still smarting from the loss. Our church is still reeling as well. And yet, time goes on. Life continues whether we are ready or not. So the messy, emotionally charged input from me would not be the best idea.

We've enjoyed a nice holiday season. It's really been fun this year since the girls are old enough to really become enthusiastically involved. Christmas was great... I'll post pictures soon. My camera has about 1.3 million photos on it and I haven't the time/desire to sort through them all right now! I de-decorated our home on Wednesday and I tell you what: I love de-decorating. My house looks so nice and bare... just the way I like it. ☺ Honestly, I start to feel claustrophobic by the end of December! It's the perfect opportunity to give the living room a good cleaning. Love the smell vacuumed up pine needles make. I have big plans for Spring Cleaning. I have never officially done spring cleaning before... there was never a need. But with THREE whole children (those of you with more, please refrain from rolling your eyes...) to clean up after, the deep down stuff has been neglected. So my hope is to devote one week to each room to sort through every item, wipe down every wall, floor board, door and window frame, wash every window, scrub every corner, dust/launder every curtain, de-clutter, reorganize and make spic and span. I want to start in January (even though Spring is a loooong sad loooong way off) so that by the time every room has had it's week of cleaning glory, I'll be able to spend time working outside when the warm weather arrives. I'll let you know if any of this grand plan ever come to fruition.

The girls are fighting little colds right now but are otherwise fantastic. I am beginning to think Maddie is ready to learn to read... but am oddly fearful of jumping in and starting. I guess I just really hate starting something without knowing if it's definitely the right time. Eden is just about the funniest and cutest little girl you ever saw in your life. She talks with her hands a lot these days and seems to know just how to tilt her head and inflect her voice to maximize her cuteness. She "wuvs" everything and uses cliches in the wrong way all day long. I wuv it. ☺Leila is turning out to be a great little baby. For a few weeks in the beginning, I thought we might have gotten a lemon. (joking!) But really... the crying is much less. She is smiley and "talks" more and more everyday. She is so soft and squishy and cuddly. The bad news is that she is balding. The worst news is that so am I.

My husband has been using the Christmas vacation from school to remodel the ladies' bathroom at church. Basically I picked everything out (wallpaper, paint, curtain, etc) and told him what to do with it and he did. It's turning out great (pictures soon). I think this system of "do exactly as I say" works well and we should try it in every area. Or maybe I'm high off the paint fumes. Really, I'm so proud of him. I think he has a real talent in carpentry and all things related. He's pretty awesome. I wuv him, as Eden would say.

At the end of every calender year, I revise our church directory. I had been focusing on the sadness of losing a few members. But when I sat down and prepared 2011's directory, I realized that I was adding many more names than I was deleting. Looking back over this year, I can clearly see growth. I'm thankful to God for this blessing. Our church and doing whatever we can for the cause of Christ is all Seth and I care for in this life. The Lord used the task of updating the directory to remind me that He has got everything under control. It's His church and He is more than capable of taking care of it. When our church is healthy, it makes me happy.

Picture posts will be coming soon. Looking at all this text with no picture of a cute kid here and there is hard on the eyes, huh?!

Love,