Catching up!

Isn't that what I'm always doing? LOL
Things are good here. Summer is coming to an end. Thank goodness! Where can I live that never gets above 75 degrees? I'm going there!
I'll just hit the highlights so I can be caught up.
*Amber, Joey and Lily came over for dinner a couple nights ago. They seem to be doing great. Lily is getting so big! You'd never guess she started out as tiny as she did. I love this age when they are smiling and cooing and laughing at silly Aunt Emilys.
I really hope that Joey can eventually find a job he LOVES that is closer to us! For now, it's nice to see them on Sundays, for breakfast, and for the occassional dinner mid-week.
*Kayleigh, Brad, Caydance and Athena were doing well last time we saw them. Last Sunday.
Kayleigh seems to be settling into stay at home motherhood. She's been asking for alot of recipes lately. ;)
Brad has a new job and it sounds like he's doing really well there. No more discounts on pork for me though. :( LOL
Caydance is a chatterbox now. Talking non-stop whenever she's here. She and Jaxon seem to be getting back to being friends now. They can play together for a half hour now before someone ends up screaming.
Athena is getting to the alert stage where she'll smile and coo now too. She's such a tiny little thing but finely less "chicken-leggy".
*Crystal is still working at the animal hospital place. She says she loves working with the dogs. We don't see much of her. She is out with friends most of the time.
*Heather delivered our latest shocker. She is expecting her second baby in the Spring. She called off her engagement (see her blog for more) and has started at least one, possibly two, new jobs. We can always count on Heather to be 10 steps ahead of herself. But she manages to pull it off in the end.
Tukker is doing great! She's going to walk anyday now and she is Jaxon's favorite snuggle toy. (altho he seems to like to kiss and hug all the babies to death!)
*Kenzie is doing great and planning to go back to school on Monday. It's her first year of high school and she'll be starting a couple weeks late but she's been trying to keep up with her work till she gets there.
Her back is healing up really well. She has some aches and pains from just being in the correct position after all these years but once she gets past those she'll be good as new. She can't bend, twist or lift anything over 20 pounds for 5 more months but then she'll be free to do anything. And she has the best posture of all of us now!
*Emily started 4th grade a few weeks ago. She loves her new teacher. Especially her new teacher's generosity with jelly beans. As always, she is blowing them away with the reading but having to work harder at the math.
*Jaxon is amazing right now. When I came home from a week at the hospital with Kenzie he had suddenly learned to say all kinds of new words and he's just been adding more and more each day since. He now tries to put sentences together and just skips the words he doesn't know how to say.
Example:
I say, "Emily, will you help me find Jaxon's shoes?"
He says, "Emmy, you me yuse."
Funny kid.
He's had a sinus infection for a couple weeks now and is finally getting better now that the anibiotics are on board. Back to sleeping all night. Phew! I'm too old to get up 2 or 3 times a night anymore. I do it, but it isn't fun. LOL
A week away from each other was a good opportunity for weaning. I know it seemed odd to some of you that he was still nursing at two years old but, as I've previously said in my own defense, the latest recommendation by the American Academy of Pediatrics is that there are benefits to Mom and Baby up to age 2. It's true! Look it up! LOL
At any rate. I saw no need to try to maintain it while I was taking care of Kenzie.
So, it is an end of an era. Another thing I'll never get to do again. (sniff! sniff!)
*As for Roger and I, we're plugging along. Roger's working alot and I'm trying to keep the house in order.
We're still doing great with our goal to be debt free. It's actually turned into a fun game for us most of the time. Of course, the child in each of us has a temper tantrum now and then about what we want versus what we need. But usually the adults win.
Roger's excited about the start of West Virginia college football. Which reminds me, I'd better get to planning the half time food for today. ;)
Till next time!