Forgive me if you didn’t get a Christmas letter.  I had good intentions of getting them all out this year but life got hectic as we packed 3 carry on suitcases for over 3 weeks of vacation in Indiana.  I still have a stack of unsent cards in my dining room.  If one belongs to you I’m sorry.  Next year!

2009

Two thousand and nine turned out to be a year of change for us.  Probably our biggest change was our decision to homeschool the boys.  Yes, you heard that right.  Homeschooling.  Don’t worry I won’t be wearing jean jumpers or putting my hair in a bun anytime too soon.  After countless hours of thought, research, and prayer we decided homeschooling would be the best decision for our family this year. (We are taking it year by year.)  And so far, after four months it has!  We just love the extra time with the boys and our days are much less stressful than when we were running back and forth from school, taking care of school business, and fitting in evening homework.  It’s also been great to see their relationship grow (who knew they could get along so well!) and have more time for fun activities like the classical choir they sing in and taekwondo!  Hiyaaaaa!!!  Yep, early last year, we started studying martial arts as a family.  Currently we have worked our way up to green belt!  Next step purple with our eyes set on black in the future.

Nathanael and Noah have been living up to our “like legos” motto but instead of “we fit together like legos” it has become “there is nothing like legos”.  They continue to build and pretend for HOURS (I’m not exaggerating) a day.  We have lego boats, cars, mansion, ships, towers, billboards, stores, planes, pyramids, basically a lego cosmos growing in our house. They also enjoy playing their Wii on the weekends (see we are not total weirdoes!) and tormenting their cat, Sunny, who btw has grown fatter and lazier this past year.  He has almost caught up with the pugs, Nico and Nigel.

Brent’s business has remained steady.  Praise God.  And as Brent is a self-employed, freelancer, I don’t say that lightly.  This year, he was given the opportunity to do more video work, which was a fun change of pace.  In July, he shot 9 children’s music videos in 3 days with yours truly as his assistant.  In the future, he hopes to do more of that sort of work.  He also helps with homeschooling by doing Bible every morning, science, and reading aloud to them every evening.  It goes without saying, that the boys LOVE this time with daddy and I appreciate his commitment/help more than I can say!

I bet you can pretty much guess what I’ve been up too.  Teaching, kicking, driving, and assisting when needed.  The boys and I have also continued to deliver groceries to homebound elderly through the organization Shop Ahoy.  Two of our elderly friends have ended up in the county nursing home.  One is without family so she is a big part of our lives right now.  I’ve also continued writing my health and fitness blog.  In November, I changed the look and title of my blog to Girl-Heroes: The (almost) sane girls guide to insane health.  Catchy huh? J Check it out at www.girl-heroes.com.  In August I started training with kettlebells!  Kettle…what????  Kettlebells!  Think strong man sideshow circus freak!  Cannonballs with handles that you swing, press, lift, toss and swallow.  Not really!  Lovin’ the kettlebells.  Best workout ever and oh so fun!

Well that’s pretty much covers 2009.

We miss all of you and wish you a wonderful 2010!!!!

Mucho Love,

The Nims