More Updates from the Homestead..

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Well there are many other things going on around our homestead lately. Funny how quickly life can change.. Last November my daughter Emily left to go to Denmark to be an au pair for a year. She has been there now for almost 5 months. She enjoys her work as an au pair and has a super nice host family and she is happy.. a bit homesick, but happy and not ready to come home yet. Since being in Denmark she has met a few other au pairs and she has enjoyed that quite a bit. She has also been able to do some traveling. She has been to Budapest, Paris, and this last weekend she went to Hamburg.. she stayed with another au pair that she had hosted a few weekends ago. There is quite a community among au pairs! :) But she is dying for some connection with home. So this weekend Leanne made reservations to go and see Emily next month. My daughters Emily and Leanne are SUPER close they are best friends for life.. they relate and connect with each other and honestly I think Emily probably misses her more than us! LOL.. So Leanne will have a 3 week adventure in Denmark with her sister and she is so excited!



Other changes in our life.. my son Jacob.. he got a job working in the city. He is cleaning office buildings and preparing to start community college. The commute between our home and work and college coming up was just too much so my son Richard said he could stay with him and his wife. So he is living with them part time now. He comes home on his weekends and so far this arrangement seems to be working well. He wants to get Microsoft Certified for starters. He has always been into computers.. a lot.. he has been my “resident IT man” for quite some time now.. LOL.. he can fix and do most anything you need to a computer.. so he thought this would be a good thing to do. After that he will see what his next step in life will be. He is a good boy and we are excited for his future.


So in 5 months I have gone from having 5 kids at home to having 3! I am slowly learning how to cook again for a smaller family and enjoying less mess! LOL.. Aww.. the changes of life..



And finally for the newest news .. I am going to be a grandma again! Grandbaby #4!! My daughter Hannah is due April 22nd. We are super excited! The next question nowadays is .. what is it? Boy or girl? Well we don’t know! They did not want to know ahead of time. I NEVER knew how hard it was now to find neutral colored newborn clothes! But I managed to find some stuff! But really.. now that everyone knows ahead of time what they are having.. everything is blue or pink.. and if it is a neutral color it will have yellow with flowers or green with trucks.. We are super excited about a new grandbaby!



This week I will celebrate my 47th birthday.. wow.. where did all the years go! I sure don’t feel like I am 47! But such is the way life is. This year my birthday will be celebrated quietly.. Tobin has to work and has a mandatory class that night so no taking time off.. and that is fine. I will quietly move on into my 47th year and continue to enjoy being here to watch my family grow up and enjoy the blessings that come as I slowly move into a different season of life (one that does not have all the demands and needs of so many little ones in my home). I am looking forward to the years ahead!


Now I think that is all the updates from my homestead! Hope you are having a great start to your week on your homestead!
 

Comments

  1. LeaMarch 21, 2011 at 7:21 PM

    Last year began my new season... I shed so many tears when I closed my homeschool!
    have a Happy Wonderful Blessed Birthday

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousMarch 21, 2011 at 11:13 PM

    First of all, I want to wish you blessings on your special day this week! Have a wonderfully peaceful and beautiful birthday!

    Your son Jacob sounds a lot like my oldest son--not in name--but in interests! We have had to wean ourselves off his computer know how...I figure in about ten more years we will no longer call him with computer questions--maybe:)

    Hope your daughter has a wonderful trip to Denmark--how neat that she can spend time with her sis, Emily!

    Congrats on your soon-to-be born grandbaby! New season, new life--THAT is a big blessing!

    Blessings,
    Aimee

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousMarch 22, 2011 at 8:26 AM

    Happy Birthday Crystal! Your site is such an inspiration to me. May God continue to richly bless you and your family. I pray Leanne has a safe trip. We wish Jacob well with his college plans. Last but not least, CONGRATULATIONS on the new grandbaby. Keep us posted. Have a wonderful week.

    Blessings,
    Tiffany

    ReplyDelete
  4. EllyMaeMarch 22, 2011 at 9:35 AM

    Happy Birthday Crystal!! I've enjoyed reading your blog for several years now. Your blog and web site are very informative and inspiring! Your laundry detergent recipe has saved me and lot of my family and friends a lot of $ !! Your family sounds so nice and definitely growing up! I have 3 sons that have married and now have 7 grandchildren with 1 more due at the end of April! I have a daughter (who was home schooled from 5th grade up) still at home but in local college. So we have many similarities in our families! Best wishes in the coming year and with your homesteading family!! Elly from WV

    ReplyDelete
  5. JennieMarch 23, 2011 at 7:13 AM

    Congrats Grandma and Happy Birthday!

    http://www.makingahomeandfamily.com

    ReplyDelete
  6. LizMarch 23, 2011 at 11:14 AM

    Hi Crystal! I came across your website a few weeks ago and what a great thing it is! I'm using your all purpose cleaning solution, I love it! Thanks so much for posting your awesome information! I posted some cleaning tips on my blog and some of them are from your site. Hope you don't mind! Here is my blog! http://womanofthelordmosthigh.blogspot.com/
    Thanks again for all your information! And one of these days, I will be buying one of your ebooks!

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnonymousMarch 25, 2011 at 1:10 PM

    Thanks for the encouragement! My kids are slowly moving away also, we have a wedding in 6 mo. and I was feeling a little nervouse and sorry for myself. But you put things into prospective. Life changes and you gotta change with it,

    ReplyDelete
  8. MaritzaMarch 28, 2011 at 2:14 AM

    Wow, how exciting..:) And also, happy belated birthday! I have been following your blog, since 2007.. when I was married 1year.. :) Now I am a first time mommy & loving it! Your encouragement always lifts the spirit! Thank you. Enjoy your week & blessings & MANY thanks, I have learned SOOOOOOOOO much from you! x

    Maritza
    (SOuth afirca)

    ReplyDelete
  9. AnonymousApril 8, 2011 at 4:20 AM

    Crystal.......You inspire me so much. Getting back to the "basics" is what we all should be doing, and with your help, I am working on it. One step at a time! I don't know how you get all of your work done and still have time to update your website and blog! Thank you for sharing your wisdom! Happy Birthday to you!
    Cindy/ Greenville, MI

    ReplyDelete

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