Yeah, yeah, I know...

I've not been posting as regularly as I usually do. Things have been a little busy here lately. With doing 3 (or is it 4) bushels of apples, (with Peter's help, of course), homeschooling, doctors appointments, and just the general busyness that comes with having 4 young children, a puppy, husband and house to keep up, blogging is just not high on the priority list right now.
So far this pregnancy is fairly "normal". I have days that I feel pretty run down, and that usually triggers migraines, but the nausea is gone and we have had no more scares. Baby is growing on "target" and kicking the most first thing in the morning and after the house quiets down at night. I really treasure these times of being able to enjoy the new life inside! Peter has also been able to feel kicks and somersaults now too, and that makes it feel more real to him that we're going to have 5 kids in a few short months! God is so good!
Peter's work still has not slowed down as we had expected it to, but given the current local economy, we are very thankful for God's providing hand. He (as of today) expects it to be quite steady through the end of the year at least! We are hoping he can manage a couple of slower days when the baby is born to be able to help out with the kids and just spend time as a family getting to know the new addition.
Caleb has loved doing school work thus far and he and Daniel are making it a competition to keep at the same level as the other one. If one of them does a little extra work one night, the other one works to get caught up the next day. I have kept a casual approach to it all and that seems to make it less like work and they think it's so much fun, they ask to do their work on Saturdays and Sundays as well. They are very quick learners and it's a joy to be able to see them progress in their capabilities. They started with pre-k books in September, but they'll be completely done with them by Christmas at the latest. I would not be a bit surprised if it was Thanksgiving and they were done! We are thankful for their sharp, healthy little minds!
Lucas likes to do "school" too. he will get his coloring book and color in there when I'm working with the older boys and he is constantly asking me to write his name for him. He's definitely smart, but is still struggling with his speech. It's still hard for me to understand him sometimes and I'm a little concerned about it. I would not be too surprised if he either had hearing problems or needed speech therapy. Poor guy gets so frustrated when I can't figure out what he's trying to tell me.
Kimberly is almost 16 months already and into everything. She is not walking yet, but she crawls and scoots on her butt to get where she wants to go. She is not afraid of heights and will climb anything! We have to be super diligent in buckling her in the high chair because once she is finished eating, she will sit on the tray with her legs hanging over the side, happy as can be. She really thinks she's big stuff. :) Her favorite thing lately is to have the shoes on her hands so she can hear the sound they make on the floor. Nobody's shoes are safe!

Well, that's a basic rundown of what's been going on here, we have a few decisions to make in the short future, but we feel it's best to keep them quiet for now. I'll try to get on and update a little more often, but again, no promises as we don't know what the future holds.