Random 5 on Friday: Update Edition

How about a Random update on how everybody is doing?

Rick and Nicole

Rick is so busy right now and under a pretty good amount of stress. He works in a small department of a company and two of the employees have quit in the last couple of weeks leaving him with a lot of work to do. He lost his mother this past weekend to cancer so is dealing with the emotions and exhaustion of losing a parent. He is such a devoted person to everything he does so is trying to balance those issues with being available here for our family, as well. He just has a lot on his plate right now, and I am hoping for some reprieve for him soon, especially to play some golf and relax.

I am basically just doing what I do .. teaching the kids, taking care of the house and pets, trying to read as much as humanly possible. I have already read 14 books out of my yearly goal of 25, so I think I am doing pretty good, don't you? Spring is beginning to, well, spring so that has me outside a tad more. It is about time to work in my gardens. And I have gotten back out to do a little running, which has felt great.

Kyndal and Collin

Well, the little mama is now 14 weeks pregnant and doing amazing. She has a tiny little bump. In less than two weeks we get to find out whether we are having a boy or a girl, so we are very excited for that. In the meantime she just spends her days relaxing and cooking that little baby. She is blessed to be able to do that because of this young man.

Can I just brag on him a minute? Collin is one of the most hard-working young men I have ever met in my life. He is an ironworker apprentice and works so hard to improve his craft and provide for my daughter and his new baby. I couldn't be more proud to call him my son-in-law.

Dawson

Dawson is very busy, as well. He is going to college, majoring in Computer Web Design. He dabbled with programming and decided that it has too many rules for him to follow. He needs more freedom to use his creativity so is shifting into the design area. In addition to going to school full-time, he also just took a full-time job as a mental health technician at our local behavioral health hospital. Any time off he will have, which won't be a lot, he plans to spend with his new, sweet, adorable girlfriend Alyssa. They met in the 4th grade in Oklahoma and reconnected a few months ago. She is amazing and I am so happy they found each other again.

Eli

Eli has recently become a young man, or is making that transition, at least. His voice is changing and he has grown several inches, now just under 5'4".  Eli's favorite thing to do is play video games, and he does that in the majority of his free time. Outside of that he bowls in a youth league and is preparing for state tournament (trying to reclaim his championship titles .. his team placed 1st in state two years ago and he placed 4th in state in singles). This year he has really improved in his form and is regularly bowling 30-40 pins over his registered average. He is also training for a 5k in May, which ends up being the same day as state bowling tournament .. oh my, that's going to be a day! Eli continues to attend speech therapy for his stuttering and is learning some very effective tools. His therapist detected tongue thrust in him so he is undergoing treating for that, as well. Overall, life is pretty darned good for Eli. I know he is looking forward to summer and a little break from school.

Brynne

Talk about growing, Brynne has turned into a young woman this year. She has grown two sizes since last summer! Brynne is our active child. She plays sports year round, one running into the other. She finished basketball a couple of weeks ago, is taking a 5k training class at the school now, and starts softball in a couple of weeks. She also bowls in the junior bowling league. Since we recently redid her bedroom, she now spends most of her time there. She is definitely, officially a tween. She will really be happy when summer is here because she loves to swim, ride her bike, and play with her friends. She has really taken to reading this year, devouring the Warrior Cat series by Erin Hunter. She reads about a book every 10 days or so.