Welcome 2010

Hello All,
  We have been in the throws of growing children at Whitaker Central. We are fast approaching having 2 kids in the the double digits thankfully not both TEENAGERS but double digits bring on a whole new world. hahaha. The rest (except the little man) are in school all day.
  I hope all of you had a fabulous holiday and spent time enjoying family and friends, doing the things that make you feel wonderfully connected and ready for the New Year/Decade.
  In my attempt to bring in the New Year right. I have been going through one room at a time and getting rid of anything that does not bring me GREAT JOY. At times my husband has wondered if he and the kids will be the next to go.. I assured him that they all bring me great joy! (giggle).
  My 2009 has been filled with lots of trying moments that have led to trying circumstances. There have been many things that I won't be able to share with you here. But for those of you who have been there for us and come along side to support us with your friendship, prayers, extra hands, and encouragement. We are extremely greatful and want to thank you for all you done.
  During this I have discovered I have not been the BEST friend I could be to some of you and I apologize for that. But my being a better wife and mother this year has forced my focus to be a little more one sided for now. Please know that I so appreciate your friendship and hope you all understand that life has gotten in the way of my free time for now but I am getting back out there and hope to spend lots of time with you all this coming year. Forgive me if you feel displaced or ignored by us this last year.

  If I had sent out the standard Christmas Letter to all of you this Holiday Season it would have read something like this.....

 Dear Friends,
   Reflecting back on our year filled with bull and other non pleasant things. We have decided to postpone the holidays until I feel more like celebrating.
   Austyn is in full mode of teenger-dom. He is busy filling his day with things that revolve around him, planning what he will fill his never full belly and legs. I swear feeding a teenager will take another job. 
  He has been filling the remaining free time he enjoys each day doing odd jobs for bits of money to entertain himself and slave labor for us to keep the peace. The ever constant tapping of the ball bouncing off the bedroom wall is his calling card.
 Rick and I are going to enroll ourselves in a brand new language program this winter. The add reads..
---Parents do you want to understand your teen ?Join us in this fascinating 2-3 year program that will change your life. Do you find yourself asking them to speak up? Texting in code words and letters that you don't understand? Do you wonder what they said even when you can hear them? Join us in a loud/ music filled room once a week to explore this fascinating langauge designed to help you BOND with your teen.----
  I hope you know I am kidding but this is something we think will be coming soon. He is respectful and is growing at least a foot a week. We can't keep up with him. Eeeeeeek.
  We continue to discover we have average kids doing exceptionally well at being average. They challenge us daily with questions and non stop talking that make us long for the grunts and one word responses of their teenage brother.. ahhaha..
 The thing I discovered I miss most about homeschooling is the paitence I had with my kids. I am continually amazed at the lack of paitence I have with them when I only have a few hours with them each day.
 Austyn is in the 7th grade and skates by doing as little as he can but seems to be squeaking out a GPA that keeps him on the honor roll and the current sports line up and that makes everyone happy. He has discovered girls, or they have discovered him. I don't know exactly what order it happend but I am not looking forward to this venture..
 Makoa is in 4th grade and is being misunderstood. His rough and aggressive playground/sports actions makes most people view him that way. But he is a gentle spirit that cares about people and he see's and hear's WAY more than we care for him to take in.. hahaha. He continues to remind us that we are not treating eachother nicely or we need to make up.
 For Cole 2nd grade is bringing on a serious dislike of all things educational. He just wants to play. If anyone has a great carrer option for him that requires no schooling and he can make a good living please email me. At this point he has made HUGE progress in getting over his bad attitude about everything that doesn't go his way and we look forward to another year.
 Alex the ever present Lawyer of the bunch. He is a rapid fire kindergartener. Everything Mrs. Kingrey says and does is amazing and creative so he feels compelled to share his growing knowledge with us. I am shocked at all he is learning this year. It is fun to see him reading everything he sees. But I will be sending out a bulk email to every grocery store in America to remove the magazines from the check out lines. Having my 5 year old sound out words like BETTER SEX ALL YEAR, while you are loading you groceries is enough to send any mother into a red faced shock. What do you say?  Great job reading Alex. At those moments we have the slowest checker in the history of the store working, ANNND it is a stock up shopping trip with a two basket minimum.
 Landon, Landon, Landon. I can't really put all the things we are learning about him this year. It would bore everyone to tears and some would send you to the Personal Care isle for some Depends undergarments. His new best friend is the refridgerator. All the items in there make a huge mess and fantastic noises when you drop them on the ground in large quantities. Eggs,I have discovered crack with amazing ease in the hands of an almost 2 year old. The laughter that wells up in him when he get 10 plus on the ground at once is a priceless sound. Have you seen how much eggs cost these days?
 Anything we tell him not to do HE MUST DO. So I am working on a stratagie to tackle that. Nothing makes my heart happier than seeing my little guy walking around the house in underware and cowboy boots. That is his favorite outfit of all time.
 Hope your holiday is filled with the joy the season brings to your house. Happy New Year!
  Merry Christmas,
  Rick and Destiny and our Housefullofboys.

Rick didn't approve this letter but I wanted to post it anyway. We are looking forward to a better year in 2010.