No personal space.

I have never really considered myself a "private" person, but having three kids under the age of 5 has made me crave privacy like I crave Sunkist...many of you know of my addiction to the orange goodness that is Sunkist.

Wow. My kids run what they call a man-on-man defense, except I would probably describe them as being on offense. Michael and I are the ones on defense for sure. Also, they travel in a pack. If one of them has a mind to follow me around, then all of them do...do you know what I mean...do you really understand the depths of this? And of course one of them always has a mind to follow me around.

Several years ago a good friend was telling me about her daughter following her around all day long and she happened to mention that she followed her in the bathroom. I, in my lack of experience, exclaimed, "What about when you go number 2?". She quickly retorted, "Honey, I could go number 13 and she would be there!". Words fail me!

I used to get so sick of hearing myself talk when I taught at the preschool. Now that reality has followed me home...oh to sit in silence and not have to speak.

On a more serious note, we are doing very well! We had an extremely eventful journey to Canada for Christmas and back...4 airplanes, 2 canceled flights, some other minor delays, and a 6 hour drive did the trick. The kids had a ball in the snow, and boy did it snow. It was such a blessing for the kids to get to know those crazy Kashuba's. We had such a Merry Christmas!

We are getting back in the groove of being home and back in school. Michael and I feel like we have conquered the world after surviving all the travel with our sense of humor still in tact.

So much more good to come! Every day we bond more as a family. I remember the first month, every now and then I would have one of those moments where I could see walls falling down and true joy happening, and now they happen every day. It is so easy to lose track of the most important things because we are so busy taking care of the kids. I pray every day to have the focus I need to love well. I pray this for you and your family as well.

Happy New Year! Blessings in 2009!

amanda, michael, and the kids

p.s. Pray for a buyer for our house!

This one is for you Tracey! Thanks for holding me accountable to writing. You are probably the only one still reading.