by josh

So how do we attempt an update on so many months of life in a very busy household? It was July of 2008 that we last made an entry on our old web site. So that’s 8 months of silence. Sorry for the long pause. We hope to try this again. This new site will be more of a family site, so let us start with a basic update on each of the kids.







JOSH, who will turn 15 on May 31st, is homeschooled and finishing 8th grade. His summer lawn mowing business is already well underway. He had several "strangers" in the neighborhood seek out his services this year, so that was encouraging to him. He even had to start turning them down. His other big goal for this summer is learning to drive. He also loves to garden and jumps at any chance to do some landscaping. Next fall he will return to Longview Christian School for highschool and is looking forward to playing highschool soccer and basketball.







AMANDA, who turns 13 on May 19th, is finishing 7th grade at Longview Christian School. Amanda has risen to the challenge of a busy schedule this year. Many normal weeks include piano practicing, flute practicing, homework and studying (to maintain her straight A record), youth group, and many loads of laundry. Yes, she has the responsibility of doing all the laundry for our family! This is a huge, huge help to her mom! She also does some babysitting for her own younger siblings, but is about ready to try branching out also.







ANDREW, who turned 9 this past December, is finishing 3rd grade as a homeschooler and will continue to be homeschooled next fall. Andrew is a very active, very athletic, very ambitious boy. He climbs trees, shoots hoops on the trampoline, shoots hoops on the driveway, and cup stacks…all in one day, many times a day. Somehow, he gets his schoolwork done in spite of his yearning to be active. Cup stacking is one of his latest ambitions. He’s won 7 trophies this spring at the church where he is participating in this. For more info. on what this is, take a look at the videos at www.speedstacks.com Andrew is also quite up to date on all college and professional sports. He amazes us with his attention to and retention of details regarding players, scores, rankings, etc. etc.







DANIEL, who turned 4 in January, is following in Andrew’s footsteps in how active he is. We’ve had Daniel in our family for a little over a year now, and it has been a year full of blessing. He has transitioned so amazingly well. He is probably the most affectionate of all our children (at the age of 4), and still loves to be held. He appears to be secure in his attachment to us and us to him. He’s a sharp little guy too and is in the early stages of learning to read. He can sound out simple words and read short sentences. He and Jaiden have really turned into good buddies. They play together most of the time on their own initiative. We are so thankful for their budding friendship and pray that it lasts a lifetime.







BABY JAIDEN just turned 3 on March 17. She is Daniel’s little shadow. She tends to do more of the following, and Daniel does more of the leading. I think she knows all of her letters and sounds, and she "thinks" she can read like Daniel. We’ve had Jaiden just over 2 years now and are so thankful for how well she has adjusted to Daniel.

Our 3 oldest kids have truly been mature and gracious in dealing with the dynamics of a growing family. Not only do they pitch in and help out more, but they sincerely love their new siblings with an unconditional love. We have been so blessed.

andrew's cup stacking

Famous Andrew Hood.