Here’s the link to what’s supposed to be Vanessa’s page and the main site hope it works for you and please vote for Vanessa Grace Karth

http://wgntv.tribunepromotions.com/babies/tip_bb_wgntv,0,4232988.ugcphotogallery?index=96208

http://wgntv.tribunepromotions.com/babies/

http://wgnamerica.tribunepromotions.com/babies/

http://wgnamerica.tribunepromotions.com/includes/babies/rules.pdf

And here’s photos

I’ll keep putting up pictures, so remember starting Monday vote Vanessa as most Beautiful Baby

Anyway. Here are a few random thoughts for this morning:

1. My little boy is growing up. I know that I don’t have to really feel this for quite some time. He is now three and a half and while he has gotten bigger and learned so much, the realization that he is growing up actually hit me for a completely different reason. He has two blankets, a puppy, and a dragon that he sleeps with each night. For the longest time everything had to get out of bed with him in the morning. For the past two weeks it doesn’t. If he gets cold he will go get a blanket and every now and again he will grab either puppy or dragon (neither one has a real name) to play with. But for the most part, they stay in his bed until he needs them.

2. Today I would like a cup of hot chocolate. I haven’t bought hot chocolate for the house since moving down to Texas. The need for something hot to drink just isn’t there like it was when we lived in Michigan and Wisconsin. After all, coming in from a thirty degree day is a lot easier than the cold that happens up there. So, we have cocoa and I could make myself some hot chocolate and it would be good, it just sounds like too much work. I know, I know, I shouldn’t be that lazy, but right now putting a coffee mug in the microwave and stirring in a pre mixed and pre measured amount of powder sounds loads easier.

3. It takes us a number of years to master the concept of sharing. Marcus is a fantastic big brother. He helps me, he checks on his sister, he worries about her falling off the couch (he will put his hand up and let her know she is getting to the edge even though both Mommy and Daddy are sitting there), and so on. However, she has entered the stage where she likes playing with toys (a lot) and she is moving around (a lot). For the life of him he doesn’t want to let her play with anything! Her toys are very interesting. All the toys are his. The baby toys are amazingly interesting. Then if it isn’t a toy he is worried it will hurt her. So, pretty much he takes anything that she wants away from her.

Well…that’s it for my random thoughts. Parenthood clouds the thoughts as you can see. I am excited and pleased to watch them grow. It also thrills me that they are learning so much. Anyway…it’s time to feed Vanessa breakfast. Till next time!

~ Danelle

Marcus learned to crawl in some weird ways. He actually didn’t crawl at eight months. Instead he learned the under the wire crawl you see in movies and boot camp ideals. He knees would be on either side of him like a little lizard and he would get to moving at scary fast speeds. He tried crawling a few times and decided his way was faster. He was ten or eleven months old before he crawled in a normal manner!

Well, I certainly knew this day was coming and at eight months she is on target rather than early…

But time does fly so fast and with it comes so many changes…

So, while this issue isn’t one that happens often, it is clear that there is a strong family resemblence. No doubt about it that Marcus looks like a Karth!

The other bit of news is that sadest news I have yet! Vanessa is gearing up to say her first word. Right now her sounds include “babababa” and “lalalala”, but what concerns me the most is that she is also saying “dadada”. While she hasn’t realized that it sounds like a word, it won’t be long. For the life of me, I can’t get her to say anything that sounds like “mama”! I thought we had a deal! Marcus said, “dada” first so Vanessa was supposed to say Mama first! Well…so much for my plans. :-{

Part way through the year my mom was no longer able to afford the private school and I was transfered to a public school. There the class was bigger and they did things differently. I felt loss and remember moving from loving to learn and go to school to hating it. The next two and a half years I struggled to make it through. We moved away in third grade and I was to start the following year in a new school. Because of this my mom held me back and I did third grade over again.

This second round of third grade was amazing and I loved it. Mrs. Veenstra made class a challenge and I was with several very smart students. We raced to see who could complete the math book first, we challenged each other in reading (I was aided by a friend on the bus who challenged me to read huge books so he had someone to talk to about them), and we even competed in spelling (an area I wasn’t so good in). Overall I loved it.

However, the next year things returned to normal. I wasn’t challenged and while I was much better in school then I had been, I hated it. I went when I had to and aimed for staying home whenever I could. Something that would prevail throughout the rest of my schooling.

I was always an avid reader, but I really hated school. Throughout junior high I was shut down when I tried to challenge myself. I wanted to take the SAT’s in eighth grade because I learned that you could. However, that was only available to “gifted” students. I had never taken the “gifted” test which was offered in third grade. The first time I did third grade no one thought of me as gifted and my local elementary only offered it to a select few students. The second time the test was given to my entire class (a good number of people who passed it), but I wasn’t yet a student because I entered school late. (We lived in Detroit during one of the strikes and then moved north where I started school). So, I wasn’t allowed to take the SAT’s. I wanted to join the ninth grade honors program, but that too was only offered to “gifted” students.

By the end of junior high I was learning more on my own than in school…so I searched for something better. The Internet had the answer. Homeschool! I firmly believed that I could teach myself more than my school was teaching me. I also thought that with the right materials I could do it in a lot less time, a lot more fun, and I could do other things rather than school for seven hours a day. I wanted it so badly…

To Be Continued.

The first goes over what everyone has been up to in the last year, in a super small amount of course. With so many in the family it could take pages to tell all the details. But it gives you enough to feel connected.

Then there are stories that share something about the family and what they have been up to.

Plus there are contributions made by others. These can be really great and often include stories, additional information, and poems.

The newsletter goes out to hundreds around the nation and many look forward to it each year.

Well…hard work is being put into this year’s Family Newsletter. It is sounding like it will be longer than ever and that pages upon pages will be sent out. I haven’t quite figured out what I will be writing for it….need to make it something really exciting.

I may be able to nab a few things for those of you who aren’t on the mailing list. For those who are anxiously awaiting your copy, it is coming! I promise.

~Danelle

~Danelle

We had thought we were going to make a goose and found out that the only goose in the area was a $45.00 bird (for a amazing 10 pounds). So, instead I made Southern macarroni and cheese for everyone and the world’s most incredible fudge. It was a good thing cause illness racked the week.

First Marcus was sick, then Peter. I ended up with a cold. Come Christmas morning we found out that Caleb was sick and sadly before the day was over the flu had taken another victim in Mary. I still feel ill from the cold, but we are not sure that the rest of the family is alive. We will call later to find out.

Even with all of this, I am very thankful for our Christmas. The food was great, the presents were wonderful, and having a family to spend the season with even better. Hope yours was also a great Christmas (and minus illness).