I recently got used to typing 2011 instead of 2010. Now my keyboard muscle memory will need to change to 2012 instead of 2011, which for me, without a side keypad, means changing from left ring finger, right ring finger, left pinky finger double bump to left ring finger, right ring finger, left pinky finger, left ring finger – certain to be botched.

But besides the annoyance of mistyped dates, the fact that we are moving into another new year is perplexing to me. What happened to 2011? I realize that as you get older time decides to move faster (a very underhanded trick that time plays on us), but did 2011 even happen? Where was I?

Maybe it’s my memory. It is fading. That could be from the chaotic nature of raising four kids aged six and under. Loud sounds are certain to kill brain cells (along with nerves), maybe they are particular to killing the ones that hold our memories. If so, I should be lucky that I even remember it’s going to be 2012.

So what happened in 2011 then anyways? Wasn’t the world supposed to end? Twice? Maybe it did and I forgot. Didn’t some rich dignitaries get married while the whole world fussed about it? I think a corrupt Illinois governor got sent to jail… but that could have been any year now that I think about it. For us I think someone new came into the world, but that also could be just about any year in our recent past.

This year flew by, without pausing to take a breath (or to let me take one) and now we’re on to another one. While I remain perplexed about this fact, it is something I cannot change. This year will end and a new one will begin. Maybe, if we all ask nicely, time will pause, just long enough, for all of us to remember 2011 and look forward to 2012.

Here’s to another great one…

Image Credit – http://www.psdgraphics.com/

January & February 2010

January is a boring month.  You have to admit you agree.  The end of the Holiday season brings boredom (birthday highlights aside), so not much happened.  And after all the fuss that occurs between Black Friday and New Years Day, not having much happen was a welcomed relief.

Ethan’s birthday falls in February, and this year he turned five.  He was very excited to make the half-decade mark, and we were left trying to find out where the past 60 months had gone.  In five years Ethan has grown into a full-blown little boy. He is a great big brother to both Lucas (fights not withstanding) and Alayna (he’s already honing his big brother protection skills).  He’s either skipping through the house, absorbed in a puzzle (he prefers the 500 piece kind, and is determined to conquer a 1000 piece soon), building something, or decorating his room with … well, with stuff.  He tried Karate this year and enjoyed it, but we’re not sure he’ll do it again.  He likes getting his picture taken as well as seeing other people have their picture taken; so much so that he feels compelled to join them in their picture.  We are very thankful that God has brought him into our lives.

March 2010

They say March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb, well ours was reversed.  The beginning of the month was uneventful, but the end had back-to-back birthday and anniversary.  Erin turned… well she had another birthday this year.  She is doing well, continuing her effort to transform the homemade bag industry one bag at a time… with a lot of time in between each one.  Raising three kids leaves little time for anything else, but she ceaselessly and tirelessly fills her orders for bags, right up to the last minute.  She enjoys being able to stay home with the children and wouldn’t trade that for anything.

We celebrated our seventh anniversary by having a nice quiet dinner at a local establishment (Easy Street Café – home of the best onion rings; Outback’s Bloomin’ Onion is awful by comparison).  Seven years isn’t all that long, but when a lot happens in such a timeframe, it can seem like quite awhile.  But its been a wonderful adventure.

April  & May 2010

Shortly after Easter, we made our first foray into the world of homeschooling by attending a homeschooling convention.  We had discussed homeschooling for a while, and so we felt it was important to investigate.  Taking Alayna along with us, we drove south to spend two nights and three days at the Millennium Hotel in downtown Cincinnati. It didn’t take long to quickly surmise that “home education” is quite a subculture.  However, we also discovered that it is much more mainstream than we thought (which was evidenced by the lack of blue jean jumpers, although they still reared their ugly head here and there – no offense to those who love them).  Not knowing what we didn’t know, it was hard to determine where to start with everything.  But start we did and by the end of the weekend we learned quite a lot and selected a curriculum to use for Kindergarten.

May saw the grass get greener, the air become warmer, and the flowers start blooming.  The dark and depressing days of winter were fully passed, and we tried to spend as much time as possible out of doors to recover.  Our landscaping was beautified, the bowling alleys visited, the house projects commenced, and the little white stick had two pink stripes on it.  Yes, two stripes, not one.  You know, those little sticks that tell you another life will be visiting you in nine months by showing two pink lines.  The ones that say, “Ready or not, here someone comes!”  Yeah, we had one of those in May.   This wasn’t intentional, but one’s intentions and God’s plans don’t always coincide.  After the shock (which lasted well into July) we accepted and embraced the idea fully.  We are thankful to have another little boy join the family.  Estimated Arrival:  January 2011.  Actual Arrival: TBA.

June & July 2010

Summer was here and Ethan finished preschool!  After two years of attendance, he graduated with full honors (he was fully honored by all the doting family members).  He loved Rainbow preschool, but was also ready to begin the new adventure of homeschooling in the fall.

We try to get at least one camping trip in each year and July was our month.  We met up with some friends in the lovely city of Ada, Ohio.  It was great to spend time with friends, especially those whom we don’t often get to see.

Summer also brought the call: “Go west young family.”  Okay, so that’s not how it goes, but the Vile family heard and answered it.  Literally.  We left the house and two days later, with 24 hours of car time logged, we arrived in Loveland Colorado – the home of Erin’s brother and his wife and family.  We greatly enjoyed our time with geographically-challenged family (I think that’s the PC way to put it).  The kids enjoyed playing with their cousins, riding on Uncle Ryan’s boat, visiting the Rodeo, climbing a mountain, and generally raising a ruckus.  It went by quickly, but was fun while it lasted.  Erin’s mom joined us for the long ride home.  I’m pretty sure next time she’ll fly.

August 2010

Alayna turned one in August.  We’ve had fun watching her grow, explore, and learn so much over the past year.  She went mobile by her birthday, starting to crawl; then switched from four limbs to two and started walking by Thanksgiving!  We like to see her make her way around the house (if you see the movie Pirates of the Caribbean, watch how Johnny Depp walks – that’s what she looks like).  Her personality is becoming clearer, and she’s already learned the art of getting what she wants with just a look…  yes folks, she’s a girl.

The boys love her, sometimes too much, which usually is occasion for one of her signature ear piercing shrieks (Dad calls it a banshee cry, but Mom refuses to entertain that term).  She’s a complete Daddy’s girl, and uses her Ninja Death-Grip to prevent anyone from stealing her away from him.   We love our little girl.

September 2010

This month marked the beginning of a new and immense adventure; a walk down an uncertain path.  The Vile Home Education School opened its doors and admitted a single student.  Erin started homeschooling Ethan.  The first few weeks were admittedly bumpy, as everyone was trying to adjust to this new way of life.  But once Ethan knew what to expect, and Erin adjusted to the routine, it was smooth sailing (well not without a few storms).  Ethan is learning a ton, already starting to read a few simple books!  He loves numbers and math is a breeze.  We’ve still got a lot to figure out in this area, but it’s going as well as can be expected!  We’re excited to see where this path leads.

October & November 2010

Fall was in full swing.  Leaves were changing colors and dropping off their branches – and the boys had fun helping Dad rake them up.  But colder and shorter days meant more time inside for the boys.  And considering that the two of them are still in the single digits and full of energy our house is… well, you’ve seen pictures of a mushroom cloud, right?  Lots of energy plus cramped small space equals large explosion; pretty much every night.  It’s fun, but a challenge to make it till 8:00pm.

Kevin had a birthday in October.  Each year goes by so quickly that it’s hard to keep track of the number, so we’ll just say it was another one.  He’s been working from home since May of 2008 and enjoying it.  The family is glad to have him around and will occasionally drop into his office (the back room – quietest place there is in a loud house).  And typically if one comes, the whole gang follows.  He does get work done though… somehow.

We had a chance to get away down to Hocking Hills, Ohio without the kids for a couple days.  It was a welcomed break – the calm before the storm – and we enjoyed some rest and relaxation.  The weather was nice and the landscape was beautiful, giving us opportunity to hike some beautiful trails.  Erin made it the first few miles or so, but then the reality of pregnancy set in and Kevin was forced to trek the last couple alone to retrieve the car and pick up the tired lady.  It was a fun time.

December 2010

Lucas turned four in December, and he certainly has grown up!  It was less than 12 months ago that he finished potty training, and just a few months ago he started preschool, what a whirlwind!  He loves going to Rainbow Preschool and does great.  He enjoys all kinds of sports, likes to mow the lawn with Dad (the whole thing), snuggling with his multitude of stuffed animals, and long walks by the beach – wait, was that Lucas?

Our little boy is a full of passion, the kind that manifests itself in large bursts of sound.  But we’re glad to see that he’s fully committed to things – either he completely likes them or hates them!  He likes his little sister and tries to be a helpful brother, although she’s not too sure about the nature of their relationship informing us all with her signature shriek.  He is a wonderful and irreplaceable addition to our family.  Thank God for little boys.

Well, that was our year in less than 1700 words, hopefully you made it the whole way, but we’ll forgive you if you skipped some!  We want to thank all our friends and family for all you mean to us; its great to have you all come along on the ride with us one day at a time!

May your Christmas be filled with love and joy as we celebrate the birth of our Savior and may the New Year bring many blessings. Would you let Christ be the center of this next year and allow Him to guide you in every step, for He wants our hearts and our lives!

With Love,
The Vile’s
- Kevin, Erin, Ethan, Lucas, Alayna and BABY!

Family picture

Daddy’s little girl

This just makes me laugh… could not get anyone to cooperate… our life.

2009 has been a full year yet we are blessed beyond words. When I reflect on this past year, it’s hard to recall all that has happened because it has just flown by! I do recall it being a challenging year though that has tested my patience for much of it. Being pregnant, chasing two boys day in and day out as well as Kevin being in his last year of school full time was more tiresome and challenging than expected. It is only by God’s grace that we survived the year with spirits still in tact! He is so good to us…

It was last year at this time we found out we were pregnant with our third little blessing. We were all thrilled with the news but I think Ethan was the most excited to meet the new little one to come! Ethan is 4 (5 in February) and is such a delight in the Vile household. He has such a sweet and helpful spirit. He loves people and truly has a kind heart. He is inquisitive of everything. He asks deep theological questions not even realizing it (don’t you just love the innocence of a small child)…. it’s amazing to watch his view of God develop in his little brain…. what a big responsibility on our part… (God, give us grace as we teach him about You!) He loves drawing (which he has gotten quite good at), puzzles, building and playing with his siblings. He is in his second year of preschool and is doing great with his letters and numbers. He can write his own name as well as everyone elses name in the family. Just recently we discovered he needs glasses… you can read about his condition here. It’s hard to believe how big our “baby” is getting. Everyone always told us the years would go by fast… they sure have! As challenging as it gets sometimes, I still tell him to stop getting older! I am trying to learn to cherish these days as I know they will be gone tomorrow. We are praying for God to use Ethan’s kind heart to serve Him.

Our little Lucas just turned 3 (12/17) and he is our little “spitfire”! What a ball of energy Lucas is! He certainly keeps us on our toes but is such a sweet little boy. He loves his big brother and loves to be a big brother! He has a mind of his own and is all boy! He loves sports of any kind, cars, trucks, trains etc. He loves to sing and play the guitar (a sign of things to come???) Some of the sweetest moments I love are watching him in church dance to the worship music and occasionally raise his hands to worship like his Grandma! Lucas is loads of fun! He loves playing with Ethan and really looks up to him. We love spending time with him on his own (without siblings) as he seems to not fight for so much attention. We are praying for this sweet gift from God to grow to know and serve Christ with his life.

And our third little blessing, Alayna, is 4 months old already and has been pure joy in our life. The first few months of her life were a bit challenging as she seemed to have colic. So dealing with a crying baby most days and nights were tough. But having some extra pink in the house was enough to make me smile through it all (almost all). Alayna loves to eat, loves looking and smiling at her brothers. She loves to rock, swing and bounce in our arms. She is definitely the princess of the house! It has been loads of fun watching her grow and change. She is smiling all the time and is currently working on grabbing rattles and switching them from one hand to the next. Life with three little ones keeps us on our toes, keeps us humble and keeps us looking to Christ for grace and strength! We are praying for Alayna to grow to be a strong woman of God.

Kevin finished his Master of Divinity degree from Winebrenner Theological Seminary in August (just before Alayna was born). We are all so proud of him as he worked hard for the past three years! I’ve learned alot from this awesome man of God. His humbleness and wisdom of God’s Word is inspiring to me. God has truly gifted him with a mind for the truth of His Word… (and he would roll his eyes at me for writing this about him… but it’s true ). I’m proud of you Kevin and I know God is using you now and has a plan for our future in ministry somewhere! I love you!
Kevin’s day job is in computer database development working from home (which is a blessing most of the time ). The boys love “checking in” on Daddy throughout the day and although we (the kids and me) can be loud sometimes, he handles the “distractions” pretty well. We love him being home!

As for me, my time is consumed with changing diapers, picking up toys, trying to keep mouths fed and working on the never ending loads of laundry. But honestly, I wouldn’t want to do anything different. I know God has given me a huge responsibility raising these kids and loving my husband. And though, I’m not very good at it at times, He is continually growing me and showing me how much I need Him even in the mundane … actually MORE in the mundane. I am thankful for our Father’s unfailing and unending love!

As we celebrate the birth of our Savior this Christmas, may we know his goodness and praise Him for the love he showed us in giving us His son!

Merry Christmas!!!

Ok… on to some fun memories… here’s our Labor Day:

Check out those lobster tails!

Lucas and Lexi enjoying the cookout

The kiddos

The Ladies

And the Gents

The whole gang

And the Core’s… we will miss you guys!

Lucas was putting eggs in any basket on the floor… we didn’t know this little girl.

Ethan busy eating his candy and Lucas not so sure about this furry thing!

Ethan giving a hug to the Easter Bunny

I realized we didn’t get a good picture of Ethan on Easter until he was way too gone to cooperate so this is what we get.

I am looking forward to a new year with new adventures and challenges. It’s pretty amazing how the years go by faster and faster… guess there’s no way to slow it down other than slow down yourself and try to enjoy every moment. I hope this year brings as many joys and blessings as 2007. God is good!