This is the first of what I hope to make a regular part of my blog. If you are a family member or a friend, or just want a closer glimpse into the lives of the Hoffmasters (that would be us), this will be a way for you to "stay in the loop" so to speak! I also plan on documenting my health journey in these updates as well, and will try including pictures of our clan. I am excited to finally begin recording these family moments and hope you enjoy my sharing with you!
Here's a few pictures I scrounged up from the past month: (unfortunately there are none of my wonderful husband and I, or from Ava's 2nd birthday, due to a few "kinks" with computer usage. Hopefully these will be resolved soon. Meanwhile, on with the show.........
The 3 little "babes" posing in their Soft Star shoes for a snapshot.
Lucy enjoys learning about the human (er..potato) anatomy...
My siblings came to our place for Easter this year.
We could not have had a better time...
(unless we'd have set up the slip 'n slide!...)
My sister Elena and I are like peas in a pod :)
I found Jude in this position one day last month.
I guess it had finally become time to move him to his big boy crib! :(
Breaden (far left) had some friends over for whiffle ball, pizza, and cake.
Does it get any better than that for a 9 year old?!
We also got to celebrate Warren's birthday (3rd from right)
Oh, and that's just a fake gun in the picture..I promise!
Me displaying my natural reaction to cameras.
Poser? Yes. Ashamed? Absolutely not.
Breaden, aka "Indy" demonstrates his mad skills with the bullwhip.
As always, there is never a dull moment around here. The girls got their first double bed this month, as we had to move Jude over to the nursery and needed the crib for him! They have been enjoying talking to Jude, giggling and rolling around together when they are supposed to be sleeping. They are actually doing much better now, but those first few days were crazy! One night in particular they were being abnormally quiet for a change. When I went to check on them they were excited to show me the new "haircuts" they had given each other all by themselves. Seems mommy had accidentally left a pair of "safety" scissors by the dresser- they really ought to change the name of those things! Both girls had some nice chunks taken out of the front, and poor little Ava had so many pieces out of the back that we had to make an emergency trip to her Aunt Lorries salon and get a short bob hairdo for her to (mostly) cover it. I laughed myself through the tears...
Breaden prepared for and took his first "standardized" test a week ago through a local homeschool group and even said he thought it was fun. His results showed that perhaps we will be needing to make math a bit more of a priority (again) and unfortunately a touch less fun, but otherwise he did a great job. In fact, he scored in the 80th percentile for reading comprehension. Hallelujah! It must be all that heavy duty bible thumpin'...hehe.
We've all been enjoying the beautiful weather and I am pleased to announce that I have actually taken up walking. It's about time! I met another mom from Breaden's baseball games who happens to live right up the road so we've been making it happen. As for my health and recovery status, I would (in faith) classify it as "steadily improving". I have truly never felt better in my life and am still treating my cancer "diagnosis" with completely natural methods. I am almost through with the detoxing regime and will actually be sending a specimen to a lab to test for HCG levels which determine whether you either have cancer or are pregnant. And since I'm definitely NOT pregnant, we'll see what this test has to tell me. If the numbers come back over 400, it would mean there is cancer present in need of "attention". If this proves to be the case, I will continue (and quite possibly increase) my natural treatments and then retest in 6-8 weeks to compare. I am so glad to have found out about this way to monitor my progress without going for another painful and potentially dangerous biopsy. God's goodness never ceases to amaze me.
Our family also started a garden a few weeks ago and are anxiously awaiting the harvest (Any kind of harvest!!). Neither one of us have done this before, so I imagine it would actually be rather funny watching us hobble around with our little seedlings and trowels and rakes. I have big plans to make my own tomato soup, sauce, and salsa this year so we'll see how it goes. Anyone with any organic gardening/ composting hints do feel free to share!
That's about all for now. Lots of new stuff underway for May. Hope you enjoyed the little peak into our lives!