Dear Family and Friends,
I can’t believe it is that time of year again!! Where has the last year gone? Well, the Greenwoods have been as busy as ever.
On June 17th, we welcomed our fourth child, Richard “Tobias.” He was born at 11:12am via a C-section. Tobias weighed 8 lbs. 1 oz. and was 21 inches long. Tobias is exactly who we needed to complete our family…for now. (No, there isn’t another baby on the way! We eventually want to adopt older children, but it will be a few years down the road because we want Josiah to be the oldest). Tobias has such a sweet, happy personality. We love his big smile and his belly giggles. Over the last few weeks, Tobias has learned to roll from his back to his stomach and is pulling his legs up underneath himself. We have started him on the “Your Baby Can Read” videos, so we shall see if we have another early reader.
Josiah turned five in June. He started Kindergarten in September at 268 Academy (that is our homeschool name). He is doing exceptionally well in school. His
favorite thing to do is read, read and read some more…just one more way
that he is like his daddy. He also likes science…especially when we do
experiments. We have been using
Animated Literacy this year, and he really likes the drawing part of
the lesson. It will be interesting to see how God develops these
interests. Josiah enjoyed taking swim classes during the summer, but is taking a break during the fall/winter months because it is so cold. Instead of swimming, he has been taking gymnastics and is really enjoying it. He
continues to enjoy trains and his collection of tracks continues to
expand which allows him to be very creative in his track building. This
year, we signed him up for AWANAs (a program that teaches truths from
the Bible and helps them to memorize scripture). He is doing very well memorizing his verses each week and interacting with kids his own age. He continues to be such a great big brother…very gentle and loves to show affection to his sisters and brother.
Sophie will be turning four in January. She started pre-school this year, but would much rather be doing her brother’s work! Sophie really enjoys reading, too. We get so much enjoyment listening to her read because she will change her voice for the different characters in the book. She also took swim classes during the summer, but is taking a break during the fall and winter. Like her brother, she is taking gymnastics and is really enjoying it. She has moved to the classes where she doesn’t have a parent with her. At first, she had a hard time…she is VERY shy…but is doing so much better in her classes and even in new situations. Sophie is also doing AWANAs. This girl can memorize some Bible verses!!! I have the kids’ verses hanging up in our kitchen, so they can work on them during the week. Often times, Sophie is memorizing her verse and her brother’s verse. She
is also developing a servant’s heart. Whenever one of her siblings
needs something or is upset, she goes to help them or comfort them. She is also developing a heart for prayer. During our night time prayer…or any prayer time, for that matter…she will jump in and pray about whatever is on her heart. We look forward to seeing how God is going to continue to fine tune these areas.
Kyrie turned two in November. Kyrie started school this year, too! She wants to do EVERYTHING that Josiah and Sophie do…thus, school for her. She is doing well with reading…she recognizes LOTS of words, but isn’t reading complete sentences…yet. Her
speaking skills have improved tremendously over the last couple of
months…really able to communicate what she wants…and doesn’t want, for
that matter! J She continues to love life to the fullest…does everything so passionately…and loudly! By far, Kyrie is our most cuddly child. If there is someone curled up on the couch or in a bed, she will be there to get some cuddles…I guess she is like her mommy. Kyrie enjoys playing with baby dolls and is so nurturing…changing diapers, feeding her baby, singing songs. We look forward to seeing how God is going to use these characteristics in Kyrie as she gets older. Kyrie started swim classes during the summer, and she LOVES it!! She
continued with swimming during fall since she wasn’t old enough to do
other classes, but now that she is two, she will have a lot more
options.
As for Chris…well, he has had a very busy year. (Chris
is now writing) In August, our senior pastor moved to Colorado, so I
have been filling in while our church searches for a new senior pastor.
With this filling in has come a whole host of new responsibilities. I
have been visiting church members on a weekly basis, making hospital
visits, doing some counseling, and of course preaching every week. Other
than church, adding another little Greenwood to the family has further
divided my time among the kids. We knew this would happen, but it
doesn’t make it any easier. Our prayer is that the kids will look back
and see that their mom and I gave them each as much time as we could. Our
greatest hope is that they will value the relationships they have with
each other as brothers and sisters. With the entrance of Tobias came a
wonderful return to an old married habit: date night. Since the world’s
best babysitter (Darian or D) was back in town going to college I booked
her every other week as a standing date night for Sara and me to go
out. It has been nice to slip away again with the “wife of my youth” and
enjoy just us time.
As for me (Sara)…I stay pretty busy keeping up with the four kiddos and supporting Chris as he does ministry. I spend most of my days wearing many different hats…wife, mother, teacher, discipler, friend, chef and many more. I
do have moments of exhaustion and feeling overwhelmed, but I truly am
thankful that I am able to be at home with our children every day. To teach them about Jesus. To love on them. To nurture them. To play with them. To just spend time with them. I am blessed to have a husband that supports/encourages me to be a stay at home wife and mother. I do find some me time with our Home Fellowship Group ladies. Once a month, we spend time together as a group either sharing a meal together or crafting. While
Chris is at night meetings, I am able to spend time doing things that I
enjoy…crafting, editing photographs or watching a TV show(s) that I
enjoy. But my most favorite wind down time is date night with the hubby. We are very blessed to have Darian come twice a month, so Chris and I can go out and just be husband and wife.
We hope you have a very Merry CHRISTmas. That you will find time to reflect on the meaning of CHRISTmas…Christ did come. Christ is come. Christ will come…again
