Congratulations!

Congrats to my brother & sister-in-law James & Savannah on the birth of their precious daughter!

Natalie Jane
Wed, May 12
8:50 am
7lbs 12 oz
20 in long

LOTS of dark hair and has big feet! :)

She is so darling! I was able to be there at the hospital when she was born, waiting in the waiting room. We got to see her and hold her right away.. it was so amazing and special! What a sweet little niece!

So happy for them both! What a precious family!

MACHE 2010 Conference

MACHE conference at Rochester, MN Civic Center

Our Hotel we stayed at.. Doubletree/Hilton

Our room was soooooo nice! What a great getaway!

At the Conference, I got to meet one of my fav. authors.. Lois Walfrid Johnson, who writes children's historical fiction! So fun!

The skyway/catwalk in our hotel! Pretty!

One of our main speakers.. Lew Sterrett!

The weekend conference had 4600 people attending!

One of the best things about MACHE, the exhibit hall!

MACHE was so great! We went with two of our great friends, Ben & Mindy, which was a blast! A GREAT couple's retreat! :) We had so much fun exploring restaurants and attractions in Rochester, as well as attending the many great speakers and shopping for Homeschooling ideas! It was a blast!

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There was a LOT of info covered in just one weekend, so for newbies to HSchooling, I expect it was a bit overwhelming.. but for a 2nd generation HS like me.. it was fun, yet just a bit overhwleming at times still! :)

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One of my fav. things was the used book sale over the weekend, the session on Homeschooling with MN State Law, and the special conferences they had for POPS families (Parents of preschoolers) it was a great way to get ideas and schooling info! I highly recommend anyone interested going to the MACHE conference next year.. it will be in Duluth, MN!

God has blessed us!

We're so excited to announce ......

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We're PREGNANT!

Helweg Baby #3 is due November 30, 2010!

We are so excited and grateful to God for giving us this addition to our family!

I am super-excited to welcome Baby #3 and long to meet him/her!

What a blessing!!!!

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"I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify Him with thanksgiving"

- Psalm 69:30

Happy 4th Birthday Leah!

So hard to believe my little "Leah-Bug" is four today!!!!

I love you so much, you are so special and sweet and a treasure to our family!

Happy Birthday!

Happy 2nd Birthday Rebekah!

Happy 2nd Birthday to our sweet Rebekah Grace!

We are so thankful for your precious life in our family! You are our sunshine, and the one who always makes us laugh! We love you so much and are so glad you are our daughter!

Love, Mom and Dad

We're Writing!

Leah decided she wanted to learn how to write her name!

I was going to wait until next fall to start her on writing letters, but she beat me to it by learning the "A" and "H" herself! She is so proud of being able to write her own name! (And thankfully it is a short name!) I think the "E" she wrote is very creative! ;)

Our New Laundry Room

Josh re-did our Laundry Room over the weekend, and it looks fabulous!!!! And it all started with a broken washer! ;)

The washer we had fianlly died, it was old and we knew it was coming. So we went and found a killer deal on a brand new set.. which we are thinking of as an investment! :)

But we had to get to the pipes in order to set them up, and the pipe broke! So, hole in the wall later, we decided to just re-do the entire room.. updating it's look and use!

Here are some before/after pictures!

For our new front-loading washer, I wanted a pedestal set, so they would be off the ground and easier to use. But they cost $400! So, Josh just designed and built me his own!!! Way to go honey!

Our Before Pic.. , but after taking the ugly cabinets down off the wall

Plain white walls.

And now...
AFTER!

Our new Washer/Dryer set! YES!

Beautiful new Laundry Room!!!!

Our Girls in 2010

Isn't this just precious? :)

This picture alone was the best shot I got of our 2 girls at their "together" photo session, due to Rebekah being a little stinker and not wanting to do anything for the camera! (new problem for me!) But at least we got one good shot together for 2010!

Our Leah.. almost 4!!!!!!

Our Bekah.. almost 2!!!!!

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How did they get so big? Lately, I have been taking more time just to enjoy being with the girls, and spending time with them in "their world". They are growing so fast.. I can;t comprehend it some days! But what a blessing they are! :)

MACHE and POPS

WE finally decided what we are doing about MACHE this year, due to a great new program they have this year! It is called POPS (Parents of Preschoolers) and is offered to parents who have children under 5 yrs old and have never been to MACHE before.

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They are offering the POPS couple (yes, it must be mother AND father attending) a chance to attend this year's conference FREE! All they have to do is be recommended by a MACHE member family who is attending this year's conference. Plus, they have special classes specifically designed for Preschooler's ages, and beginning homeschooling ideas and topics. It looks amazing!

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Josh & I decided to take up this offer, after discussing it in detail. It would be a great opportunity to go as a couple and to enjoy the seminars on homeschooling, while getting the benefits of the POPS program! Plus, it will be like a "getaway" weekend! :)

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I encourage you all who are interested to check out this POPS program, and take advantage of it if you can.. it is amazing! :) But the good news is if you did decide just to go as an individual the POPS classes are open to MACHE attendees, but you would just have to pay for the conference.

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Please talk to me if you have any questions, or want more information. (If you do want to go as a couple, but dont know a MACHE member family, let me know, I am trying to find people who'd be willing to recommend young couples!) Also, remember the website where all the details are listed! ........... www.mache.org

MACHE anyone?

The Annual MACHE (Minnesota Association of Christian Home Educators) Conference is scheduled for April 15-17, 2010 in Rochester, MN at the Mayo Civic Center.

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It basically is a HUGE gathering of Homeschoolers and people interested in Homeschooling, getting together for used book sales, classes, speakers, great sessions of information and the BEST part of MACHE (I think) is to get to see tables and tables of entire curriculum from companies. Not just looking in a catalog! :)

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It is $70 for the conference, and the rooms in hotels near there, are relatively cheap, especially if they are shared! :) Would be a very fun weekend for us moms, to get to check out info about Homeschooling, while getting a weekend away!

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This conference brochure describes it all in detail! www.mache.org/2010conferencebrochure.pdf Please look it over, and let me know if you would be interested in doing this! It's a great way to get to check out Homeschooling, in it's entirety and with ease of seeing everything it can offer your family! I am excited to get ideas!

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Also, check out the website, www.mache.org

Update!

What a couple of crazy weeks we have had! I LOVE the Holidays, but wow, it goes by faster every year!

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I started school again with Leah, after a month long break, due to the holidays, She surprised me by showing me she knows how to draw some letters already! A and C! That was so amazing, as we were going to work on writing letters next year! :) I am so proud!

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Bekah is now 22 months, and is conversing like a natural! Her speech finally started a few months ago, and she connects words like a pro now! Her latest word is "No" unfortunately! But she doesn't quite know the meaning yet, so we are still good! :)

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I am still working on sewing dresses for the girls for this year, which is my very fun winter project! :) Other than that, I have been taking a GREAT in-depth Sunday school class at our church, which I have really been enjoying! I get to use the intellectual side of my brain at last! :) (Being a mom does that to you I think.. using only 1/5 of your brainpower!) We started the New Testament a few weeks ago, and will be moving on to Church History in a few weeks! I am excited!

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My sister is leaving for a missions trip serving aboard "Africa Mercy" a floating cruise ship used to provide surgeries and medical care to some of the poorest areas on earth! This has been her dream her entire nursing career! I am so excited for her as she gets ready to leave from Feb-April! We will miss her!

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Also, great news on Josh's family side, his sister Hannah, and husband Adam will be expecting their first baby in September! I am sooo excited for them! In addition, James & Savannah's baby still grows well and is due in May! 2 babies this year in the family! How fun!!! :)

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So, our lives continue after the holidays, and we are glad to settle back into our "normal" :)

Meeting Analiese!

My best friend Audrey and her family came for a visit to MN before Christmas, and I was soooooo blessed to get to go spend an entire day with her and meet her newest bundle of joy, Analiese! It was sooo fun and very special! :) I love being an adopted "auntie"!