Reid Family Page
Megan, Angela, James, Hanna, Tim, Sara, Becca, and Emily,
Reid Update 2008-

Yes, friends it has been another exciting year in the ever changing Reid household!!  The ages of the children are now:  Megan
19, Hanna 16, Emily 13, Sara 11, Tim 8 and Becca 5.  Did you notice that we now have 3 teenage daughters in the house!!!  
WOW.  Who needs drama TV?  My life is better than drama TV.  The question, “How was your day?” has a new meaning.  There
is never a dull moment here.   

This year our family has enjoyed many events together.  We went camping to Falls Lake and Myrtle Beach with our 4-H group.  
We have so many wonderful families in our group that camping together is refreshing fellowship for all of us.   This year we have
been able to make several trips to VA to visit my parents and our old friends.  It has been interesting for my kids to see their
childhood buddies grow up and change so much.

Now that our church has finished our new building we got to play a part in opening our church bookstore and working in it.  All of
us helped in some way:  Jaimie built some very professional looking bookshelves, Hanna and I organized the donated books and
worked the cash register.   Megan is mostly decorative but we do believe she attracts more foot traffic ;o}.

In our homeschool the unit studies we covered were:  China, Rocks and Minerals, Habitats, Ants, and Explorers.  We have
incorporated a new way of presenting the information the children have learned.  It is called lapbooking which means we make a
variety of mini books and glue them into a file folder creating interesting pop outs.  It is like combining scrapbooking and origami
with learning.  It is a nice break from pumping out the same old reports and the kids love the creative side of it.

Megan has transitioned from childhood to the adult world quite well.    She is discovering who Megan is by figuring out what her
preferences are and coming out of her shell.   Early this year she got a job at Lowe’s hardware as a cashier.  It has been hard
work but she has risen to the occasion and been a diligent worker.  In June she graduated from our homeschool with a ceremony
and party at home.  It was very touching as we allowed each person to share something special about Megan.  In the fall she
started college full time at Vance Granville Community College.  Between friends, church and her job she keeps happily busy.

Hanna is growing into a wonderful level headed young lady.  This year she got glasses which made her look more mature.  She
does take advantage of it by walking around with an air of authority.  Most people just go ahead and obey her to make life
easier.    It does help in college as she dual enrolled this year.  She is the youngest in the classroom but others do not realize it.  
Even at the church she is given adult responsibilities like teaching children’s Sunday School, running the nursery and working in
the bookstore.  It seems everyone around her forgets that she is not an adult yet.  In my cattery she has become my right hand
helping me in every way to include: making major decisions, cleaning and birthing kittens.  She is considering a Nursing major in
the future.

Emily holds her own around here even though she lives in the shadow of two beautiful older sisters.  I told Jaimie one day that we
had raised all chiefs and no Indians.  Emily is no exception.   Daily she grows in grace and womanhood.  This year she became
old enough to join the church dance team with her sisters, which was an exciting event for her.  She overcame her nervousness
and performed on stage.  When it was done her grin of joy was from ear to ear.  After all that practice she had finally done it.   
Emily is very athletic and besides dancing she enjoys riding bikes, running, swimming and being outdoors.  She would like to dual
enroll at the college someday in the Cosmetology School as she is very creative and loves to fix hair.  She spends hours
designing clothes on paper and then trying them out on her public.    

Sara is a child that is very sensitive to the Holy Spirit.  She seeks God and praises Him with maturity and purpose.   Those that
are near her often see a strong calling on her life for ministry.   Her ability to speak publically is a strong trait in her.  She is a girl
that has a natural inner drive.   After 5th grade she tested at an 8th grade level.  She keeps asking me what she should be when
she grows up but I tell her that she has so many abilities that whatever she decides to put her mind to, she will be a success at.   
Her sparkling smile and openness are a magnet to all the people who come in contact with her.    

Tim has thankfully gotten past the Mr. Distructo stage and moved on to the “build it” stage.  His current building medium is
Legos.  He has a large Lego castle with secret doors and builds space ships too.  Building Bionicle robots is another favorite
pastime.  He can blow those up all day and no real person gets killed.   The robot just needs to be rebuilt.    Tim’s mind is always
full of questions, some that we can answer and some we cannot.  We will be glad when he can read well enough to find some of
the answers himself.

Despite Tim’s influence, Becca has resisted becoming a Tom boy and is 100% a princess.  It seemed a war over which way
Becca should go, for many years, between Tim and the 4 other sisters’.    Each tried to have the greater influence over her.  But
the girls have won and Becca has declared that Pink Princess’s Rule!  As a compromise we bought Becca a pink Lego castle to
complement Tim’s grey one.  We also had them sign a peace treaty right away.  We declared the castles allies because the two
queens were sisters so there would be no blowing up of each other’s castles which would have produced weeping, wailing, and
gnashing of teeth.  We did however have to provide Tim with an enemy so we gave him pirates to blow up as it seems boys need
to do that.  

Once a wise friend told me that Jaimie shows his love by the things he does.  How true that is.  Look at how much he loved us
this year by:  laying down vinyl on the kitten room floor, gutting and rebuilding a closet off the porch, building a goat barn,
hooking up outside water, building beds for our garden, building bookshelves for the church and helping me paint the foyer.  
This year he has also enjoyed hunting (of course), fishing, ushering at our church, and weight lifting with our neighbor Paul.  
Jaimie has worked hard to keep himself in wonderful shape over the years.  He is still employed for a property maintenance
company repairing security gates.

My cats keep me very busy and give so much more than they take.  I seem to have found my niche in breeding Ragdoll cats and
love what I am doing with them.  There is something in me that just knows the right way it should be done and the Lord has really
blessed me in doing so.  The whole family joins me in helping care for the cats.  The kids especially love the kittens and find such
joy in having them around as companions to our busy household.

I read another life changing book this year called, “Life Without Strife,” by Joyce Meyer.  She pointed out that a spirit of strife
roams about trying to divide us from each other.  Many of us spend much of our day criticizing others in our mind which causes
us to pull away from them.  We are in such constant turmoil nit picking the little things, that we are utterly miserable.    We need
to turn away from the spirit of strife and think lovely thoughts about those around us.  Then we will find peace in our hearts.

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is
admirable- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things,” Philippians 4:8.

Sometimes I like to remind my family of the following story, as it explains part of why I wanted a large family.  Long ago before I
had children I was in the Army.  I lived in the barracks and was very lonely because I was a Christian and everyone around me
wanted to party therefore wanting nothing to do with me.  I spent every evening and weekend alone.  I did not like being alone at
all.  So eventually I married and had lots of kids so I would never be alone again.  And now my life is full to overflowing and
boredom is no longer in my vocabulary.   

Be Abundantly Blessed in the Lord,
Angela Reid