Thanksgiving

We were so blessed to have some family come and visit with us for Thanksgiving.  Joel's cousin, Tracy, and her family came to visit from Indiana.  Spring was so excited to finally have more girls in the house than boys since Tracy has 3 little girls.  The kids all had fun playing and spending time together for the days they were here.  We enjoyed our traditional "pie for breakfast" on Thanksgiving morning.  I really think this is the kids' favorite Thanksgiving tradition.  This year they invited friends from school as well.  We had probably 20 families join us and at one point there were 30 little kids in the house...all under the age of 11!  It was great to share in all the different pies and, more importantly, in the associations with all these wonderful people that truly bless our family's life!

It was fun to have the help of everyone in preparing dinner.  I am so grateful for a husband that enjoys helping in the kitchen and for children that love to help cook and are becoming very independent and capable in the kitchen.  I loved Thanksgiving this year as it was relaxing and enjoyable to be all together.

The following morning we were able to take Dustin & Tracy's family to the John Johnson farm in Hiram and then to Historic Kirtland.  We love being in these sacred places.  Mary and Sammy both told me that evening that they love coming to Kirtland and it is their second favorite place to go (Palmyra being their most favorite).  We were able to witness the Christmas lighting Ceremony at Historic Kirtland.  I loved it, as did all of our family.  After the lights were turned on everyone joined in singing, "Joy to the World." I found myself overcome with emotion during this to the point that I could not sing.  I thought of the joy this season brings that the whole world takes time to remember and worship our Savior, Jesus Christ.  Then I thought of the sacred ground I was standing on...in the shadows of the buildings that this same, Jesus Christ, came to testify, teach, and witness to the Prophet Joseph Smith.  The Spirit was overwhelming and powerful.  Joy to the world, the Lord is come...Let earth receive Her King!

Giving Thanks for ALL Things

My sister, Alanna, was telling me about an activity she was going to do with her class at school and I loved it so we used it for our Family Home Evening last week with a little adaptations.  I first gave everyone a sheet of paper entitled, "I am NOT thankful for..." and we all listed things we were not thankful for on this last.  At first, Thomas and Spring had a really hard time thinking of things they were not thankful for.  I think they were really confused that we were asking them to do this.  After we all had listed 5-7 things we opened our scriptures to Doctrine and Covenants 78:17-19:

Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye are little children, and ye have not as yet understood how great blessings the Father hath in his own hands and prepared for you;

 And ye cannot bear all things now; nevertheless, be of good cheer, for I will lead you along. The kingdom is yours and the blessings thereof are yours, and the riches of eternity are yours.

 And he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold, yea, more.

So, we asked what was meant by receiving ALL things with thankfulness.  After a short discussion of this we crossed out the word "NOT" and discovered we had a list of things were were thankful for.  So then we all had to think of why we were thankful for these things in our life.  It was a wonderful evening of looking for the blessings that come from the challenges, difficulties, or frustrations in our lives.  Here are a few of the ideas we came up with:

JOEL

*I am thankful for disobedient children because it means I learn patience and long suffering to become more like Father in Heaven.

*I am thankful for oil leaking from the car because it means I learn more about how to fix our cars.

JENNIFER

*I am thankful for pee on the bathroom floor because it means we have a house full of boys that we love so much!

*I am thankful for drinks spilling at mealtime because it means we are blessed to have excitement and conversations together at dinnertime.

THOMAS

*I am thankful for bullies because it means I can set an example on how to treat others kindly.

*I am thankful for vegetables because it means I can be strong and healthy if I eat them.

SPRING

*I am thankful for getting hurt because it means I have something to pray about.

*I am thankful for getting sick because it means I can remember I will be free of this after I am resurrected.

SAMMY

*I am thankful for princesses because it means Mary has something she likes to play with.

*I am thankful for spray in my mouth because it means I can remember to stop yelling and saying mean things.

MARY

*I am thankful for breaking things because it means my mom helps me fix them.

*I am thankful for Sammy being mean to me because it means I have a brother to play with.

Boys' Birthday Pictures

Thomas...Almost 11

 Gideon...1 Year Old

Joshie...3 years old

Sammy...6 Years Old

Battle Wound

The kids were busy playing some game that Sammy invented last night after dinner. All at once we heard Joshie crying really hard. You see, he usually doesn't cry even when you would expect him to. He is one tough kid that lives up to the nickname, "The Tank" in almost all aspects. When we looked at him, my stomach got a little queasy. The bridge of his nose had come in contact quite forcefully with the edge of our desk. Somehow, he didn't get any black eyes from it! It looks better this morning when I snapped this picture. Even I couldn't bring myself to get a picture last night!

Like Father...Like Son

"Do you think Dad will notice if I drink just one?"

Seasons

One thing I love about Ohio is that we experience all 4 seasons and they are in such contrast.  We have been busy raking leaves for the last few weeks. We all go out and work so hard to rake up the leaves and as we finish we look over our  yard with a feeling of accomplishment; however, 20 minutes later it doesn't look like we have done anything!  Oh, but leaves are so fun to jump in.  Joshie has been our big "jump in the pile of leaves" guy this year.  He will take a running start and then dive into the leaves and go all the way under so we can't even see him anymore.  He comes up with the biggest grin on his face only to do it again.  I am constantly finding him with leaves in his pants though! 

The mornings have been beautiful as well with a beautiful sunrise glowing onto the few trees that are still holding onto some of their leaves. Last Wednesday Thomas called us to look out the front window and we were met by this beautiful scene:

Then, the following morning we woke up to the first hint of snow for the season.  Luckily it wasn't much and it didn't stick around for long, much to the dismay of our children.  It will soon be here to stay along with ice storms and freezing rain so we will enjoy all the good weather we can get until then.  Sammy and Mary had to put all their snow clothes on and go out and play in the snow before Sammy headed off to school.  They had so much fun! 

And the Vice President is...

SPRING! 

Joel, Sammy, Mary, Joshie, Gideon, and I were able to go to her school yesterday afternoon and listen as all candidates gave their speeches to the student body.  There were 6 candidates for vice-president.  After the speeches were over the students went back to their classrooms to vote and we headed home.  It would be about an hour until Spring got home from school and could tell us the results of the election.  We were probably more nervous than she was.  I went outside about the time her bus comes by.  She was at the end of the street and when she saw me she started running and yelling, "Mom, Mom!"  I figured that was a good sign.  When we got closer to each other she called out, "Mom, I'm Vice President!"  She ran into my arms and gave me a big hug.  I was so happy for her.  She has really worked hard.  I'm excited to see the opportunities she will be having this year in this position.

"I Need Thee Every Hour"

The Elders asked Thomas to accompany them for a musical piece they are doing in a couple weeks in Sacrament Meeting.  Thomas practiced with them this evening and Joel took some video so we could share it with family and also so we could email the families of the Elders to share it with them.

Answered Prayers

This afternoon Spring took Sammy, Mary, Joshie, Gideon, and Scout for a walk.  When Joel got home from work they were still not home and they had been gone for about 20 minutes which is a pretty long walk for them but the weather was nice so we thought they were just enjoying the time.  About 15 minutes later they were still not home yet and it was starting to quickly get dark.  Joel and I walked to the corner to see if we could see them but we couldn't.  He kept walking and I ran back home to get the van so I could drive the other direction looking for them.  Just as I was backing out of the driveway I saw them turn the corner to our house.  I asked if they were OK and they said they were and then proceeded to tell us this story....

They wanted to walk to the little neighborhood park to play for a little while.  Sammy said he knew the way to the park so he led the way.  After a while he told Spring he guessed he didn't know the way afterall.  Spring said it was OK because she knew where they were.  Then a couple minutes later, after walking some more, Spring said she didn't know where they were either.  Sammy started to cry and kept telling Spring he was sorry and it was all his fault and he should have never come on the walk.  He was crying pretty hard and was scared they wouldn't get back home and it was getting dark and cold.  Spring put her arm around Sammy and asked Sammy if he wanted to say a prayer with her.  He said that would be a good idea so they all kneeled down on the sidewalk and Spring said a prayer that they would be comforted and be able to find their way home before it got too dark.  They all commented on how much calmer they felt after the prayer.  Sammy said he was still a little scared but not even close to as scared as he was before they said the prayer.  They then got up and started walking and really soon they found a street sign they recognized and Spring knew exactly where they were and how to get home. 

We talked about his during dinner tonight and Sammy mentioned how he was so glad that he could feel the Holy Ghost comfort him when he was so scared.  Spring mentioned how neat it was that this week she is focusing her personal scripture study on how to recognize the Holy Ghost in her life and that she had this experience tonight when she knows she felt the Holy Ghost comfort and guide her.  I am thankful that Sammy and Spring had this experience together to learn they can depend on each other and help each other because sometimes they have a difficult time getting along with each other.  I think they both learned how deep their love for one another really is and how much they need each other.  How grateful I am for children that have the faith to pray for comfort and guidance and for a loving Father in Heaven that answered their pleading.

Big Boy!

Miracles never cease...this little dude of our's is potty trained!  It only took about 2 days and being banned from the basement until he went potty!  Once he realized I was serious about him not being able to go to the basement until he went potty it didn't take too long.  Thanks, Grandma, for the idea!  He only had 3 accidents and those were in the first 2 days, and one of them was on purpose when he was outside playing.  He had gone into the backyard to play and was only in his underwear.  I looked out to see him standing on the patio bent over and watching himself pee all over the ground with his underwear still on.  When I went out and told him he needed to go in the potty he said, "But, Mom.  I didn't pee on the carpet.  I just pee outside like doggies do."  He hasn't had an accident in 5 days and we started 7 days ago!  He even wears underwear to bed and at naptime now!  The only drawback is he strips completely naked when he goes to the bathroom...underwear, pants, shirt all have to come off he thinks so if I don't go with him I see him bringing me a handful of clothes to help him get dressed again! 

Spring for Vice President

Spring decided to run for Vice-President of the Student Council.  She has been taking this very seriously and when she turned her speech into her advisor to be reviewed her advisor was shocked and told her it sounded like a speech a high school student would write.  They are permitted one poster to hang in the school and she worked on that this weekend.  She knew exactly what she wanted to do and spent so much time making it "just perfect."  Friday is the big day when she gives her speech to the school and then waits for the election results.  I am so proud of her for going after this with such determination.  She told me today that even though she is still new to this school and a lot of kids don't know her she hopes they will vote for her after hearing her speech!  I sure hope they do too!

"Do what is right, let the consequence follow..."

Thomas came home from school on Monday and told me that his team at school (2 classes that switch for various subjects) was going to have a party on Thursday for the end of the quarter.  There were 3 movies for the students to choose from and one of them he knew he could not watch.  He voted for one of the other 2; however, was very disappointed that the movie that received the highest number of votes was the one he knew he should not watch.  He told his teacher that day he would not watch that movie.  As we were talking he also told me that other kids were trying to convince him to just watch it anyway.  Here are some of the things he was told and his responses:

OTHERS:  "Just don't tell your parents.  They'll never know because they aren't in school with you."

THOMAS:  "I don't hide things from my parents and I won't lie to them.  Anyway, I know it is wrong and that is why I am not going to watch it."

OTHERS:  "But, nobody will know you did."

THOMAS:  "I will know.  And, even if my parents never found out, there is someone else that will always know what I am doing."

OTHERS:  "But you'll really like this movie."
THOMAS:  "There's no way I would like watching something that I know I shouldn't be watching."

I was so humbled by him as he was telling me about the situation and ever so grateful that he courageously stood up for what he knew was right.  He said he told his teacher that he would not watch the movie and she told him he could go to a different room to read if he wanted to during the movie.  He was just fine with this alternative.  So, I was talking with him and asked him if he would like me to come and pick him up during this time and we could go do something fun instead and then I would take him back after the  movie was over.  He thought that sounded great. 

I emailed his teacher Monday evening and asked what time the movie would be shown so I could come and pick him up.  I was so impressed with her response the next day,

We came up with a great idea.  We will show 2 movies, one in each of the classrooms.  We will show the 2 most popular movie choices and that way more kids will be happy.  Thomas has such a fine character to stand up for himself and we want to honor the decisions you make at home .  I think our solution will work for everyone.

WOW!  Was I surprised and ever so grateful.  Thomas came home from school on Tuesday and told me of the plan because his teacher had talked to him about it already.  He was so excited.  We talked about how wonderful it is when we are blessed for doing what is right.  It reminded me of a line to a hymn, "Do what is right, let the consequence follow."  He did what was right with no worry about the consequence or what he may miss out on.  In so doing he set a powerful example and he gained a testimony that Heavenly Father will bless us when we "dare to do right." 

Today was the party and he came home so excited.  He told me there was another boy in his class that thanked him for saying something about the movie because he wasn't allowed to see it either but he was too scared to say anything.  How grateful I am for a son that inherently wants to do the right thing and really doesn't see anything else as an alternative.  And, how grateful I am for loving teachers that went out of their way to make the situation a positive experience for all involved.

Grateful For...

I forgot to include this precious picture in Gideon's birthday post.  This is right after he opened his birthday present from Grandma & Grandpa.  All of his siblings were so excited to play with him (or maybe to play with his new toy!).  He was elated to be amidst them all...Gideon is most happy when he is with his older brothers and sisters.  They all played together so nicely for quite some time.  It warms my heart when I see moments like this.  It makes me want to freeze time and just bask in the joy of families.  Even though they have moments when they pester and quarrel with each other, there truly are more of these moments when they sincerely enjoy being together.  I need to remember these joyous moments when the other times of chaos and craziness seem to take over!  How blessed we are for these blessings from our Father in Heaven.