More Ice Skating

The kids have been having so much fun with ice skating.  Spring, Sammy, Mary, and Joshie decided to use their Christmas money from Great Grandpa Powell to buy ice skates.  We went ice skating last night for FHE.  It was super frigid so we didn't get lots of pictures.  Everybody except Sara and I skated but we didn't get pictures of them all.  I held Sara and tried to keep her and I warm.  The kids loved it and wanted to stay longer but we alas the evening had to end.  They are already hoping to go again this week.  It is neat that now that they have their own ice skates the ice skating is free.

Ice Skating

Joel took the older 4 kids ice skating for the 2nd time yesterday.  He said they are really improving and getting so much more comfortable on the ice.  They love being on the ice.  At one point Joel almost ran over Sammy so he had to do the splits and Sammy went in between his legs.  I wish I could have been there to see that or capture it on film!

Christmas 2013

Christmas Eve was so relaxing for us.  We had everything wrapped a couple weeks ago and just enjoyed the day together playing games and just being with each other.  Following dinner we read the story of Christ's birth in the scriptures and spent time sharing our testimonies together.  We had family prayer and then the kids opened their Christmas PJ's. They are all so gracious and excited about their jammies.  Joshie exclaimed, "Yes, Jake Slip n' slide jammies!"  It was awesome.  They all, minus Sara, slept in Thomas and Sammy's room.  Gideon was moved to his own room after a short while and they were all asleep by 8:15.  It was great.  Joel and I headed to bed about 9:30 and were laying in bed reading when all of a sudden we lost power.  

We had the adventure of trying to locate flashlights since our children think flashlights are toys.  We found a couple and then we lit candles.  Thomas and Spring woke up and said they couldn't sleep so we let them go into Spring's room and play games by candle and flashlight.  Even though her room was super cold they thought it was fun.  Gratefully, we only were without power for a couple hours and around 11:30 power was restored.  

Christmas morning the kids actually slept in until Thomas woke them up at 6:15.  I think that is a record in our home!  When he woke up Gideon, I asked Gideon if we should see if Santa came. He agreed and went to the bedroom window to look out.  He looked back at me and said, "Santa not here.  Let's go back to bed."  His siblings quickly reminded him Santa did come and left toys downstairs for us.  

It was awesome to have my parents and sister, Alanna, join us for Christmas morning.  I am so grateful they have continued the tradition of joining us via the computer for Christmas morning, even though there is a 3 hour time difference for them.  The kids look forward to this every year.  Today they all mentioned to me at different times that they know how much Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Alanna love them because they get up really early to spend Christmas morning with them so we can have some family with us even though we live so far away.  How grateful I am for technology and the opportunities it affords us to be together when distance may separate us.

I'm grateful for our children and their pure love and excitement.  They were so gracious and excited about everything today.  It was a fun day playing games together, looming rubber band bracelets, listening to music, laughing, playing rescue bots, taking multiple bubble baths with new bubble bath, and sharing the day together.  

Christmas Express

 I was given the great idea of taking our kids on the "Christmas Express" to mirror the Polar Express.  So, Joel and I have been planning for a few weeks and last night was the night.  We had the kiddos get in their PJ's prior to Family Home Evening.  Following FHE we invited them to come aboard the "Christmas Express" and handed out their individual tickets.  They hurried to put on their shoes and then headed to the bus where Joel was prepared to punch their tickets.  We had Polar Express music playing and we headed off to drive around looking at lights. After a few minutes, we turned the music to "Hot Chocolate" and handed out cups of hot chocolate to all of them and bags of cookies and treats.  They were so excited.  They kept telling us this was the best Christmas Express ever.  Joshie even said it was better than the Polar Express.  That is really saying something for a boy that loves the Polar Express.  It was an amazing evening and the kids had a great time.  They have all requested that this become a new family tradition for us.

What We've Been Up To

 Sammy LOVES cub scouts.  The last few weeks they have been working on this project for their moms.  The top holds wooden spoons.  He decided to give it to Dad since I was there for scouts and saw what he was working on.  He was so excited to give it to Joel that he couldn't wait for Christmas.

 Joshie and Gideon have discovered that the Christmas tree is the ideal place to play transformers!

 Friday night Joel and I went to the temple.  The kids look forward to our monthly temple trips for their "parties."  This is what we came home to at 1:00 in the morning!  All six of the older kids asleep under the tree and Sara asleep in her crib.  Love these kids and the fun they have together.

 Joel took Sara on a test drive after fixing the car last week.  She thinks she is ready for her license already.

 Sara still loves the stairs.

 Yesterday Joel took Sammy and a couple other boys from the pack to Brother Juhasz's home to cut out their pinewood derby cars.  Sammy is beyond excited for his first pinewood derby race.

 After cutting out their cars, they worked on raising/lowering a flag and folding the flag.

Gideon & Sara's Pictures

Officially a Teenager!

As of yesterday, I am officially the mother of a teenager.  How did that happen?  I really don't know.  During dinner Thomas and Spring were figuring out all kinds of things to help Joel and I feel old.  They informed us that in 10 years we could be grandparents!  Then they laughed that Sara won't even be a teenager then!  

Thomas is an amazing young man.  He is thoughtful, responsible, gentle hearted, innocent, kind, trustworthy, honest, hard working, reverent, courageous, friendly, obedient, and amazing!  We often wonder how we were blessed to have him in our family.  He is a friend to all.  Despite his many talents, he is fiercely humble.  He never gets nervous or anxious when it is time to perform on piano, percussion, violin, etc; however, he does get embarrassed and uneasy when the spotlight turns to him in verbal recognition and praise.  He would prefer his music to shine and not him.  

I love this amazing young man.  I love the things he is learning and I love the man he is becoming.  I look forward to the fun times ahead and the experiences we will share together.

He chose chicken croissant rolls for dinner and pumpkin poppers for dessert.  Try to ignore the fact that I only had 7 candles and we used 6 matches to get his 13 "candles".

Christmas Concerts

Tis the season of Christmas concerts.  I think in the month of December we have had about 10 concerts to attend.  They are great and it is so wonderful to watch the kiddos perform and see their excitement to share all they have been working on.  I have not been very good at getting video of all the concerts; however, here are a few snippets.  Tomorrow evening is our last concert for the Christmas season. I am kinda  excited for that so we can have a free evening at home! :)

Highlights from Yesterday

Sara discovered the big bowls are great stools to get taller.  She stood watching the cookies bake for longer than I thought she would.

 Sammy and Mary had their school Christmas Choir Concert.  They were so excited to dress up for it.  Sammy has been wanting a black dress shirt "just like the one Thomas wears for Jazz Band" for a couple months now.  I surprised him with one when he got home from school.  He was so happy!

 My favorite part of Mary's performance was the HUGE smile that was on her face the entire time.  I think it made it difficult to sing because she was smiling so big!

 My favorite part of Sammy's performance was the HUGE yawn he had right in the middle of one of the songs and he didn't try to hide it all!  Love this kid!

Sara's Antics

Sara loves the stairs!  The little boys (Josh and Gid) were so thrilled to teach her to climb up the stairs a couple months ago.  While Grandma Powell was here she worked on teaching Sara how to come down the stairs safely since she so quickly and eagerly climbs the stairs all day long.  She is doing so well on the stairs now.  Well, last week she had a fall down the stairs. According to Gideon, she only fell down 2 stairs.  She had a nice bump for a few hours and then it went down and all she has now for her battle scar is a bruise.  It hasn't stopped her from enjoying the stairs, however!

 Sara loves to empty drawers and cupboards.  This is a common scene in our kitchen.  In all reality, it is actually pretty mild.  She often has all the plastic dishes, the tupperware, and sometimes lots of ziploc bags spread throughout the kitchen.

Family Pictures

In October we were blessed to have a wonderful photographer take family pictures for us.  It was a very cold morning and Sammy was not a fan of having to take off his sweatshirt!  With so many personalities it is a challenge to get everyone to look in one direction, but she did amazing! If you are looking for a photographer, we highly recommend her!

1 Year Old

The day before Thanksgiving our little Sara had her 1st birthday.  I'm not sure where that year went but I do know our family was blessed each and every day with her sweet spirit.  She had ice cream cake for her birthday.  I think the cold was a shock to her on the first bite; however, after a couple bites she became a fan!  Grandma Powell made her a beautiful quilt for her birthday.  I just love the colors of it.  Sara is a such a joy and such a happy little one.  Highlights at 1 year include:

*20 pounds, 12 ounces and 29 inches tall

*She has discovered the drawers in the kitchen and how to empty them all very quickly.

*She loves to empty out totes of toys and then sit in the totes.

*She will start to touch something she knows she is not supposed to touch...look up at us and say, "no, no, no" with cute little pursed lips.

*She likes to walk holding both our hands.  She is not a fan of walking with just holding one hand.

*She can stand for quite some time on her own but when she realizes it, she drops down to the floor.

*She only likes to feed herself.  She loves cheese, yogurt, crackers, and bananas.  Grandma discovered she is NOT a fan of cream cheese!

*She is lightening fast going upstairs and loves to be with her older siblings in their rooms.  She is not so good at coming down the stairs yet.  Grandma got her to learn a little but I am still nervous with her on the stairs.

*She begins to bounce and dance whenever she hears music.

*Loves to clap and wave.  

*Words she says:  bye, hi, mama, dada, no, amen, ya

So happy to spend our days with Sara!  I'm excited to watch her continue to learn new things and see her personality express itself more and more!

Grandma & Grandpa Come to Visit

My folks were able to come and spend almost 2 full weeks with us.  They were here for Sammy's baptism, Thanksgiving, game playing, Circle K trips, Handle's Ice Cream, and lots of other fun times in between. They spoiled the kids taking them to school in the morning so they didn't have to leave so early to catch the bus. Mom helped me learn how to make pillow blankets while she was here too.  I am slowly learning how to sew...only wish I would have learned from her when I was younger and still at home. Since most of the birthdays in our family my mom had a great idea to celebrate all the birthdays with one big party.  The girls helped Grandma with planning some fun Minute to Win It games.  We all had a great time laughing and trying out the challenges.  Grandma got an Ice Cream Cake for dessert which was a big treat for us all.

I loved the week of Thanksgiving. Joel was off work and was able to be home and it was a very relaxed and fun time.  My mom and I were able to go shopping together, without any kiddos, a few different times.  That was such a treat for us and a rarity in the past few years.  I am so grateful for my mom and for the wonderful relationship we share.  We don't need to be doing anything fancy to enjoy our time together.  I only wish we could be together more often but we appreciate the moments we do share.  

The day before Thanksgiving we baked, baked, and baked some more.  We made pies, pumpkin cake rolls, pumpkin muffins, and also some Thanksgiving dinner things that could be prepped the evening before.  Then we had our traditional pie for breakfast on Thanksgiving morning.  This continues to be a favorite tradition for us and for many of our friends and neighbors.  A quick count came out to a little over 100 friends that joined us in our home that morning.  It was wall to wall people, laughter, food, and fun.  Then, my Aunt Karen, Uncle Scott, and cousin, Tiffany and Teighlor joined us for Thanksgiving.  Tiffany is living in Ohio now and her parents came here from Arizona to visit.  We were so happy and grateful they joined with us on Thanksgiving.  It was amazing to have so much family with us.  This was the best Thanksgiving we have had in a very long time!

We decorated for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving and watched the traditional "Polar Express."  Grandpa joined Thomas and Joel on the youth temple trip Saturday morning.  Thomas has found and prepared 10 family names to take to the temple from the Powell side so Grandpa was able to baptize him and then he and Joel confirmed him fontside for those family names.  That evening Grandma and Grandpa took Thomas, Spring, Sammy, and Mary bowling.  This was a fun time for all.

Sunday we went to Historic Kirtland to look at the nativity display.  Monday evening we were able to go to the All City Orchestra concert in which Thomas and Spring both performed.  Thomas on the violin and Spring on the cello.  Grandma and Grandpa loved being able to see this concert.  Thomas' violin string broke in the middle of the concert just before he was to perform with the High School on the piece he arranged.  Fortunately, it was able to be replaced and the show could go on.  Lots of lessons learned with that experience.

Grandma went to transformer school held by Josh and Gideon so she could learn how to be a transformer and play with them.  After a while of Joshie trying to teach her Joshie decided, "Grandma, maybe you should just be a person because you're not so good at being a transformer!"  We laughed about this all week!  Grandpa, however, passed transformer school!

Yesterday, the fun came to an end as we had to take them back to the airport.  Looking back I wonder where the time went.  We wait so long for the time to come and then the time just flies by while they are here.  It was a wonderful time together.  It was great that the kids were off school so much and we could just enjoy the simple pleasures of being together.  I am so grateful for the time they took to come and spend with us.

Mary's New Bed

One night while my folks were here we decided to play a trick on Mary.  When she was sound asleep we moved her from her bed into the crib in her room. The next morning she asked us why we moved her into the crib and we told her we didn't know how she got in there.  She thought it was so funny that she had "sleptwalked" into the crib.  The funniest part is...she has now decided that is where she wants to sleep all the time now and she has slept in the crib for almost 2 weeks now!  Silly girl!

Another Eagle is in our MIdst

Thomas participated in his Eagle Board of Review tonight and passed!  He is 3 weeks shy of turning 13 and the youngest scout in our council to ever achieve the rank of Eagle.  He wasn't the least bit nervous for his Board of Review and he was all smiles after it was over.  What an amazing achievement this is for him.  He has worked hard and has high goals of continuing along the scouting trail.  He already has 18 additional merit badges, beyond those required for Eagle rank and has a long list of ones he wants to earn so he can learn all sorts of new things.  My heart overflows with gratitude for the inspired scouting program and for great men that Thomas is able to associate with and learn from in this process.

Sammy's Baptism

Sammy was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  Grandma and Grandpa Powell were able to be here for the baptism.  Aunt Alanna sent a white bear to remind him of the 3 Bears of Baptism, the covenants he makes at baptism.  The poor kid was shivering from the cold water but he wore his trademark smile.  Gideon was sitting down in the front watching the baptism and as soon as he was baptized Gideon stood up, turned around, and announced, "My turn!"  It was priceless!

He was happy to have Brother Schneck, his piano teacher, conduct the baptism.  He had asked Grandpa Powell and Brother Schneck to be the witnesses for his baptism.  Joel, Grandpa Powell, Brother Schneck, and Bishop MacPherson stood in the circle for his confirmation.

I am so grateful for Sammy.  He wants to do the right.  He has overcome huge obstacles in his life and he has amazing potential.  I admire his love for life.  I am so grateful for his desire to be baptized.  I love this kid.

My "Helper"

Sara has become quite the little helper when it is time to put groceries away.  I think she enjoys the freedom of crawling around after having been on the massive shopping trips with me!  At one point she was chewing the lid of the milk.  Then, when I was putting things in the fridge she was taking them out again.  She really thought it was fun to throw the oranges after I put them away.  Then she started to bite into the oranges and lemons.  Beware of eating fruit from our fridge...it may have been tested by Sara already!

The First Snow

This was first thing in the morning when it was still snowing.  I thought the colored leaves with snow were beautiful!

Earlier this week we had our first snowstorm of the season and our house was full of excitement.  The kids didn't even want to watch cartoons in the morning. They just kept running from window to window exclaiming it was snowing and begging to go out in the snow.  Early that morning they were out playing and having a great time.  Throughout the day Joshie and Gideon were out most of the day and Joshie repeatedly exclaimed, "This is the BEST SNOWSTORM EVER!"  After school Sammy, Spring, and Mary did not even come inside to have a snack.  They just wanted to stay out in the snow.  A couple days later it warmed up and the snow melted away but they are hopeful that this winter will be another very snowy winter like our first winter in Ohio!  I love the magic of snow...especially the first snowstorm of the year!

A New Bobcat

Sammy attended his first pack meeting as an official cub scout last night and earned the rank of Bobcat.  He also earned the Chess, Kickball, and Bowling beltloops along with his first 2 yellow beads on his way to earning the Wolf Rank.  He has been so excited and loving scouts.  I'm so happy he loves to be in scouts.  At breakfast today Sammy was reminding Thomas that he was going to break Thomas' record with cub scouts and earn more arrow points and beltloops.  Spring then told Thomas she was going to break his AR (Accelerated Reader) record at the Intermediate school.  I mentioned, "Hey, records are made to be broken." to which Thomas happily replied, "That's why I set them!"  Love these kiddos that bless our lives!

Another Sammy Moment

Sammy is always good for a laugh and tonight he did it again. We were all at the table and he was the first one finished with dinner. After asking to be excused he exclaimed, "Oh man, I have to go to the bathroom!" Then he added, "And it's P-O-O-P!" We snickered and Joel Biggs replied, "T-H-A-N-K    Y-O-U!" To which Sammy asked, "Oh, That's how you spell poop?"

Never a dull moment at our home! 

Sammy's Birthday Party

Sammy has been waiting, in his words, "YEARS" for his first birthday party with friends.  Our kiddos get to have a friend party on even years beginning when they are 8 years old.  Sammy has been planning his party for probably most of this past year.  He finally decided on inviting a few friends and going bowling.  They came to the house first for dinner...nachos!  Then off they went bowling and then home for cake and ice cream and some time to play with his new toys he received.  He was so excited and happy.  It was really fun for us to watch him interact with his friends.  He kept telling us that was the best day ever!  This kid sure has a ton of  "best days ever!"  I hope he never loses that love for life and the joy in such simple things!

Dishwasher Helper

Sara has decided she is now old enough to help the family with dishes!

This is How We Roll

Sara decided to "help" me make spudnuts!  By the time I realized she was helping there was flour all over her and the floor!

It must have been a good night sleeping to wake up with hair like this!  And a juice mustache in the morning it always a good start to the day.

Here is a fashion expert at the finest!  This is what he wanted to wear to Sue Ann's house.

Love this girl's silliness!

She was a little hungry tonight!

On Fire!

Sammy has been on fire with cub scouts since the moment he received his book.  He looks through it at night reading and learning.  In the morning he lets me know what he wants to work on.  Sunday he wanted to work on cooking skills.  One of the requirements was to cook a meal outside.  He and Joel decided to do dutch oven burgers, beans, and biscuits. He loved making it.  I had to laugh when he was needing to cut the onion.  He got rainbow duct tape to cover his nose so he wouldn't have to smell the onions.  It is so fun to watch his enthusiasm.  He didn't have school yesterday so he cooked dinner for us.  He made oven tacos and they were delicious!  I have to admit though that cooking with Sammy scares me a little! He likes to be a little crazy in everything he does and cooking is no exception.  He jumps around in the kitchen and does ninja moves while cooking.  It is definitely not a clean endeavor when Sammy is involved; however, the meal is cooked, he helps clean up, and he has fun.  So, I think all goals are achieved!  I am learning to be OK with his style...not there yet but I am trying to learn!