9 Months

This momentous week marked Sara's 9 months too.  We love getting to know her fun personality and having her energetic shrieks and laughs and giggles float through the house.  Highlights for this month include:

 

*Pulling herself to a stand on everything.  When I am working in the kitchen she is often standing next to me with a firm grip on my pant leg.

*She continues to chew on toes.

*Waves hello to people...sometimes with a wave and sometimes must her outstretched arm and "clam hands"

*EATS a TON of food.  Not sure where all that food goes!

*Dumps out Scout's food and water dish constantly if I forget to put it up on the counter.

*Likes to stand at the dishwasher and "help" me unload it.

*Babbles a lot!

*She is staring the fun stage of grabbing at the spoon when I am feeding her...makes for super messy mealtimes.

*She often gets stuck under chairs, tables, and in between couches.

 

She continues to be such an easy going baby.  She loves to be in the midst of the chaos and knows how to get what she wants from her siblings.  I love this little gal and love the time I get to play and cuddle with her.

 

STATS

Weight: 18 pounds, 4 ounces

Height: 27 inches

Head Circumference: 44.5 cm

 

Best Rain Day Ever!

 

The boys loved playing in the rainstorm yesterday.  Who could blame them when the temps were in the 80's and the rain was coming down.  They stomped in puddles, ran up and down the driveway, and "flew" away with their umbrellas.  Joshie repeatedly yelled out, "This is the best rain day EVER!"

That Time of Year Again

Somehow summer once again ended and it is time for our children to head back to school.  I feel like I was just anxiously awaiting the end of the school year so we could have the summer together.  As I look back over the last couple months and wonder where the time went I am convinced that time will only move faster and faster from here on out.  I'm not so sure I am ready for that.  Our summer was full of fun and the cool part was we were together for most of it.  We spent hours outside swimming, riding bikes, hiking, and being silly kids.  The kids also did a ton of reading.  Sammy successfully completed his "college class" that helped him build his reading confidence and fluency.  Spring could always be found with a book in her hands...even when she had to go to the bathroom.  She will read as she is walking to the bathroom, read while going to the bathroom, and read while washing her hands.  She will probably kill me for including this but I think her love for reading is absolutely amazing and such a great influence on her younger siblings.  Amongst Thomas' other projects this summer he too read more books than I can count and volunteered for over 30 hours at the public library.

 

June was full of family visiting for the reunion.  That was an amazing month that we relive with fond memory often.  Then we had a week to prepare for Joel and Thomas to head off to Scout Camp the first week of July. 

 

July brought daily swimming lessons and more swimming time in the afternoons and evenings.  Our kids progressed so much in their swimming confidence and abilities this summer.  I am so grateful for that opportunity this summer.  July also brought to our home phase 1 of Thomas' eagle project as he organized and executed a very successful rummage/bake sale.  Spring was his right arm throughout this process helping to keep him on his toes and giving all sorts of wonderful suggestions and help whenever he needed it, wanted it, and even at times when he didn't!  But, hey, what are sisters for afterall!  Our family had the wonderful opportunity to support Thomas in this effort and see the fruits of hard work.  Sammy is already planning what he wants to do for his Eagle project and Spring is hoping she can organize a big service project in a few years as well.

 

August ushered in Phase 2 of his project...the building, finishing, and delivery of his bookcases to the school.  Again, it was a family affair and he was so gracious and expressed his gratitude continually and freely to all that helped him.  I would be lying if I said I didn't breathe a huge sigh of relief when the shelves were delivered and presented 3 days prior to school starting.  August also brought more time in the pool and time riding bikes, hiking, and going to parks.  Sadly, this week brought an end to our "careless" and full days of family fun as the kids had to head back to school. 

 

As usual, they were all super excited and I was the one reluctant and holding back the tears as they excitedly ran off to meet the bus Monday morning.  I miss these kids while they are gone all day; however, it does give me more time to focus on the younger 3 still at home.  Gideon has been having a hard time with them gone.  He is often found at the front window with his face in his hands saying, "Miss Spring!"  He is so excited when she comes home from school and seldom leaves her side until bedtime.  Joshie misses wrestling with Sammy "all day on the trampoline!"

 

 Spring is now in 5th grade at Lakeview Intermediate! Despite not having her best friend in her class she is excited for switch classes and to be in Orchestra, Choir, and Band.

 My little Mary begins her all day school career with 1st grade.  She is so happy to have 2 of her best friends from Kindergarten and her neighborhood friend in her class.  She is very happy to eat lunch at school and loves to help give me ideas on the perfect school lunch to pack for her.

 Our awesome Sammy is so happy to be playing "kick and catch" again at recess.  The first day he walked out of the house without his lunch but was sure to have his football with him.  2nd grade is going to be a good year for him.  He can't wait to learn more math and do fun science experiments this year.

 Somehow Thomas thinks he is old enough to be in Junior High.  Not sure how this happened.  He also discovered, as we were measuring all the kids the night before school began, that he is now about 1/2 inch taller than his mother!  This gives him great joy...not so much joy on my part though! He loves having different teachers in each subject and is so happy to be in the accelerated math class and gifted program for language arts.  He is once again the orchestra and band, and has been asked to be the accompanist for the school choir. 

 

 

 

Eagle Project....Completed!

Once Thomas had the funds raised for his project he wasted no time for the next phase. He and Joel went and purchased the materials for the 10 bookcases he was making for the school teachers. He worked on a Tuesday morning with a couple men from the ward that have a lot of experience building bookcases. They spent about 8 hours that day modifying the design Thomas had found so they could make the most bookcases with the least amount of wood. Thomas mentioned how much he learned that day as they assembled the first bookcase. He came home so excited that Brother Juhasz had told him if he could round up about 5 youth and about 3 more adults they could probably assemble the remaining 9 bookcases that Friday. Well, of course, Thomas took that challenge and found the help he needed. So, Friday he went a little early with the adults and they set up workstations. They spent all day working and having so much fun together. By 4:30 they had assembled 6 bookcases and all the pieces were cut out and sanded for the remaining 4. That evening Thomas, Joel, Spring, Brother Schneck, and I worked to assemble the remaining 4 bookcases. Saturday was a day of putting on the trim pieces and final sanding. That evening the polyuerathane was applied and the shelves were left to dry in the garage. Thomas kept mentioning that he never thought he would be this far so quickly. Grandma and Grandpa Powell ordered plaques to be attached to each bookcase which was the final addition to his bookcases.

 

Monday morning he stopped by the school and spoke with the Principal.  The principal scheduled for him to deliver and present the bookcases on Friday prior to their staff meeting so all the teachers could be present.  Thomas set out to arrange men with trucks to help deliver and young men to help load, unload, and then deliver the bookcases to the classrooms at the school.  He could hardly wait for Friday morning to come.  The principal presented Thomas to the staff and told the staff how at the end of the school year Thomas asked if he could do this project and he said, "Ya sure, Thomas."  He alluded to the fact that he didn't think much of it after that and wasn't really convinced much would come of it.  With a great deal of admiration and respect he spoke of how Thomas had done all of this project on his own.  Later the principal told me how impressed he is with Thomas and how amazed he is that he could complete this all in the summer.  He mentioned to the staff what an amazing leader Thomas is and will continue to be.  Thomas was then able to present the bookcases to the teachers that had asked for them.  All the teachers were amazed at the quality of the shelves.  Many were heard saying they wished they had signed up for one as well.  Thomas was then able to make a little speech to the staff about the process and present the school with a check for $310.59, the excess funds he raised that were not needed to build the bookcases.  Following both the principal's presentation of what Thomas had done and Thomas' speech he received long standing ovations from the staff.  I had teachers come up to me and say, "I'm not even his mom and I'm crying!"  One of his teachers told me she did not benefit from the bookcases (she had not signed up for one) but she had benefitted from having Thomas in her life.  How grateful I am for wonderful teachers and influences on our children. 

 

He has completed his eagle paperwork and all the merit badges for Eagle.  He is now waiting for his 6 months to be eligible for a board of review.  He has exactly 3 for that date to come.  This past week there was a troop court of honor in which he received 7 merit badges (most from scout camp).  After the court of honor he told me his goal is to earn 6 more by the next court of honor. 

Horseback Riding Video

Horseback Riding

Spring finally was able to redeem her gift certificate for horseback riding yesterday.  She received this for Christmas but she wanted to wait until it was warmer to use it and then the summer got crazy and we finally got to it. I am so glad she was able to go. To say she loved it would be an understatement.  I don't think she stopped smiling all afternoon.  She was able to spend about 15 minutes in the ring learning to ride the horse and then they went on a 30 minute trail ride.  Some riders didn't show so Joel was able to go with her and loved it as it was his first time on a horse as well.  She has always loved horses and I think this experience just solidified in her mind how much she loves it.  We are looking into opportunities to allow her to take additional lessons next summer.

Backpacking Trip

Thomas planned a backpacking trip for the Scouts a few weeks ago.  They hiked into the CVNP primitive campsite which is where they went last year when he was an 11 year old scout.  Last year they just went on a 4 mile trip; however, this year he wanted to do more so they did 10 miles.  The first night they hiked into the campsite about 2 miles.  The following day they hiked another 8 or so and I picked them up.  Thomas had a blast.  When I picked them up he was so happy.  His smile was huge and he was excited to tell me all about the hike.  I can't say the other boys were very happy but they did it and hopefully will be willing to go again.  Thomas really wants to go on a 50 mile backpacking trip in the next couple years and he is trying to encourage others to want to go with very little success at this point.  Joel has told him he will take him even if others don't want to go.

All on her own

We have been trying to help Mary learn to ride her bike for over a year now.  She would want us to help her but she would not keep pedaling, thus she couldn't get very far.  We tried to encourage, bribe, enlisted the help of Grandma Powell when she was visiting, and many other techniques; however, she would not do it.  She just refused to even try so we stopped talking about it.  We told her she could let us know when she wanted us to help her. A few weeks ago when we were in the thick of getting things prepared for Thomas' eagle scout fundraiser she came into the house all excited telling me she could ride a 2 wheel bike all on her own.  I dismissed it, being busy and thinking she was just meaning she pushed along with her feet on the ground. She continued to insist I come out and watch her.  Imagine my shock when I went out to find her riding up and down the sidewalk like she had been doing it for months.  She finally decided she wanted to learn and just did it by herself!

On the Road to Eagle

So, Thomas has been working diligently and steadily this summer on his Eagle Project.  He is building 10 bookshelves for teachers at his school.  He has been soliciting donations and such from local businesses with great success.  After all the donations he still needed about $700 dollars for the supplies.  His plan, all along, if he needed more funds was to hold a rummage/bake sale in the school parking lot.  He set about on this with a vengeance.  He worked hard soliciting donations from neighbors, friends, church members, other local scout troops.  We had to give up our garage for a little over a week for donations to be dropped off and he would price and sort the items.  He had the sale scheduled for the first Saturday of this month.  In the beginning of the week the forecast was excellent.  Thomas was so excited, he was giddy.  Throughout the week he and Spring and a few friends and fellow scouts worked to finalize details and price the last few items.  Friday evening we were waiting outside as people were dropping off baked goods for the sale.  Soon, the clouds rolled in and it became so dark.  The wind started to blow and then the heavens opened and dumped on us.  It rained and rained and rained.  It was about 9 pm and we checked the forecast for the next day....50% chance of heavy rain and thunderstorms ALL day!  Joel and I were so worried for him.  He had worked so hard getting donations, getting the location secured, publicizing the event...but if the weather was bad there just weren't going to be people coming to buy the stuff.  Thomas began to worry too.  We all said we needed to pray for the weather to hold out.  I couldn't sleep most of the night.  The rain was just pouring and I was trying to think of  Plan B, Plan C and so on.  I prayed all night.  Finally around 3 am I had a calm come over me even though the rain was continuing to come down.  Saturday morning we were up by 5:30 and the skies were clearer and the rain had stopped.  Our prayers were answered and the day was absolutely beautiful.  Not a drop of rain came down all day.  There were blue skies and amazing temperatures. 

Thomas was able to exceed his goal for the funds he needed and raised over $1000!  What a miraculous day it was.  I was reminded that our Father is mindful of us.  I loved watching Thomas organize, work, and lead this day.  He was on such a high and ready for the next phase of his project to begin.

Clip Chart Miracles

I was talking with Sammy a couple weeks ago after a day of way too many pleas for him to calm down and listen to us when we asked him to do something.  I know he doesn't try to be disobedient and I know he doesn't think, "I'm just not going to listen  to Mom and Dad."  He just all too often gets caught up in his crazy fun and gets carried away.  We were talking together and trying to come up with a solution.  The thought of a clip chart like his teachers at school came to my mind and I asked him about it.  He was on board and thought it would be great.  So we talked about what the levels would be and what consequences he would get for each level.  Then I dragged my feet and just didn't make it for over a week.  Finally last Sunday I made it and it has been a week of wonders for him and for me.  I have found him looking for extra ways to serve me and others in the family without being asked in hopes of getting "clipped up."  He has been listening to us the first time and he has been stopping behavior before it gets out of hand.  When he has had to "clip down" all I have to do is ask him and he goes and does it and that stops the behavior.  There has been very little whining and lots less problems.  It is a visual reminder for me as well throughout the day to look for the good things Sammy is doing.  When we first started it I thought of it as a way to help him control his behavior.  Little did I realize it was a way for me to be more attentive to the many amazing things this incredible kid does.  He really wants to be good and he does so many great things.  It has changed my perspective and helped me focus on the good.  He just beams when we tell him something he has done that was above and beyond so he gets to clip up.  So grateful for the promptings of the Spirit to help remind me Sammy is not only our son, but also Heavenly Father's.  And our Father wants us to see our children in the way He sees them.

Headbobbing

This is what happens at Sunday dinner when Gideon doesn't get a nap!

He did it!

A couple weeks ago Gideon decided on a Thursday that he was ready to be potty trained.  Now, we have been asking him about this for a while and he has always been adamant that he was perfectly happy with wearing a diaper.  And, his timing with this decision was all wrong.  It was 2 days before Thomas' big rummage/bake sale fundraiser for his Eagle project.  I knew the days were going to be full of me driving Thomas to pick up donations from companies and then Saturday would be spent at the school all day for his fundraiser.  I didn't want to discourage Gideon but I also knew it just wasn't possible for us that weekend.  So, luckily we held him off and the following Monday he again suggested he was ready to wear underwear.  And from that point on he has been potty trained.  It has been a week now and I think he has only had 2 accidents and those were from being outside playing and not running in the house fast enough.  We would give him a few chocolate chips when he went potty.  After a day of this we would come up and ask me for some chocolate chips.  I would tell him that he only got them after he went potty, to which he would reply, "Go potty now."  He would promptly sit on his potty seat, fill it with a couple tablespoons of urine, stand up very pleased with himself and sit at the table waiting for his chocolate chips.  He had it down!  He reminds me of  a dog that always keeps just enough in his bladder to mark every tree he passes by!  We are pleased with this kid.  He thinks he is a big kid now and he loves the praise and attention all his siblings give him when he goes potty!

 

Sew Fun

Last night Joel and Thomas were on a scouting backpacking trip and all the younger kids were in bed.  A sister in our ward had given me some fabric so I decided to help Spring make a skirt.  She was an eager and willing participant!  She made her skirt all on her own and then we made a matching one for Mary.  I have been wanting to help her sew on my new machine but things have been so crazy and busy this summer with activities and Thomas' work on his Eagle project.  I was tired last night but so glad I thought of doing  it with her.  We had fun together. I think my favorite part was just talking and laughing together while we worked.  It used to be a lot harder on me when Joel would be gone on scout campouts but it isn't as hard now that I have Spring to hang out with in the evenings.  I enjoy the special time it gives us.  The line to a song, "Time flies on wings of lightening, don't let it pass you by..." really has been ringing true to me lately.  This daughter of our's is growing up.  I'm excited for her, and, at the same time, I just want to freeze time.  I love the stage she is in.  I love her personality and I love the relationship we are developing.  I'm so glad I didn't let our time together last night pass me by.  These are the things I want to look back and remember!  There will be a season in life for me to catch up on my sleep! :)

10 Years