More Rock Climbin

Joel and Thomas have had their share of rock climbing this month.  They attended an OA Fellowship at Kendall Cliffs where they were able to rock climb for a few hours.  Then this past weekend Joel took the troop to the YMCA for a rock climbing activity.  Only 3 YM showed up for the activity so they got a lot of rock climbing time.  They were also taught how to boulder and given the opportunity to do that for a while as well.

The videos are really fun to watch but it is better to turn the volume down.  It's kinda loud.

March Madness

Madness continued through the month of March, the good kind of madness, but the kind that leaves me exhausted everyday.  

 March brought a new chapter to our lives!  Thomas registered for High School classes.  Not sure how I really feel about being old enough for this.  He is so ready for this experience though.  It was fun to have him ask us questions about class choices and see his excitement for this new chapter of life.  That also means seminary begins and I don't really want to think about that yet.  I love seminary.  I just know once we start next year the early mornings are not going to end for a very long time...longer than I care to think about at this point!

 Sammy asked for a mohawk when getting his hair cut.  We obliged for a few minutes!

 Family movie night!  Not sure where Spring was when we took this picture.

Around the middle of the month temperatures hit 40 degrees and the kids thought it was a heatwave! The neighborhood came to life after school.  It was rejuvenating to hear kids screaming, laughing, and yelling as they rode bikes, played ball, and just were silly outside.  They decided once it was 40 degrees it was plenty warm to wear shorts to school.  We saw grass for the first time since the beginning of January.

Picnic lunches also returned as the snow began to melt.  This was the first picnic lunch of the year.  The snow was off the driveway...still on the grass but the driveway was clear enough for lunch.

 Joshi is becoming quite the reader.  He is excited that he can read more and more books.  I enjoy the time he and I share after his quiet time, before the others wake up from naps, to read together. I love this sweet boy and his peaceful, kind, loving, gentle heart.

 Spring moved up the full size cello and has loved it.  She really enjoys taking lessons and is progressing very quickly.

 And, well....Sammy is still Sammy!

 Josh found this sign that was on a table at church where people leave things they are donating.  We found him after church like this just smiling and giggling.

Shaving cream letters in Kindergarten!

Library

Our library is such a lifesaver for me in so many ways.  It truly is an integral part of our family's lives.  The older kids love being able to pick the librarian's brains for book suggestions and they keep me busy picking up books they have reserved.  Story time is a welcome diversion from the cold and snowy days for the younger kiddos.  If I want to make a quick trip the library I have to be very stealthy or I will have all the kiddos clambering to join me and then it is anything but a "quick" trip. I'm grateful they love the library though.  Gideon has his weekly speech class at the library also so we get to play and read books while he is in speech.  It works out quite nicely!

8 Months Old

Jacob is so fun!  He is so responsive to everyone.  He is a very easy going guy as long as he is being held or someone is close by if he is playing.  He definitely does not like to be alone. He is sleeping through the night, finally!  Hallelujah!!!!

He is now sitting up on his own eating at a highchair with us at the table.  We have officially outgrown our table now.  He sits on a folding chair pulled up as close to the table as we can so he is still with us.  His favorite thing to eat is mashed up bananas.  His little arms and legs start wiggling and his mouth is wide open when he sees us with a banana.  We can't feed him fast enough.

We often find him playing with his hands and his feet.  He likes to suck his thumb and still loves being rocked.  He is getting close to crawling as he gets up on all fours and rocks back and forth.  Right now he just ends up scooting backwards away from what he is trying to get to.  He still can't roll from his back to his tummy and I wonder if he will crawl before he learns this trick!   Sure love this sweet boy and the reminder he is to me to enjoy the small and simple moments in life.

2015 Federation

Thomas participated in his 4th year of Federation.  This is a piano competition of sorts.  He entered 3 different categories:  Concerto, Solo, and Hymn Playing.  For the Concerto he memorized a piece that was 26 minutes long and was accompanied by a professor of piano from the Kent State University.  For the Solo portion he memorized 2 different pieces that were both about 8 minutes long.  Hymn playing was easy for him as he just had to play 2 different hymns.  He spent the morning at Kent State waiting for his times to perform.  He would play for a panel of judges and they then critique and rate him.  We could not watch this part of the competition.  He thinks he did very well; however, he has not received his scores yet.  

This year he earned an invitation to play in the Honor's recital that afternoon.  This is earned by 3 previous years of earning Unanimous Superior scores.  He is limited to playing for only 5 minutes so he performed a portion of his Concerto that he played earlier that morning.  

Sammy's Pinewood Derby

Sammy loves the pinewood derby. He thinks long and hard about his design and then he is ready to make the car.  It was a  process that took about 2 months to make his car because finding time to do all the steps amidst our busy schedule is difficult.  He and Joel would do little parts of it any spare moment they could find.  One thing about Sammy is he loves to work with his Dad.  He did almost every part of his car by himself (with the supervision and some tips) from Dad.  He utilized school calamity days to do the painting of the car as well.  I love how excited Sammy gets about things like this.  He loves the competition of the race but I think more than that he loves seeing something he built be put to the test.

I thought he was going to explode with anticipation the day of the race.  Finally the race came and he was so happy.  He was just happy to be there and to see his car and his friends' cars.  His car was very well built and he actually won every race in the Pack.  I think one thing I appreciated the most that evening though was to just see him happy for everyone.  He smiles and is excited for everyone all the time.  Being the top car meant he earned a spot at the District Pinewood Derby race a few weeks later.

Joshie decided he wanted to go with Joel and Sam to the District Race.  They had to get there early for the weigh in and then there was a lot of waiting time.  Sam pulled out a deck of cards and they played go fish while waiting.  Sammy told Joel, "Ya, I usually have a deck of cards with me all the time just in case."  When Joel told me about this I realized Sammy is going to be the kid that everyone wants to be around.  He will always come up with something to do to keep busy and entertained or he will do things that will entertain those around him.  He really is such a fun kid to be around...his energy and love for life is contagious.

Last year he went to the District race as well but did not do very well and was a little disappointed because he really wanted to earn a trophy.  This year, his dream came true!  He took 3rd place!  Joel said he was so excited when they called his name.  How I love this kid.  He makes me smile so much...sometimes he aggravates me and frustrates me; however, I have found that if I take a moment and try to see the situation through his eyes I can better appreciate his behavior and reactions.  Sammy is one of the tender mercies in my life...helping me to learn unconditional love and appreciation.

Upward Basketball

The first 10 weeks of the year was full of basketball at our home.  Spring, Sammy, and Josh played Upward Basketball this year.  We had practices on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday evenings and 3 games each Saturday.  I love watching them play and I love seeing the improvement they make in such a short time period.

At the beginning of the year Joshie couldn't even come close to the rim when he shot the ball.  By the middle of the season he was scoring baskets with much more ease.  He is quite good defensively as well...especially when guarding his friend, Lily.  It looked more like they were dancing with each other than playing basketball.  He is a goofball and always smiling during his games and practices.  

Sammy is a natural athlete.  He moves with such ease and grace.  He is super fast and scrappy.  He is an incredible defender and came up with steals out of nowhere.  He really improved his offense this season.  His layups improved as well as his range for jumpsuits.  It was fun to watch him learn and try pump fakes during games.  Again, he always has the biggest smile on his face and is excited for everyone on his team when they do well.  

Spring made incredible growth this year.  She finally became more aggressive defensively.  In doing so she came up with more steals.  She also learned how to do real layups this season.  I loved watching her improve her movement with the ball.  She cuts and drives to the basket now and has more confidence in her ability.  Her games were really intense which made it difficult to get many pictures or videos.  Her team ended the season undefeated!  So much fun to watch this girl play basketball.

Daddy/Daughter Dance

Joel took Mary to the Daddy/Daughter Dance at Echo Hills Elementary.  Mary could hardly contain her excitement for the week before the dance.  Friday she came home and went upstairs to choose the dress she was going to wear and to choose Joel's clothes for him.  She told him he had to wear a suit and she would find something that would match her.  They had fun dancing together, making some crafts, playing life-size candy land, and laughing.  Mary's smile says it all.  How blessed our daughters are to have a dad that loves to spend time with them.

Horses

Spring was able to redeem her 2nd of 3 horse lessons a couple weeks ago.  It was cold and snowy but she didn't mind one bit.  After a few minutes in the ring the instructor asked if she would like to go on a trail ride and, of course, she didn't hesitate a moment.  She loved every minute of it.  

Mary went along so she could see the horses too.  She, also, loves horses.  This was the first time she had been so close to a horse.  While Spring was on the trail Mary was able to go into the barn and help feed the horses and spend time with them. She was in her glory and her smile says it all.  She is hoping for horse riding lessons for her birthday too!

Freezing Februrary

We broke all kinds of records here in Northeast Ohio during the month of February.  Most days below zero, lowest temperatures on multiple days, etc.  Our entire stake even cancelled church one Sunday; the first time in over 15 years that happened.  Temperatures were about 30 below that day.  We enjoyed a nice day at home playing games together and cuddling up to watch "The Best Two Years" together.  It was a cold month with lots more school calamity days.  We survived, however, and quite well.  We found ways to keep from going too stir crazy with cabin fever.

 Sammy surprised us one morning before church. He got dressed and headed outside to shovel the walkway and a path to the bus so we wouldn't have to walk in snow to get in the car.  Such a sweet moment.

 Some of Joshie's favorite things to do this month with me was play Quizzle and put puzzles together.

 Gideon began speech this month to help with his articulation.  He gets to have one on one speech with Miss Lori weekly at the library.  Sara, Jacob, and I play at the library while he is having speech.

 Josh told me this particular day, "Mom, the best part of cooking with you is licking the bowl when we are done!"

 This bottle of soda was in our garage.  The Sunday that church was cancelled Thomas went out to get it.  As soon as he opened it ice started forming from the top all the way down to the bottom of the bottle.  It was really cool to watch.

 Dad has to show Thomas he can still beat him!  It won't be long though until Joel has to try a lot harder to show Thomas up!

 Sara really likes puzzles too.  She loves all the different puzzles at the library.

 On one of the days school was cancelled Thomas ended up having an ambulance ride to the ER because of an allergic reaction to Amoxicillin prescribed for his strep throat!  The kids were all jealous that he got to go in the ambulance and wanted to go with him.

 Love being able to spend one on one time with each of our children.  I am grateful they enjoy being with me.

 Gideon had so much fun building and painting his boat!

 Spring participated in the area Math Competition again this year.  Her team, The Infinite Powers of Pi, earned the highest recognition level again this year.  Love this smart girl!  She and her friend, Hannah, made the T-Shirts for their team.

 Being silly at lunchtime with cookies Grandma Powell sent them.

 Month of amazing Icicles!  Icicles are everywhere.  Sammy broke this off a huge icicle that was hanging from the roof of the church.

It was the month of fort building too.  I don't think there has been more than one day in all the month that there were not forts built in all the bedrooms and basement.