October Highlights

 Josh loves music.  He reminds us a lot of Thomas.  He is taking piano lessons from Thomas and this month he began taking trumpet lessons from Spring.

One of our 2 favorite weekends of the year...General Conference Weekend.

 Sam's Crossing Over into Boy Scouts

Spring loves going to the football games and hanging out with the High School Band members.  She CAN"T WAIT until next year when she will be in the marching band.  Love these two and the bond they share with each other.  They are growing up way too quickly but I'm so grateful for the amazing teenagers they are!

Thomas & Thomas...fellow percussionists and great friends

 Storytime...love this time with them.

 Long weeks and long Sundays lead to this...Thomas didn't even get changed before falling asleep.

 Spring is an incredible big sister...I hope these boys know how much she adores them...I think they adore her just as much!

 Mrs. Nesbit was Spring's 2nd grade teacher in California before we moved to Ohio.  She is Spring's all time favorite and she is pretty special to me as well.  She is so amazing to Spring and keeps in touch with her.  This was a fun package she sent Spring for her birthday...Camping Spot It Game and all the fixings for smores and hot chocolate!

We survived another year of Halloween.  This is by far my least favorite holiday ever.  I endure it for the kids' sake.  This year they went easy on me and decided to be a family of M&M's.  

Gideon's 6th Birthday

Gideon is now 6 years old!  He was so excited for this birthday and loved being able to choose his dinner and dessert.  For his dessert he wanted a rescue bot cake. He saw pictures of these amazing cakes made by amazing moms with more creative ability in their pinky fingernail than I have in my entire body.  I was really concerned of how I was going to pull this off because he had 100% confidence that I was going to be able to make the cake of his dreams.  I was talking to my mom and she suggested I get some rescue bots and put them on his cake.  I thought that was genius but I was still really worried that Gideon would be disappointed.  I decided to surprise him so if he wasn't happy with the results hopefully we could gloss over it and quickly open presents.

When it came time for him to have his cake his expression and his shouts of, "JOSH!!! Look how AWESOME my cake is!" put my concerns at bay.  I'm so grateful he was happy with it.  He thought it was so cool that he got new rescue bots on his cake. Spring, jokingly, told me she was going to ask for a Piano Guys cake for her birthday!  Her wit is getting really good! :)

For dinner he chose to have hot dogs.  No surprise there as that is one of his favorite foods right now. For his dinner with mom and dad he chose Wendy's because he wanted to get a frosty!  Such simple pleasures.  I love the moments Joel and I have when we take out just the birthday child to dinner or lunch of their choice.  There is a bond that is strengthened when we can focus for a while on just the one.  I'm so incredibly grateful for these choice spirits that our Father in Heaven has entrusted to us.

Some highlights of Gideon as a 6 year old include:

*He LOVES rescue bots.  He and Josh will play for hours and hours together creating cities.

*He loves math and has been blessed with a very mathematical mind.

*He is so silly.  He is in the stage of making up jokes.  His jokes aren't always funny but his laugh and giggle will get you every time!

*He does not like kisses, or at least he says he doesn't.  But he smiles and giggles as he wipes them off.  I keep giving him kisses anyway!

*He does love hugs.  He has to give all his siblings and me a hug before he leaves for the bus in the morning.  In fact, he will not go out to get on the bus until he has hugged everyone.  Luckily his bus driver is very patient.

*He can be found outside all the time.  Jumping on the  trampoline, riding his bike, playing gaga ball, or just running around like a crazy kid are his favorite pastimes.

*He is sensitive. He often feels like his is ignored or people don't understand him because of his articulation issues.  I have to be really aware of that. I'm still trying to figure out the best way to deal with this so he can make his wishes known before the frustration sets in.

*His smile and giggle brighten my day.  I look forward to him running in from the bus each day at lunchtime and spending time with him.  He melts my heart in a way only he can.

Ohio State Band Show

The High School Marching Band performed at the Buckeye Invitational at Ohio State University in Columbus.  We decided to take the family down for the show and stopped at the Columbus Temple on the way down.  We had a wonderful day walking around the temple grounds and then watching Stow knock it out of the park with their performance.  Thomas loved marching and performing in an arena of that size.  Makes me wonder if he will have that opportunity when he is in college.  His dream is to be in the BYU Marching Band!  Such a fun day.

5 Months