My Birthday

Even though I woke up with the worst sore throat of my life I felt SO loved all day on my birthday. I received notes, phone calls, songs, and Dad spoiled me all day by having me stay in bed and do nothing but read and play on my computer.

Dad made me a cake! It has 16 candles. (What a way to make me feel good.) I love it!

Me and my cake! I made a good wish. Let's hope it comes true!

I was honored to be able to be a "guest" singer for one of the songs in Seekers choir concert. They gave all of the parents the opportunity. I was surprised only about 10 parents ended up singing with the choir. I loved it! The best was that it was a surprise for the kids. Seeker face told me he was more than shocked when I came up out of the audience, but when I talked to him later he said he thought it was fun. YEA for singing with a choir again. Seriously, a great present!

Thanksmas

Dad's work does Thanksmas as a way to celebrate both Christmas and Thanksgiving. This year they set up a photo booth. I love the outcome! Gotta love my boys. (Dad had to leave early and go to Scouts, while Observer was at wrestling.)

Giving Thanks

Dad made the crusts I made the fillings. We make a great team!

It was a quiet Thanksgiving for us. We stayed here at home and invited several people to join us for dinner. In the end though we ate simply as a family. It was nice. The Sister Missionaries joined us for pie in the evening and we ended our day watching Muppets Christmas Carol.
(I did eat some pie and regretted it almost instantly. It tasted SO good, but I couldn't breathe and even after using my inhaler and taking medicine spend the night being miserable. Not eating sugar is too important to my health.) I am THANKFUL for my health!!!!

First Snow of 2014

Today we had our first snowfall. In being true to the weather around here it was a very wet snow. But it still could be used to make a snowman, a little dirty, but a snowman nonetheless. YEA!

Visit from an old friend

Before my mission we were virtually inseparable. Great times! A couple of decades later and out of the blue I get a text. (Thank goodness Mom and Dad have not changed their number and were willing to answer their phone the night before.) Did I mention it was at 5:00am? (It's okay I was already up preparing for the day.) He said he had a two hour layover and wondered if we might meet up. YES!!!

It felt like no time had passed at all. The only way he's changed is the fact that he's progressed to where I always knew he could be. It was wonderful to spend a couple of great hours with one of my best friends ever! 

Another busy Saturday

I don't have a pic, but today was BUSY!
It started early as Seeker and I had to be at the school at 7:30 for some volunteer hours. Observer followed us quickly heading for wrestling scrimmages. Dad headed to the church for service there and then we saw our new neighbors raking the leaves in their yard.  Great way to get to know them! (Of course my 7th son had joined us by this point.) Being outside I figured we'd better get on with what we started last week. Several hours, four cut down trees, bulbs planted, a trip to the dump, and a bunch of tired boys later we have done GREAT things in the yard. Come spring I think we will really be off to a great start. Maybe I'll take a pic tomorrow. Tonight it's too dark and cold. It's time to wind down. *whew*

Landscaping

Yesterday we decided to re-landscape the front yard. Yes, I know. This isn't exactly the time  of year to be working on that kind of thing, but it turned out to be a perfect day for it. A little chilly at first, but as we worked it felt super good to be outside. We worked for about four hours on leveling a piece of ground and moving the dirt to another part of the yard. Our 7th Son joined us. (He's usually with us on Saturdays.) And Mover's best friend came over to help as well. So, we had 8 boys, plus Dad and I. The work went fast and the boys really liked it. Boys are meant to dig I think. What a great day!

Costumes

I told the boys they could go through our old costumes and find something or make their own this year. (We have a million costumes.) They totally ran with it! I love what they came up with. My little Talker however was SET on Optimus Prime. We bought his.

I DID get a lot of guff for making mine though. "Mom, you actually cut up a BOOK!?!"  I like the finished product though. No regrets!

In his world this is an assassin.

Wearwolf

Dog Knight

Blue Crayon

An assassin. (Do you think they hang out?)

Optimus Prime

Book Fairy (Wings view)

Book Fairy  (Front view)
 

Pumpkin Carving

Phase one: Buying the pumpkins.


That's a lot of pumpkins. We should save the seeds and grow our own patch.

Phase two: Carve the pumpkins.

It's a good thing we don't mind making a mess.

Phase 3: Show off your pumpkins!

My Talker had a sword and a shield carved into his.

Like a good companionship should do, the Elders cooperated and made one super cool missionary... with a mustache?

Dad... the devil.

Mom initially went with simplicity.

My Thinker showed off a symbol from his world. Cool!

My Seeker went with a more traditional look.

My Observer carved a sun, moon and star. I love it.

My Mover went with a knight, complete with arms holding a sword and a shield.



My Planner went with the comfort of traditional along with the spookiness of one missing piece. o.O

 

All on display outside our home. What a fun FHE!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



4 Year Olds

My husband and I both have darling little black and white pics of when we were 4 years old. So, I wanted to put together some pictures of each of my boys at the same age. I have been working on it for quite some time but forgot about it as I waited for my two youngest to pass the "golden" age I wanted. Finally, a few years late, I've put together the pics. Enjoy

My Thinker

 

My Seeker

My Planner

My Mover

My Observer

My Talker

Me

Dad

Back with the program

I promised myself I'd get back into blogging because I do better at keeping a journal this way. So, we start again. Wish me luck! In no particular order here are the players in our Kingdom.

The Thinker
(There is always something going through this boys head.)

The Planner
(Give him a goal and he makes a plan. And if he doesn't have a goal, he will make a plan to make a goal, or two, or three.)

The Mover
(This one doesn't slow down! There is too much to do, too much fun to have for him to stay still.)

The Observer
(I love how this one just watches and silently analyses the world.)

The Talker
(A moment of silence? What is that?)

The Seeker
(This one is always looking for something to do or someplace to go.)