Hurricane Florence Relief Mission Trip

PRAYING PELICANS

The Praying Pelicans Mission Group was wonderful to connect us to Whiteville, North Carolina.  Deanna, our main contact, has been fabulous to work with our young family to find service opportunities that we were able to do with the ages of our kids.  She has a 2 year old and 7 month old of her own that joined us on the trip on Saturday evening.  To juggle her family as well as handle our family and the other youth group and all the organization and planning and preparing for us is amazing to me.  She is centered on Christ and loves what she does so she can serve and help and then also give others opportunities to serve too.  

The other youth group that joined us in Whiteville for this weekend mission trip was from Virginia and drove down in a bus.  They were 13 years old through 18 and there were about 12 youth and several adults.  They too were Christ centered and were there to serve.  They were fabulous examples of goodness to our kids and I am grateful for them as role models this weekend.  The kids played piano with them, played uno and musical chairs with us, and late night games.  It was great to see those youth so happy to be there on this trip and get dirty and work hard.  

THE LIBRARY

We did not know exactly what to expect for our lodging accommodations.  The kids had all kinds of funny images in their heads of where we would be staying, knowing there had been a hurricane.  We ended up having the most fascinating room of the entire church be our bedroom for the weekend: the church library.  The library had bookshelves full of very old books.  There were old encyclopedias, old Charles Dickens stories, religious theory books from the 1940’s, childrens picture books from the mid 1900’s, and much more.  

Our New Dog Lexi

OK recently adopted a new dog from the Allen County SPC a dog shelter. Lexi‘s original name from the shelter was Kate. We changed it to Lexi :-). Lexi came from a neglected environment with her two brothers.  She is part boxer and part foxhound. She resembles Bella, our old dog.  She is eight months old and is still very much a puppy. It is an adventure to train her to obey commands and go potty outside. She has been a joy. So much fun!

Chef Dawson

Here is Dawson, the owner of Fast Cooker’s Restaurant. He is a chef. He loves to cook. For Christmas he got his own set of cooking supplies including an apron and chef hat. Here he is in full uniform cooking for the family. Love you Dawson!

Kaylee's Fractions

Kaylee brought home some homework today on fractions.  She says she enjoys math a lot.  She was having trouble understanding how to add simple fractions, when really you are taking pieces of pie away.  She thought it seemed more like subtraction than addition.  It was sweet to see her little mind at work.  She drew a pie with 5 slices and then colored in the ones that were taken away in order to add the fractions.  This was confusing to her.  I helped explain to her that we are not taking pieces of pie away, we are eating them!  If one person eats 3 pieces, and one person eats 1 piece, then that means that 4 pieces of pie out of 5 slices total are eaten.  

This concept finally clicked in her mind and it was like a lightbulb went on over her head.  She got it.  It made sense.  And she did every single problem correctly after that.  She even went on to add fractions to get whole pies plus some and that was fun to teach her.  She is so talented and strong in her little brain. 

Kaylee's Eraser

Kaylee has gotten some quirks from her mother, unfortunately.  She has a tendency to "pick" at her skin.  When there is loose skin or scabs, she will pick it.  Well, she began picking the skin around her  fingernails until it began to bleed and hurt a lot.  She got so frustrated because she is having a hard time controlling the need to pick.  

I shared with her a funny story of me as a kid, a kid that would pick my skin too.  My sweet Mom gave me a big pink eraser to pick all day long.  It worked for me!  And so we tried it.  She carried a pink eraser around in her sock or her pocket and every time she would think to pick, she would pull out that eraser and pick at it instead.  So far this has worked and she has been so proud of herself.  She showed me her finger and said, "I think its healing!"  She has an amazing ability to learn self control.  Love that girl so much!

Oak Farm Pajama Day

Oak Farm has a school wide pajama day on the last day of school before Christmas break every year. This year was especially fun since all six kids are Oak Farm students. Everybody picked out their favorite jammies and wore them to school that day. In the morning they had a schoolwide music sing-along with all kinds of fun Christmas songs. Since Owen was off school on Friday, he wore his jammies too and we joined Oak Farm for the Sing-Along. This was a super exciting day for all the kids!

Cooking Merit Badge

Jaxton has been working on his cooking merit badge for Boy Scouts. He made us steak and green beans, pizza another night, and spaghetti with meatballs for another dinner. He made a cinnamon rolls, pancakes, and eggs with bacon. He makes his lunch every day for school. He did a fantastic job with very little assistance. He got lots of compliments from the kids. They would exclaim “this is fantastic!” Or “I love this!”  “This is my favorite!”  He clearly had some positive reinforcement that he was a good cook!  Great job Jaxton!

Christmas 2018

Christmas was magical again this year. Christmas Eve we spent the day at Mike and Kim’s new house with all the Routsong family. We had our traditional gift exchanges and cousin gift exchange. Afterwards, we went to a Christmas service at pathway Church. It had inspiring music about the saviors birth and an inspiring message as well. We made some Christmas deliveries to a few families and to our new next-door neighbors, and then came home to enjoy Christmas Eve with our own family. We wrote out our gift to Jesus like we do every year. Melissa, John, Jace and Madie came over and we opened up our jammies for Christmas Eve and watched a nativity movie. We got every One tucked in for the night excited for what the morning will bring! 

Christmas morning the kids were so excited to find an Xbox One from Santa! We continued the tradition of something you wear, something you need,  something you want, something you read. Jaxton got a coat and shoes, some books, a sled, and much more. He had been without a coat and without proper shoes for a long time! Cooper got a sled, a new basketball and basketball shoes, some books and other things. Kaylee received a hair straightener, a jump rope which she has been asking for excitedly, new shoes, books, and others. Dawson is our chef. He received a chef hat and apron with his own cooking supplies, Legos, books, and a bike helmet. Nathan has been asking for a “hot guitar” and microphone. We found a Paw Patrol set and he has been singing in his microphone throughout the house! Owen received a cozy blanket and a new gecko coat from PJ Masks and some books and other toys. All the kids received Oak Farms spirit wear also. Nate is working on something for me, and we are going out to get him a TV for him today! What a fun Christmas this has been.

Coopers boy scout crossover

Cooper got to crossover from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts! Since the church does not do you cross over Sarah Moni‘s, we joined up with the Leo Cub Scout troop and they were glad to have Cooper join them for the crossover Sarah Moni. He was presented with a beautiful arrow of light plaque. It was a very honorable Sarah Moni complete with fully costume and Indians and a scripted presentation. Cooper has worked hard as a Cub Scout and is looking forward to joining with the Saint Vincent Boy Scout troop and participating in all of their super exciting things they have to offer. Congratulations Cooper! We are proud of you!

Honest Kay

Kaylee, after I tucked her in last night, she came back out into years. She told me as she was laying there in her bed, that she remembered a time that made her sad. She told me a story about a spelling test day when she could not remember one of her words spelling, and she looked at her friends paper to get the correct spelling. She said, “I cheated” and started to cry harder. She said it made her sad to remember that and she felt so bad about it. This girl has such a big heart. She feels right from wrong, and she gets it. It is something innate in  er. I tried to validate her feelings and asked her if everybody makes mistakes. She said yes, we all do. And I asked her what mistakes do for us. She told me that mistakes are ways for us to learn. She’s got it. The goodness in her emulates so big. I love her to pieces and I’m so grateful for her honesty and genuine goodness.

Toenails

Dawson was so cute to ight. His bigtow was hurting him and we examined it to find that his big toe nail needed trimmed.  We were talking about trimming toenails when he paused, and said, “I feel an opened up part and so I pulled.”  I was so confused!  Then he grinned pretty big because instead of trimming, he peeled his toenail himself.  We both just laughed.  It was so funny.  This boy also completed his 1000 counting chain at school.  What a huge accomplishment!  Love you Dawson!

Happy Birthday Jaxton!!

Jaxton's birthday party was last night!!  Oh what a fun time.  He wanted to send an invite to his entire class, so his teacher helped with that.  I really did not think we would get too many kids, but we ended up with almost 25 kids (I lost count).  Jaxton displayed so much confidence and joy at his party.  His friends seem to really respect him and enjoy him.  He had balloon games he came up with and everyone wanted to participate.  He made announcements and the kids listened.  I think it boosted his confidence a lot to have everyone support him so wholeheartedly yesterday.  It was a little bit of chaos, but we did not lose any kids, and nobody had any accidents or incidents, so it truly was a success!   Happy Birthday Jaxton!  Here are 10 things about you on your 12th birthday:

1. Favorite food: still cereal.  He will eat cereal for every meal if he could

2. Lactose intolerant?  Jaxton thought he might be lactose intolerant for a while.  Stomach aches every time he ate milk products.  He was pretty diligent for a while there. 

3. Hates haircuts.  He got his first actual haircut at the barber shop 2 weeks ago.  He did well.  I think he enjoyed being pampered, but was not happy to learn that you have to tip your hairstylist.  He hates getting haircuts at home, so it may be a new trend that he goes to Great Clips for hair cuts now :-)

4. Creating: Jaxton loves to create.  He has amazing ideas and drive to create things.  My job is to allow him to go, allow him to realize that creativity that he has inside of him.  Lately he has been creating an online game with a software we downloaded for free.  He creates his character, obstacles, lives, points, levels.  It is really amazing what he is able to do!

5. Soccer: Jaxton still is a great soccer player.  He enjoys the game, gets in the action, and enjoys being on a team.  His favorite position is defense, and he is a great defender.  

We love you Jaxton!!  Happy Birthday!!

Bottle & Bottega Date Night

Nate and I went on a fun unique date night.  A little place called Bottle & Botega is a little art studio.  They served a prime rib dinner and then helped each participant to create a work of art on a wood palate.  The place was full of ladies out for a ladies night, so Nate was the only male artist in the joint, but he loved it.  He has a very creative mind and enjoyed designing his art work.  He also loved the quick service for dinner with me as well.  We had a lot of fun together and the time flew by so fast we were rushing to put the final touches on our art when the place was closing up for the night.  This also was the first date night we left Owen with a babysitter.  He did great!!  We had a lot of fun together.  

The Epic Card Game

Jaxton was playing with Owen and a deck of playing cards.  It was so funny to see Owen holding his cards in his hands, it almost looked as if he were playing a real game.  He was giving funny facial expressions and turning his head and eyes different funny ways.  Jaxton took a series of photos and put them into a slideshow to music called "The Epic Card Game."  Super cute and funny!  We have a little card player!

Tin Caps Game

Half the family went to a Tin Caps game tonight.  We had Jaxton, Nathan, & Owen.  The other three stayed overnight at Melissa & John's house.  We had a fun night watching the game, eating Edy's Ice Cream, and playing on the bounce houses and climbing wall.  Nathan went through the bounce house slide more times than we could count.  And Jaxton climbed the rock wall on all three sides, including the most challenging one.  The boys ran up and down the lit up stairs behind the stadium in the dark too.  We had a nice time focusing in on a few kids at a time.  Fun times!

New School Year

A new school year is upon us.  The kids started school this week.  It has been fantastic, but this first week feels like it has been a whole month!  Lots of new routines, early mornings, to-do lists, new classrooms and the list goes on.  

Jaxton is a big 5th Grader in Upper Elementary at Oak Farm.  He is in the same class as last year.  His teachers are Jamie, and this year, Kyle Black, who he knows from before as a PE substitute teacher and front desk guy.  It looks like it will be a great year!  He's looking forward to math to see how far he can excel.  And he has goals set to stay organized and be able to manage a bigger workload this year.  

Cooper is moving up to Upper Elementary this year with teachers Macy & Sandra.  They seem fantastic and Cooper is so excited to move up with the bigger kids and to move on from the younger ages of Lower Elementary.  He's anxious to make new friends and get involved!

Kaylee has moved up from Primary and is attending Lower Elementary with teachers Meghan & new teacher Abby.  Meghan was Cooper's teacher for 3 years and we love her.  And Abby was Jaxton's teacher last year and she's moved to Lower Elementary this year.  Both are fantastic teachers.  She was pretty nervous the first day, but after that worrisome morning, she has had a big smile on her face everyday this week and no trace of tears.  I think she loves being with bigger kids too!

Dawson started school this year too.  He is a second year in Primary, which is the equivalent to Pre-K.  He has been so anxious and excited to start school, he could hardly wait!  When finally it is his turn to really go to school, he has loved every minute of it!  Big smiles on his way out the door and big smiles on his way home.  One thing he has been most excited for is riding the bus!!  He loves it!

First Day of School Cookies!!!

I have Teeth!

Owen is 9 Months!! What!!?  How has the time flown so fast?!  He just grew in 4 big teeth on the top of his mouth!!  After those were poking through, 2 on the bottom came through!!  6 big teeth coming in all at once!! He looks like a different kid!  He is the only kid who had his top teeth grow in first, and who had teeth at all before age 1!  No he can bite pretty hard!!!  He's got 2 weapons now, his teeth to bite, and his claws :-)

Baby Owen is 9 Months

Baby Owen is approaching 9 months old!! Here are some fun things about him at this cute age:

1. Owen is so very aware of everything around him.  He watches everyone and is so smart and aware.

2.  He just learned how to clap his hands.  He learned that in Utah.  Grandma and Jaxton and Dillon were clapping their hands to him at the water park and he simply put his hands together too.  When he got squeals of delight and encouragement from everyone clapping with him, he realized he had done something great and kept clapping.  Cute boy!!

3. His first word is definitely "banana."  He says "nana."  Grandma in Utah was feeding him bananas one day and he was very much focused on her and the food he was being fed.  Grandma kept saying "banana" over and over and over as she fed him and then he actually repeated it.  "Nana."  She kept encouraging him and he kept saying it.  Adorable little man!

4. Owen is a traveler!  He has traveled more than any other of our babies.  And he does fantastic on the airplane.  He's traveled to Las Vegas, and then the gulf coast for a cruise, and now to Utah and back.  

5. Owen is very close to crawling.  He will sit on his bum and wiggle and turn till he's on his belly.  He can roll back and forth in order to scoot forward.  And scooting backward on his belly is easier for him.  And he can pull the carpet with his tight grasp and army crawl wherever he wants to go.  But it will not be long before he is full blown crawling everywhere.  

6. Owen is a very lucky baby because he has so many little people that love him dearly.  In our home, he is rarely ever alone.  There is always someone playing with him or spending time with him.  It's something that most of the other kids never experienced.  But when I have to get stuff done, and I have to put him down to play, one of his siblings will always want to go play with him.  So I feel less guilty about putting him down, knowing that he is loved by so many little people who always love to spend time with him.

7. Owen has a funny blocked tear duct.  Ever since he was born, his eyes would get gunky with green goo because his tear ducts were blocked.  Over time, his right eye has cleared up, but the left one still gets yucky.  Its something we will never forget about little Owen though, that when he wakes up from the night sometimes, his eyes are glued shut by the green goo.  Yet he wakes up happy as ever, smiling and cooing while he can't even see.  Lately he has been waking up with just 1 eye glued shut, and still happy as ever.  It is the cutest, funniest thing to see him so happy in the mornings with his eyes shut.  Sweet boy!

8. I will always remember Owen at the office with me almost his whole first year of his life.  All my other babies were able to be at home when the office was in our basement.  Owen is the first one who has had to come to work with me in an office full of employees.  It has been a unique experience, but fun too.  One of our employees recently expressed that she has never been in an office with an infant, and how fun it is to have him there, even though its sometimes disruptive and hard to get work done.  But his smiling little face and cute presence lifts the spirits in the office.  He will sit on the floor next to the desk and play in the corner or he will sit in the high chair with cheerios coming at him every minute or so.  And when he squeals and someone is on the phone I whisk him around the corner or out into the warehouse as quickly as I can so the calls aren't disruptive.  And when I can't whisk him away in time, Melissa, our employee, simply tells the customer on the phone that is indeed one of Nate's little angels, and the customers usually don't mind his squeals (I think). 

9. Owen doesn't like the grass.  Actually he doesn't mind it.  He takes care of the problem simply by lifting up his bare legs one after the other, or both at the same time to balance on his bum so the prickly grass doesn't tickle his skin. I remember Jaxton did this too when he was a baby.  Cuteness!

10. Owen also can say Dadadada.  He will say Da,  Da,  Dada,  Da.  He is always smiling. He is a very happy baby, very patient.  Though he gets mad to be in his carseat for long periods of time.  He does have an opinion about car seats.  Other than that, he is very happy, content, patient, and loving to all.  Of course he is forgiving too.  The kids feel that from him.  Always forgiving.  Owen is our family medicine.  When any of the kids or me are down, frustrated, angry, upset, or anything negative at all, we go spend time with Owen.  And after just a few minutes of time with him, our negativity dissolves and our anger disappears.  Kaylee especially will tell one of her siblings or me to go get our medicine when she sees its needed.  And it totally works!  Jaxton tends to get frustrated a lot and he adores Owen.  So he will shut my door and play with him in there.  He likes to take him to the mirror where Owen can see his "friend" in the mirror.  After just a few minutes, Jaxton's mood is transformed and he is all better.  It is an amazing thing.  Owen's little spirit is so special in our family.  He was not a planned baby, but he needed to be here and I am so grateful that he is.  Love you Baby O! 

Divers

Cooper & Amanda were practicing their dives off the diving board.  They are both capable divers!  I was very impressed by their dives!  Beautiful divers!

Baby Owen Knows Jesus

Today, Owen was very fussy and hating his car seat in the car.  He was mad and screaming.  Kaylee found a little 5x7" picture of Jesus and held it up for Owen to kook at.  All of a sudden, Owen stopped!  He looked at that picture with awe and amazing focus.  His little hands started swirling in excitement.  His face was looking up at that photo in desire and understanding.  There is no doubt in my mind that he knew that face.  He recognized Jesus.  If he could speak he would tell us all about Him.  His little countenance showed such love for the person in that picture.  It was the sweetest, most spiritual moment to see him look towards his Savior.  

I am so grateful for my baby boy, his sweet innocence and perfect love.  He teaches me so many things about pure love, pure joy, pure desires.  And I want to be able to look to the Savior the way he did today.  I want to look to my Savior with pure joy, pure love, and desire to be with Him again.  I will never forget this sweet moment.