Thanksgiving 2024

For Thanksgiving this year we headed down to Georgia. It seems to have happened over the past years that we've alternated years going Thanksgiving or Christmas. Gabriel had wanted to go to celebrate his birthday there this year so it worked out.

First order of business was decorating G'ma Cheryl's house for Christmas, then taking a walk down to the pond.

Then we headed to the Spears. The kids played their favorite cousin game "Secret Spies" and enjoyed playing games together as well.  Taylor is always up to play a game too.

On Thanksgiving the girls had a craft table all set out for anyone who wanted to do some crafts over the course of the day. Taylor worked very hard making his turkey.

Men hanging out around the turkey fryer

Since we brought our December birthday presents for Hannah Kate and Lizzie, as did Aaron and Tiffany, we decided that they should open them while so much family was around.

Aaron and Tiffany brought so many amazing desserts that Aaron had made. I wish I'd taken a picture. They even made Hannah Kate a "pecan pie" using oats. It tasted just like the "real" thing. There was also a gingerbread cake made in a mold that made it into an elaborate castle, then dusted with powdered sugar for a snow effect. There were so many amazing choices for dessert that people had to try more than one.

I can't remember exactly what's happening in this picture, but Lizzie and Jane found it really funny to pretend to brush Taylor's "hair." They both love goofing around with and playing games with him.

Gizmo came along too!

The day after Thanksgiving we headed to Pop Pop and Gammer's house. The boys helped put out the nativity in the yard and do some other decorating outside. Then Pop Pop took them out in the backyard and let them chop up some old pumpkins that he had saved just for the occasion. We had great Thanksgiving meal on Saturday and then headed home Sunday. Every day was packed with family time and I think everyone really enjoyed the time together.

 

Gabriel's 12th Birthday

Gabriel is 12. Next year a teenager. His pants are getting too short far too often.

He has adjusted to middle school much better than we thought he would. In every subject except one he has kept track of his work and turned in assignments on time. He's learning that some tests require studying. He has used his study hall time to complete many projects and assignments that he turns in and does well on without us every seeing them. He writes great poetry. He writes creative and exciting books. He makes complicated movies in his head and thinks about how they would need to be directed and produced. He loves to create games and play complicated games, sometimes by himself and sometimes with others. He is known at school as the one who brings cards and other small games for his friends to play during study hall or breaks.

He always prefers a long bath and an audio book to a shower. He also still brings things into the bathtub for creating stories. He loves going to scouts and learning new skills. He can always eat an Asiago Cheese bagel from Panera, Mexican food, stir fry, tuscan meatballs, or macaroni stew. He still plays the violin with the same teacher that we met at the "musical petting zoo" at the library when he was 3

Fishing with scouts eating a bagel

For his birthday he wanted a game night with friends. He was thrilled to be able to decorate for Christmas before the party too. He invited lots of friends from school, two that were in his class for several years and now go to to different schools, and two friends from church. They really all did just spread out around the house and plays different games. Even though it was cold, many of them grabbed pretend weapons and ran around in the yard. They took took a break for pizza, presents and turtle cream pie. Most of his friends bought him board or card games. When I asked him if he wanted any decorations, he said that a simple "Happy Birthday" banner would be nice.

Bentley, Emerson, Michael, Waylon, Isaiah

Waylon, Bentley, Emerson, Michael

Caleb, Orin, Aiden, Corban

Ben, Waylon, Michael, Gabriel, Isaiah, Caleb, Corban, Orin, Emerson, Callan

His actual birthday was on a Sunday and youth group Thanksgiving was that evening. We went out to Mexican for lunch. He loved his Lego Phoenix from Harry Potter, games, more Lord of the Rings cards, and a sleep mask that he still uses every night.

Cheese enchiladas with double rice, no beans

For youth group that night Drew put a candle in some mashed potatoes and everyone sang Happy Birthday. He did not seem to love the attention.

They have a really awesome study hall proctor who brings in things for STEM projects if everyone is caught up on work. Pictures below.

Gabriel usually has something funny to say and wants to be the life of the party. He wants justice in all things. He's a little more reluctant to talk to people he doesn't know than he used to be, but he's quick to make friends and make everyone feel welcome and included. He went away for two nights to his first youth camp. He volunteered to give up study hall to read to second graders when their regular reader was at the high school retreat. And he's no afraid to climb trees, even if it terrifies his mom.

 

Fall 2024

Since today is officially the first day of spring, seems like a good time to finally post some fall pictures. The fall went by full of the "normal" things. School, violin, piano, and scouts, among other random things like me having knee surgery.

We all went to the Safari park one day and had a good time. I was recently post surgery, but sitting in the car feeding animals was something that could be done. They especially loved petting the animals and seeing the birds.

Corban got a couple of new friends. Meet Nourishing and Pip Squeak.

Dayspring presentation:

Eating out with Dad:

Police officer visits 4th grade

Scouts added a lot of fun things to the fall. Having Corban in Cub Scouts every other Tuesday evening and Gabriel in Scouts on Thursday evenings has led to a lot of activities. So far this year (meaning fall until spring) Gabriel has enjoyed weekly meetings where he learns new skills, a couple of camping trips, a lock-in at a climbing gym, selling the most popcorn in his troop, and attending "Merit Badge College" at VT. Corban has enjoyed camping, the pack Halloween party, selling popcorn, collecting donations for the local food pantry, pinewood derby, having a swimming night, and attending a school board meeting and talking to a member of the board. They both enjoyed the "Trout-O-Ree" and a tour of the drone delivery company that's very close to our house.

First night back at Cub Scouts for Webelo Corban

 

One of Gabriel's first meetings of the year

Webelo hike

Trout-O-Ree

Gabriel especially enjoyed fishing

Webelo led flag ceremony

Pack Halloween carnival

Drone delivery tour and demonstration. Gabriel particular enjoyed the
command center where they keep track of drones and chart flights.

Webelos all coming together to cook a meal to share

Fall is not complete without carving pumpkins and going to a fall festival. It works out well that Gabriel's friend Aiden has a fall birthday and always invites everyone to join him at a fun local pumpkin patch/festival.

The boys worked so hard to carve their pumpkins and they both did an amazing job. Unfortunately only a few days after they were put on the porch some very hungry squirrels ate the front (where the design is) off of both pumpkins

Corban's Deathly Hallows

Gabriel's Snoopy in the pumpkin patch

Spirit week at school always leads to some craziness:

Hawaiian Day

Silly Hat Day

Not quite sure what Corban is doing here

Corban doing a presentation at school. He's done several this year including a
"Christmas around the world" presentation (he was assigned Italy) and a Bible presentation

Piano lessons on Wednesdays at the church with a new teacher. One exciting thing that happened in the fall was his new teacher alerting us to someone at her church selling a used piano at a very reasonable price. Moving it was a pain (for Taylor), but Corban really enjoys having the piano in the living room and it's nice to be able to hear him practicing.

"Caturday" at the library

For Halloween we took the boys Trick-or-Treating in downtown Blacksburg. Gabriel wanted to be the Mad Hatter from the Tim Burton "Alice in Wonderland" movie. He found the hair to be annoying and itchy but the overall look was fun. Corban wanted to be Metal Sonic, the only Sonic character for which there was no pre-made costume available. The only mask that I could find ending up being a little small, but he wanted to wear that with his ninja costume from last year. We got some dark arm sleeves and metal fingers, but these ended up irritating him as he was trying to do things.

When Gabriel was going to go Trick-or-Treating with a couple kids from school (who were in 5th grade so both boys knew them) Corban really wanted to stay home and pass out candy. He set up a spot for himself on the porch with a pillow and blanket and turned on his audio book. He really enjoyed hanging out there and giving all the other kids candy when they came by.

And here is just another random picture of daily life around here. Corban, some kind of cool shooting Wild Kratt, riding on Gabriel dressed as a reindeer. Seems about right. They both end of doing some very creative things, usually involving Legos or some sort of running around/wrestling. They also love to play games both together and as a family.