Tommy on Tommy: Five!

Tommy at five is a joy to our family!  Just thinking about how to capture him in words makes my heart swell.  He thinks about things a lot and loves to share his ponderings with us all.  His awareness and consideration of the world and the people around him has often inspired us to call him our "old man in a little boy's body."  He is curious and clever, always surprising us with his precocious knowledge.  He soaks up information like a sponge.  For example, he is reading a blue-streak and begs for time on the computer to play math games; once he hears or decodes a word or figures out a problem, he usually retains his new knowledge.  He is also kind, tenderhearted, and a helpful friend.  He is very interested in helping and being responsible.  When everyone is working on chores, he wants to make sure he has his fair share.  He knows much of what is expected of him and will often do it before ever being asked or after just one ask...a personality trait which, let's be honest here, is unique for our brood!  We can tell when he's in a mischievous mood when he refuses to do something he's been asked to do because he is usually so content with just doing what he's asked.  He prefers gentle play over rough and tumble, although every now and then he busts out with a wrestle attack or trampoline pig pile, just to get that boy physical energy out.  He pays attention to detail and likes to do things the way he thinks they are supposed to be done.  Tommy is a super duper picky eater.  OY!  He doesn't love coloring, but does love art, especially things he can assemble and build and create.  He can get whiny at times or talk in a baby voice, which is pretty grating, but he typically is good about changing his tone as soon as we point it out.  He wants to be in and around and observing and participating, even if it is quietly, which it often is.  He hates to be left out so much that even if the activity isn't something he enjoys, he wants in.  He is our bookend boy; he is our completion; he rounds our edge; he is, in our eyes, even with his flaws, perfection embodied. 

Here is what Tommy has to say about himself:

How old are you?  "Five!" (he's been counting down the days since October first, and the months before that.)
What makes you happy?  "Mommy!  Daddy!  Brothers!  Ruby!  Aaaaand my friends."
What are your favorite things to eat?  "Hot dogs, macaroni, sandwiches and bagels."
What is your least favorite thing to eat?  "Veggie stew." (not sure what he's talking about....)
What are your favorite things to do?  "Swim, climb and play with my Jake [and the Neverland Pirates] Ship."
What is your favorite TV show?  "Doc McStuffins."
What are you really good at?   "Climbing, swimming, reading...I love reading!"
What is your favorite movie?  "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2."
What is your favorite animal?  "Cows!"
What is your favorite color?  "Black." (I love that he still says it with his little flicked-L and clicked-K)
What is your favorite song?  "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam."
Who are your best friends?  "Nathan and Paul."
What do you and Mom do together that you love?  "Play Hi-Ho-Cherry-O."
What do you and Dad do together that you love?  "Play Candyland."
What is your favorite sport?  "Swimming."
What is your favorite book?  "Frog and Friends." (recent check-out from the library)
Where is your favorite place to go?  "To see a movie."
What makes you feel scared?  "Just the wind, when I'm sleeping."
What do you want to be when you grow up?  "A doctor, like Doc McStuffins."
What words would you use to describe yourself? "Please (?), cute and strong, and smart!"
What is the most exciting thing you got to do this year? "Playing with you, Mommy."
What do you want to tell the future you? "Thank you!"

Celebrating our Magic Middle, Josh!

Josh's birthday isn't until Tuesday, and, yes, Tommy's birthday is actually first up, so it felt a bit weird having Josh's party today, but the kids were out of school for fall conferences, so we figured it was a great day to party rather than try to schedule a celebration into one of our cram-packed October Saturdays.  Turning ten, an even birthday year, means FRIEND PARTY, which equals total Josh joy!  After much deliberation over what he wanted to do, he settled on a visit to Trampoline World.  So, after quickly gobbling up cupcakes and ice cream and opening the gifts his friends had brought him, I drove Josh, along with Sophie, Canyon, Eli and Ryan, to Trampoline World for two hours of jumping bliss.  They were so adorable together, had a fantastic time and wore themselves out enough that the car ride home was much quieter than the car ride there...until Sophie had the idea to conduct a "weird sound symphony" where they each chose a sound to make repeated over and over as she conducted them to be louder, quieter, stop and start.  Funny, fun friends! 

*I forgot to grab the good camera which is better for taking pictures of high-speed kids in low lighting, so grainy, blurry pictures of the fun had is all there is.  Frankly, it's a better representation of how the two hours went anyway...I'm pretty sure they didn't stop moving.  They were a blur to me as well!

Josh, Sophie, Canyon, Eli and Ryan

When I told them I couldn't take a picture of them jumping because it would be too blurry, they said, "Let's all pretend we are jumping!"  So funny!

One of Josh's best friends is our neighbor Ryan.  Ryan is older, in 6th grade, and doesn't know any of Josh's friends so we thought it would be nice to have Ryan join us for Tommy's movie outing instead of attend the larger party with the group at Trampoline World.  This way, Josh wouldn't worry about having Ryan feel left out of the group of Josh's school friends.  It was great to have Ryan with us for The Book of Life!

The Bits: October 8th Through October 14th

October is packed so there are a lot of Bits!

The morning of the 8th began really early, when the boys talked me into waking them up for the 4:55am total lunar eclipse.  Tommy wouldn't rouse and Zac rolled over and covered his head with his blanket, but for the rest of us, the early rise was worth it!  What a sight! (and not too bad a picture with the phone camera!)

It is field trip season!  The schools have to try to avoid the winter months (and truthfully, even much of the spring) because the weather is so unpredictable, so all field trips tend to be planned in the fall or May.  Within one week, Luke had his butterfly pavilion trip, Josh had a field trip to Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, and Tommy's preschool scheduled their visit to the pumpkin patch.  I was able to volunteer as chaperone for Josh's trip.  Volunteering for these events is always energy-packed craziness, but I so enjoy being on an educational adventure with one of my boys and seeing them in their school lives with their friends.  We've been to this monument before, and weren't 100% impressed that time, but walking the petrified forest loop with the ranger as guide and the opportunity the kids had to search for (and keep!) fossils in the shale was pretty darn cool.  The vast time period that is described by this monument is mind-boggling, and the realization that, as they uncover a fossilized leaf or insect, theirs are the first human eyes to ever behold it is humbling.  Plus, Josh is so cute!

With some annoying and weird discomfort coursing through my leg following my almost-daily run over the past couple of months, I've decided to try something new.  I'm upping my yoga practice and taking spin for a...spin!  No leg pain and a hardcore, dripping-with-sweat workout...I love it! 

The fireplace was fixed just in time for a delicious rainstorm to roll in.  With a nice cup of cocoa in hand and a crackling fire inside while the rain pelted the windows outside, we were feeling so wonderfully fallish!  Perhaps I will finally be inspired to put up the Halloween decor.

Tooth number two FINALLY out!  Seriously, it was getting ridiculous.  Confession: after seeing his tooth flopping against Luke's lip when he was talking to me, I told him, "In 30 minutes I am going to take that tooth out, so you have a just a bit of time to prepare yourself for it."  He immediately opened his mouth WIDE and started to wail.  The tooth was right there...practically horizontal...laying on his lip.  Ready for the plucking!  Mid-tantrum, I reached in really quick and popped it right out!  Dangle Toothgate 2014 was OVER!  He was mad but settled down almost immediately.  I said, "Are you mad at me?"  He said, "Yeah...a little bit."  However, he was over it in 1 minute, and no longer mad at me in 10 minutes and it stopped feeling sore in 30 minutes.  The next morning, dollar coin happily in hand, he said, "Thanks for taking my tooth out, Mom."  No lie.  I am pretty certain this chain of events will be repeated with Every. Single. loose tooth this kid will have.

Friday, we found ourselves at Venetucci Farms for Tommy's preschool pumpkin patch field trip.  It was a misty, cool, perfect fall day that was screaming, "Go to the pumpkin patch!"  With the drenching downpour the day before, we were a little worried we'd be running to the patch, grabbing a pumpkin and getting back in the car completely soaked, but the rain held off throughout our visit and it was lovely.  The older boys were out of school, so all but Zac, who was at a birthday party, came along for this quintessential autumn activity.

We took a walking tour of the farm before hitting the patch, learned about composting and earthworms, bee health, organic growing practices and free-range pasture for the happy little farm animals.  The energy for the farm is even derived from solar panels!  I thought it was all really neat!  Tommy was just happy they had a cow, his favorite animal. 

Zac and pals celebrated his long-time buddy Grant's birthday playing soccer and basketball at Grant's house and then getting a treat at Yo Yogurt (photo stolen from Grant's IG!).  I am grateful for the awesome friends Zac has and the great influence they are on him, and that he is on them!

Friday afternoon, we took the time to finally "spookify" the house!  When they were little, this is the phrase that Zac and Ben used to use every year when it was time to decorate the house for Halloween, and it has stuck.  The boys always get so excited for spookification.  For the first 20 minutes.  Then it's all me.  {sigh}  Oh well, I'm just glad they are there to get me going, or I might just let it all pass by, and I love our spookified Halloween house so much.  I should add that the excitement of decorating fizzles out after 20 minutes...until Adam puts up the spider web in the front, then they are excitedly  back on board with helping hands.

Ben's soccer team had the opportunity to walk out with the Air Force Academy Men's Soccer Team on Friday night and then participate in the game as ball boys, always ready with a spare ball to keep the rate of play up when the ball was sent out of bounds.  It was a cold and damp night, but Ben had a lot of fun and enjoyed watching the fast pace of the college-level play. 

Warming up by the fire....  These contented moments are one of the best parts of life.

As the parents of a keeper, Adam and I are happy when Josh stands around looking a bit bored.  It means we don't have to stress about the other team taking shots on goal!  Although there were some quiet moments during Josh's Saturday game, he had some great saves to help his team with their 5-2 win.

We missed Ben's 5-0 win, because all three Saturday games happened to overlap and he is the one we sent with friends this time, but he said one of his two goals was the goal of his life....  Of course.  Because we weren't there.  Zac's team had a tough loss, but Zac played solid defense, as he always does since he moved to defender at the end of last spring season.  At his mid-season review with his coach this week, Coach Kelly said, "The only way we are successful as a team is when you are anchoring the defense."  So proud!

Tommy loves his Christmas socks!  After laundry is done they are the first socks he picks to wear.  I guess everyday is Christmas in Tommy World. 

Luke was really excited about teaching our Sunday night Family Home Evening lesson about David and Goliath and how we can fight our own personal "giants."  He had been preparing for a week!  We all enjoyed our discussion, but let's be honest here, everybody's favorite part was using the slingshot to shoot poms at the paper Goliath that Luke drew and colored. 

On Monday's chilly morning, the boys excitedly discovered that the water table had frozen over!

We love how Tommy measures the distance from the elementary school to our backyard gate in "lumps" in the sidewalk.  "Two more lumps to go!  We are almost home!"

My cake decorating skills are sporadic at best, and here is photographic evidence of how bad it can get.  Tommy was very clear that he wanted to bring "fishie cupcakes" for his preschool birthday treat (I did try to suggest alternatives!).  I have no idea why that was his desire, but I gave it a go...and with limited time to make them, I did it without consulting Pinterest first (GASP!).  These place second in the ugliest cakes I've ever made, just behind the *accidental* Jabba the Hutt cake I made for Zac's 8th birthday party.  {exasperated sigh}  But Tommy was happy, which is what matters, so I declare success!

I think this is the most fallish fall we have ever had since moving here to Colorado.  With our drastic daily temperature changes from day to night, we always have a pretty vibrant autumn, with beautiful, colorful trees, but possibly because of all the water we had this summer, they seem even more flashy this year, and without a startling freeze to kill everything off quickly, they've lasted longer than it seems they have in years past.  We've also had a handful of lovely cool, rainy days, something I miss terribly about the fall in Washington.  Although, every time we have one I am grateful for it, embrace it and soak it all in...and then I am grateful I don't have to run errands in it, pick up kids from school in it, and sit through soccer games in it day after day, week after week! 

The Bits: October 1st Through October 7th

October week one Bits:

The second grade music production "Singing in the Rainforest" was another HUGE home run for our school's music program and for the second grade class.  Luke played the part of boa constrictor and sang a cute song, along with his fellow boas, that ended with a nice long hiss.  They were adorable! 

People say a lot, "I don't know how you do it with five!"  I'm not 100% sure all that "it" entails, but for sure one of my answers is photographed here.  The Carpool.  Our saving grace!  We get by with a little help from our friends, and we hope we do our part to help them get by a bit easier too!

Zac said, "Hey!  Where did these cool sunglasses come from?!"  1990 my boy, 1990.  Adam has had these babies since he was a young teen; true vintage!

The first frost of the season came last week, but after the cool night, the weather warmed right back up.

After walking Luke to school one morning, I returned to this: Tommy diligently creating his birthday wishlist.  Two hats, a muffin, a water bottle, new TOMS and Octonauts...he's easy to please!

Josh has the cutest little bunch of friends! 

Tommy missed a couple days of co-op while the cousins were here visiting, but he was eager to make up all his work.  In this self-portrait he was supposed to draw himself wearing a hat.  He LOVES hats, so the hardest part was choosing which hat he wanted to put on himself!

I love a few stolen moments with a good book after homework is done, kids are happily playing or away at their activities and dinner is in the oven.  They are so rare, especially in the fall.

Zac and Ben are working on the Golf Merit Badge for Scouts and spent a fun morning with Adam, Zac's friend Will and his dad at a little par three in town.  Ben's face says, "Dad, your paparazzi efforts on Mom's behalf are interfering with my shot!"  And Zac...when did he get so old?!

This past weekend was General Conference weekend for our church, a time when we get to listen for inspiration and instruction from church leadership and have our faith strengthened and encouraged.  It's always good to feed the belly along with the soul, so I made our family's favorite cinnamon roll recipe while we listened to the first session.

I've been pondering Luke's attention problems a lot recently and wondering if perhaps it would benefit him to have further analysis done by a professional, to see if there is something specific going on that, if we find some deeper causes, could help him focus.  But then I see him sit still for nearly an  hour, watching the conference speakers, completely engaged, and I think...hmmmmm....

The first weekend of October was miraculously soccer-free...until two weeks ago when we found out that Josh's coach signed the boys up for a tournament in Aurora.  Josh's three games on Saturday made up for the lack of games his brothers had!  Oh, the irony!  The boys played great, won two and lost one, and missed making the semi-finals by one goal.

Smells are such strong memory triggers for me.  The marsh that was by the fields at Josh's game smelled damp and earthy, wilty, crisp and sharp, like decaying plants getting ready for winter dormancy, like cross-country season in Washington always smelled: the paths and trails we ran often took us through areas like this, that are much more frequent in Western Washington than Colorado.  I love that smell!

Saturday night was Ben's first Priesthood Session.  I love these men, and their desire to be better men, so much!

Sunday evening we spent enjoying the beautiful Indian Summer getting out the post-Conference wiggles in our backyard.  These are the moments I want to last forever.

We've only had a few cool days since fall arrived, mostly the weather has been summery, temperatures in the upper 70's and low 80's.  But the trees know....

These are my favorite fall trees here in Colorado.  I don't know what they are, but they change from green to yellow to red as the cooler nights come on.  Right in the middle of their transition, they are all three at once...Rainbow Trees!

Tommy and I went on a fall leaf collage collection walk on an 80* day.  Ah, Colorado!

Monday night was Luke's last Landsharks race.  His persistence and heart gives joy to my soul!  He ran every single step.

Sunset, sunset, sunset...love, love, love.

Luke's field trip to Denver's Butterfly Pavilion was awesome!  He excitedly reported that a Blue Morpho butterfly landed on him and that he held Rosie the Tarantula.  Yikes!  Maybe it was a good thing that I couldn't go along on this one because there were already enough parent volunteers when I turned in Luke's permission slip offering my help.

Zac looking ready for some cooking action while filming his French class food unit assignment: how to make Vitamix spinach-avocado-mint-chocolate-chip ice cream.  He was a total crack up!