I see the blessings amid the unpleasant

I ended the last post saying I was going to move the computer next. I did. And several other rooms. I think I finally have everything settled (except for the purging and the twins' clothes still have no closet).

 Carolyn and I are finally getting into a better groove with homeschooling. I make the assignments, and except for certain subjects that are tough, she is mostly self-directed and learns on her own. (Science is our constant exception! We are learning about DNA and mitosis this week.)

She's enjoying being free of braces.

 The lab she was doing here was looking for leucoplasts in a smooshed banana. (Leucoplasts are the plastids in a cell that store excess carbohydrates as starches...yum banana.)

 Gideon found a pair of rolled up striped socks: "I'm cat in the hat!"

He's finally starting to enjoy story time and was sad today that I made him skip it. (He's been sick, so I didn't want contact interaction with a bunch of other kids yet.) His favorite part is the bubbles at the end. I think I'm going to get him a bubble machine for Christmas.

Gideon is not a fan of Halloween. (And Alee is only slightly interested. She wore normal clothes and face paint with dress up ears for her costume to dance class.)

Natalie has finally caught the vision of "simple" and asked to be an M&M this year. Her shirt is red, but the lighting makes it look orange.

Seth went for Mario (which only cost me the overalls and red shirt and mustache). He's had the hat since he was a kid. The red shirt I know he'll wear again. The overalls costed more than I expected, but he wore them again to the hayride, and Seth loves dress up!)

Gideon hates dress up! I made him a cookie shirt for the church halloween party, but it was not finished in time for library story time that morning, so I tried on old costumes.
Dinosaur - (Seth wore at age 3) - too tight in the neck/sleeves.

 Mouse (was one of mine/my brothers' old costumes) - too short (and wouldn't wear Seth's old mouse ear toboggan)

 Went to story time in normal clothes. (Gideon is my summer baby; he likes to wear minimal clothing and play in water. Seth is my halloween baby; he likes chocolate and playing dress up.) :)

Seth & Carolyn at trunk or treat at church....on his birthday. (Why does it always fall on his birthday in our ward?)

  Kaitlyn and Gideon are milk & cookies

 Yes, let's pick up that really gross traffic cone and hug it. Boys are gross. Babies are gross. Baby boys...love gross.

Where are you ears? (Alee is not a huge fan of halloween either.)

We tried to put him in the cookie monster trunk for a funny picture, but he didn't like it and climbed out before I could get a picture.

Here's my crew: (This is the night of the trunk or treat, also Seth's 17th birthday.)

Yea - half dressed PJs and trains. Life could only get better with some ice cream!

Pumpkins painted at young women. (Unicorn, of course)

 (I think this started as a Cinderella carriage and turned into just a geometric design.)

Alee's school does "tag awards" instead of certificates. Each quarter they earn tags for various accomplishments and they take home their chain of tags at the end of the year. I love that we are school of choice in our district. I wish I had switched her to this school a year earlier. They are awesome.

 Go alee!

It isn't Seth's year for a party, but he's only got 2 birthdays left before he graduates and grows up, so I let him invite friends over this year anyways. I can't believe they all came. (Yea for store-bought pizza and teenagers that entertain themselves with games. Boy oh Boy were they loud though! I think it was because he invited over boys AND GIRLS....girls are so loud!) :)

Won't wear a costume or a hat but will wear a game head thing??!

We went for family pictures, and we haven't gotten them back yet, but I took a picture of Alee in the tree while she was waiting on her turn, and I snapped a picture of the kids while my photographer was trying to get them to all cooperate. (Alee finally cooperates and didn't cry! Yea! But Gideon was a wild child and completely uncooperative after the first 5 minutes.) Sigh...I can't wait to see the ones she took after he edits them!

Sneak peak...(a Beth's phone version of what will be more awesome from the photographer)

The same day as family photos my (last) grandfather died. :( We know the plan; we know he's with loved ones gone before and continues to serve God on the other side of the veil, and we know he is probably enjoying not having the limitations of an old mortal body, but we will miss his sweet kindness and funny comments.

So, we packed up and went to NC for family time and a funeral. (Movies in the van make for smiles.)

 Yes, I am on the middle row. (Natalie started running a fever Monday morning when we were packing the van, so I gave her the front so she could sleep on the way there.)

 She did sleep and her fever was gone quickly. I prayed and prayed, and Heavenly Father mercifully held off the sickness for the rest of the trip and for our Wednesday and Thursday important events! I was so grateful for this tender mercy.

 Rob...took him a few days to catch up on grad school (so much work at end of the semester).
Thankfully, he still has access to the online classes, so he watched one of his missed lectures at the hotel Monday night, and caught up the 2nd lecture Tuesday after we got home.

Despite the sad occasion, it is such a joy to be around family. I love my family, and I wish we could get together for a fun occasion for once instead of just funerals!
My cousins were having a fun debate during our evening visit in Grandma's room.

I'm so glad I have been able to have my grandparents through all of my children being born.

 And of course, I love seeing my parents always.

 Look how tall Seth is getting! I think he's passed about half the men in my family in height.

 Jacob is always trying to convince Gideon to like him. "Pull my ear!"

 Cute little kids. (These are my nephew and niece. The nephew doesn't like being on the internet or else I would show his cute face!)

And back to life....extracting DNA from split peas.

 Library puppet theater.

The dance open house - Kaitlyn is doing ballet. She's a beginner since she hasn't done ballet since Kindergarten.

And Young Women in Excellence was also that same week.

And Beta Club induction for Carolyn.

 And normal preschool (which Gideon actually participated in)

 And another dance open house. (Only Alee went because Natalie had conflicting events.)

 Gideon wanted to go play baton.

 The twins had a performance at the middle school Thursday. They did a little improv skit.

 And then the sickness came back full force! Seth started running a fever Thursday morning. Gideon Thursday night (thankfully I was able to attend all the exciting things of the week first). Alee started Saturday morning. Everyone else just continued coughing and blowing noses. (Except Carolyn and Rob.)

So Alee was sick on her birthday, but she did come to the table to eat. And she ate the night before. (Her fever and feeling was a roller coaster for 3 days. Gideon has been the same - up and down.)

My inlaws kept Gideon so that I could go on a field trip with Kaitlyn to a theatrical performance of several short stories with her drama class. It was interesting and enjoyable. Gideon was good even not feeling well. (So many little blessings in the past few weeks.)

Still trying to convince Gideon to eat enough...cute shapes and toothpicks got a few more bites this morning, but he's still not eating well. (Starve a cold, feed a fever...or is it the other way around? He's starving whichever it is; he's had both!)

Working on tongue skills. (Actually he just made a face when I pulled out the phone to take a picture. He wanted to watch a movie this morning and wanted me to watch with him. He kept laying his head on me, so I know he's still not fully recovered.)

 Unfortunately, life keeps moving on even if you're sick, so Seth is struggling to keep up in classes with his groggy tired feelings, but he had already missed 4 days last week because of funeral and sickness. (I had to brush on my calculus skills to help! Good gracious I had forgotten so much! I'm so glad math is "my thing" so I could pick it back up fast to help him!)

Proof me if I made mistakes! Gotta run get Alee from school! No time for editing!

We are ready to have Thanksgiving and a break where even school gives us a rest!