This Week at Our House # 50

1. It was a much quieter week. John spent some time looking for part time work locally. He may be able to pick up some classes at the local community college, but that won't be until fall. He also shaved his beard today. I think I am sad. I had gotten used to it, and I think I like him better bearded.
2. I spent a lot of time outdoors this week. On Tuesday, I took the kids on a little picnic to a local park. They played on the playground and we walked a trail through the woods. Thursday through Saturday I spent several hours pulling up turf and weeds and increasing my garden plot for spring planting. I am doing it all by hand. I have a large pitch fork and a couple of buckets. I fork up an area and then pull it by hand. I need to start watching videos and reading more about how to successfully grow things organically. I have been eating too much candy recently and decided that I better weigh myself to see the damage done. To my surprise, I was actually down another 8 pounds. I think it must be all the yard work. Surely, that alone will keep me going on the garden. 
3. Ruth loves her new companion and is learning some Portuguese. She is happy to be in a walking area and enjoying all the food. I am glad to know that she is getting enough exercise and plenty of delicious meals. I can't wait to speak to her on Christmas day. 
4. I made Kate spend some time outside with me. She read scriptures to me. Kate is reading and reading a lot to educate herself for her mission. She is on book 2 of the History of the Church by Joseph Smith. She plans to have all 7 read before her mission. She has also spent time reading in the Journal of Discourses. She is always sharing what she reads with the family and we have some great discussions. After Christmas, Kate will be talking with her Bishop about taking out her endowments.
5. Johnny has been bringing cookies to the neighbors with Books of Mormons and New Testaments. We are the first Mormons to live in this little town in recent history and the area is a good 40 miles from the bulk of our ward, so it is untouched by missionaries. Most people are accepting the books. 
6. Adam  got his glasses in the mail on Thursday and was very excited to be able to see again. Adam has taken up a serious passion for classical music. He plays it loud and as much as he is allowed to, which is frequent. He even looks up the scores online and follows along with the music. He has played the Messiah so much that several of the kids are starting to memorize Bible verses about the Savior. "Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows" (Isaiah 53:4) is a verse I hear even Arwen singing.
7. Rachel has been enjoying the Christmas carols. She has gotten Anya to sit with her and our Christmas carol books to learn the songs. 
8. Anya is very happy that in our new ward, she gets to be in the same primary class as Joseph. She told me that they like to joke around.
9. I make Joseph work in the yard with me more than any other of the kids because he tends to spend the least amount of time hanging out with me in the house. He doesn't like to pull up the sod, but he does like to transplant trees, dig up the giant weeds, and he is good about carrying my bucket of weeds and grass to my mulch pile to dump it out.
10. Joshua has been building bionicles for all of his siblings for Christmas presents. I need to help him wrap them. He has done a really job. They are interesting and have all matching pieces. Which reminds me. Josh really likes wearing pajama bottoms (which is fine for homeschool kids). But he does not have matching tops because they are all hand me downs. One day he was digging through his clothes pile and found a shirt that matches his favorite pajama bottoms and excitedly showed me that he had found a match. I asked him if he liked his clothes to match and he said, "Yes, it makes sense." 
11. Arwen has been asking about what is real and what is pretend. She has asked about pigs, dinosaurs, unicorns, dragons, bears, and more. I think she needs a trip to the zoo.
12. When Susan was asked what she wanted for Christmas, she said, "Christmas! I want Christmas!"
13. Sam is just so cuddly. He is on top of me snuggling most of the time. 

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