Robotics Competition

Starting in September, both Jon & Seth started working on a First Lego League team together with some of our friends and their sons. Jon was one of the coaches along with Doug & Craig. Seth LOVED getting to spend every Tuesday with his buddies. I admit that it was a huge sacrifice for us to have Jon gone for three hours every Tuesday night, but it was a good chance for the two of them to bond. 

January was the big competition. Our expectations were pretty low since most of our team (including all three coaches) were brand new to this gig. Plus the boys were generally more interested in goofing off with Legos than working on the robot. Jon might have come home complaining about their lack of motivation almost every week...

But they were very excited about their competition and did put in the work they needed to put in a decent showing. Unfortunately, their robot had a faulty part which meant that, despite the code being perfectly functional, the robot often wouldn't perform how it was supposed to. This was extra frustrating for both boys and coaches since there wasn't anything they could really do about it. 

In the end they came in about in the middle of the pack, which I thought was pretty great considering the time and resources that had obviously been put into some of the other teams (private schools, coaches who could dedicate a lot more time since they didn't have other kids/demands on their time). Jon swears he's not coaching again...we shall see...

The WMC^5 Team: Benjamin, Brody, Jack, Seth & Gabe

All ready to compete!

Gabe officially inducted Elijah as the youngest team member.

Getting ready for Round 2

Coach Jon with Elijah (team mascot) and Seth

Craig coaches Seth on robot placement

I'm grateful for all the good people Seth has in his life who are willing to take the time to teach and mentor him. 

The Kids Are Alright

Shenanigans from January:

Not sure what inspired it, but the kids found some onion grass growing in the yard and decided to try to cook it. Apparently there actually is a recipe for roasted onion grass. Who knew! And, it was AMAZING. I seriously couldn't stop eating it. We're calling that a homeschool win.

Lots of these on my phone.

The accompanying videos are absolute GOLD.

She's going to hate them one day. 

There for about a month the kids were all into making their own games. This was Aaron's version. Jon & I especially enjoyed the gingerbread man with the elf shoes who apparently got a dog bite.

A perfect Elise-sized tower!

Timmy and Catherine's creation.

My kids beg for Timmy every weekend. 

I don't know why I keep trying to take my kids on hikes. First, we ended up on an accidental four mile hike back in September. This time we fared better, but the first part of the trail was down a steep, rocky hill covered in fallen leaves. Elise kept tripping, slipping, and crying. I had Elijah and my patience was wearing thin. Thankfully Catherine was there to carefully guide her down by turning it into a game. I don't know what I'd do without that girl.

Thankfully the rest of the hike was pretty fun, even if the trail did disappear at some point. And the best part was finding a nice section of Deer Creek we'll have to come visit during the summer. Or maybe the best part was the dead deer we found decaying on the bank. Depends on which kid you ask. 

Aaron painted this polar bear in art class.

I cannot even handle it.

It's like a hypnotic, depressed Pokeman. 

We read 'By the Great Horn Spoon' for the book club I hosted.

Probably mining for 'gold' would have been better NOT done in January...

Aaron drawings are pure masterpieces.

I have no idea what is going on here, but it's the stuff of nightmares.

I love it. 

Nine Months

Oh, Little Stink,

Nine months old has been a lot of fun. We're seeing more of your personality showing through, although you're still generally easygoing and good-natured. Still not crawling yet, but very seriously thinking about it (lunging, sometimes Army crawling). You've mastered the eating of baby food and are enjoying some 'real' food. You still prefer to be carried all the time and scream whenever you suddenly find yourself alone in a room. Fifth child problems. 

At your nine month appointment you were:

Weight: 21 lbs, 1 oz

Height: 30 inches

95th percentile for head

When you poop on your monkey towel, you have to use the pink girl towel.

Apparently you're not bothered by this at all. 

Current favorite things to explore:

mouths, teeth, nostrils, eyeballs

Selfies with your favorite Memma Knox.

Totally relaxed on Seth's lap.

Watching the snow fall

You LOVED the water at Port Discovery!

You're also very much interested in grown-up food now.

For example:

Oranges.

With the peel still on. 

We sure love you, little one! I'm not sure there's ever been a baby more loved on than you. 

And So Begins 2020

Picture this: it's 11:55 pm on Dec. 31st. After a nice evening playing games and laughing with family, you gather together and dispense the sparkling cider. Don't worry: your sweet husband is right there, ready to celebrate with you. No, wait. It's 11:56 and he's running upstairs to...brush his teeth?? Yes, ladies and gentlemen, to BRUSH HIS TEETH. He assures you that he'll be back in time for midnight. And so, I present, Invisible Jon ringing in the New Year:

(Invisible Jon also plays a middling game of Bohnanza, in case you care)

For our last adventure with the Weirichs (and for Dad's Christmas gift), we headed to the big Air & Space Museum near the airport (I refuse to figure out how to spell or pronounce the actual name). My dad is a HUGE astronaut junkie, so I knew we needed to get him down there. It did not disappoint:

Me and a random assortment of children.

Oh, and a shuttle.

On the way into the museum Seth spotted the observation tower and asked if we could go inside. I wasn't sure, but it turns out you can (score!) and it was FREE (double score!). Unfortunately we arrived just as the last elevator was heading up. I thought we were out of luck, but the sweet guy running the tour promised there would be plenty of room. Since I had the giant stroller, I kept the baby and sent Jon with the kids (minus Elijah and Catherine, who was pretending to be a Weirich). 

Seth at the top

Stunning, but it's the best Jon got.

Lady at the top

After three weeks of fun, we had to say goodbye to Weirichs (Kofords bailed on us in order to be home in time for the best family New Year's Eve party ever. Sorry, Marah...). I hate saying goodbye since we are never sure when we'll get to be together again. Thank you for all the fun times and for your patience with us, Brian & Kenna!

We got to keep my parents a bit longer for one reason: Seth's ordination to the Aaronic priesthood. My parents weren't able to be there for his baptism, so Mom wanted to make sure they were here when he was ordained. Thankfully it all worked out beautifully with this new "move everyone up in January" thing! 

This was a new world for me as the oldest of four girls. I had a hard time processing the idea of Seth passing the sacrament and attending Young Men. But, as it turns out, he adapted quickly and now seems just like one of the boys. I think throwing them in with all the older boys (plus giving them specific and necessary responsibilities) can do wonders.

I love this picture of Seth with some of the men he gets to look up to!

Here's hoping for an excellent 2020!

Post-Christmas Daze

After our Philadelphia insanity, we needed a day to just relax. Plus Bubba & Bryan were leaving! Boo! Thankfully it ended up being a gorgeous day. 

Enjoying the sunshine during the kickball game

We also mooched off the Knoxes' awesome yard and borrowed their fire pit:

The kids had a blast wandering the woods and catching salamanders.

Jon was the fire/hot cocoa master:

The next few days were just a haze of fun and family, but nothing too crazy.

Like (almost) twin cousins on a counter:

Elijah being adored by Breydon and Austin:

These two were hilarious. Elijah is bigger, but Audrey has him beat on mobility and general cleverness. If Elijah had something she wanted, she would crawl over, yank it out of his hands, and crawl off. Many times she'd immediately drop whatever it was she'd just stolen. Like the stealing was the fun part: she didn't actually want the toy. It was hilarious. 

"Thanks for stealing my Nerf bullet, Audrey."

Grandpa & Elijah bonding time:

Because you have to have Maryland crabs while in Maryland, we arranged for a babysitter and took the adults (and babies) out to lunch. 

Elijah tries to decide what to order

Dad is very concerned by his crabs.

As it turns out, my family members are weak  unimpressed by the small size and general covered-in-Old-Bay-ness of Maryland crabs. After this confession they were unceremoniously removed from the state and dropped somewhere in Delaware or Pennsylvania. 

Okay, maybe not. But I sure enjoyed eating all their leftover crabs!

Philly

As usual, Grandpa is the most popular person.

Especially if he has his phone out.

Since Bubba & Bryan were only here for a short time, we had to rush to fit in all the fun things they wanted to see (Bryan's never been to the East Coast before). Our family opted out of the DC trip partially because of my kids' having done DC a million times and partially because Jon is angry at DC speed cameras, but we were on board for the Philadelphia adventure! 

First stop (because free parking) was the temple! Grateful for sisters who actually think to take pictures because I sure didn't:

Aaron, Adleigh & Catherine

Some of the peoples.

Apparently all the kids are off destroying the nice landscaping. 

From there it was a fairly decent walk across the city to...The Rocky Stairs!

Notice the Rocky Statue in the background?

There was a HUGE line to take photos with it and we were not doing it.

So we opted for this angle instead.

Oh, Seth...

Lots of people with really short legs running the stairs:

Made it to the top!

Slightly different combination of people who made it to the top!

Elise cracked me up: she had no idea what was going on, but picked up enough from watching everyone around her that she posed like this and insisted I take a picture:

The next part of our adventure involved booking it back to the temple and driving our cars through the insanity of Philly traffic in an attempt to park in a garage near Reading Terminal. In retrospect, we should have just stayed where we were and walked. It would have been quicker and much less stressful. We realized this about the time someone clipped our mirror trying to merge like a jerk.

But we eventually made it and found parking. Then it was another mad dash to the Liberty Bell, only to arrive 3 minutes after closing. The kids got to gaze at it through the window...

At that point we were ready to eat, and Reading Terminal is obviously the place to go. What we didn't know is that it closes at 6 pm. Even on a Saturday. Thankfully we all got food before it closed, but no donuts. And we felt rushed to eat and get out. 

Elijah really, really wanted some Philly cheesesteak.

It was rather amazingly delicious. 

And after all that fun, we turned around and drove home. I'm not sure Marah & Stephen will ever do anything like this with us again, but it was definitely an adventure! 

Family Photos

Because we had everyone in one place, we HAD to have family pictures taken! My friend Melissa offered to be our photographer.  Also, I had big plans to edit these and head swap kid, but reality happened and sometimes I just love the candid shots!

Grandkids & grandparents

A better shot? Maybe?

The whole, massive group!

Just the Bloods

This is one I insisted on:

All of us with our respective mini-mes!

(You need to get on that, Bubba!)

And then it was back home to rush in a lunch before our next adventure...