Gabriel turns 7

Gabriel celebrated his 7th birthday by watching "The Amazing Spiderman" and having cake and ice cream with all his cousins at the farm for Cousin's Camp. I hope he realizes how lucky he is to have his birthday at a time when the entire family is always together.

Here's a little about 7 year old Gabriel: (interview done today actually)

Favorite movie: NinjaGo and Lego Clutch Powers, the movie

Favorite color: fire red

Favorite book: Magic School Bus books

Favorite song: Tantrum from Dog Train CD

Favorite thing to do: Play Legos with Zech

Favorite Person: Emma Lee (and Mommy and Daddy and everybody else in my family)

Least favorite thing to do: school

Favorite thing that happened last year: going to Disney World

Favorite thing learned in school: Learning about the Romans and Galdiators

Biggest accomplishments: I scored my first goal in my last game of the soccer season. Someone kicked the ball to me and I kicked it into the goal. I was so excited and happy!

Mommy's thoughts: Gabriel is so mature for his age. He is still the sweet sensitive boy he has always been. He is learning to stand up to Zechariah when Zech is wrong. I am happy to see that. I let him know that it is ok and support him as much as I can. Gabriel is a big brother and finds that the role brings a lot of responsibilty. He is more than happy to take that on when it comes to Emma Lee, he is not so willing with Ammon and Elijah. Gabe and Zech have been friends for so long that they tend to not let the younger boys play and hang out with them. Gabe is getting better about playing with and including Ammon in their circle. Gabriel is thoughtful and picks up on people's thoughts and feelings. He asks questions and listens well. Gabriel is smart. He is a fabulous reader and is doing well in Math. His talents continue to develop. He is beginning to reallize his likes and dislikes and understand that it is OK if he likes something that someone else doesn't or vice versa. I love my Gabriel. He is and always will be "My Angel".

Our Move to Ohio: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

The Good: 

•  I have great friends who love me and support me.  I had some awesome people come in and help me pack, clean, and watch my kiddos so that I could get out of my house in Waldorf. Thank you guys! I couldn't have done it without you!
• The Griesmyer farm is BEAUTIFUL! It is quiet, serene, slow paced, and completely different from the hustle and bustle of the DC area.
• The boys have plenty of room to run and play.
• The weather is nice and warm
• We take trips to the creek and go on walks just to explore.
• Cousin's camp brings all the family together and is a load of fun (and noise, and confusion)

 The Bad:
 
 

• Moving a fully furnished house into a fully furnished house is really hard and..well, impossible. My stuff is stored in 3 different places on the farm and is driving me nuts. I slowly unpack boxes and am constantly searching for things. Actually, I've given up. I'll find it when I find it.
• I broke my truck door. It was SO stupid too. I decided to take the kids to the city pool one day. I sent Zech inside the house to get something and decided to back up the driveway to get him-with the door open. It caught the side of the hill and BAM!!! Broken door! I didn't think anything about it since I supposedly have the best car insurance ever-USAA. I call them to come get my car and fix it when they tell me they have no record of my policy. WHAT THE #$@!!!  2 weeks prior I had changed my policy over from MD coverage to Ohio. Well come to find out, they cancelled my MD and did not initiate my OH! I was out of a car for 2 weeks! Not a fun and easy thing for a family my size.
• A HUGE storm hits the farm as well as my house in Waldorf.  We lose power for 3 days. We have 15 children and 7 adults in the house. Tensions and tempers rise! Our camp's theme was "Survivor" this year! We seriously learned a lot!
• My neighbor's tree comes crashing down on my house in Waldorf causing $8,000+ in damage. Because we rented out our house, 2 weeks before the storm, I had JUST changed my insurance to fire and upped the premium to $2,500!!!
• Gary is still working in VA. I have no friends here. I am in the middle of nowhere. I have no leads for my Premier Jewelry business and I fall into a deep depression.

 

The Ugly:

• Ammon contracted impetigo from the baby pool at the community pool. It was nasty and gross and to make matters worse, we had no power or running water to keep him clean. Thank goodness for antibiotics and antibacterial lotion! Poor baby! :(