Happy New Year!

Well, here I go again. It's been a few months since my last blog, but I will start again. I guess that is just an indication of how crazy and busy life is these days in the Thom family. Life is good. We had a great Thanksgiving with friends and family, an amazing Christmas and are now almost through the first month of the new year. Andrew turned nine and Hannah turned four back in November.
Nathan has started crawling and is pulling up and getting ready to walk already. He has two teeth, eating solid foods, and he will be 11 months old on Feb.11th. The year has flown by. My sweet boy is still as sweet as can be and loves to hug and snuggle and slobber kiss my face. His comfort thing is to twist my hair in his hands- so sweet. I am just cherishing this last sweet baby that God has given us! His namesake is so true- Nathaniel means: Gift from God. He truly has been! I can not imagine our family without him!
Olivia had a great first semester at Eureka High, and got all A's and B's on her progress report! Go girl!!! She has surprised us with a hidden talent of playing the piano by ear, and we in turn surprised her with a piano for Christmas. She has basically taught herself to play on the small electric keyboard that we have, and now is going to start taking lessons on the piano. She has blown us away with how well she plays by ear. She will hear a song, find it on the internet, listen and watch someone play it, and in a week's time is playing the song almost perfectly! She is going to try out for the Eureka soccer team at he end of February, and is an amazing runner. (Dad's genes!!) Olivia is so solid in who she is in Christ, and continues to be a leader and example to her younger siblings and friends. She is growing in her abilities to have confidence in herself as the person that the Lord has made her. I am praying that the Lord will keep teaching her what it means to be a bold witness, and to fan the flame in her for Him into a FIRE!!
Caroline has continued to do awesome in school- straight A's- wow- awesome!!! She continues to also wow us with her beautiful voice. She has found a certain style of singing that suits her range and tone---sort of a jazzy kind of lilt in her voice......watch out American Idol, only three more years and she is going to try out!!! She continues to shine for the Lord in all that she says and does, and is learning to be a true servant here in our home with her siblings. She played volleyball this past fall, and will also play this spring at the YMCA.
Andrew has had an amazing year so far in 3rd grade. He has made some major strides in his grades from last year and has learned some really good study habits that I know will carry him far in his life. He continues to grow up and is now almost 54 inches tall- big enough for ALL of the roller coasters at Cedar Point up in Ohio!!! He is continuing to learn what it means to be surrendered to the Lord in all aspects of his life. He is learning to put other's needs above his own, and practicing self-control when things don't go his way. I am so proud of how the Lord is growing him up. He is playing Upward basketball for the first time this year and loves it!
Elizabeth has her hand in a little of everything this year, and has done great in first grade. She is reading so well, and loves to read the bible at night with dad before bedtime. She still loves to jump rope and is fast as lightening when she runs. I think she got dad's athletic genes as well! She is doing cheerleading for Upward and loves it!! Right up her alley!!! She loves to play with her sissy Hannah with their "Littlest Pet Shop" toys, as well as Barbieland in our playroom downstairs. She has such a joyful spirit, and loves to talk about heaven and what it will be like when we all get there someday. She has such a tender heart for the Lord, and I pray that He will continue to grow her up in Him.
Hannah has continued to grow up into a playful intelligent little girl with a mind of her own. She is energetic and silly and very passionate about what she likes and does not like. She is learning what it means to be obedient to the Lord, by being obedient to mom and dad as well. I love to listen to her little prayers, and we have a little game that we play every night before we go to sleep. she says.... "Mommy, I love you all the way to the moon." then I say, Well, I love you all the way to the stars.... then she says I love you all the way to Ohio..... then I say I love you all the way to heaven......then she says.... I love you all the way to Disneyworld (more on this next time.....surprise trip coming soon!) well, you get the idea. She does this every night before she goes to sleep. Then, after about 4 or 5 times, she will say" ok mommy. Good night" then in about 2 minutes she is asleep. So precious!!!

Okay. That will conclude my bragging session on our kids!! They are all so special and different and precious with totally different gifts and talents and personalities! We are so blessed and thankful for our large, busy, loud and sometimes crazy family!!!!
Mark and I continue to spend lots of time in the car running to different practices, plays, lessons, studies, meetings, lunches, playdates, grocery store runs, and sometimes even a date or two!! We continue to take each day as a gift and pray that we never take one day for granted. God is good all the time... all the timeGod is good!!!!
I will try to keep up a little better with my posts. God Bless!!!!

The Gang's All Here!!

This Halloween, Olivia decided to make her own costume. She found the idea for the Peanuts Gang on a website for homemade costumes. She made them all out of paper mache', and they turned out awesome! They were the hit of St. Albans. Caroline went as "Thing One" from "The Cat in the Hat", and her friend went as "Thing Two". Elizabeth was a pirate, Andrew was a Ninja, Hannah was an adorable little angel, and Nathan was a little shark.


We had a great evening with hayrides up and down our street thanks to one of our neighbors, and then our good friends the Orfs came over and drove the kids around in the back of his pick up truck to go trick or treating through our neighborhood. Our street is walkable, b
but beyond that, you need some wheels!
Afterwards we all met back up here at our house for pizza and of course, candy!!!!

Everyone was cold, tired, hungry, but happy and full of SUGAR!!!!

We Did It....We Got a Family Pic

Well, after two crying tantrums, one tummy ache and a log filled with spiders, we actually were able to get some pics with everyone!! We went up to shoot them in the woods and the cliffs overlooking the Missouri River out here at St.Albans. It was a beautiful evening and the leaves were in their peak before all of the wind and rain came through this past weekend.
It is really hard to get all 6 kids looking in the right direction and smiling at the same time, but I think we actually got a few that will be Christmas card worthy.
We are going to do our Harvest tradition today of carving our pumpkins, cooking the seeds, and then having a bonfire and cooking s'mores!!! This year we get to share that with dear friends!! Frost is on the pumpkins this morning and they are ripe for carving!!!! Happy Harvest!!! This has to be my favorite time of year! God is so awesome in the details of every season!!

Field Trip Day for Hannah

What a great day we had yesterday. The weather was perfect, as it has been for the last two weeks for our trip to Theis Farms Pumpkin Land. This is a great place for little ones to run around and play on all of the stuff they have made out of hay bales- castles, forts, mazes and more!!! They even have a little zipline. Hannah was very brave and adventurous and tried the zipline.


We also went on a hayride and walked through a Farmer's Market and bought some carmel corn and peanut brittle. Her class had a great time, and Hannah and Nathan crashed in the car on the way home. That is the telltale sign that it was a good time!!! I even managed to get a few pics of both of them smiling!

We are going to attempt a family picture sometime today. It is so hard to get everyone together with all of our sporting events and schoool activites on the weekends. We are going to a wedding today,so hopefully we can sneak in a pic with everyone dressed up.

Every day is a gift from the Lord. We should all remember this, because life is so short and can change in a heartbeat. Yesterday Mark went to a funeral of one of his client's 8 year old grandson. It was heartbreaking. It just makes you think about how quickly life can end. We all act as if we will live to be 85 years old, die in our nice warm beds and that we will not have to bury our children. Reality tells us something different. It just makes me think about how precious my husband and children are, and that every day with them is truly a gift from God. Not to dwell too long on this, but without the peace of the Lord that surpasses all understanding,it would be very easy to live your life in fear and not ever want to go anywhere or do anything. But, God does not want us to live that way. He wants us to live our life to the fullest for Him. Fear is not of God, it is of the enemy.
Is it well with my soul, even when it is not well with my circumstances? I pray that I never have to walk through that valley of losing a child, but I know that not only would Jesus be waiting for me on the other side of that valley, but that He would be carrying me through it as well. Is it well with your soul? I pray that whoever is reading this can know His peace and comfort no matter what your circumstances may be. O Praise Him!!!

Back to the Blog.........

Well, the last time I blogged, it was the last day of my pregnancy before Nathan was born.
It is now 7 months later..........wow!!!! Life moves fast! Since Nathan was born, here is a quick run down of "A Day in Our Life".....
Nathan was born on March 11th,the same day as Mark's birthday. He weighed 9.75 pounds and spent the first two days of his life in the NICU due to low glucose levels. He rebounded quickly and has continued to grow leaps and bounds. He currently weighs 19.4 pounds!!! He is also known as Nate the Great! He is such a sweet natured and happy baby. What a blessing he has been to our family. I can't imagine life without him!!!
We had a great summer with swim team, trips to Ohio and North Carolina, and a fun filled fourth of July complete with backyard fireworks and great friends.
Olivia started high school at Eureka High this past August and has adjusted very well to public school. She is very smart and has a kind and discerning heart. We still pray every day that she is confident in who she is in the Lord, as she is in a place that is filled with peers of all walks of life. Her grades are really good and she has made some new friends as well as keeping the ones that she has had for the last 5 years at Living Water Academy. She went to Homecoming with a group of those friends. She looked so pretty and grown up. We are so proud of her.
Caroline is in 6th grade now and just had her 12th birthday. She is growing into a beautiful young lady right before our eyes. She loves her teachers this year and is doing great in school. She is taking singing lessons again and is also doing volleyball at the YMCA this fall. She really likes the volleyball and is very good at it. She is proving to be quite an amazing writer, and loves to read us her new stories. She loves to make us all laugh.
Andrew is almost 9 and played baseball this fall.(Dad coached his team again) He is a really good hitter, but has really found his nitch in being catcher. He has also started taking Tai Kwon Do this fall. He absolutely loves that!! He has done really well in school so far this year and has been getting 100's on all of his spelling tests. He has made huge strides in math this year as well. We are so proud of him.
Elizabeth is now 6 years old and is in 1st grade. She loves her teacher and has turned out to be quite an excellent reader. She loves to play outside every day that she can riding her bike and playing with her sisters and brother and her neighborhood friends. She is a great big sister to Hannah and Nathan. She has started playing soccer this fall and is a little firecracker on the field. She is outgoing and fun loving and loves to perform for us and she always has a smile on her face.
Hannah is going to be 4 next month and has grown so much over the past year. She is learning to write her name and is awesome at coloring. She stays in the lines so well. We made the big transition from pull ups to underwear at night this past summer!!Yea!!! She loves school and her teachers and loves to play with her little friends from church and school. She loves her baby brother and is learning how to be a big sister to him. She is a passionate and lively little girl and always keeps us on our toes!She loves her books and will sit up in her room for hours reading them to herself. We love her so much.
And last but not least, Mark and I got away two weekends ago for my 42nd birthday. We went away just for the night to a bed and breakfast in Elsah, Illinois. We went apple picking the next morning and had a great time. We don't get away very often, and even just one night is a little treat.
So, that is a quick update on the last 7 months. Life is good and God is good all the time. We are so blessed and every day in our life is an adventure with these amazing children that God has given us. I will attempt to keep up with this blog and keep you all posted of what a day in the Thom family is like. God bless.
Kim