Bike Ride

Logan was persistent, so we went on our bike ride. We had to pump up tires, and then, after getting out, finally, Logan decided it was too cold to be out! Haha. He hates wearing a jacket... 

Festival of Trees and Santa

Sophia helped as an elf. We got our Santa pictures, saw some beautiful trees in a great building overlooking the river, and took a quick stroll on Faust Bridge.

Luke’s Kindergarten Thanksgiving Feast

Thanksgiving

Doseum

Train Museum - New Braunfels

Pecan Farm

Sophia 14 year old stats

Height- 5 ft and 1/2 in (10th %)
Weight- 114 lbs (50th %)

Preston’s 11 year old stats

Actually 11 years and 5 months
Height- 4 ft 9.5 in (50th %)
Weight- 98 lbs (75th %)

Ethan’s 8 year old stats

Height- 4 ft 3.5 in ( 51.5 inches) (50th %)
Weight- 59 lbs (50 th %)

Luke’s 6 year old stats

Height - 3 ft 11 in (47 inches) (75th %)
Weight - 49 lbs (60th %)

President Nelson comes to San Antonio

Dad wins at race car driving

Luke's GT application

Parent observations:

Advanced Language:

Luke has a 3 year brother, and he will reword his language for his brother, so his brother will understand.  We read together a lot and he asks questions about words and what they mean and how they are used.

Analytical Thinking:

Luke notices a lot of detail about his surroundings and he analyzes tasks and things going on around the house. For example, we hired a man named Bob to build a shed for us in our back yard.  Luke sat  with Bob for a day and a half and asked question after question about what Bob was doing, and why he was doing what he was doing, and he wondered if Bob had ever thought about doing things  different ways. 

Another time we were at the car wash waiting for our car to be finished.  Another older gentleman was waiting with us.  This man’s arms were covered in tattoos.  Luke asked him why he didn’t wash them off.  The man good-naturedly answered that he had tried, but they didn’t come off.  Luke asked him why he hadn’t gotten them.  The man explained he got them when he was 16, and thought they would look good.  I could see the gears churning in Luke’s brain and, after a long pause, he asked the man “Well, have you tried snow?” Meaning, have you tried washing them off with snow. The man and I both chuckled for a long time about that one, but it was an example of Luke thinking deeply, analyzing the situation with his five year old brain, and taking something he’d experienced in the past and relating to a present experience.

Sensitivity: 

Luke has always had a very strong sense of fairness.  When he was little, if anyone dared hurt one of his brothers, he was very quick to jump in and defend the offended, even if the offender was another one of his brothers.  That has carried on into his school relationships, although he’s learned better how to be a peacemaker.  His preschool teacher last year told me if there were three kids who wanted to play with the same toy; Luke was always the one who could help them work out a system to all get a turn.  She labeled him as a peacemaker. 

His desire to help those he determines in need was illustrated on his birthday.  One of his friends had a pair of shoes that looked like they had springs in the heels.  Luke really wanted some, so when Grandma asked him what he wanted for his birthday, he told her he wanted “spring shoes.”  He showed his sensitivity when  he went on to ask her for two pairs, one for him, and one for his other friend who also really wanted “spring shoes.” 

Meaning Motivation:

Luke asks a lot of questions, as I mentioned under analytical thinking.  He’s very curious about the world around him, which is evidenced by his questions and observations about things he’s learning in school and in church, and things he hears people talk about.  He is very committed to finishing tasks and he is very good worker.  For example, we recently spent three hours on a Saturday morning going over our whole yard and pulling out every weed.  Luke worked with me the whole time.  He didn’t come up with excuses to go do something else, he didn’t complain; even though he was tired, he just kept on task.  I saw that same energy and dedication when he was learning how to ride a two wheeler.  He didn’t give up or show fear as he mastered the feat at a very young age.

He is an independent kid.  He does what he’s supposed to do around the house (for the most part) without being reminded.  While he enjoys friends, he also enjoys playing alone, especially when he’s building his Lego creations.  An example of him being an independent worker occurred last Valentine’s Day when we found out we couldn’t send the candy cards we’d bought to preschool. Luke immediately sat down and started making and handwriting his cards, all on his own, with no prompting from me.  He made one for everyone in his preschool class.  It was a really sweet and tender thing to watch him think about each classmate as he made their special, individualized cards, showing his sensitivity.  And, he worked until the job was done and showing an intense commitment to the task. 

Accelerated Learning:

Luke is curious about many things.  He asks a lot of questions, and thinks deeply about what he’s learned.   Long after we’ve moved onto something else, he will show he’s still thinking about and puzzling over things that we talked about earlier on in the day by continuing to ask questions and make observations.

Luke also has a great love for numbers and math.  He has an insatiable curiosity about numbers.  My math skills have improved greatly as he’s asked me question after question after question about addition and multiplication math facts.  He kept asking questions about multiplication until he figured out how, for example, 4x4 could equal 16 and 8x8 could equal 64. He has remembered most of the answers to the math facts he has quizzed me about. He also learns new thing with a minimum of practice, for example I taught him money math in one sitting.  Then he came to me every day for several weeks to practice his money math, to figure and refigure different amounts with his coins.

For Luke’s preschool talent show he asked a friend to come on stage with him and unscramble a Rubik’s cube.  He then solved the Rubik’s cube faster than it took his classmate to scramble it.  Luke taught himself how to solve the Rubik’s cube.  It was a simple cube, and he insisted that we order more complex ones for him to try and solve.  He even used his own money to pay for his new Rubik’s cubes. 

Winter 2018

Stuffed animal party

Logan loves to ride his bike!

Flat Stanley and Faust Bridge school project 

Logan takes a nap during church with increasing regularity 

Jumpy house 

Ethan’s menu for the backyard picnic he instigated, planned and carried out... awwww!

Wearing a hat, just like his dad

BFF’s with matching fleece

Kingwood Christmas Parry while Doug and I went to his Work Christmas Dinner. Kids stayed overnight with friends and Doug and I also checked out some wards and neighborhoods.

Logan loves Rolly Polly Bugs

Singing in the tub. He loves the new primary song, I will be what I believe. And with the Christmas Season he has learned and loves to sing, Last Christmas I gave you my heart, the very next day, you gave it away...

Fixing cars

Karaoke double date... Doug and I were the cheering section.