David's Birthday

Today, October 23rd we celebrate the birth and therefore the life of my Dearest Love David!

We are going on a little trip down memory lane... come along. I think you will enjoy the ride.




Here he is... still a wee boy at his mother's side and already charming, with a handsome face...


Here is David at about 6 years old... now we know who Josiah looks like.
Getting bigger... and check out those teeth!

Well.... for all of you who have wanted to see what he looks like with hair....
Oh the stories we could tell......
And here he is with a few of his life's greatest achievements... Namely: Ashely, Sara, Josiah and Jonah. We are so thankful that God gave him life and then gave him to us.

A Fall Wedding

This weekend, David and I got to be a part of a Wedding Celebration of Our friends, Jeff and Arleigh.

After a week of rain, God provided them with a gorgeous Fall day.

The sun was shinning and the Fall Colors were in their full glory.

Chuck and Kathi picked us up along with our friends Paul and Deanna.It was such a sweet time of fun and fellowship with them.

The Bride was beautiful and the ceremony was a lovely celebration of God bringing them together. We were honored to be included.

Nanna Kathy

We would like to introduce you to one of the

WORLDS GREATEST BABY SITTERS Nanna Kathy, as she is affectionately called by the children is the mother of 7 grown children and lots of grandkids. She has been such a blessing to us on those occasions when we need to get a sitter. The children love her and she takes excellent care of them. She also has such a gift of encouragement and blesses me so much in my role as a mother. We are thankful God sent her our way. She is such a blessing!!!

Sherburne County Wildlife Refuge

This week, our adventures took us to the Sherburne County Wildlife Refuge in Zimmerman, Minnesota. Getting there took a little effort as we mistakenly trusted our fate to Google and they took us the opposite direction and put us way out in the middle of no where. But we did make it to our destination in time for a horse drawn hayride and a thunderstorm to go with it.

The horses were quite large and majestic and they took us riding through the prairie on a large wagon. We could almost imagine what it must have been like for settlers arriving in the area many years ago.
We had a Refuge Volunteer who shared some of the history and wildlife that could be found in the area.
The Boys were a little daunted by the rain and Jonah ended up not feeling well but other than that it was a great family outing. The clouds did blow off and the sun came out for a beautiful day.

The next stop was some of the exhibits. Our favorite was the Raptor display. A team from the Raptor Center in St. Paul brought some of their birds for us to see. The American Bald Eagle was awe inspiring. The presenter was quite informative and entertaining all at the same time.

She also brought out a Red Tailed Hawk and a Horned Owl. The kids were so excited to be there and had lots of questions about the birds.
While we were playing outside today we saw a Hawk and Josiah immediately dropped down and played dead. He said he learned that they like to catch their food live so he thought if he played dead he wouldn't get eaten. It was a really fun and educational outing for all of us.

Pumpkin Pictures

Don't you just love the color of pumpkins?
They are one of my favorite things about Fall. I love pumpkin soup and pumpkin pie and pumpkin bread. Don't be too impressed... I use the canned stuff, it is way less work.

I am sad to say that my kids don't like pumpkin at all. So I think I will gain 10 pounds this fall eating most of it myself. But hey, they sure do look adorable holding the pumpkins, don't they.

We wish you all were here.....

Especially to help mommy eat all the yummy pumpkin stuff!!

The First Rake

Today, David and the kids got outside for the first rake of the season. It was a beautiful day... crisp and sunny. Every one enjoyed the work.
Except Mommy... my job was to watch Jonah and to take pictures.
There were lots of breaks to be had. Then comes the best part......
"Leaping into leaves"!!!
...And more leaping....
With lots of laughing mixed in. There is nothing quite like it.
We love the Fall.

Flag Football

We have joined up with a bunch of other Homeschool families for Flag Football. They meet once a week and the Dad's all get out there and coach 25 or so very enthusiastic ( and some what inexperienced) football players. It is a multi age, coed group of kids who are having the time of their life. Josiah had his first touchdown last week and I think he glowed for days. It was quite an exciting accomplishment for him.
He is also proud of his speed but acknowledges that he needs some help learning to catch and throw the ball. He and Dad are going to work on it.

Jonah spends most of the time digging in the dirt and playing on the slide. He loves to go and run around on the field too.
Siri tried playing the first week but decided that football just isn't her thing. She would rather hang out with Jonah on the playground. She is so good at helping him play and also serves as a sweet bridge of understanding between him and the other kids. We have also met some great families and seeing them every week is helping to grow some new friendships. It is a really fun time.

Harvest

Today I got to go to my friend Sara's house to help harvest some produce. Her in-laws have a garden with more than they can use right now so Sara invited me to pick some to bring home for our Family. It was really fun! There were several variety's of apples. I brought enough home to make a few pies and still have lots to eat.

Here is Sara and I picking green beans. I love them raw.... and David loves them cooked so I got plenty for both.

We picked both red and gold raspberry's. We may have ate as many as we brought home. They are delicious. I had never had the golden ones before. They are just as sweet but with out the tartness of the red ones.
All told, I got pumpkins, cherry tomatoes, regular tomatoes, yellow tomatoes, cucumbers, pumpkins, swiss chard, cabbage, green beans, raspberry's, apples and the most gigantic beets I have ever seen. I am open to suggestions on how best to eat the beets.

It was fun... I only wish I would have brought the kids. The weather was a little unstable with thunder storms and such so I left them at home. But it ended up being dry while I was there.

Thanks so much Sara, for sharing the wealth of produce as well as your friendship.

One More Day at the Lake

Last weekend, we spent our last day out on the lake for the Summer.
The weather is cooling off quickly so we enjoyed one of the last warm days with our friends Chuck and Kathi. But before heading outdoors, Josiah had to show Taylor his fishing box. An experience that has been long overdue. Josiah has been attempting to corner Taylor for this display all summer so it was with great satisfaction that he finally accomplished his goal.
The kids played in the water... chilly though it was. Josiah had to take a few breaks to warm up in the sun.

Jonah loves the paddle boat so Daddy got his leg workout for the day paddling him around.
Siri dug a river and then she and Jonah kept pouring water into it.
A fun time was had by all.... So farewell to the beautiful summer lake. We will be back in a few months for ice skating and ice fishing.....

Last Days Of Summer

We are enjoying these last warm days of summer though we have to say that we will not miss the 95 degree weather. We love being surrounded by the green trees and the lush grass but we are also looking forward to the coolness of fall.Here is a picture of our back yard. The kids and I love to play out there.
Our sweet Jonah has learned how to say "Cheese" for the camera. It is so fun to be able to get pictures of him actually looking and smiling. He loves playing with his sister.... she can always make him laugh.
Look at that face.... don't you just want to kiss and squeeze him... I do!!

Frogs

This Morning, a 5 min break from school turned into a frog hunting expedition. They were quite thrilled to catch the little guy, though I am not sure the frog was happy about it. It is so fun to live with so much fun wildlife. As summer winds down we are trying to spend more time outside with nature. Yesterday the kids even saw a fox. We praise God for all the beautiful creatures he has made.

We love the birds, squirrels, dear and many others.
The kids recently found the skin of a small snake in the yard. It is always a good science lesson just to step outside.

Island of the Blue Dolphins

For school this week we are reading The Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell. I have been enjoying reading it aloud to them as I remember the story, having read it myself as a child. Siri, is of course, enraptured by the story. She begs for just one more chapter. Josiah has been slightly less interested, or so it appeared. Today, after our reading, I got out the play dough and asked them to make the Island. I gave some input, reminding them of the descriptions of the different areas. They got really into it. Josiah was recalling all the parts of the story so far and making the wild dogs and the canoes. Then they started to act out the different parts of the story with the characters they had made. It was so fun for me to watch them engage the story...... It is the moments like this that make me LOVE homeschooling!!! I found a great study guide on-line that goes with the story. Here is the link for anyone interested in doing it. http://www.glencoe.com/sec/literature/litlibrary/islandbluedolph.html

Storms

Yesterday there were a couple of storms tracking towards our area. The forecast was heavy rain, hail, high winds and possible tornadoes. Then at about 9:00 pm, just as we were tucking the kids into bed, we heard the Tornado Warning Sirens. Being new at this whole tornado thing, we weren't sure how seriously to take it. We called some friends and turned on the news and everyone was saying to "GET IN THE BASEMENT"! So we gathered up the kids and the dogs and and a portable DVD player and some snacks, the radio and a few other essentials and headed downstairs. By this time the kids were quite worried and we had a good talk about trusting in our Heavenly Father to protect us. I stayed with the kids to comfort them and David went up and down collecting more things. We started calling out request.... "Hey Dad, what about my Play Station?" asked Josiah.
Siri shouted, "Dad, grab the FISHING POLES!!"
"Honey, Get the camera.... This will make a great blog entry!"
By the time we got everything down there, (the Play Station and Fishing poles didn't make it) the warning had expired. But by then the kids had fallen asleep.

Because there was one more storm that hadn't reached us yet, we decided to just stay down there till it was all over. The kids were sleeping and we didn't want to have to move them back and forth. There were reports in the area of structural damage to homes, golf and baseball size hail and lots of flash flooding. There were funnel clouds that formed in Big Lake but no Tornadoes that we have heard about it. So, all in all, it was an exciting new Minnesota Adventure for us. We now have a better idea of how to prepare and execute a plan in case of an actual Tornado. And Praise God, He did watch over us and our home.