2017-2018

This is the year where we start having kids at the high scl., middle schl & elementary.
It will continue like this until our youngest finishes 5th grade 7 yrs from now!

Fall Festival Games

Hope your fall has been fun! I can't believe it's November.
I've been helping to get a few games together for our school's upcoming fall festival.
Like this, for instance...

We have a duck race where kids use squirt bottles to squirt their floating racer towards the finish line. This is my favorite game to compete in...I mean, ahem, to "test out" to make sure it's fair and that each squirt bottle has comparable stream strength.

Soda bottles make great bowling pins.

And we put together some obstacles and targets for mini golf.

The windmill box turns the ball 90 degrees. Plus we have a ramp for hole 7. With a ramp and a windmill, that's legitimate put-put, right?

The best part about this is how much fun our kids have trying out the games! It's been fun to have them help me.

School Starting

First day shots this year...

He's holding up one finger for 1st grade.

She holding up 2 thumbs just because.
We hope its a great year!

Frigid Fluctuations

We enjoyed really nice weather in early fall.

Our kindergartner turned 6 in Oct. His primary teacher from church left a cute birthday sign on our door. We love her!

My sister & her family came to visit last week. It was cold by then. You could only get by without a coat or scarf if you were a wolf!

It was so fun to have them come.

Now it is so freezing all you want to do is stay inside, update your blog, or try to solicit sweet smiles.

Ahhh, THAT warms my heart no matter how frigid it is.

Balancing Act

The baby is a month old & the older kids have started school. We are still trying to figure out how to juggle it all. Life is a balancing act for EVERYone in EVERY season of life isn't it? But we are willing to sacrifice some sleep & serenity because we know we are really lucky to have a new baby & to be parents. Here's the rundown on everyone...

Our kindergartener really loves school (esp. riding the bus with his big sister!) Speaking of which... she just turned 8 & will be baptized soon.

She is so smart & sweet. We had a party for her.

The baby is catching up on her growth (part of the reason for inducing, besides being breech and on blood thinners, was concern that she wasn't growing well at the end of the pregnancy. As it turns out, the placenta was small and not functioning optimally-- a condition linked to my clotting). But she's been thriving since birth and is now in the 10th%.
Still tiny, but it's an improvement. We got a kick out of the fact that her size and coloring are so similar to the baby doll!

D is sure enthralled with her. He put her picture in his locker. (I can still hardly believe he's old enough to have a locker.) I've been dreading the middle school milestone somewhat. But now that it's actually here, I'm excited for him.
He's learning clarinet in band and running cross country. He's a pretty confident kid, which is half the battle in the middle school years. That gives me hope that he'll get to enjoy this stage of development.

With the other kids in school again, I get to spend a little more time with this little girl. I love hearing her voice as she speaks or sings. She's a cute mimic. She's observant and bright & really good at puzzles.

Hope this fall brings blessings to you as well.

BE THE GOOD in the world

Miss H had 2 REALLY FABULOUS teachers last year who were young moms that job-shared. One of them died in a car accident this month. I have been so sad & lay awake at night thinking, "What can I do to help her family?"
At her funeral, they talked about how she like and lived this:

So last week, we got a group of her students together & took a picture of them with that quote. It is a good reminder to all of us to BE THE GOOD. To be kind & make a difference in the world by serving others. I hope by giving the picture to her husband, her family will know what a difference she made and that she's remembered with love.
When I think of her, it inspires me to be a better mom and enjoy more fully the gifts I have in life.
I'm thankful for a great husband who built this cute playhouse.

He gave me sweet kids to play in it too!

Our lil' guy is now 5. He makes friends wherever he goes.

He's a joy!

I love how Miss H adds flair to everything.

I am thankful for these smiles.


I am thankful for beautiful fall.


Cute costumes.

Our pilot:

We no longer say, "D WANTS to be a pilot." We now just say, "he's going to BE a pilot." He helped so much w/ the 5 yr old airplane party, making a list of different single props for the game "pin the propeller on the prop plane". He recently taught me about ailerons. Wow.
Happy Fall!
And remember to
BElieve THEre is GOOD in the world.

Back to school

OK- several posts at once to catch up the blog...

1st day of school 2013.

Our lil'Stinker is aboard the preschool bus.

Handsome Hubby is making a lot of progress on the playhouse.

It's been a fun project from his "by 40" list.

School Starting

1st day! I'll admit my relief at school starting. (I've shared my thoughts on the so-called "lazy days of summer" before). We've had a fun summer, but it's like a "mom marathon". Wheew! We made it. The "kid garden" section of our yard. They have a pumpkin growing & check out this zuchinni... D said his arm got tired while posing for pics. The baby's growing like crazy too. She's 4 mos. She loves to "stand". She's sweet & happy. Miss H turned 6. Her main gifts were a violin & getting her ears pierced. Great grandma turns 90 next month!

Our house this fall

Here are a few things I'm proud of this fall...

My garden! Having a garden was one of the things I was most excited for with the new house. We build a couple raised beds, but you can only really see the bed from the angle below b/c it grew well beyond the borders.

Miss H helped me decorate our table for fall. She even wrote placecards. (Usually I'm not a fan of our red/orange/yellow lamps, but they actually fit the autumn theme right now.)

And it's hard not to be proud when you are gaining weight- if it's for a good cause...