Sunday, November 20, 2011

The West

So... Sam's teacher tries to have a project for us to do as a family each month. September's project was decorating a treasure box for all his favorite books. October's project was to make a diarama portraying one of the 4 regions of our country... East, West, South, or Midwest. Sam chose West... good choice, Buddy! I put Adam in charge of this project :) and I'm glad I did. I think they did a wonderful job! Everything in Sam's diarama was cut 100% by himself... with the exception of the shark fins, which Adam cut. Didn't he do a great job?!? (Sam, I mean)

November's project is in the works now... well, we're in the thinking it up stage. Our job is to disquise a Tom Turkey so that he can hopefully escape being Thanksgiving dinner. We'll have to let you know how that goes...
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Monday, November 14, 2011

Our Mini-Vacation

Samuel had November 2nd-4th off for Teacher's Professional Development days, so we decided to make the most of our 5 day weekend. Adam was post-call the 2nd so we all rested up, packed, and then headed out first thing Thursday morning. Our first stop..... the Dentist's Office! Hee hee! The kids LOVE going to their dentist so it really was not a disappointment to them at all. In fact, it was Aaron's first real cleaning and he did so well. The hygienist showed him all her tools and let him try them all out before she got to work... what a great way to break him in! I was so proud of how brave he was!

Our next stop was the Wilderness at Wisconsin Dells. We had only told the boys we were headed to Minnesota to visit family, so they were baffled when we pulled into the resort. It took them quite some time for it to finally register that we were going to stay there. We told them that we were going to Minnesota, but that it was just going to take a few extra days.

We stayed for 2 nights and had a great time playing in all sorts of water contraptions. They really have something for everyone. Adam and Sam spent most of their time on all the big, crazy slides while the little ones and I hovered closer to the swings and the shallow areas. It was lots of fun, and Sam really wore his Daddy out. I couldn't get many good pictures... they were all kindof a blur.

We then loaded up and headed to Minnesota, finally. It was our first time in Minnesota and our first time seeing and crossing the Mississippi River... well, except for Ad who had made a cross-country trip several years ago. We got to spend the evening with Randy and Sue, Dwight and Melissa, and their kiddos, Annie and Zeke. It was so awesome to see them! We stayed the night with Randy and Sue in their beautiful home and enjoyed so much good food and company. We visited their church the next morning, and then headed to lunch at Melissa and Dwight's place.... so neat to see all that they've been working on in their home. The boys loved playing with Annie, and Zeke is just precious and full of smiles! It was such a good visit!
The ride home was long, but enjoyable. We had gotten some audio books for the drive and it really made it bearable for the kids... that and a stop at Hardee's for yummy burgers :) LOVE THAT PLACE!

Introducing Jon

Aaron got a new buddy on Saturday. His name is Jon. We were at a friend's house for Bible Study on Friday night, and Aaron dragged me to the bathroom to show me their little guy's "wittle toyet." He was thrilled... "Me have one?" he asked. We let him pick it out himself... and so far no poopies in the diaper. It's a good start, and he just really loves his Jon. If you've ever heard Aaron talk, you would notice that he doesn't really say the beginnings of his words correctly... so Jon actually comes out more like Juan... Very CUTE!

Here are some other photos from the last few weeks. It's really cooling down around here... Aaron keeps asking when we can pick a Christmas tree. We painted our pumpkins this year. The boys thought this was great since they aren't yet able to do much of the carving when we carve them. We got LOTS of pumpkin seeds... YUMMY!

We've been doing LOTS of raking. The boys are a big help for the first few minutes but the growing leaf pile always beckons them to come and play. I think our big oak tree is nearly finished shedding for the year.

We had a few snow flurries this past week... but nothing that stuck to the ground. I was reminded of how much I always loved the snow (pre-Wisconsin). It really is a beautiful, magical thing. It is a lot of work and oh-so-cold, but I need to remember the beauty and magic over the next SEVERAL months. I am thankful that we have a nice warm place to huddle and enjoy the view... and a snow blower that was given to us last spring! I can't believe winter is nearly upon us already.
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