We received a package in the mail yesterday... and the boys were THRILLED with their new cozy vests and hats. Thanks Patty! They have been worn non-stop. Sam decided to go without the stuffing in his hat. And we did get the ties put on Seth and Aaron's fringe after the frenzy.

They just couldn't wait to get them on :)

On to other things.... just thought I'd show you what typically happens around here at the mention of the word "movie."

V

V

V

V

V

Pretty powerful word, huh?

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...

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.

Here you go!

I got a small nudge from a friend to post some pics of my kiddos.... so here you go!

We had a busy weekend. Samuel's school held a Trunk-or-Treat and brat fry on Saturday so we went to check it out. It was pretty cool. There was trick-or-treating, of course, but the best part was the fire truck. The boys got candy, goodie bags, and fireman hats from the firemen. They were thrilled! The ladder was completely extended and a fireman climbed all the way up and waved down to the kids. It was really high... he was just a small speck from way up there.

All of the kiddos went as super heroes this year. They wore the capes I made them for Christmas last year, but I also made them matching tees and masks. I used glow-in-the-dark paint on the tees so they are WAY cool. Unfortunately Milwaukee trick-or-treat time is 1 to 4 p.m. the Sunday before Halloween, so we didn't get to see the shirts in action (glowing), but we did get to trick-or-treat in the rain. The boys came home with enough candy to last till next year, I think.

Anyway... what else is new? Hmmm....

Sam will be getting his first report card tomorrow. I am eager to see how he is doing. It is hard (yet very freeing) not to be in control of what he is learning. I have decided that I am a total control freak and perfectionist... I expect way more than any child is capable of. He is really enjoying school and making lots of friends. So far, he's received invitations to 3 birthday parties and attended 2 of them. He's loving it, my social child! He has Wednesday through Friday off this week so we are taking a trip to the Wilderness, a waterpark/resort in Wisconsin Dells. We will head out right after their dentist appts. on Thursday morning... We haven't told them yet, so they will be very surprised and pleased!

Seth has been pretty busy himself. We are trying (quite unsuccessfully) to learn his letters. I wonder if he remembers more than he is letting on, though. I would love to have him reading this year, but I don't think it's gonna happen. It's all good!

Aaron is just growing up so fast. It's amazing how much he has begun to talk. He loves to tell me things. I am constantly hearing things like... "Mom, you know penguins don't fly?" or "Mom, you know lions roar?" He's such a smart kid! He has just this week begun going potty on the toilet... very sporadically. But hey, I'll take whatever I can get! Whenever I ask him if he's my big boy, he says no he's my baby :).

Adalie is growing up fast too. She's walking (rather quickly) all over the place now. She is just so much fun! I love dressing her up and putting her hair in piggies... but I also love her crazy, messy hair days and dirty faces too. She is into and on top of everything these days. Just last night, I found her digging through the trash and licking all the butter off the popcorn bags.

Gone Campin'

It was an adventure! A very fun, sometimes miserable, but fun adventure... it seems that most fun adventures have a few of the not-so-fun moments. That's what gives us all the stories to talk about later, right?

We went camping for the 1st time since Seth was just a little guy... well, much littler than he is now. All I can say is... it's a good, very good thing that we got the minivan when we did. We loaded that thing to full capacity. Never in a million years would we have been able to carry even a third of what we took camping with us. Amazing!

Anyway, our young adults Sunday school class had their annual camping trip (this was actually only the second one), and we decided this was our year to go. There were 5 other families besides us. We got a group site and had a community fire and basically did everything together for the weekend. It was a blast and such a great way to get to know people that you often just see in passing.

It began raining just as we got close to Devil's Lake (in Baraboo, WI). When we pulled up, our camp spot was nice and wet... and muddy. Our sweet 15 month old (in a couple days) refuses to walk so she was soaked and muddy within seconds. The campfire that night was deserted early due to rain... lots of rain. Everything was damp and cold. It got down into the 30s that night. Very few people in our group slept. I guess there was a huge party going on in another campground, a barfing little boy a couple tents away, and 2 boys arguing over who was in whose spot (yes, Sam and Seth in their own little tent next door), several babies refusing to sleep, and a little Aaron who kept rolling over into Daddy's space . I say I guess because I'm really not too sure... Adalie and I slept pretty soundly throughout the night. I was completely baffled by all the conversations at the campfire the next morning =)

Sam and Seth spent hours and hours "exploring" the woods behind camp with all of their buddies. There were 4 other boys around their ages and 2 girls. They discovered their own secret field on the other side of the woods. They were the 1st to ever find it... and there just happened to be rows of corn neatly planted there =). Aaron and Adalie stuck a little closer to us, but had a blast digging, crawling, chewing, finding and just getting totally dirty. It was awesome!

On Saturday, we all decided to take a little stroll. On our way out of the campground, Sam and Seth had a little teeter-totter accident in which Seth nearly broke a foot... so it was back to camp for us. We loaded up the car and drove down to the lake and picnicked while the group went on a short, little 5 hour hike... uphill both ways, I am told... though nobody around here knows what uphill really means. Anyway, Seth hobbled around camp the rest of the weekend, but is now starting to walk normally. Poor fella!

The rest of the weekend stayed fairly dry and enjoyable. We really loved singing praise songs with all the kiddos and staying up late telling funny, way too personal stories around the campfire. I loved getting to know everyone so much better!

Sunday morning we packed it all up and headed out... in the nick of time! Just as we buckled up and pulled out of camp another monumental rain storm hit us... and it's been going strong (with only a few breaks) ever since. As I type right now, the lightning is flashing and the thunder is crashing out the windows. I'm really hoping our basement holds out!

Oh, and on the way home we rode a ferry. How exciting right... well, at least Sam thought so. It was the boys' first time ever on a boat.

So there you have it... our 1st camping experience as a family of 6. So now that we know it's do-able, I am hoping it will happen more often... we'll see!

We fit!

We outgrew our cool, blue SUV about a year or so ago. I promised I would never become a minivan driver, but after a day of driving it around, I'm convinced that we should have bought one a long time ago.

It's so much easier to get in and out of. Aaron can climb into his seat all on his own. Sam can get in and out of the car very easily in the pickup line at school. Up till now he has been climbing all the way through to the front, stepping on the passenger seat and getting out the door... that was going to be a nightmare in the winter with the mud and muck!

The boys decided they loved the new car so much that they were going to marry it... hmmm!

This is the trunk after a Sam's Club run. Seriously, this would have been stacked up higher than the seat backs in the old car... this is amazing. It's going to be great for our camping trip coming up this weekend!