Fall Fire

After arriving home from the pumpkin patch, we went to work at planting an ornamental grass garden by our garage. My brother is on a hunting trip, so I called my sister-in-law and told her to bring the boys over to "help" us dig and she could go for a run. When she arrived back the sun was setting quickly and the boys got the idea in their heads to have a fire in the trail.

Aaron, once again, told one of his fireside tales. This one was about the boys being washed ashore a deserted island after a shipwreck to find no food in sight other than a lone apple high in a tree. In this tall tale the children also found nourishment in centipedes, worms, and beetles creating belly laughs from all the kids.

I must say, Aaron is the best storyteller. I don't know how he comes up with the settings for his stories, and he really grips the attention of the boys. For example, he told a story once that went on and on and pretty much was about a stairwell and Ethan kept going down and down and down to a door and then down and down and down to another door. That was the bulk of the story. I can't remember the ending, but Ethan listened intently to the end. What a great dad!

My Little Tea Drinker

Whenever I make a good cup of tea Emmett spots it and wants it. Usually I can hold him off telling him it is too hot. Even still, the last third of the cup usually goes to him. With the dreariness of the morning, I had to have a cup to go on the way to drop Ethan off at school. Emmett missed out on that cup, but asked repeatedly for some. When we arrived home after taking Ethan to school and stopping at Wal-Mart Emmett remembered he wanted some tea. I was putting things away in the kitchen and he said, "Mommy, can oo (you) make me some tea?" He helped me fill the cup with water, warm it in the microwave, scoop his tea into the tea strainer and squirt his "bear oil" (a.k.a. honey). He still had to wait for it to cool. Here he is enjoying a cup of Mango Green Tea with a little Sweet Fruit Garden and clover honey to sweeten it.

Pumpkin Patch

Today we went to a pumpkin patch in our town. Ethan will be visiting this same patch this week for school, but Grandma B. and the cousins all went along today, so we joined in the fall fun.

We started out by browsing the pumpkins, gourds, and Indian corn. Then, we all hopped in the wagon for a ride out to the cow pasture to feed the cows corn. This year Ethan enjoyed this and Emmett did not. Funny thing about that, is last year it was the opposite!

After the wagon ride we went out the patch and let the boys pick their pumpkins. It was such a beautiful day for being outdoors! Funny how last year we were so cold and bundled up and this year we were in shorts!

Oh, and I got a new camera and LOVE it.

Duathalon

This morning the kids took part in a duathalon. Emmett's age category went first; they only had to run. Emmett decided NOT to run--he just kind of walked with Aaron pulling him along. Oh well, at least we could hold out hope for Ethan's age category. Emmett's friend Mia took first for that age, though! Way to go Mia!



Next was Ethan's age category. The girls went first and his friend Olivia, also from Too Blessed to be Stressed, placed 2nd! Way to go Liv! When it was Ethan's turn we had a repeat of Emmett's event. Ethan, too, decided NOT to run. He gets easily embarrassed by attention on himself. SO, to make matters worse, because he was the last competitor, the crowd cheered all the louder for him while he biked. Aaron said he would pedal and then stop altogether.

Next age category was our nephew Carson's. He did great! He finished 4th for the boys in his age category. Way to go Carson!



The final race of interest to us was the next age category for girls. Our friends from Too Blessed to be Stressed had yet ANOTHER victory. Their oldest, Elli, took 2nd for her age category! Way to go Elli!

The kids had a good time playing games, doing a cake walk, getting ID badges made, and making and eating a healthy snack of trail mix and fruit kebobs!


Thanks to Tabitha for the pictures again!

Bike Parade

This morning the boys were part of a bike parade in our town. Last minute (last night) I decided how they would decorate their bikes. Last minute (this morning at 7:00 am) I went to my parents and Wal-Mart to gather last minute items to decorate their bikes.

Ethan's bike was a fire truck and he was the fireman. The hose is a 10 ft. extension hose that I had to buy from Wal-Mart. The ladder Aaron made from six 5 gallon stir sticks and staples. The firefighter clothing we had already.



Emmett was a farmer. The tractor bike came from my parent's house as did the wagon. The miniature corn stalks came from a food plot on my parent's land that never really grew. I felt the hard work of planting that corn should go to some good, so I just assumed it was okay to use.


The kids had a good time. And, we thought they were pretty cute!

Thanks to Tabitha for the pictures!

Fall Fun

After picking Ethan up from school today, we went to a neighboring town in a neighboring state to buy some apples. Ethan, Emmett, Cruz and myself headed out in our car, and my sister-in-law (Amber), mom-in-law (Julie),Jonas, Kennedy and Logann went along in Grandma's car. When we arrived at the apple stand, the kids were ready to go! They had fun sampling apples and watermelon and even raspberries that weren't to be sampled! We then went through McDonald's drive through for lunch which we ate at a great park. The kids played and played and played at the park for a very long time. We had the whole park to ourselves, which was very nice. Before heading home I wanted to let the boys hike again. It is so nice to hike in the fall weather. We had such a great time last weekend that I wanted to buy up the opportunity again. The only problem ... we were all wearing slip on shoes or flip flops (the adults, anyway). The kids chose a difficult path. It was fun, though, but a little steep and slippy at times. We had 3 adults and 6 kids. Great ratio since each adult has 2 hands! The kids LOVED it! On our way home I couldn't resist stopping at a local bakery to get cookies. It just seems like the thing to do after an all day adventure like we had. The boys were SO tired that they crashed at 8:00 ... and that is pretty early for my boys!

Again, I have no pictures ... this post would be much more fun with the pictures.
My mother-in-law took pictures, but I have yet to get them from her.

Now that I have a variety of apples, I am itching to make some apple crisp, or apple dumplings, or apple pie, or applesauce or baked apples ... What is your favorite apple dessert? Do you make it or someone else?

M&M Soup and Nature Shakers

Today we made M&M soup. I didn't have any dried beans like the Van Klan so we had to make our "soup" from M&Ms. I made recipe cards, too, for each of the kids with hot glued M&Ms of each color and a number beside. I also made notecards with a lower case and upper case letter M for them to place their M&Ms on to make their letters. I taught them that m says "mmmmmm" just like we say when we eat M&Ms. Then, we had some milk to drink to wash down the chocolate. I wish I could show a picture, but my camera is still not working :(.

When we went outside we found another frog or was it a toad? Ethan wants to keep it until daddy comes home. He carried it around very gently for a long time. I am getting better at hiding my true feelings about creatures and critters.

Then, we went out the the Adventure Trails and the kids helped me find some nature items to make some new sound matching shakers like we did earlier this month. We have sand and rocks, twigs, pine needles, water, pine cones, and one more thing that escapes me at the moment. They loved this activity. Even little Zach get excited when he sees the shakers come out. He knows what he is supposed to do and is learning he needs to wait his turn.

Movie Night

On Friday we had a pizza and movie night. I thought it would be a lot of fun to make pizza together as a family. It was really just stressful. So, I figured that the movie would make up for my bad attitude during the pizza making. I think it did. It was a nice snuggling time for us. We watched The Ant Bully. Very cute movie! Emmett sat through the whole thing, too. He even asked to watch it again today. There were no toilet scenes (very traumatic for Ethan ... fears being flushed down). There were no bugs that were too scary for Emmett (who is super sensitive to scary images). Aaron and I laughed through the movie and enjoyed the story line. It was really a great movie for the whole family!

Our Eventful Saturday

This morning Aaron ventured off to a football game with is dad, brother, and brother-in-law. The game was a birthday gift for Aaron's dad. So, the boys and I set off on an adventure of our own.

First, we followed my brother and his 2 kids to a pancake breakfast in a neighboring town. After the breakfast, we looked at antique tractors and FFA farm dioramas. The kids did GREAT not touching these very intriguing items. My boys and I then went by ourselves to walk around a car show.

After all that BOY stuff, I wanted to do some shopping. Before shopping, though, I thought I would take them hiking for a bit. This of course would burn some of that run-around-the-store-and-touch-everything-including-mannequin-private-parts energy. Not so! They did have a GREAT time hiking. Ethan took off up hills and was gone before I could warn him to wait up for Emmett and me. Every walnut they found was just as exciting as the last. They wanted to keep going on new trails, but I was afraid I'd get stranded a 1/4 mile or further from the car with two kids too tired to walk. So, I cut it shorter than they thought they wanted.

Next, we headed to TJ Maxx. Not the best store for kids ... they did okay, though. Then to Old Navy. That is where the mannequin fondling took place. It may sound funny or weird, but really it is just pure embarrassing!!! I don't really know why they do it or where they came up with the idea of touching private parts--real or plastic. Whenever it happens we scold them and explain whey it is bad. They just feed off each other, really. One more stop and then a good swift swat on their bare legs with a spanking spoon gifted to me from my mom to carry around in my purse. After all that they thought we should go to Chuck E. Cheese! No way! So, instead, I made them eat at Wendy's.

I was brave enough to stop one more place and it went fairly well considering it was close to 3:00 and they woke at 6:00. The whole way home Emmett protested with me that he wasn't tired! When we got home I put them in their beds and instantly they were both asleep!

It was a very fun day, but very exhausting for me! I don't even have any pictures to share, because my camera's desire to work is really hit or miss.

Frog on the Mailbox

Last week I was heading out for a walk with the boys. As we approached the road I saw something on the mailbox. It was a tiny frog. At first I thought it was a toy someone had stuck there, because it was positioned perfectly in the middle of the mailbox and was so bright green. The boys had a great time touching him and watching him crawl around on top of the mailbox.

First Day of School!

Well, I can't believe that Ethan is really in school already. We pulled out the baby video footage last night. It is just crazy how fast the time really goes. He did great today, though. He wasn't upset at all about me leaving. He made a friend at orientation, Chance, and when he got to school saw that their lockers were right next to each other. Carson's is on one side and Chance's on the other. When I got home I checked my voicemail and there was a message from his bus driver. She said she stopped by yesterday to meet us, but we weren't home. When I was clearing off the caller id numbers, it said her last name and then Pastor. So, I am excited to know that his bus driver is married to a pastor! Here is Ethan with his temporary teacher. His teacher just had a baby yesterday, so this is the long-term substitute.

Sounds Matching

Today I created a sound matching activity for the boys. I have been wanting to do this activity for a while now, but just haven't had any film containers handy. Today when I was in Wal-Mart I asked if they happened to have any empty film containers and they sent me with a bag full!!! I used about a dozen, so if any of you want some, I have some to share.

I started by using all black containers and then thought it might be better to do one set in black and one set in white containers. My thinking was that I could tell them if they had a black on in their hands they would need to match the sound to a white one. I thought this would be easier until they grasped the concept. Later, I planned to put them all back in the black containers. They didn't really seem to understand this, though, and still just grabbed any container regardless of the color to find the match.

I put a lot of kitchen items inside as well as other little things laying around: cornmeal, pumpkin seeds, rice, seashell, coins, small rocks and beads. They were instantly engaged in this activity. I felt all Montessori-ish :) Especially since Emmett helped to fill the containers. I plan to switch out the fillers to keep it interesting. In one book I read, they suggested the kids gather outdoor things: pine needles, sand, rocks, seeds, etc. and do the same activity. (And for my M&M loving friends, you could even put those inside!)

A helpful hint: lay down the law on not opening the containers BEFORE they get them in their hands. Because Ethan didn't help fill them, he was quite intrigued with discovering what was inside. Thankfully we didn't have cornmeal and rice everywhere, but we could have. After we matched them all up a few times, we sat down and opened them all up. Funny thing with kids (well, mine at least) they wanted to see that both containers had the same thing even though they sounded exactly the same.

I had to get in one last schoolish activity before Ethan headed off to real school with a teacher other than mom!