Our weekend

Our weekend was bursting with good things.

It began with a concert by our favorite vocalist: John's sister, Jayme.  She gave an amazing performance and shared so much of herself and her story with the audience.  The hour went by much too quickly.

Saturday brought along a birthday pool party for M and C to attend.  They had a blast playing games in an indoor pool with friends. (Birthday girl's mom took this one with her cell phone.)

On Saturday night John and I had the annual Bowling and Bruno's outing with our church's worship team.  This is basically a night of bowling terribly (at least for me) followed by eating delicious pizza with a great group of people.  No pictures, though.

And Sunday night...  Daddy/Daughter date night put together for C's age group at church.  John took M to this when she was in 4th and 5th grade.  I can't believe C is already here.

While they were out M made the two of us crepes.... she's so old!  :)  And I'm so proud of both of our girls!

Psalm 144:12
 May our sons flourish in their youth
      like well-nurtured plants.
   May our daughters be like graceful pillars,
      carved to beautify a palace.

Glimpses of the last 2 months

September has given way to mid-October and I've finally made it back to my blog. We are as busy as ever.  The photos below capture some of the fun and beauty we've been blessed with these last weeks.

-Family Camp on Labor Day weekend is always enjoyed, but also puts somewhat of a bookend on the summer.  It's always back-to-the-books after a long and fun weekend with friends.

-We needed a family photo for our church's annual prayer card exchange, so we set up the camera on a tripod in the backyard and hoped for the best. Not bad!

-I was surprised that planting carrot seeds in a pot on my deck actually resulted in edible carrots! I planted the seeds in June and by September we had delicious carrots. Amazing!

-We continue to love our weekly Little House on the Prairie co-op. The girls made bread together and each took a small loaf home to bake.

-Family time! It's always wonderful to eat with family and gather around a bonfire to make smores.

-Last week we had the amazing opportunity to spend a day in 1875 in a one-room schoolhouse.

The schoolmaster had them stand for the roll call, sing songs, and practice their penmanship on slate boards. (and much more!) The girls had to sit on one side of the room and the boys on the other. (yes!)

They ate lunch on the steps of the schoolhouse and were able to play with jump ropes, wooden stilts, and other toys they would have had in 1875. It was a wonderful experience.

-The color of fall is all around now. We just had 2+ weeks of warm weather... and now it is cold, windy, and raining. But honestly, I look forward to being tucked into our little house together. I'm not sure it actually slows down the pace of life, but it seems like it does - at least a little.

I hope you're enjoying this season wherever it finds you... may you be able to open your eyes to see what God is doing this very day in your life and may you have the courage to say yes to whatever great thing He has for you to be a part of... His plans are always the best!

With love,

Christine

Owl Pellet Lab

This year our big curriculum decision was to participate in a co-op and go through the Prairie Primer together. The Prairie Primer walks you through all 9 of the Little House on the Prairie books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. 

Our co-op only consists of 5 girls and each of them are in a different grade - 3rd grade through 7th. But it doesn't matter a bit to these girls! They love learning and playing together and the 3 moms in this group - well, we like each other too. ;)

For our first co-op last week we made butter (which is as easy as putting heavy whipping cream in a jar and shaking it until a lump of butter forms) and we talked about owls and dissected owl pellets.  

Do you know what an owl pellet is?  Here's the definition:

A pellet, in ornithology, is the mass of undigested parts of a bird's food that some bird species occasionally regurgitate. The contents of a bird's pellet depend on its diet, but can include the exoskeletons of insects, indigestible plant matter, bones, fur, feathers, bills, claws, and teeth. 

Not very 'girly' to dissect owl pellets, is it?  And they were quite disgusted in the beginning.

Actually, a couple of them were disgusted the entire time, but eventually we heard things like, "This is really gross, but it's cool too!" One of the girls had  bird remains in her owl pellet, evidenced by the feather and the beak that she found. But most of the pellets had rodent bones, which we expected.

Not surprisingly though, our M wasn't the least bit disgusted with this lab. She was fascinated from beginning to end.

  

Here's a simple lab report we used to walk them through the lab. 

And another helpful resource: an owl pellet bone chart
I'm not sure where our owl pellets were purchased, but here's one website that sells them:  Owl Brand Discovery Kits

Don't be scared to try it!  It was easy and I think the girls learned a lot and had fun too! 

Keepin' Cool in the Pool

Our girls have been able to swim every day this week! Quite a life they lead! They love to swim and this year they have 2 friends in the neighborhood who each have a pool PLUS we've been extremely blessed by a friend who is giving them swimming lessons one afternoon a week.

Last week after the lesson, we were able to use this super cool water slide!



Natasha is my friend and the mother to 3 of the most adorable girls around. While her two smallest take their afternoon nap, Natasha gives M and C swimming lessons in her neighbors' pool. Neighbors rock! Friends rock!

Thanks for sharing your pools and your talents, friends!! We are enjoying every minute!

1000 Gifts: the gifts of friends and family

These last couple weeks have been filled to the brim with opportunities to be with old friends and treasured souls who will always have a place in my heart.
Below is only part of my gift list from my journal. I'll be back later this week to get caught up on the rest--I passed 100 yesterday! I can't believe how easy this actually is!

¹⁹Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, ²⁰always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 5: 19-20

0054. toys that spark imagination

0055. and the imaginations they spark!

0056. inventive games they make up--they're such fun girls!


0057. when things don't change - once my teacher and friend...still the same after 13 years


0058. easy conversation making the time pass too quickly

0059. helping hands

0060. a job finished and well done

0061. books to read on wintry days

0062. paper! oh the beautiful shades of pink and red, waiting to become notes of love


0063. hearts of every size - little hearts and big hearts, fancy hearts and simple hearts--and the amazing machine that cuts them all out perfectly (my mom recently got a Cricut!)


0064. endless supplies to support creative minds, thanks to my mom and her sharing heart


0065. a reunion of old friends


0066. finding that the connection still remains

0067. baby bows and baby bottles

0068. the bond of mama and baby


0069. growing, healthy kids -- hard to believe how much they've grown


0070. an orphan rescued and given a family - little one, we've been praying for you for so long!

0071. big brother affection


0072. hugs goodbye and the hope that we won't let so much time pass before we all meet again

0073. it's snowing again, but I'm thankful for snow tires!

0074. a chance for our girls to read and spend time with a little preschooler -- such a wonderful time for each of them. They're using their skills for Jesus and it makes my heart so happy!


0075. God's gentle reminder to keep thanking Him -- in all things

....more to come!

Crocheting with a friend

We had a relaxing day indoors today listening to the winter wind and crocheting with a friend. Days like this remind me of how blessed I truly am.

A Good day with Friends

We have some dear friends whose home/land is being taken by the state in order to build a new highway. Which totally stinks. They bought a house 5 minutes down the road (and 5 minutes closer to us!), but it had to be completely redone. It's been a looong road for them, but they are nearing the end and next weekend they plan to move into their new home. All this is say--our day was spent here with our friends. The moms painted while the children played their hearts out with their best friends. Not a bad day. at. all.

Wednesday, October 21

The weather guy tells us this will be the last day of warm temperatures for the week. We decided we MUST go to the park and take our friend H.
These girls are very familiar with my camera. They know how to pose. They know to smile. I threw a surprise at them this time though. When I asked them to give me a "sassy" look.....

...this is what I got! I love that they that didn't know what I meant by "sassy"!

September 26

We went to Thistleberry Farm with Princess Pack. What a fun place! We had free admission since the girls had competed in their scarecrow making contest last year and won! Here are some of the fun things we had available to us for the day:

Pedal car race track! John and I got in on the fun too!
A HUGE bouncy pillow! This was a ton of fun! (You'll see the whole thing in the background of one of the photos below.)
The corn pool was dangerously fun too.
And this was a favorite of M's: the water pump rubber duck race.
We went in one of their corn mazes. I think there were 4--one of them being ridiculously long. We chose one of the shortest. We had such a great time together as a family and with our friends. And as a bonus I captured a new favorite picture of M and C. (edited at Picnik.com)

It was one grooovy party, baby!

We celebrated a friend's 30th birthday tonight in style-- 70s style! At least we tried!

Happy Birthday, Ryan! We hope you enjoyed your groovy party!