Yesterday we enjoyed an amazing feast followed by lots of games and time with good, closer friends. Today when I asked Ella whether she had as much fun as she thought she would have (with all the anticipation and all), she replied, "I had way more fun that I thought. I think God was trying to tell me something. He was trying to tell me that heaven is going to be like Thanksgiving every day, only better!"
such a sweet, smart, and intuitive girl! :) And just one of the people I have to be thankful for!
...and I'm camera shopping so I can continue to post pictures here :)
Friday, November 25, 2011
Sunday, October 30, 2011
aaron video
Aaron identifying the Catan cards at 21 months. (For timber, he sadly explains, "tree fall down").
Are you impressed, Uncle Stephen?
October in Pictures
Summary of photos:
A deer hit Adrian's car one dark morning; he was fine; we're not sure about the deer. We enjoyed a trip to Oregon: fun, food and family! We returned home to find our maple tree adorned with golden leaves. When they all fell last week, we enjoyed them from the ground, too. Ella has wanted to make "dark" bread for a while, so we took the time to make some Swedish Rye bread yesterday. Out of it (plus some previously baked oatmeal bread) we were able to make checkerboard sandwiches! And our girls are learning how to play Catan with us. Ella won the first game she played!
things dads do
Last weekend, upon returning home from a week in Oregon, my sweet husband offered to help me with the 8 loads of laundry that had accumulated while we were away. Even though laundry is my "favorite" house chore, looking at the mountain caused me to gladly accept. Somehow when we work together, work seems to take less than half the time. A few hours later, Adrian was occupied when I heard the dryer end its cycle, so I went to switch out loads. Upon opening the dryer, I discovered that he had re-washed and dried the huge, heavy jeans load that I had already placed in the clean laundry basket ~ only I hadn't folded them yet. One thing about house help, whether husbands or kids: you can't always have it "your way", it may not be the most efficient, and it may not look the way you usually finish ... but still, I am thankful! I think thankfulness is the key to getting more help in the future.
As our family grows, I am finding my chore systems to need constant adjustment. I am still confused as to why, when we had our 4th baby the laundry seemed to double and I was running the dishwasher twice per day instead of once. After all, he was just an infant ~ why the increase? As he has gotten older, those adjustment have become "normal", but I am still battling the way toys reproduce while we aren't watching, and the way there are 8 little hands dropping items around the house no matter how closely I watch. Luckily Ella is stepping up to be a great help. I was once told that age 7 is when they really begin to pitch in around the house, and I've been waiting... for Ella, it was 7 1/2 (this autumn) when she suddenly started organizing and cleaning in a way I didn't know she was capable of!! Hurray!
Back to Dads. Last weekend, the girls were begging to go for a bike ride in the crisp autumn air. We also needed a handful of things at the grocery store, so Adrian combined the tasks and took E&T on bikes to Albertsons to shop! Along with all the fresh apples, oranges, bananas, sweet potatoes, mushrooms, zucchini, & yogurt I had requested, they came home with mini Butterfingers, frosted sugar cookies, bologna, Cheetos, and a big tub of Tillamook ice cream. I am one (1 out of 6, that is) who attempts to keep high fructose corn syrup and artificial anything out of the house ~ and here walking in was a load of all of the above. I was rather amused. Oh, how the children would be lacking in balance if it weren't for their dad! They truly NEED the balance their daddy provides. (Well, maybe not the Cheetos...)
Adrian provides "balance" for the kids in many other ways, too. We have a routine of picking up toys (and books and clothes and many other miscellaneous items) before daddy gets home. Upon his arrival we have to strategically plan our 1.5 hours before bedtime. We eat dinner, clean up, set up a game, and then start the bedtime routine. Over the last week, we have been playing board games almost every evening. Sometimes game playing is slow going as they learn, but we are REALLY thankful to be together after Adrian was gone weeknights for 6 out of 7 weeks. And I'd much rather be telling the children which card to pick up than watching who-knows-what on the DVD player. We happily canceled Netflix a few months ago, and *might* get back to wholesome video watching when the weather turns really cold.
So... I am the one who calls out orders to get dressed, eat healthy food, wipe your mouth, keep on task in school, put away one project before you begin another, pick up your toys, you've played with the computer/iPhone/laptop enough, and get to bed on time. Adrian is the one who comes home, plays games, serves dessert, wrestles at bedtime, and knows how to relax.... God knew our children needed both.
Can you relate? I'd like to hear how YOU are balanced out by your family!
As our family grows, I am finding my chore systems to need constant adjustment. I am still confused as to why, when we had our 4th baby the laundry seemed to double and I was running the dishwasher twice per day instead of once. After all, he was just an infant ~ why the increase? As he has gotten older, those adjustment have become "normal", but I am still battling the way toys reproduce while we aren't watching, and the way there are 8 little hands dropping items around the house no matter how closely I watch. Luckily Ella is stepping up to be a great help. I was once told that age 7 is when they really begin to pitch in around the house, and I've been waiting... for Ella, it was 7 1/2 (this autumn) when she suddenly started organizing and cleaning in a way I didn't know she was capable of!! Hurray!
Back to Dads. Last weekend, the girls were begging to go for a bike ride in the crisp autumn air. We also needed a handful of things at the grocery store, so Adrian combined the tasks and took E&T on bikes to Albertsons to shop! Along with all the fresh apples, oranges, bananas, sweet potatoes, mushrooms, zucchini, & yogurt I had requested, they came home with mini Butterfingers, frosted sugar cookies, bologna, Cheetos, and a big tub of Tillamook ice cream. I am one (1 out of 6, that is) who attempts to keep high fructose corn syrup and artificial anything out of the house ~ and here walking in was a load of all of the above. I was rather amused. Oh, how the children would be lacking in balance if it weren't for their dad! They truly NEED the balance their daddy provides. (Well, maybe not the Cheetos...)
Adrian provides "balance" for the kids in many other ways, too. We have a routine of picking up toys (and books and clothes and many other miscellaneous items) before daddy gets home. Upon his arrival we have to strategically plan our 1.5 hours before bedtime. We eat dinner, clean up, set up a game, and then start the bedtime routine. Over the last week, we have been playing board games almost every evening. Sometimes game playing is slow going as they learn, but we are REALLY thankful to be together after Adrian was gone weeknights for 6 out of 7 weeks. And I'd much rather be telling the children which card to pick up than watching who-knows-what on the DVD player. We happily canceled Netflix a few months ago, and *might* get back to wholesome video watching when the weather turns really cold.
So... I am the one who calls out orders to get dressed, eat healthy food, wipe your mouth, keep on task in school, put away one project before you begin another, pick up your toys, you've played with the computer/iPhone/laptop enough, and get to bed on time. Adrian is the one who comes home, plays games, serves dessert, wrestles at bedtime, and knows how to relax.... God knew our children needed both.
Can you relate? I'd like to hear how YOU are balanced out by your family!
Friday, October 28, 2011
HE provides!
Jehovah-Jireh, the Lord will provide. "And Abraham said, God will provide himself the lamb for a burnt-offering, my son. So they went both of
them together" (Gen 22.8) "And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh. As it is said to this
day, In the mount of Jehovah it shall be provided." (Gen 22.14). And of course Abraham's experience was a foreshadow of the LORD providing himself a lamb who would take away the sins of the whole world. He has provided.
We are thanking Jehovah-Jireh this morning, as Adrian just called from the side of a mountain to announce that he successfully hunted a cow elk! We will now have local, organic, grass fed meat provided for our family for another year! Thank you God, Creator and provider of all.
"The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven." --Hebrews 1.3, NIV
We are thanking Jehovah-Jireh this morning, as Adrian just called from the side of a mountain to announce that he successfully hunted a cow elk! We will now have local, organic, grass fed meat provided for our family for another year! Thank you God, Creator and provider of all.
"The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven." --Hebrews 1.3, NIV
Monday, October 10, 2011
September...
Ok, well, these photos are hopelessly out of order, but blogger won't let me move them right now, and I'm vowing not to lose my sanity over it. Instead, I'll lose my perfectionism ~ most of these were taken during our 2 weekends at Gramma Mary's house in early Sept.
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| Tessa learned to ride without training wheels a while ago, but one weekend in September she suddenly found her confidence, and now embraces any opportunity to go for a ride! We are so proud of her!! One walk in the park had 2 girls riding independently and 2 in the bike trailer, so we are finally hopeful that whole family bike outings will actually be a fun thing in the future! |
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| The kids at the picnic spot before a carousel ride (photo courtesy Elissa ~ thank you!) |
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| Aaron with his 1st Birthday wagon (only assembled 8 months late!) |
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| The kids enjoying a snack during our sadly unsuccessful hunt for huckleberries |
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| Our kids are never happier than when outside... |
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| Gramma Mary and Jaci riding Missoula's carousel. Ella & Tessa took great delight in choosing which horse they would ride, but photos of them turned out blurry! |
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| Since we homeschool year round, our "first day" of this school year was July 1. However, this photo was taken on our first day of Homeschool Group in early September. We are delighted to have a large group of local homeschoolers meeting weekly this year; there have been 25 children attending for the past 3 weeks. The kids enjoy great lessons and very fun play time! We've done projects like baking, science experiments, and making duct tape wallets. Up this week: decorating cake pops, lesson by a professional cake decorator mom! |
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| Tessa was the one who suggested the photo shoot, and posed very cutely! |
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| Ella pulling smaller siblings in the new wagon! |
Bob Marshall Wilderness Fishing Trip
Since Adrian doesn't blog, I got to choose some photos from his Bob Marshall Wilderness Fishing trip from August! Our camera remained broken at that time, so I was glad Kris shared his photos with us, which include a lot of Adrian! :) Even though we missed him at home for one summer weekend, this was truly a once in a lifetime trip!
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| Gathering up the horses ~ there were 6 men with 11 horses (6 to ride, 5 to pack out camp) |
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| crossing a stream near the beginning of the trail |
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| Kris & Adrian |
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