Fishing

The boys had the opportunity to go fishing the week before school started. They had the job of finding worms. We went out back into our garden (we didn't get it planted this year) and started digging. No success. I went out and started digging. No success. Then I started wondering where the worms were. We went to the front yard and started moving the mulch. Success!

Caleb was quick. I would use the shovel, move the dirt (mulch), and uncover the worms. He would quickly grab them. Some of them would try to get into a hole, and he would dig down and grab them. It hurt my back to be hunched over a shovel looking at the ground.

I think the boys had a good time, and they even caught a couple of fish. That always seems to make it better.

PRESCHOOL - a very stressful place

Today at preschool we had circle time when we came inside. One of my little boys sat down cross-legged and put his thumbs and his fingers together, pointing upwards, and took some deep breaths. It looked like he was meditating. Then, the next time we sat down, the same boy sat with his legs straight out in front of him and put his hands to the side with his fingers touching his thumbs. First they were pointing down, and as he took a deep breath, he turned them upward and closed his eyes. I didn't think that anything we did was too strenuous. I guess I am not a preschooler though.

Last, the same little boy bowed to me before he took the sticks out of my hand. I could get used to that. In fact, maybe I will institute it. I will make all of the students bow to me. =D Just kidding.

Tattle Tell Targets Take Two

So, Eli and Emily had shots. I thought that last time Emily was exaggerating about taking her band aids off so that the boys would not hit her. No sooner than we walked in the door, Eli walked by Caleb and showed him the band aids on his arms. Caleb punched one arm. Then Eli turned around and Caleb saw the other one and punched it, too. How mean.

I never did see the band aids on Emily's arms - I guess she knew it would happen to her.

Brett's Surprise Slumber Party

So, since Brett's birthday is close, we were going over to some friend's house for dinner. I got some balloons over there and some streamers, too. I only got them there about ten minutes before Brett got there. Brett would have been there sooner, but I kept him on the phone. He called me as I was walking out of the grocery store, and his computer was already shut down and he was ready to walk out. I kept him talking because he was just going to go to our friend's house.

I didn't let him leave work until I had dropped off the party stuff.

We did dinner, and had stacks, and more snacks, and more stacks. We did birthday cake, and we had more snacks.

All of the children fell asleep on the couches, and the grown-ups stayed up and played game. Brett won our game of Settlers of Catan, and did a victory lap.

After the game we just sat at the table and talked. It was 4:00 a.m. and the grown-up boys went down to watch Monte Python, and we were conviced to spend the night. I went up and fell asleep in the master bedroom, all four of my children were asleep on the couches on the maid floor, and then the grown-up boys were all down on the couch.

In the morning, we finally got out of the house about 11:30 for breakfast. When we finally got home we all took naps - we were tired.

A Five Year-Old Boy

Our visitor has the pallet of a 5 year-old boy. Yesterday we had fish for lunch, and I asked him if he liked fish. He said that he might. Well, the fish was bad - it was cod, and we are not really cod fans. It was rubbery and dry. My family, who normally eat fish, complained about it. Emily and Claire did eat their fish, however, they did have an inch of ketchup on top of it. Our visitor took one bite of fish and then passed it to Claire. After a little while, he said, "I have eaten more fish tonight than I have in the whole seven years of marriage."

We started asking him what type of things he liked. Earlier we talked about it and he told us he had the pallet of a 5 year-old. We asked him about bread, whether he was a wheat bread or a white bread eater. I looked at him, he didn't say anything, but the look on his face said that he is a definitely a white bread eater. I said that and Brett was shocked.

We made omelets for dinner and we called his wife to ask her what was a slight stretch and something that we might be able to push on him but not push him over the edge. She wants him to eat onions.

O.K. for the omelets, we had little bowls with different things in it, onions, peppers, cheddar & pepper jack cheese, and sausage. Our friend just wanted sausage and cheese. Brett & I sauteed some onions & peppers and then we made our omelets. I let our friend have a bite after the onions were cooked and sweet. He didn't really taste them.

He is making dinner tonight for us. We will be having chili - without onions.

A Visitor

We have a vistor staying with us until his house is ready to move into. He will be moving into his house in October. His wife is not here, she is at home waiting until the house is ready.

I took these pictures when we came home from church. He went up to "grandma's room" and called his family. He is on the phone with his son who is eating a very big burrito. Yummy.

We can't wait to meet his family.

This post is for his son. Your daddy loves you!

First Day of School

The first day of school always brings with it some nerves.

Caleb was a little nervous that he would have older students (high school students) on the bus with him, and that they would break his cello. Well, he did end up having high school students on his bus, but his cello survived. He had a great first day. Many new adventures as he walked the halls of the middle school. More freedoms as he was able to walk by himself to his classes. More responsibility as he has to keep track of his own schedule. All in all he had a good day! Emily started a new school, also. After she got dressed I asked her if she was going to wear new clothes, and she told me that she wanted to wear her princess shirt. I guess sometimes we need to be reminded that we are princesses (and princes), and her first day at the elementary school was one of them. When I asked her how her day was, she replied, "BORING!" She did fall down and scrape her knee.
Eli was excited to go to school. He wasn't going to a new school, it was just the same thing as last year. In fact, his class is right across the hall from the one he was in last year. He was excited to see that he didn't have to share his locker with anyone, but he did say that he hoped his class didn't get any new students (he knew which locker they would be assigned to). Eli walked out with old clothes in his hand, and when I asked him if he was going to wear new clothes, his eyes lit up and he ran back into his room to get them.
I was excited to send them off to school. The experiences they will have and the growth they will experience will be fun to watch.

Short Video Clip

Here is Caleb's duet that he did with a girl for competition. Enjoy it!

Summer School Shopping

The children had to read and do school related things this summer to earn money for school clothes. We also told the children that they wouldn't get the same rate. If we were to pay Caleb 5 cents per minute, he would have nearly $300 to spend. It was a lot of fun watching him figure out what he needed and how best to spend his money. He bought the regular things - pants, shoes, and shirts. Then he bought some extra things - a light weight jacket and a pair of "dressy" shoes. He checked the price on everything he tried on, and he would determine it it was worth it. He and Eli would be in the store trying to figure out the best plan - a pair of pants was $19.50 for one, or you could get two for $25. The boys decide to both get the same item and then split the cost. They did this a couple of times. Caleb bought clothes that were a little more dressy, and then yesterday he got all dressed up in his new clothes. It is fun watching him grow up.

Eli on the other hand didn't really have a plan. He just looked at something, and if he thought he liked it, he would get it. Price didn't seem to matter to him. He got some of the same type of clothes that Caleb got, but he also got more "casual" type of clothes. He didn't read quite as much (not by a long shot). When we figured out how much he spent, he told me that if he got 5 cents a minute, he was over spent by about $20. I told him that would would probably pay him 7 cents per minute.

Emily was a big time price checker. The first thing she would do would be to look at the tag. She had a hard time if it wasn't rounded to the nearest dollar. I had to really convince her that it was O.K. to spend money, but every store she went into, she would check every tag before she would decide if she liked the item. She was worse than Caleb.

Claire was pretty carefree. She really has no concept of money, so she shopped with Emily. She wanted the same things that Emily was getting. At the first store, the girls bought the same pair of pants and two shirts. At the next store we went to, Claire found the exact dress that Emily was wearing, so we got her one. Claire changed in the next store so they could be twins.

We went to the Mall of America to do the shopping, and we got to do some rides. I am learning that I am a chicken, and I am not excited for many of the rides. I was also a little afraid for my children. They wanted to do some crazy rides, and I was a little afraid for them. We enjoyed looking at the pictures of everyone after the rides.

WE HAD A GREAT DAY!

FAIR = Fun + Food + Friends + Family

We went to the fair, and again we ate our way through. At our fair there are animals, rides, tractor pulls, food vendors, and a whole bunch of people. We ended up going on a Friday night, and we had a lot of fun. The boys did some summer reading at the library, and they got coupons from the vendors at the fair for free and discounted food. We decided to go and see the animals first, and then we washed up and went to get the food.

We didn't see all of the animals. We did go in the cow barn and the pig barn. There were some very crazy pigs. One of them was a little scary. As we were walking by, a pig was making some awful noises while it had it's front feet on the rail as if it were trying to break out. We hurried right on past that one. We also went into the cow barn and got our picture (thank you Ashley for the pictures) taken in front of the dairy cows, or actually behind the dairy cows.

We also got to go to the petting area. There were pigs, ducks, chicks, horses, lambs, and some other animals there. It was fun watching my children with our friends' little boy and with all of the animals.

Here are some pictures of our family. Our friend took pictures and she thinks that we all make faces for the camera. HMMM...

Claire eating cotton candy.

Emily eating cotton candy.

Eli wearing his dinner on his face.

Caleb in a truly candid moment.

Brett thinking about the crazy pig.

Me... after a long week at home and a night at the fair.