Trick-or-Treating Memories

Our little munchkins out gathering candy. Alyssa was a black cat, Matthew was a pirate, Josh was a pumpkin & Grace was an Olympic gymnast.

It was such a beautiful night so we went out trick-or-treating and ended up pretty much filling up our candy buckets. Grace, my niece was with us. We had a fun time. Pumpkin Josh pretty much hung out in his stroller eating a sucker almost the whole time. He looked like a very plump, relaxed pumpkin! The other three were running from house to house, complaining about how heavy their bags were getting with candy! Can't say I was too sympathetic.

I think the tally, at least for the girls, was about 100 pieces of candy, a toy & some McDonalds coupons. Sorry Jenn - Grace is bringing all hers home!! :-) They will have fun choosing candy for a couple of days, then it'll go in the cupboard for "sugar" days, I'll freeze some of the chocolate for later & eventually the candy will just "disappear" - just like last year!

I definitely got my exercise today - between raking & walking around our neighborhood. I always feel bad for my neighbors because they don't get a lot of trick-or-treaters so we try to do our part (and for some it's one of the only times I get to talk to my neighbors! Of course, that's how we got so much candy too! :-)

Raking Leaves

Since we live in a townhouse, we don't have to rake our leaves. So, we decided to rake someone else's leaves. Through our church and a county program called Chores & More, we volunteered to rake someone's yard who couldn't do it themselves. With the beautiful weather we decided today was the day to fulfill our raking duties.

We had so much fun! We started off our morning picking up the kids' cousin Grace (who is 8 & from Wisconsin) in Woodbury. We get to have her with us until tomorrow while her dad is visiting his parents. We then made our way to the outer limits of Andover and tackled a pretty big yard (and while we all helped as much as we could, Gregg did a lot of the work!). The woman we helped was wheel chair bound but very kind and welcomed us and all our kids. The kids helped rake for a while and made a big pile of leaves to jump in and then enjoyed exploring her large yard. After lunch they also got a tour and learned more about what it's like to be in a wheel chair - how she can drive, get in & out of her shower, get downstairs via an automated lift and so forth.

We came away having helped someone else and learned a lot in the process too! I didn't take too many pictures, but here are a few...

Bad Haircut

Ever get your haircut and regret it? I must say, the haircut I got yesterday fits that category. Over the last few months I've been letting my hair be a little longer than usual, even though I've gotten it cut several times. Finally it got to be too much and I felt I HAD to get it cut shorter (but not super short). However, the woman who cut my hair totally chopped my hair waaaaay shorter than I like. She asked me how I liked my bangs. I said not too short. Well, if this is not too short, I'd hate to see what short is! I'm kinda bummed because I don't like it at all and there's not much to do but wait and let it grow. Thankfully I have a feeling in about 2 weeks it actually will be okay and then I can go somewhere else for my next haircut!

Visit to Kelley Farm

Yesterday I took Alyssa, Matt & Josh to the Oliver H. Kelley Farm with our homeschool co-op group. It's a historical site run as it was run 150 years ago. I'd never been there before and it was really neat.

My kids were a bit young but we were part of a tour so we just followed along and participated when we could. When you go for a tour you go to different parts of the farm, meet with a farmer & help do some of the chores that were done 150 years ago. So, the kids got to thresh wheat, help make gingerbread in the house, help pick lima beans in the garden & help chop stalks of corn for the pigs & cows and then we got to visit all the animals. The best part is that if we come back again next summer, we'll get to do something else.

I'm glad we went even if I had to be on my toes to keep the kids from touching the hot wood stove when we were inside the house and Alyssa was very nervous at first - unsure about the pigs & roosters roaming freely, just unsure of everything because it was new. By the end of our time there though, she decided she wanted us to have pigs & sheep at OUR house and seemed much more at ease.

Go Vikings!

Couldn't resist adding this picture (and yes I do have a Vikings sweatshirt but someone had to take the picture!

Happy Anniversary...to us!

Today is Gregg & my 7th wedding anniversary. Seems like just yesterday and seems like a lifetime ago. I remember on my wedding day feeling like a princess and Gregg was my prince. It was such an amazing day - probably the most precious day of my life thus far (even trumps the birth of my kids...by just a little). Little did I know all that would unfold in the next 7 years!

Much has changed since we got married; We've got a mini-van instead of a beat-up, oil burning, seen better days pick-up truck. We have a computer that was made in the 21st century. I'm a stay-at-home, homeschooling mom instead of working downtown and Gregg is working 2nd shift instead of 1st shift. We've changed churches. Gregg's dad & my grandpa passed away during the past 7 years. 9/11 had just happened so our economic & world climate is different. Of course, the biggest change are the 3 beautiful, funny, high-energy kids we have been blessed to have.

But much hasn't changed. We still live in our 2 bedroom townhouse (that is almost paid for!!), we still love watching football together on Sunday afternoons, we still love God... & I am still married to the sweetest man I ever met.

We've had our ups and downs over the past 7 years but time has only deepened my love for him. While we don't always have time these days to do all the fun, crazy things we did when we were dating, he is still my guy and my rock. He grounds me when my emotions want to go out of control. He has been there with me through 3 pregnancies, 3 births (that I would not have made it through if it weren't for him!), 3 infants & now 3 little ones. He is so wise when it comes to spending money and making decisions and I am so thankful for that! God knew I needed someone who was easy-going and laid back to balance out my more type-A, emotional personality.

Thanks God for Gregg and for 7 years of marriage! I pray for many more years of Sunday afternoon football, love and laughter together!

Thoughts from a homeschooling mom

Well, we've been homeschooling for almost 2 months now. How's it going? If you've read previous entries you've known that we've had our share of challenges as we've started out on our homeschool journey. While we still get the occasional resistance I have to say that things are going really pretty well right now.

Alyssa has fallen into a routine and she knows what we always do when we start school time. She seems to be doing better about trying out and enjoying the crafts, experiments, books & so forth that we use to explore whatever unit we are talking about. We've fallen in a routine and for her, it's what she's needed. Like I said, occasionally I have to encourage her and she is still struggling with telling me back a story after we read it but we're working on it.

Overall, I think we really enjoy homeschooling. Alyssa does ask about going to school like many of her friends & her cousins and wanting to try it out someday. She really enjoys when we go to co-op but that's only twice a month. I think I shocked and made her day when I looked back at her in the car yesterday and said, "Alyssa, I want you to go to school someday, I hope that you do - just not right now." She had this huge grin on her face & she said something like, well, maybe after 5th grade I can go to school.

I told her the truth. Right now, we want to keep her home with us longer. I want to be her teacher, and we want to teach her more than math & reading but about character, having her siblings be her good friends & playmates (as well as other children) and teach her a solid foundation about what we believe about God, encouraging her to develop & grow in her relationship with Jesus. We don't want to exactly protect her from the bad parts of the world but prepare her to be able to do what is right and to know and be able to stand up for what she believes in before being confronted by it. Yes, we can do those things while she also goes to school elsewhere, but this is how we've chosen to do it - and honestly, I love it.

We take this one year at a time, both in the curriculum we choose & in where she goes to school. As long as Gregg works 2nd shift, the choice seems pretty clear cut for us (having Alyssa only see Gregg on the weekends isn't an option). Right now, it's at home and we will continue to pray about it and follow God's lead. And she was accepting of that. Matt put in his two cents and said that when Alyssa went to school, he would stay home and do school with mom. :-)

Here are some of my 2 month-in ponderings about homeschooling:
-Is it okay to teach school wearing your pajamas & looking like the bride of frankenstein because your hair is all over the place (I seem to do that several days a week)?
-I am so glad Gregg is here during the day - we would definitely be doing this differently and be on a different schedule if it weren't for him taking care of Josh and sometimes Matt while we do school! (I think God knew I needed him around during these first & early years to keep my sanity!!!)
-How much chocolate is too much chocolate to eat in one day (not sure what that has to do with homeschooling, but I'm definitely learning that this fall!)
-If you leave water on the table while homeschooling, it will be spilled on your project!
-My kids regularly tell me that it's a "gibbous moon" out today! Kinda fun to learn along with the kids about stuff I'm not sure I ever learned in school.
-Sometimes I do feel like I'm with my kids ALL of the time! (fortunately I am getting out more and am pondering joining BSF in November for a morning out & a way to grow with God...)
-Am I teaching everything Alyssa needs to know for kindergarten?? (every homeschooler's thoughts I think)
-We are really enjoying reading together - we've come across just some fun books this fall
-What is the balance of being the encouraging mom & being the teacher that has to ocassionally correct her? I have really discovered how both Alyssa & I are such perfectionists and I'm having to be careful not to discourage her in the process of correcting & teaching her. For a while when we were working on handwriting, I would correct her & she would start saying things like "I'm no good, I can't do it..." and I realized that she was being hard on herself, wanting to be perfect. I really backed off because honestly, she writes great for her age - I just was showing her how to do it "perfectly." :-) It's a balance I'm still working on!

School Days

Here are a few pictures of school taken over the past week.

This week we have been studying apples so one day we bought one of each type of apple we could find and tested them out. Then we made apple sauce & apple pie. Now I know why I didn't like apples growing up - red delicious apples (the type we had growing up) have no taste! What were Alyssa's favorites? Braeburn, Honeycrisp, & Golden Delicious.

Saturday was such a nice day we did school outside. Yes, normally we don't do school on Saturdays but because of MOPS we missed enough school days that I felt we needed to do a little something yesterday. Alyssa enjoyed finishing up her handwriting workbook sitting outside.

Joshua's favorite word

Joshua is just about to turn 18 months old and so far he doesn't really have too many words we can understand. He does however have a favorite word - "whoa!" He says it a lot and it is so cute!

Geese Pond

Today, we made our second trek to the Geese Pond as we like to call it. It's really a pond not far from our library where geese and ducks congregate - especially at this time of year. We bring our old bread crusts (some which have been in the deep freezer for over a year just for this purpose) and have fun feeding the geese & ducks. We sit on top of a picnic table and fling bread to our heart's delight. This time Josh got involved and actually threw bread as well although I had to watch which pieces of bread I gave him as he also tended to sample some of it too! :-)

We still have more bread in our freezer (I don't think we made it to the geese pond much last year since Josh was so small) so hopefully we can made one more trip this fall before it gets too cold!

Texas Revisited

I'm back from MOPS Convention in Grapevine Texas (basically Dallas)! It was a lot of fun, had great speakers & music and I am really glad I went. Here's just a few highlights and of course a couple of pictures from the trip.

I went on the trip with my co-coordinator, Cara Bothun. It was a great time to get to know each other and dream about MOPS. We got there no problem but started out a little rocky as we were unable to get supper before the evening session (long lines, unsure where to go, etc...) so we were thankful to have cliff bars & granola bars to eat!

The Gaylord Texan is HUGE and beautiful with a river running through it and it's almost as if you are outside (although you're not) as you walk through it. Eventually we found a great restaurant for breakfast and a little coffee shop where we could get sandwiches, muffins, ice cream, huge chocolate chip cookies and so forth. We never had to eat cliff bars again after the first night if we didn't want to!

We also went out both nights to see a little bit of Grapevine Texas. We ate Texas steak (oh so delicious) on Friday night & tried out a place called Love & War in Texas on Saturday night. The atmosphere was great. There was a country western band that played all kinds of western songs including one of my favorites by Marty Robbins - what's it called dad? You know, "on a hill overlooking El Paso..."? Only problem was what we ordered (BBQ Brisket) was WAY spicy, at least it was true Texas food! :-) The dessert made up for it! :-)

Oh, as for the MOPS convention... we went to 4 main sessions as well as 4 workshops, walked around and saw numerous vendors, bought fun stuff at the MOPS shop, met some other MN MOPS moms & watched improv one night.

There were 4 general sessions and they were all great! (of course I took no pictures of the general sessions!) They started out as a circus so we got to watch 2 women from Cirq le manze (not sure how to spell it) do acrobatic maneuvers on silks & later a trapeze from up in the air. We got to listen to Jaci Velasqez & her husband, Avalon, Plumb & my favorite, Go Fish. My friend Cara thought it was hilarious that 4500 women were rocking out to music for preschoolers - you can't help but dance along to "Ten Banana Boogie" & "If you're happy & you know it!"

Great speakers, Erwin McManus who is the author of Wide Awake (asked questions such as "if your dreams became reality, would it make a better place? What dreams are waiting on the other side of fear?) as well as Patrick Lencioni who wrote a book called The 3 Big Questions for a Frantic Family & (asked questions such as What makes our family unique, what is our top short-termed priority? & using those questions to help your family run better). And Elisa Morgan (CEO of MOPS) talked to us about doing what we can by using an acronym all weekend for us to figure out SDWSC - "She did what she could" based on Mary, Martha's sister when she poured oil over Jesus.

Overall, the conference gave me a better idea of what MOPS is all about - bringing all moms one step closer to Christ. The gist I took away from the conference was to think about what passion God has put inside of me & how to pursue that passion, making the world a better place (basically not to feel like you have to wait until the kids grow up before you can pursue your passions). It's hard to write down exactly what struck me during the conference but it was good and I'm still thinking about it...

I also went to a workshop on learning my husband's language. :-) It was very reminiscent of a Love & Respect conference Gregg & I went to several years ago but it was such a good reminder and brought into focus ways I can show respect to Gregg & some ways that maybe I haven't done a great job of showing respect. Really glad I went to the workshop.

Overall it was SO good to get away. I didn't get to do a lot of "relaxing" (most relaxation I did was probably at the airport on the way home) but I find myself coming back refreshed and with a renewed sense of patience & joy with my kids. I really saw this on our plane ride back from Texas. On our way there we sat by this woman with a 6 month old little girl (she was not going to the MOPS convention but was a MOPS mom). My first thought on the way there was, "I don't want to sit with a baby, I'm going to Texas to get away from that!" Fortunately Cara actually sat next to the mom & the baby was an angel. Interestingly enough, on our way home we sat by the SAME MOM and her baby! This time I sat by her and I found myself actually happy to sit by her (okay, yes she was a really good traveller & that helped!). I held the baby at least 3 times and I would've held her more! Definitely a change from the way I was feeling on the way to Dallas! :-)

This is "Hank" the stuffed longhorn at the resort. One last comment. We wore home t-shirts that said "My Husband Rocks" - to show our husbands we loved them, of course! In the airport, the lady at the security station asked Cara (in her Texas accent), "Are your husbands in a rock band?" Ummm, no...

I'm going to take a little trip!!

I'm off to Dallas, TX for a MOPS Convention this weekend. Yeah!!! I feel bad that Matt is over-tired and will probably have a not so good day tomorrow BUT I am going to Texas! :-)