Christmas

Here are some pictures from our Christmas celebrations. We had a very Merry one full of traditions of our own and shared time with family. It really was wonderful.

Christmas Eve at Nina and Boppy's

Christmas Morning at home

Cousins around the Advent wreath at Grammy and Grampy's house

and a sweet LilyBean

(Lily and Ariel's dresses were made by their Grammy. Aren't they gorgeous?)

Happy Birthday Baby Jesus!

Translation: "John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."

A Memory Verse

Sorry, this one is a bit shaky...I couldn't help laughing a bit.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

On Thursday we got our first major snow of the season. It was quite the storm: it started in the late morning and came down 2-3 inches an hour for a while. They had closed all the schools ahead of time and after it started most businesses closed (including Luke's) and parts of the 2 major highways were closed throughout the state as well. By the time it was done late in the evening we had approximately 11 inches of snow on the ground.

I was reminded of "The Long Winter" in the Little House series. What a depressing story that was! I can't imagine being pounded by blizzard after blizzard in which you can't see 2 feet in front of you and it's so cold that the wood stove only manages to warm a small area right around it. I say thank goodness for insulation and furnaces and global warming for that matter! I'm sure places even further north than we are get really hard winters with more snow than I've experienced but I doubt it's on that scale anymore.

A train stuck in the snow in Southern MN, March 29, 1881

Saturday the kids spent some time out side playing in the snow. They had a grand time and lasted longer than I expected.

And today we are stuck at home because of more winter weather. This time it is a yucky "wintry mix" . It was raining when we woke up and now it is snowing and up where my sister and brother-in-law live it is even worse...they can't get out of their driveway and since we go to their house for church we have had to call it off this week. So, next week we will have to catch up in our Advent celebration. Can you believe that Christmas is next week?!

Deck the Halls

So, Monday was my birthday. And, well, I'm not 30 anymore...

For the last three years it has been our tradition to go and pick out our Christmas tree the weekend before my birthday so that's what we did Saturday. Usually we would come home and decorate it as well but this year we opted to go over to Becky and Charlie's to help out with the work that is required after deer hunting. 'Tis rather interesting having a brother-in-law who hunts. This year he was especially successful and that means we have our own stash of venison in the freezer. I never thought I'd say this but I am going to make venison stew this year... Never thought I'd actually eat the stuff but it is rather enjoyable and really, really good for you.

So, anyway, that left the decorating of the tree til Sunday, which was also the day we celebrated my birthday with the extended family. It was also the first Sunday of the Advent so we celebrated that as well. It is the beginning of the Christmas season and every year it becomes more rich as we seek to dig into the true meaning of the Holyday and share that with the kids. Celebrating the Advent has really helped us to do that.

When we got home we pulled out the boxes of decorations (amazing how much you can collect over the years) and got busy decorating. It was a fun time and the kids had a good time helping to make it pretty. Here are some pictures:






Then yesterday I let the kids make their own ornaments that they can give as gifts. We made them out of salt/flour dough (4 cups of flour, 1 cup of salt, and 1/2 cup of water) and used Christmas cookie cutters to make the shapes and then microwaved them. Then they got to decorate them. They had a lot of fun doing that...and so did I.

Kids at Play

Reinforcement

Tuesday was one of those days where everything seemed to follow a theme even though it wasn't planned. The morning started out with a talk I had with Noah about keeping his word. He had light-heartedly said that he promised to do something tomorrow that he didn't want to do today. So, I told him that he didn't need to promise anything but that when he said he would do something he had better follow through and do it. That's what it means to be trustworthy and honorable. Later we were reading in the Bible for 'Circle Time' and it happened to be in Matthew on the Sermon on the Mount and the 'Beattitudes". Verses 33-37 of chapter 5 stuck out: "...Do not swear at all...simply let your yes be yes and your no be no". So the lesson Noah had learned earlier was reinforced in the best way--thru the Word of God.

Further on we read that we are to love our enemies not just those who love us because that's very easy to do and there isn't much reward in that. But we are to be perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect. Jesus gave us many examples of loving our enemies. I explained to Noah that basically an enemy is someone who is mean to you and that loving them doesn't mean that you have to go and give them a hug and a kiss. It does mean that you shouldn't be mean back to them. You love them by treating them the way you want to be treated. That's not an easy thing to do but that is why the reward is so great.

We have been listening to the Little House on the Praire series and in "Little Town on the Prarie", the prissy Nellie Olson rejoins the cast of characters. Laura finds her to be just as mean and nasty as she was before but now Laura has a bit of an advantage and she uses that to get back at Nellie. Well, Nellie doesn't take too kindly to that and soon enough Laura finds that she is being treated very unfairly by her teacher who has taken Nellie into her confidences and it all stems back to the one thing Laura said to Nellie in retaliation for all her meanness. What was so interesting was that Laura talked about trying to control her temper and trying to do the right thing -- knowing that she was like the cup and the dish that are clean only on the outside (Matthew 23:25) -- but she gave into her desire to get even and look where it got her. (Oh, there is just so much in those stories -- I think I am into them just as much if not more than Noah is!)

But listening to that story was like an illustration in reality of the principle Jesus was teaching in Matthew and again, the lesson was reinforced for Noah. As it was for me. I have found that reading through the Scripture with the kids is so beneficial for me because, not only am I reading it regularly, but I am having to look at it through children's eyes and try and explain it in terms that they will understand and it becomes so much more clear to me too!

A couple of weeks ago we read about Jesus starting his ministry and people were unbelieving of him because "...no prophet is accepted in His own hometown."(John 4:24) and "Nazareth, can anything good come from there?" (John 1:46). Again I explained that it would be like Noah growing up to be a prophet for God -- someone who tells people the Word of God -- and his friends remember him just as the boy who always wanted to play with Hot Wheels. They might have a hard time hearing the Word from that boy. Well, Noah's response was, "It sure is a good thing I am learning about God now". Often he prays and thanks God that he is able to learn about Him. It is just such an encouragement to me to hear him say things like that!

So anyway, to get back to Tuesday...I had Bible Study that night and the section of Scripture that we read for this week, of course, contained the Sermon on the Mount and the theme continued and I have been thinking about it all week. The Beatitudes have always seemed to me to be unattainable and just some paradigm but my Mother-in-law (who hosts the Bible study) said it so well: It is a picture of what I am becoming in Christ. It is all about our character and conforming our character to Him. It really is simple in it's essence and Matthew 7:12 says it so well, "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets."

"I'm Gonna Eat on Thanksgiving Day"

It's a song on one of the kids' cd's (Laurie Berkner) and I was singing it all day yesterday...

When I'm done my belly's so full
Down...I...lie
But before you can count to 1!2!3!
I'm up for the pumpkin pie!

And that's the way of every Thanksgiving day isn't it? I've always thought there was something terribly ironic about Thanksgiving...Hours and hours are spent preparing for this feast: baking the pies, cooking the turkey and ham, boiling and mashing the potatoes, Then you've got family that travels in from out of state sometimes and you all gather at somebody's house and they've had to clean and set up extra tables and chairs; the good dishes and silver are pulled out and decorations are set up. And then the moment arrives...everyone sits down together, someone prays and offers up all our thanks to God for all His blessings, then you pile your plates up high with all the tasty dishes that have been lovingly prepared...and 15 minutes later it's over, the dishes are being cleared and the food is put away before you dig into the yummy pies.

It seems like more time should be spent savoring these delectable dishes instead of just shoveling in more and more but they're so good you can hardly help yourself! It's just all over too quickly and before you know it the gathering is breaking up and everyone heads off to their own respective homes. As much as I look forward to this holiday, it's just a tad disappointing.

Don't get me wrong...We did have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Earlier in the week I read "The First Thanksgiving" with the kids and we talked about why we celebrate this holiday and on Wednesday, they helped me make another batch of the "Fall Inspired Sugar Cookies" to add to all the other goodies. On Thanksgiving Day we spent a nice morning together and each of us talked about what we were thankful for before heading over to Becky and Charlie's to share the day with the extended family. The kids had a grand time playing with their cousins, Ariel and Alex, as well as Allie, Luke's cousin who is great with kids...they all adore her. When everyone else left, Luke and I stayed, and watched a great movie with Becky and Charlie. It really was a nice day, I only wish that it didn't have to be over so quickly.

Well, at least Christmas is only 31 days away...

New Pictures

Apparently it takes my "cranky" sister bugging me before I will update my blog. So here's the latest pics of the kids:

Baking Fall inspired sugar cookies:

YUM!

And here they are just bein' silly.

(I made Noah's hat and scarf. Lily's was a gift to me from Nina, my knitting instructor)

Life has been quiet here lately. We've had no visitors and made no trips and thank goodness we have not been sick with the stomach bug like some of my blogging friends are posting about. We are planning a trip back to the 'Burgh for Christmas/New Years however (please make note all those who are reading this and live there...starting Dec 29th) and I am really looking forward to spending the holidays there with my family for the first time in I think 8 years...entirely too long!

In other news out of left field: I have discovered a strange connection between Connecticut and Western PA. Apparently we are drawn to this area for unexplained reasons. I have been having very "It's a small world" experiences recently and several have been with people from that area. Just yesterday I discovered that friends, who we met recently through Monday Homeschool Classes, grew up in New Castle. She actually knew about Geveva College...no one here has ever even heard of Geneva College! Very interesting (well, it was to me anyway).

An eye-opener

A friend of mine had the opportunity to hear Brigitte Gabriel, author of "Because They Hate; A Survivor of Islamic Terror Warns America" speak at her church. She posted about it and it is a very eye-opening post and I think you all should check it out over at House of Boy and Girl.

"ain't Love the Sweetest Thing?"

The other day I witnessed one of the sweetest displays of sibling affection. Noah was standing in a doorway and backed up at the same time Lily was coming to join him and he knocked into her sending her head into the doorjam, which of course elicited a hurt cry from Lily. As soon as he realized what he'd done he was genuinely horrified and said, "Oh, Lily, I am so sorry! I didn't see you there!". He leaned down and gave her a hug and kissed her cheek and all unprompted by me (which is definitely not the norm). When he backed away she followed again and hugged him back and asked him to kiss her, which he did but apparently it wasn't the spot that hurt so she pointed to the correct spot and said, "No, here." (I love that kissing the boo boo still makes it better for her). He kissed the boo boo and all was well again.

Normally Noah would have looked gulitily at me and exclaimed "I didn't mean to hurt her!" and I would have have then instructed him to apologize even though he didn't mean to. I think what has changed is the fact that they have started playing together and really enjoying each other instead of just tolerating and playing near each other. It is nice to not hear constant bickering and yelling at each other ( I have no idea where they picked up the horrible habit of raising their voices to make themselves heard). This is definitely one area where I don't lament the fact that they are indeed growing up.

Pie Recipes

Here are a couple of pie recipes; one for dinner and one for dessert. I've made them both this week and they are really easy and yummy. I am lazy so I use the store bought crusts most of the time (and still get rave reviews) but if you prefer, you can use this pie crust recipe that I got from my sister, Loey. It makes a great, flaky crust.

Easy Pie Crust
4-4 1/2 C sifted flour
1 T sugar
3 tsp salt
1 egg (room temp)
1 T vinegar
1/2 C water
1 3/4 C shortening

Sift the flour, sugar and salt into a large bowl. Beat the egg and combine with vinegar and water. Cut shortening into flour mix then sprinkle in egg mixture and combine. Gather dough into ball and wrap in wax paper. Chill for 30 minutes before use (you can also freeze this to have on hand whenever you need it just thaw completely) then roll out.

Easy Chicken Pot Pie
2 cans cream of potato soup
16 oz. frozen mixed veggies
2 Cups cubed 'par-boiled' chicken
1/2 Cup milk
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp pepper

Mix ingredients in bowl and pour into a pie crust. Cover with top crust and slit. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes.

Caramel Apple Pie

6-8 med. sized apples
3/4 bag Kraft caramels or one pkg. caramel wraps
Bisquick (I used flour)
Brown sugar
Cinnamon
Caramel ice cream topping (optional)
2 (9 inch) deep-dish pie crusts

If using Kraft caramels, melt caramels according to directions on bag. Spread a thin layer of melted caramel or lay one and a half caramel wrap sheets on pie crust bottom. Slice half of your peeled apples into pie crust that has had a layer of caramel applied. Sprinkle layer of apple with cinnamon to taste. (Don't be afraid to sprinkle generously.) Sprinkle 2 heaping tablespoonfuls of Bisquick over cinnamon apple layer. Next, sprinkle 3 heaping tablespoonfuls of brown sugar.

Continue with "building" the pie by starting with another layer of caramel and continuing as above. Top pie with a layer of caramel (two sheets of caramel wraps if using this product) so you end up with a finished pie containing 3 layers of caramel and 2 layers of apple with dried ingredients.

Cover pie with top crust and slit top to allow steam to escape while baking. Spread caramel ice cream topping over top crust for your glaze (I did not do this) and bake on cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes (or until golden brown). Let pie cool before serving as filling will be hot.

Noah reads a Bob Book

I found some beginning readers at the library so Noah can practice his reading skills. He's doing really well with all the short vowel sound rules like double consonants and adding the y suffix and he just got through the consonant digraphs (sh, th, ch, and tch). I thought you might enjoy hearing him read. Sorry for the shaky nature of this video...I was trying to keep Lily quiet while Noah was reading.

Picnic

Yesterday was an absolutely gorgeous day--sunny and warm but not hot (finally!). Noah had asked a while back to eat lunch outside and I finally remembered on a good day and at lunch time. So, I pulled out the well-used CU blanket and made the kids pb&j and cut up some apples and we had a nice lunch on the lawn. It was so warm that I was lulled into a snooze while the kids finished up (they are really slow eaters, especially when distracted) and Noah re-raked the pile of leaves he had un-raked while looking for a missing Hot Wheel car (if I had known Noah meant to play with them in the leaves, I would have tried to dissuade him from such a potentially hazardous idea). He was rather forlorn since not only could he not find said car, but he had a big job to do. I, on the other hand, very much enjoyed the rest. I did take pity on him eventually though and gave him a little help. Anyway, here are a few shots:

Maple Leaf Rag

Sorry it's been an age since I've posted anything. There's no real reason for it besides a lack of interesting things to post about and well, I'm just a blogging slacker I guess. Before I "lose my sister's heart", here are some fun fall pictures:



And we can compare them to the fun fall pictures from last year and see how the chillins' have changed.

What do you think?

That's all I have time for now but I promise I will post more soon.

the Maxwells

Monday night, I had the opportunity to go to a conference at a local church given by the Maxwells. About a year ago a friend of mine gave me the book Homeschooling with a Meek and Quiet Spirit written by Teri Maxwell who is a homeschooling mother of 8 children. I read it a couple of times because, though it is a rather small book, there was just so much in it that I could apply to my life to help not just in homeschooling but in motherhood in general. She struggled with anger and depression for a long time and the book told how she overcame them and gave tips about how we can be proactive in our lives to prevent anger inducing situations and and how we can dispel our anger and respond in a more meek and quiet way. This book was probably the final deciding factor in our decision to go ahead and homeschool. While I have not conquered my anger, I am learning to gain control over it because of this book and with God's help.

Having been so positively influenced by this book I thought the conference would be just as beneficial. It certainly did give me much to think on and discuss with Luke. The most 'enlightening' part was their talk on keeping your child's heart. The principle is one that I certainly aspire to in raising my children: I want a close relationship with my children. One in which they are open with me about their lives, they like me and respect me and what I have to say about their lives and how I want them to live, and they hold the same values as I do and, above all, share my love for God and have a relationship with Him. But I hope and pray that I can do that while at the same time allowing them to become their own person and have their own experiences and their own very personal relationship with God. The Maxwell's techniques seem to me to me a bit extreme: not allowing friendships outside the familyor participation in youth groups or sports teams and taking them with you wherever you may go even into adult hood when they are ready to marry the one person God has ready for them (which opens up a whole other can or worms). I think that I may get the book in which they go into more detail about this so that Luke and I can look at the principles behind their techniques and determine how we might accomplish the same ideals while maintaining some freedom for the kids. Of course, not sheltering your kids as much as the Maxwells suggest does mean you are risking 'losing' their hearts but I'm thinking that maybe that risk is a necessary one.

Memory Work

For our first effort at memorization we did Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth". We only did 'circle time' 3 days last week and Noah had it down pat pretty quickly. Lily would repeat it after me every day but I didn't even bother seeing if she could do it on her own. Well, this morning she walks into the living room as I am sitting down with the Bible and starts talking and it's not 'til she gets to the 'heavens and the earth' part that I realized she had just quoted the whole verse for me. I was shocked and asked her to do it again and she did. She even said it again for Luke tonight along with our new memory work, which is a short prayer from a devotional, and she only needed a tiny bit of help from me. We only started working on that yesterday! Now, I know that most parents are biased towards their kids when it comes to cuteness and brilliance and what not...but come on...she is only 2 and a half...she is one smart cookie!

Just some pictures

Sweet Siblings

Silly Siblings

These are some pictures a friend took of Lily at the park. They are so sweet that I had to post them (thanks Leanie'sBeans).

Just some stuff

I went to BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) today for the first and probably last time. My father-in-law came to watch the kids for me so I could go and sign them up for the kids program but, sadly, there is no more room in the class for them or me actually. So we are on a waiting list in case they find more volunteers to teach the kids and lead discussion groups. Oh well. I'm not that upset about it becuase I have a Tuesday evening Bible Study that I've been involved in for a long while and we are doing enough outside activities that the kids are not starved for interraction with other children. And it's one less activity that takes us away from home and routine, which, being a homebody, is totally all right with me.

I have started doing a 'circle time' in the morning before starting school work. I got the idea from a website that my sister recommended to me called "Preschoolers and Peace", which has all kinds of suggestions for what to do with your preshooler while the older kids are doing their work. Lily can participate in circle time unlike most of the other school stuff so maybe she won't feel left out. Today was only the second day so I'm not sure it will always look the same but we read Scripture (started in Genesis) together and work on memorization (Genesis 1:1, which Noah already has memorized) and pray together. I'll probably add in some singing too. Hopefully it will help get our day off to a good start.

Noah is doing really well with his work. The most important task this year is of course teaching him how to read. He is off to a great start with a phonics book: Phonics Pathways. He's already reading three letter words! I made up some flashcards for him of two-letter blends for review and threw in some consonant cards that I add onto the end of a blend and he whipped through them. I had him go through them the other evening for Luke, who was duly impressed and gave Noah a huge confidence boost with his praise. We have to be careful how we praise him because he tends to get embarassed and shut down but he took it well and seemed very proud of himself. I am very proud of him too!

We also do some copy work and a math workbook and tomorrow we will do our second science unit. I also have some fun workbooks that help stimulate his brain as well as train him to think critically. He enjoys those but says that math is his favorite subject--I guess he's taking after his father already...

Here he is doing some copy work:

Three Days Down...

...and so far so good. Thank you for your prayers. Noah has not yet started begging to 'go' to school, I have not yet thrown in the proverbial towel and Lily is really interested in everything we are doing and is even picking some things up. Good signs.

On our first day, Noah said he was glad that he got to stay home for school. And, after talking with friends whose kids started kindergarten in the public schools, I am even more glad for it. I didn't have to watch him get on a bus with a bunch of strangers or know he'd be on that bus for over an hour with junior high students on the way home. I don't have to deal with teachers who do not want me to show my face in the classroom--not even to bring in cupcakes to celebrate a birthday. I don't have to hear about the little boys who tell my son they are going to kill him. No amount of frustration that might be experienced by either me or Noah could outweigh my desire to keep him home with me in my care providing one on one instruction in a way that even the best, most dedicated and caring teacher could not do.

Of course I know that Noah wouldn't necessarily experience any of those things if I sent him off to school and many children don't and never will and are getting a fine education as well. Hearing those stories this past week just solidified it for me that, right now, this is what is right for us.

Next week we start a weekly program at the library and BSF, which is a women's Bible study that also provides classes for 2-6 year olds, and then the following week we start Monday Homeschool Classes at a nearby children's museum. Noah will take a geography class and have time to explore the museum and have a jokes, riddles, and games period while Lily will get to hang out with other pre-school aged kids whose siblings are taking classes. It should be fun and I'm sure we will meet all kinds of interesting families. My friend, Jill, and her kids will also be attending the MHC's, which will just make it that much more enjoyable. So, we will not be completely homebound.

I'll keep you posted...

Tomorrow...

...is our first day of school. I think I'm ready. I am nervous but hopeful and excited. If you think about us this week, please pray that it will be a good one. I am going to need extra measures of patience and sweetness that can only come from the Lord...

Sleepover

Noah had his first non-family sleepover last night. Several weeks ago we went out to lunch with some friends of ours who have 2 boys and one is just 4 months older than Noah and they really get along well. So, when it was time for us to part we asked if Will wanted to stay overnight with us so the boys could keep playing. It went really well and they had a great time. So, it was Noah's turn to stay over at William's house. He was so excited about it. I am sure he got very little sleep and woke up at the crack of dawn but is having the time of his life. My little boy is growing up...

The things kids say...

Lily, on the way to the park: "I'm so 'cited! We're going to park! I'm so 'cited! Yahoo! We're going to park!"

Lily after the fireworks at a barbecue: "I too scary!"

Noah at the blueberry orchard after Elias kept grabbing handfuls out of his blueberry bucket: "They should baby-proof these buckets."

Noah likes to play "the beat game" as in, "Can I beat anybody at anything?". We often race up the stairs, well, pretty much anytime more than one person is going up stairs at a time. Noah yells, "Let's beat Mommy!" and runs up the stairs. Most of the time he wins but every once in awhile I get there first. So one day he's sitting eating his lunch with a thoughtful look on his face and he says, "Mommy, I made up a new rule for the beat game. Whoever is first and last wins." I'm pretty sure it doesn't have anything to do with the Scripture verse that says the first shall be last and the last shall be first and everything to do with him covering his bases. The boy doesn't like losing.

A Blueberry Recipe

Well, since I have the blueberries, I'd better get baking , right? So last night I made my mother-in-law's Blueberry Buckle. I didn't know why it was called a 'buckle' so I looked it up and found this quote from an on-line recipe:

"What is a buckle you might ask? According to [a] recipe, a buckle is an old-fashioned, single-layer cake with a streusel-type topping. The batter is quite dense. As the cake bakes, the batter sinks to the bottom of the pan, which makes the streusel buckle on top. In other words, a coffee cake."


Here is my mother-in-law's recipe:

Blueberry Buckle

3/4 C sugar
1/4 C shortening
1 egg
1/2 C milk
1 1/2C flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 C blueberries

Sift dry ingredients. In a separated bowl, cream the shortening, sugar and egg. Stir in milk. Add the dry ingredients then add the blueberries. Spread into a greased and floured 9x13 pan.

Toppings:
1/2 C sugar
1/3 C flour
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 C butter

Mix topping ingredients and sprinkle on batter. Bake at 375 degrees for 35 minutes.

A New Adventure

Several weeks ago, Luke and I discovered a cute toy store near his office called the Creative Toymaker. It was so cute and had all kinds of toys that your typical chain toy store doesn't have as well as all kinds of homeschooling supplies. When I told my friend Jill about it she wanted to check it out too so, we piled all of our kids into her van and headed out to Glastonbury together. Jill is rather resourceful though and what was supposed to be a short morning jaunt turned into a blueberry adventure. She had gone on-line and discovered an orchard nearby that was picking blueberries so after the toy store that's what we did. We turned up the drive, piled out of the van, grabbed our buckets and got on the tractor-pulled-wagon that would take us to the blueberries.

On our way we could look out over miles of pretty fields and hills and off in the distance we could see the whole city of Hartford. We passed by an orchard of pear trees that were absolutely loaded with the almost-in-season fruit. The kids of course were more excited about the tractor ride than the blueberries at that point but were more than happy to start picking once we got into the rows of bushes. I had never been blueberry picking before so I listened too as Jill explained to the kids which berries were the best to pick and quickly got the hang of gently pulling off bunches of the round ripe berries and dropping them into the bucket that hung from my neck. We all of course had to sample the goods and even Noah, who has never really liked them, admitted that they were sweet and tasty. He picked quite a few by himself but I ended up topping off his bucket along with my own and Lily's, well, there were more crushed and half-eaten berries in there so I emptied it and handed it off to Jill to fill since she was wishing she had gotten a bigger bucket.

Once we had gotten enough we waited for the tractor to come back to pick us up to take us back down to the stand where we paid for our hard-earned treasure. Then it was time to head back to our house where we shared a quick lunch. It really was a great day. Time spent with friends is always really special but even more so when you can do something together as novel and rewarding as picking your own fruit.

The kids: Nicolas, Sophia, Noah, Lily, and little Elias down in front

Hooray for Blueberries!

Swimming Lessons

Noah's last day of swimming lessons was today. He had to take a test in order to go on to the next level next year. He passed it easily! The last couple of days he was finally able to go under without holding his nose and yesterday he executed a perfect 'dead man's' float and I was amazed at his progress! He was also able to swim unassisted for a few feet kicking and using his arms with his face fully submerged. He really improved over the past 2 weeks and it was so neat to see. I am very proud of him!

Almost every day was a beautifully sunny, if not sweltering hot, day. But today, the day that we all (me, Lily, Sophia's mom and dad, and her two brothers) went to watch it was cold and rainy. The kids shivered through their tests and the last class ended early, thank goodness. Here are some pictures (the sunny ones I took yesterday).