That’s my girl!

I have a vivid memory of a time at the Lesages when we were growing up.  Their kids and our kids were playing in the backyard. The boys and I were in the woods – climbing trees, chasing each other, kicking balls/cans/rocks, and collecting things from the woods.  While the boys began another game of kickball, I found a small toad.  It was the smallest one that I had ever found.  This little guy was no bigger than my fingernail… just adorable.  I played with him for a long time – finding a nice place for him in the shade and bringing him water. My very own pet.  We had a special bond… this spotted toad and I.  Then mom called.  TIME. TO. GO.  NO!!!  What do I do with my new friend? 

Well, I did what every 8 year old girl would have done:  I stuck him in my pocket to take him home with me.   We gathered in the Bronco and headed home…. then had lunch… and a quick swim.  BUT… it wasn’t until the dried skeleton fell from my pocket as mom picked my shorts out of the dryer, that I remembered my pal!! 

Oops…

Grace has acquired my love for exploring outside.  When I found a toad out in the yard this week, I immediately called her to come take a look. She didn’t hesitate an ounce as she scooped him up and started to love on him – stroking his back, talking to him, checking out his feet and legs, all while naming him Webby!  She was in love with this little guy – just amazed at God’s Creation and admiring all the parts up close! 

Here she is…. with Webby!

Pointing out the details of her new friend to her sister….(I think she was even pretending to be Kris Kratt, if you know the Kratt Brothers)!

After having fun with her little friend, I made her put him back where we found him – NOT IN HER POCKET!  She didn’t like to say goodbye, but she knew that we couldn’t keep him.  I think I may have to keep an eye on her pockets in the future, though!  :)

End of Summer Torture….

What does an active family who loves the outdoors do when the temperatures are over 100 and it feels like 110?  We do INDOOR activities in this end of the summer torture!  The kids LOVE being outside, but it is just TOO HOT unless we are in the water.  That isn’t the best activity for the two little boys (Caleb and Dayton), so we have to improvise!  We are supposed to start school next week – I wish I would have been ready to start THIS week since the weather is lousy!

ANYWAY…This hoop has provided hours of fun for Josiah!  He loves to play “Hoop to Hoop”.  He does really well at getting the ball into the hoop – any kind of ball!  He likes to shoot from far away… and there are cheers ALL AROUND when he scores! 

We don’t have any end in this HOT weather in sight, so I think I am going to have to be really creative, otherwise we may go stir crazy!

Spelling Review

I am always on the look out for really interesting things to do with the girls for homeschooling!  I have truly come across some gems in my preparations for this school year – we will begin the day after Labor Day! (I hope I am ready!!!)  What did we all do before the internet?  Before Pinterest?

Today I went searching for ideas to review spelling words.  Grace is really good at spelling and she can truly remember her words easily.  She was starting to have to think a little more at the end of the year, and after looking at the words for this year, I know she will need some more rehearsal.  I found a great website (http://www.momto2poshlildivas.com/2012/10/75-fun-ways-to-practice-and-learn.html) with 75 ideas to review spelling words.  I KNOW this will be handy for me for the school year…. look them up… they are fantastic!

Here are my top 5 that I WILL be using this year:

1. Coffee Filter words – write the words on coffee filters using markers.  Then spray the coffee filters with water or sprinkle them with water.  Watch the colors blend together and turn into instant art!  COOL!

2. Hidden Words – write the words on a white piece of paper with a white crayon.  Then paint with water colors over the words and see the words magically appear!

3.  Unscramble the words – put the letters to the words on the table using Scrabble tiles or magnetic letters.  Have your child unscramble them to put them in order.

4. Small, Medium, Large – copy the spelling words three times – the first time make them small (baby), the second time write them medium and then write them large – or GIANT! 

5.  Use Alpha-bits cereal or ABC Cheeze its to make them words – and then EAT THEM! 

Which ones will YOU try?

A biking adventure…

Heading out on our bikes, we don’t always know where we are going to go.  We got on our bikes at Water Works Park and headed out.  Danny was the fearless leader with the trailer behind him, Grace following on her bike and then I was bringing up the rear.  At each crossroad, he would say… how about going THIS way?  We just followed him –trying to remember which way we had gone.  Grace did great – no complaining about pedaling!  She nearly talked the whole time – about books, the Bible, the people in our family, the Wild Kratts, biking, animals… whatever!  She just talked and talked.  I told her to be quiet for a few seconds… she needed to conserve her energy!

As we rounded another corner, we found a really nice park to eat lunch at.  We walked to the middle of the soccer fields and unpacked the cooler.  The kids loved running around and eating other.  A few pictures HAD to be taken as well.  As we looked around we thought we were in West Des Moines near our friends house.  After a little texting, we discovered that sure enough, we WERE near their house in a volleyball park.  Cool… you just never know where our biking adventures will take us! We had gone pretty far!

Back into the trailer and onto the bikes…

What a great day… I am sure that we will try to do this again a few more times before winter comes!  We ALL LOVE biking!

Harvesting….

As I have mentioned before we planted a small garden this year… not big, but just right for the first year in this endeavor.  We planted squash, zucchini, peppers, cucumbers, and green beans.  We LOVE the green beans.  The kids, Danny and I love to pick them and eat them right from the garden… YUM!  I have to be careful, though.  If I ever want to have some for dinner, I have to limit what the kids eat while we are playing outside!! It can’t be snack time ALL the time! :)

Today, Grace and I went out to check on the garden during naptime.  We were pleasantly surprised to find tons of green beans – well, a ton for US.  We have only have one real meal with green beans, but TONIGHT we will have meal number two.  Grace and I were able to pick – 80 green beans – of great size!  I am sure that they will be eaten IN NO TIME… I truly have little piggies around here!!!

Here is our harvest for today…

Here are all of the really BIG ones… Grace was quite impressed!

This is the largest one of the bunch!

NO EATING, Silly girl!

Working hard to get them ready for dinner for the family!

Love her tongue hanging out!

Great work, Sugar!

Newly nominated for Mother of the Year… for snack time today, anyway!

I get bored of the same old food for breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks…. and I KNOW the kids do!  I have to mix it up some times to make things a little exciting!  This morning was one of those times and the kids newly nominated me for Mother of the Year because of it!

What did I do?  Well, it all started with chocolate chips… I think my kids would eat their flip-flops it I put chocolate on them…. a characteristic that I believe they got from both of their parents!  I put the chips into a small bowl and added a glob of peanut butter.  Then I put it into the microwave for a little bit to melt the two.  After a good stir and a taste test, I cut up two bananas into chunks and got out the large marshmallows.  I gave each of the kids a toothpick, banana chunks and a few marshmallows.  They had to share the special dip. 

Well…. I think these faces let you know that they TOTALLY want that recipe again…. the recipe for yummy snack and happy kids!   

She couldn’t fit more in there if she tried!

YUMMMMMMOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fank you, mommy!

Balls, balls everywhere!

Our family just LOVES playing outside – that is NO SECRET.  We love to swing, climb, run, chase, bike, swim, hike, build, pick veggies, etc.  We are just busy, busy this time of year, but the main thing that we love to play right now is balls…. balls, balls everywhere.  Kickball, Tee Ball, baseball, soccer, basketball, golf, football…. whatever the sport, we love to play it.  We play a kicking game while on the swings, we play tag with balls, we have kicking contests, and batting practice!  There seems to be no shortage of fun with balls or balls that need to be retrieved from over the fences!  Here are a few pictures of our boys playing after church last Sunday… how have they managed to get that big!

Let’s PLAY BALL!

Ready for the first pitch, Daddy!

Keeping his eyes on the ball…. looks like some pitch, Daddy!

Caleb playing his own game of Tee Ball….

And he definitely knows what to do with that bat… hit balls AND his sisters!

Just about 15 months old!