Pumpkin patch

We went to this very fun pumpkin patch about a week ago. It started off with a cold wind, but it gradually warmed up. We ended up staying the whole day since there were so many fun things to do. First, we took a tractor ride to the pumpkin patch where the "farmer" told the kids some pretty neat things about pumpkins before they all went off to pick their own.

Joanna was even taking notes.

There was lots of other fun stuff to do. Corn pile, climbing, corn maze, right-turn-only maze, playground, paddleboats, pedal cars, etc. I think the most popular for my kids was Boo Mountain and the Floating Trampoline.

Here's Boo Mountain. You go to the top and then slide down through the tube on a sled or a trash can lid. I had to try it cause it looked fun. Well, maybe I tried it a few times.

Here's a clip of Eliana coming out of the "mountain."

She's always making me nervous!

The Floating Trampoline--So Fun! Watch the clip below and see Eliana being gradually bounced down the side.

Hope you enjoyed all the pictures!

Our little inchworm

Karis is crawling around now. It's not a full-blown crawl yet--kind of a cross between an inchworm and an army crawl, sticking her derriere high in the air and then flattening out again. Nothing is safe anymore. The other kids are having a hard time adjusting to not leaving little things out. They always think they are going to come right back to what they are doing, but end up leaving their stuff out and doing something else.

Here's a quick clip of Karis crawling and Eliana squealing into the camera.

The TCGT Club

Today the kids made a best brother & sister club. They named it the TCGT Club which stands for Tweeter (Joanna), Caboogle (Caleb), Goober (Eliana), and Tootles (Karis). They had fun setting up a clubhouse on top of Joanna's bed and making some rules.

Here are the rules which they came up with:

1. Brothers and sisters only
2. Obey always
3. No rough-housing
4. No fussing
5. Teamwork
6. Do a project every day
7a. Share always
7b. Be nice
8. Never be bored
9. Take turns
10. Play with Tootles
11. Never say no
12. Do not talk when some body else is talking.

Rule #1 is cool! As for #8, I remember when I used to be bored.

I love it when they all play together!

Dad's Pizzeria

For our homeschool group, Joanna & Caleb give a presentation every week on different topics. This past week's topic was family traditions. Since Joanna & Caleb are in different rooms they gave the same presentation.

Joel makes pizza pretty much every Sunday night that we are home. He began his pizza making trying to make some good ol' New York style pizza because we really missed it. There was nothing out here like it at the time.

So here are the pictures that the kids used to share our Sunday Night Dad's Pizzeria tradition.

We grind our own wheat for our bread and also for our pizza. I guess you could say that our pizza is just a little good for you!! (I think this fact was the most interesting to the parents watching.)

Of course, the rolling out of the dough...

Joel uses a pizza peel to slide the pizza in the oven onto the preheated stones in the oven. He sprinkles cornmeal on the pizza peel to keep it from sticking.

Oven's getting ready and Caleb starts to spread the sauce.

Mmmmm......Cheese!

Ready for the oven.

The pizza is going in and it's time to wait.

YUM!! One tip for making pizza - It's not done just when the cheese is melted. You want to wait till the cheese starts bubbling and even getting a little brown in some spots.

"We love dad's pizza!"

Karis' friend

Karis enjoyed talking to her friend in the mirror. Watch for yourself in the video below.

First foods

We've just started Karis on some real people food. She hasn't got the hang of actually swallowing very much of it. She gets all excited when she sees the spoon, tastes it and then it all seems to slide on out.

Devouring books and magazines

Well....Karis is anyway. I don't seem to have much time for reading these days.

You can tell how happy she is! She even managed to get the cover off the book in these pictures.

Here's a video clip of her "reading" a magazine.

Narnia

Here is my "Queen Lucy" and "King Peter" dressed up at Exploration Place a week ago. All of the kids just love Narnia, and it's fun to hear them pretending to be there.

Where did it go?

Caleb was eating a bagel with cream cheese today when all of the sudden he realized his very loose tooth had finally fallen out. The only problem--he can't find it.

We think he must have swallowed it!

$100 Enchilada

Our good friends came out to visit us for a couple of days this week!! It was so good to see them. One night Joel flew us to get a "$100 enchilada." We brought Karis along for the ride and you can see her first take-off in the video below.

She was not crazy about the headset at all. Who could blame her. We settled for the little yellow ear plugs. Hopefully it wasn't too loud for her.

We're getting close!

These are the best chips and salsa ever. Made fresh and hot. Yum.

Thanks for coming Dave & Leah!! Thanks Scott & Rebekah for watching the other kids!!

MN Cousins

We all had a fun time visiting the cousins in Minnesota over Labor Day weekend. The kids just pair off right away and have a good time. The weather was perfect!

We went for a boat ride on the river. I'm not sure if Karis enjoyed wearing the life jacket, but she endured it.

Eliana enjoying the wind in her face.

The girls watching Jordan, Ian & Caleb getting ready to go.

Caleb getting sprayed in the face.

Jordan, Joanna & Gretchen ready for their turn.

Eliana warming up in the hot tub. The river was cold.

History Timeline

This year we are working on memorizing a history timeline using Veritas Press cards for our homeschool group. There are 160 different events! We are using some hand motions to help learn them and it makes them very fun to learn. The kids are picking them up very quickly while I'm struggling to keep up!

After the first couple of days, I asked Joanna to tell me the first section of cards and at one point she had to stop and think. Eliana then burst in with the next event which was "The unification of upper and lower Egypt by Pharaoh Menes!" I then realized that Eliana will have no problem learning along with us.

1st Piano Recital

Caleb & Joanna had their first recital today with their new teacher. We met at a local retirement community which gave them a small group of people to play for. We arrived a little early and met a man named Bob. Joel & Caleb were very interested in the fact that he flew as a bomber pilot in World War II as well as in the Korean War. He mostly flew B24 Liberators, but he was also trained in the B26 Marauder before it was pulled from service. He seemed to like talking about his experiences. We'd like to go back and visit with him another time. Maybe Caleb can bring one of his airplane books.

Caleb has only been taking lessons for almost a month and he was able to play 4 songs for the recital - Old Clock, Hot Cross Buns, Mary Had a Little Lamb and Knuckle Sandwich. He likes to practice, and their teacher is very good at getting them playing something from the very beginning.

Joanna took lessons for about a year from another lady who is now unable to give lessons. This past month with her new teacher has been a good review for her, and she is realizing that different teachers emphasize different things. She was a little nervous to play for everyone, but did great introducing each song before playing. She played Firefly, Ode to Joy, Jingle Bells and Twinkle, Twinkle.

One of our princesses

Eliana finally got a new tiara. She's been wanting another one for her whole life. (Actually just since her last one broke)

Here Eliana is opening a butterfly kit she got from Grandma & Grandfather. She was a joy to watch open her presents. She got so excited for each one!

Rain & Worms

Yesterday it rained almost all day and it rained a lot! We stayed home, but heard that there were lots of roads closed here and there because of the rain.

We looked out at the back porch and I think there were a couple hundred worms on the porch. The kids had a grand time trying to "save" them all by putting them back in the grass.

Sitting time

Karis is practicing her sitting. She's getting pretty good. In the meantime, her boppy will save her from a lot of head bangs.

New Awana year

We have started Awana for the year. The kids were very excited to get going--Karis too!