The next day we made jam! My sister and her daughter came along too, but they like to stay out of the internet world, so they're not pictured.
Monday, August 12, 2013
Blueberry jam!
There's a local blueberry farm that has $1/lb Wednesdays. We went with a friend 2 weeks ago, and didn't pick enough to make all the things the kids wanted to make. So last week, we took my mom and went back to pick more blueberries than we know what to do with. We ended up with 13 pounds!
The next day we made jam! My sister and her daughter came along too, but they like to stay out of the internet world, so they're not pictured.
The next day we made jam! My sister and her daughter came along too, but they like to stay out of the internet world, so they're not pictured.
July Randoms
I had this post all typed up and ready to post, and as I hit publish, the program crashed and I lost everything. I haven't had the will to redo it until today, so here are the random pictures and stories from the month of July that didn't need their own whole post.
Jeb was sitting at the table doing school work (we school year round, but that's another post) and Journey had joined him with her paper and crayons. At one point she dropped a crayon and went down to get it, but I was unloading the dishwasher so when she wasn't sitting at the table anymore I assumed she had just wandered off without my noticing. A few minutes later I thought the house was too quiet and she was getting into something, so I called her name. Jeb very nonchalantly pointed down at the bench next to him and said "she's right here." I'm not sure which one of them is sillier, Journey for falling asleep on the bench, or Jeb watching her do it and not thinking anything of it!
The white chicken on the right, Dorothy, started laying eggs for us in July!
2 more roosters joined our freezer.
Jeb has been taking swim lessons and has been doing great!
His swim teacher also has a kayak and taught him to paddle. He was too nervous to go anywhere this time but can't wait to try again.
Vivi got a Chewy Tube from OT (occupational therapy). Some kids with sensory processing disorders benefit from chewing, and it has been great for Vivi!
Journey took a dance day camp the last week of July and had a very cute little performance at the end of the week. Journey LOVES dance, and has been begging to take both ballet and tap this fall. When the schedule came out, it worked out that it would fit into our schedule, and since Vivi chose not to take dance this year, it fit right into our budget.She is super excited to take 2 dance classes and have 2 recital dances. Dance may be her thing, she's already so passionate about learning and practicing her new movies, and she picks up new things so quickly. The first time she tagged along to watch Vivi's recital dance practice in the spring, she was able to do the dance along with Vivi after only seeing it a few times. I often look at Journey and think about the people who cared for her in Ethiopia, and how she was labeled as a special needs child who had an unknown future. If only they could see her now, talking and walking (her original paperwork suggested she may not walk) and DANCING and excelling at so many things!
Jeb was sitting at the table doing school work (we school year round, but that's another post) and Journey had joined him with her paper and crayons. At one point she dropped a crayon and went down to get it, but I was unloading the dishwasher so when she wasn't sitting at the table anymore I assumed she had just wandered off without my noticing. A few minutes later I thought the house was too quiet and she was getting into something, so I called her name. Jeb very nonchalantly pointed down at the bench next to him and said "she's right here." I'm not sure which one of them is sillier, Journey for falling asleep on the bench, or Jeb watching her do it and not thinking anything of it!
The white chicken on the right, Dorothy, started laying eggs for us in July!
2 more roosters joined our freezer.
Jeb has been taking swim lessons and has been doing great!
His swim teacher also has a kayak and taught him to paddle. He was too nervous to go anywhere this time but can't wait to try again.
Vivi got a Chewy Tube from OT (occupational therapy). Some kids with sensory processing disorders benefit from chewing, and it has been great for Vivi!
Journey took a dance day camp the last week of July and had a very cute little performance at the end of the week. Journey LOVES dance, and has been begging to take both ballet and tap this fall. When the schedule came out, it worked out that it would fit into our schedule, and since Vivi chose not to take dance this year, it fit right into our budget.She is super excited to take 2 dance classes and have 2 recital dances. Dance may be her thing, she's already so passionate about learning and practicing her new movies, and she picks up new things so quickly. The first time she tagged along to watch Vivi's recital dance practice in the spring, she was able to do the dance along with Vivi after only seeing it a few times. I often look at Journey and think about the people who cared for her in Ethiopia, and how she was labeled as a special needs child who had an unknown future. If only they could see her now, talking and walking (her original paperwork suggested she may not walk) and DANCING and excelling at so many things!
The ever growing menagerie
This is a repost because I thought I had published it and now I can't find it...
It has been one of our goals to teach our kids to be financially responsible. We want them to understand from a young age the value of a dollar, and the value of hard work. We don't give them an allowance, there are chores that they are expected to do as a part of our family. They each have a chore after meals-Vivi washes the table, Journey washes the bench, and Jeb sweeps under and around the table. Jeb also folds/hangs and puts away his laundry. The girls are learning to help with theirs, but it tends to end up with a big game of dress up and less clothes on the shelf than we started with. The girls like to fold and put away washclothes and hand towels.
Beyond that, they do chores to earn coins. We have a cup full of chores written on scraps of paper that could always use repeating, like sweeping, mopping, and dusting rooms in the house, and washing fingerprint covered windows. Occasionally we'll have mandatory chore time, where everyone chooses a chore from the cup and then we spread out to accomplish them. Other times I'll suggest it when someone is bored or if the kids are getting antsy while I cook dinner. If they finish a chore, they get a coin. They like to talk about what they are saving for, and Jeb especially is always asking how much things cost and trying to read price tags at the store. His main goal for the past year has been a puppy, but the temptation of other things sometimes gets in the way, which is a good lesson to learn-if you are saving, but then you spend what you save, you have to start again.
Recently he started asking what other pets there were that did not cost as much as a puppy (thank goodness!) and I told him he had enough for a fish, or a crab, or maybe a frog. We already have an empty fish tank, he would just need to buy the animal and the food it needs. They did a few extra chores last weekend, and we went to the pet shop. Jeb had never been to a pet shop, so it was very exciting for him! We walked through the fish, then down to the crabs and frogs, and Vivi asked where the pets were. I told her fish can be pets, and she said "I don't want a fish, I want a real pet!". I should have known at this point to just stay in the fish section. Just to show them the other animals that you can get at a pet shop, we walked through the reptiles, birds, and other small critters. Then they saw a furry little hamster. "Oh he's so cute!" "How much does he cost?" "Is that the kind of pet you can play with in your hand?" Oh dear. Eric and I mumbled to each other over their heads and decided that they could pool their money and share the hamster. But as we watched him, I didn't think he looked all that active, he sort of just laid there staring at us. We quickly nixed the guinea pigs, and then Eric saw the rats. He has fond memories of having rats as a kid, and the helpful pet shop employee told us that rats are smarter and cleaner and better pets than a hamster. The cleaner part sounded good, but rats need a bigger cage and the cost started going up. We explained the cost of the rat, cage, food, bedding, etc and told them that if they pooled their money and did some extra chores at home to work off the higher cost, they could get a rat.
And so we brought Rainbow home with us that night.
I got home and posted a picture on facebook, and was flooded with people saying that rats can get lonely and depressed if you just have one, and that we should get a buddy. After a quick google, I found that many pet shops and shelters will only let you get 2 rats for that reason. The next morning I told the kids I had good news and bad news. The bad news was that rats can get sad and lonely if they are all alone, and the good news is that we needed to get a rat friend for Rainbow. Oh, the cheers!
And so, now we have Rainbow and Cloudy, and a grid on the fridge with 21 squares next to each kid's name. Before they can earn any more coins to save for anything else, they need to do one chore for each square and pay off these rats. I think when the time comes to buy more food, there may be another small grid on the fridge for them to pitch in again.
So far the rats have actually been fun pets. On day 2, my worry that the cats would kill them was eased when a cat stalked up to the cage and Cloudy bit her on the nose, sending the cat running and pretty grumpy :)
It has been one of our goals to teach our kids to be financially responsible. We want them to understand from a young age the value of a dollar, and the value of hard work. We don't give them an allowance, there are chores that they are expected to do as a part of our family. They each have a chore after meals-Vivi washes the table, Journey washes the bench, and Jeb sweeps under and around the table. Jeb also folds/hangs and puts away his laundry. The girls are learning to help with theirs, but it tends to end up with a big game of dress up and less clothes on the shelf than we started with. The girls like to fold and put away washclothes and hand towels.
Beyond that, they do chores to earn coins. We have a cup full of chores written on scraps of paper that could always use repeating, like sweeping, mopping, and dusting rooms in the house, and washing fingerprint covered windows. Occasionally we'll have mandatory chore time, where everyone chooses a chore from the cup and then we spread out to accomplish them. Other times I'll suggest it when someone is bored or if the kids are getting antsy while I cook dinner. If they finish a chore, they get a coin. They like to talk about what they are saving for, and Jeb especially is always asking how much things cost and trying to read price tags at the store. His main goal for the past year has been a puppy, but the temptation of other things sometimes gets in the way, which is a good lesson to learn-if you are saving, but then you spend what you save, you have to start again.
Recently he started asking what other pets there were that did not cost as much as a puppy (thank goodness!) and I told him he had enough for a fish, or a crab, or maybe a frog. We already have an empty fish tank, he would just need to buy the animal and the food it needs. They did a few extra chores last weekend, and we went to the pet shop. Jeb had never been to a pet shop, so it was very exciting for him! We walked through the fish, then down to the crabs and frogs, and Vivi asked where the pets were. I told her fish can be pets, and she said "I don't want a fish, I want a real pet!". I should have known at this point to just stay in the fish section. Just to show them the other animals that you can get at a pet shop, we walked through the reptiles, birds, and other small critters. Then they saw a furry little hamster. "Oh he's so cute!" "How much does he cost?" "Is that the kind of pet you can play with in your hand?" Oh dear. Eric and I mumbled to each other over their heads and decided that they could pool their money and share the hamster. But as we watched him, I didn't think he looked all that active, he sort of just laid there staring at us. We quickly nixed the guinea pigs, and then Eric saw the rats. He has fond memories of having rats as a kid, and the helpful pet shop employee told us that rats are smarter and cleaner and better pets than a hamster. The cleaner part sounded good, but rats need a bigger cage and the cost started going up. We explained the cost of the rat, cage, food, bedding, etc and told them that if they pooled their money and did some extra chores at home to work off the higher cost, they could get a rat.
And so we brought Rainbow home with us that night.
I got home and posted a picture on facebook, and was flooded with people saying that rats can get lonely and depressed if you just have one, and that we should get a buddy. After a quick google, I found that many pet shops and shelters will only let you get 2 rats for that reason. The next morning I told the kids I had good news and bad news. The bad news was that rats can get sad and lonely if they are all alone, and the good news is that we needed to get a rat friend for Rainbow. Oh, the cheers!
And so, now we have Rainbow and Cloudy, and a grid on the fridge with 21 squares next to each kid's name. Before they can earn any more coins to save for anything else, they need to do one chore for each square and pay off these rats. I think when the time comes to buy more food, there may be another small grid on the fridge for them to pitch in again.
So far the rats have actually been fun pets. On day 2, my worry that the cats would kill them was eased when a cat stalked up to the cage and Cloudy bit her on the nose, sending the cat running and pretty grumpy :)
Monday, August 5, 2013
Ragtime Street Fair
Last year we went to Greenfield Village's Ragtime Street Fair and the kids LOVED it! The live orchestra playing ragtime music, the costumed dancers, and the parade of musicians and actors in old fashioned attire that led everyone to the front of the park at the end of the day is still a fond memory for them. So we couldn't miss it this year!
This year had an added bonus of bringing Eric's mom along to give her a birthday gift. There is a glass crafting building where you can watch people make glass flowers, horses, etc, and for a reasonable fee you can learn to make one yourself. Every time we go, Eric says "my mom would love that, we should do that for her" and we finally did. She did enjoy it, and it was fun to watch her make it and then see the finished product later.
We can't wait for next year's Ragtime Street Fair!
This year had an added bonus of bringing Eric's mom along to give her a birthday gift. There is a glass crafting building where you can watch people make glass flowers, horses, etc, and for a reasonable fee you can learn to make one yourself. Every time we go, Eric says "my mom would love that, we should do that for her" and we finally did. She did enjoy it, and it was fun to watch her make it and then see the finished product later.
We can't wait for next year's Ragtime Street Fair!
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
6th Anniversary
2007
Somewhere on the computer I think there is a 2008 but it's just the 2 of us, not as cute as the next bunch of pictures ;)
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013!
We celebrated 6 years of wedded bliss last week. We always go back to the place where our reception was held and take pictures by the fountains. Luckily for us we live in the same city now so it's right around the corner! We stopped by after church for pictures, then, since we had been given a gift card, went to Red Robin for a family celebration lunch. After that, like a true married-for-a-long-time couple, we went to Home Depot-because we had a coupon and a new home's work is never finished, and then spent the evening babysitting my niece. It was a great day!
The past 6 years have been so exciting, we always wonder how the next year will top it. So far we haven't been disappointed! Year 7's biggest excitement will be the addition of child #4, as well as a new baby cousin on Eric's side of the family-8 grandchildren on that side and Jeb is the only boy...maybe they'll start to balance it out? We also have a few fun trips planned, and of course there's the regular every day excitement that is our lives <3 We are so blessed!
Monday, July 15, 2013
Day trip to Mackinac
While at family camp in northern Michigan, we started talking about doing a day trip when Eric mentioned that we were less than an hour from the Mackinac bridge. That close, we couldn't NOT go! The kids were nervous going over the bridge, "how deep is it?" "Can cars fall?" "What would happen if that fence wasn't there, would we drive off?" "Are there whales in there?" but once we got to the other side they relaxed. We did the obligatory fudge shop visit and the drove into Straits State Park because the kids wanted to dip their toes into Lake Huron. We kept finding great trails to hike to view the bridge, but the water was either impossible to get to or looked iffy.
Finally we found lake access near the campground where the shore was clean and we could dip our toes.
Then off to a U.P. diner for some pasties and we taught the kids to end their sentences with 'eh?'
Then a walk by the marina
Then we went into a couple of cheesy tourist shops, where Jeb saw a picture of the Mackinac bridge all lit up at night and asked if we could drive on the bridge with the lights on. Why not? We checked out a cool Ojibwe Museum, wandered through a few more cheesy gift shops to kill some time, stopped by Saint Anthony's rock:
Then walked around Father Marquette Memorial, which had some very cool things to see, as well as a nice view of the bridge. We did a ton of walking in the UP, and the kids did great! Jeb loved following the trail signs and acted as our guide.
This was the floor of a cool pavillion with stories about Father Marquette.
Journey is always excited to see her name!
And finally, it started to get dark, the lights to the bridge turned on, and we drove back over with happy, sleepy, adventurous kids.
Finally we found lake access near the campground where the shore was clean and we could dip our toes.
Then off to a U.P. diner for some pasties and we taught the kids to end their sentences with 'eh?'
Then a walk by the marina
Then we went into a couple of cheesy tourist shops, where Jeb saw a picture of the Mackinac bridge all lit up at night and asked if we could drive on the bridge with the lights on. Why not? We checked out a cool Ojibwe Museum, wandered through a few more cheesy gift shops to kill some time, stopped by Saint Anthony's rock:
Then walked around Father Marquette Memorial, which had some very cool things to see, as well as a nice view of the bridge. We did a ton of walking in the UP, and the kids did great! Jeb loved following the trail signs and acted as our guide.
This was the floor of a cool pavillion with stories about Father Marquette.
Journey is always excited to see her name!
And finally, it started to get dark, the lights to the bridge turned on, and we drove back over with happy, sleepy, adventurous kids.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)