Hay Jumping

On Saturday we went up to American Heritage West Museum in Wellesville (near Logan).  They were having their Fall Celebration, we had a great time with the kids.  They really got into the hay jumping.  Marshall is a total crazy man, he just went right up to the tallest bail and tried to jump off, luckily Aram had his hand.  You gotta watch that kid like a hawk!

Fabulous Friends-Fabulous Fridays

We have been having so much fun lately with Bode, Raini and Patrice.  We decided that every friday we would have a new adventure.  We started out with a bang at Pineview Reservoir.  We had the beach all the ourselves and you couldn't have asked for a better day.  Marshall was so Marshall, when he wasn't wondering off chasing the birds he just plopped down in sand and laid there for long periods of time.  Bode and Shep had good times playing duck, duck goose, having races down the beach, playing horses on their noodles and playing football with their mommies.  

Next, we went on a hike to Wheeler Creek and ended the day at the Dinosaur Park.  Hiking with kids is all about the journey, not the destination.  

And, just last week we went up to Patrice's cabin with Grandma Knudsen and Grandma Lu Lu.   It's so neat that we now have three generations of friends: Robin and Linda, Patrice and Karri, Shep and Bode and Raini and Marshall.  We had a great time hiking around, throwing big rocks in the river, jumping on the tramp, monkeying around on the playground, and eating lots of yummy food.  

More adventures to come!

Chef Shep

Reading the instructions.

   Making the cake, with Daddy's help.
 The best things in life are all the sweeter 

if you have someone to share them with!

This is the whole reason to make a cake...

licking the bowl.

There aren't many things Shep likes to do more than make a cake.  He suggests that we do it nearly every day.  He actually has become a very proficient cook, I just have to get the ingredients out and supervise and he'll do the rest.  Delicious!

New Family Tradition

In the neighborhood I grew up in there was a man named Martin Peterson (some of you may know him, great guy).  I remember driving past his house every Saturday and no fail he was out in his driveway with his two youngest sons washing his car; rain, shine, snow, or sleet.  When I was a teenager I recall passing them and thinking to myself, "What a drag."  How time and perspective changes things!  Now, here I am ten years later starting the same family tradition.  I can see the value in it for the boys and for the car.  Right now, I'm not so sure they are learning much except that water and dish soap make lots of bubbles and as you can see Marshall has an affinity for bubbles.  

Shep's First Day of School

We are embarking upon a new stage in life, school!  We are starting simple and small.  I am doing a home preschool with Shep and two other boys and their moms.  It's working out great. The moms take turns teaching so it works out that I teach about one week a month.   

We decided that all the moms would attend the first day to help the kids get used to it.  It was kind of a nightmare.  They were all very distraught that we were making them sit and listen instead of letting them go about their usual ways and play with toys.  Shep was really good for about ten minutes then he just stood up and stated "I'm done.", and started walking off, like it was that simple.  Since then, things have really improved.   The boys are hilarious, and are total boys.  Sometimes I have to remind myself that this is their first ever school experience and just to have fun with it.  I have to remind myself of this as I am talking about the letter of the day, and the boys are fixated on saying "poop" and laughing their brains out.   "Focus...Focus."

On the first day I taught I was teaching about our bodies. 

Me: "Neal, what's a part of your body?"

Neal: "MY NOSE"-Neal is very exuberant and everything is a cheer, he said this with gusto and he jumped up and down, waving a fist in the air.  

Me: "Ephraim, what's a part of your body?"

Ephraim: (think James Earl Jones, this kid has the deepest voice you've ever heard a 3 year old have) "My Eyes."

Me: "Shep, how about you?"

Shep: "My tiger!"  Then he planted his two feet and swung one arm across his chest...this is my own child and he is a total mystery to me????

Closing Circle-

Me: "What did we learn about today?"

Neal:  He looks up at me with the sweetest face and simply says "Jesus."

This kid's smart, he has learned that you can never go wrong with that answer.  

I am looking forward to my many adventures with this rowdy bunch of boys, they have a way of making me laugh.  

Montana Moments

Grandpa Tom and Grandma Carol are Rob's parents.  They live in Kalispelle and we always try and make a visit to them when we up that way.  I love this picture, Shep and Grandpa have twinner faces.  
Amy and Bryan came up to Montana with us.  It was so fun to show off the beauty to people who I knew would appreciate it.  We went to Glacier Park for a day.  We got cherries on our way up and ate about a million, oh man I felt sick afterwards but they were sooooo good.  We had intentions to do 3 hikes.  But, after one of hauling the kids we were spent.  The hike we went on was gorgeous and the kids got to get with feet of some mountain goats, and some big horn sheep joined us for lunch.  

Donuts and early morning hike to Kerr Dam.  So yummy!

Shep's first time tubing.  He loved it.  One of the cutest things he did on our visit was "waterski".  He held onto a rope behind the paddle boat and we dragged him around the bay, he held on forever always with a smile on his face because he thought he was "waterskiing".  

Provident Living

We have a plum tree in our backyard and last year I attempted to can them whole.  If you are a canner, never do plums whole, they were disgusting.  So, this year we were on the lookout for something we could do with our millions of plums.  Aram was a total stud and willingly made us plum chutney and canned it.   There's nothing like a morning of canning and grinding wheat that slashes my idyllic dreams of living off the land.  It always sounds more fun than it actually is.