We're in the midst of a busy set of days. Wednesday night at church we went to a family fun night hosted at a local 'Turkey Farm' that someone in the church owned. They had hotdogs, a hayride, a horse-drawn carriage rides, games, worship, etc. Si rode the kids bus with the group from the church while Micah & I drove there on our own. We had a great time.

Thursday night was another 'Fall Festival', of sorts, with our homeschool co-op. Another hayride, roasted hotdogs, S'Mores, hot cocoa, pumpkin carving contest, candy hunt & more. Then last night was Si's soccer practice followed by our friends, the Webbs, coming over for dinner & the evening. Today was soccer game at 9am, Upward Basketball skills assessment at 10am, and then back to the house. The boys had their neighborhood friend Luke come over for a few hours to play while Andrea & I cleaned out the van.

Tomorrow is church. Monday I'm working from home so I can attend the boy's programs at their homeschool co-op and then I think we're finally done with the busyness. It's been busy, but in a good way. It feels nice to be around people we are getting to know - many more than we would have even a few months back. We still have a long way to go in establishing relationships with others, but we've got a good start after being here for 10 months now (hard to believe it's been that long!).

Continue reading "Hayrides, S’Mores & More!" »

Been playing with some new video-editing software on our computer & decided we'd try to make a quick video to see how it would turn out. The kids had a great time dancing for camera and then helping put the music together & watching the finished product through the computer on our TiVo.

All the kids were cutting the rug - showing off their moves. When asked about his performance Micah said, "Yeah, I'm a good dancer. I made that up myself."

Well, another ho-hum Monday. The weekend was a good one, however. We had a little rain when the cold front came through at the end of the week last week, so both Josiah's soccer practice on Friday & his game on Saturday were cancelled. We took it easy around the house - took in the OU vs. Texas game Saturday afternoon (Yeah DirecTV/ESPN GamePlan!). I'd say we watched it, but we really watched the first 2 1/2 quarters until ABC decided the game was too far gone & switched over to the Minnesota vs. Michigan game. Oh well - we were a little disappointed, but it's not like the game was close at that point.

Saturday night we decided to travel to a nearby Drive-In theatre. It is in a small town about 45 minutes from our house. They were having a family 'pajama party' night with a kid-friendly double-feature: "Wallace & Gromit - Curse of the Were-Rabbit" & "Charlie & the Chocolate Factory." We had so much fun! It was pretty chilly, so we packed several blankets, as well as snacks to go with the dinner we got at the theatre. We had a 'bag of burgers' - 10 small mini-cheeseburgers for $6! - as well as a philly cheesesteak. This is probably the nicest Drive-In theatre I have ever been in. Probably 3-4 years old & very affordable. We backed-in, flipped up the hatch, removed the back seats & 'camped out' in the van while we watched. Definitely one of those family memories we'll cherish for a long time!

Alright - gotta share this one. As I was changing Emerie's diaper before nap she insisted "I want medicine. I want medicine." (meaning: she wants Desitin). "No, Emerie," I replied, "you don't need medicine. Your bottom is not red."

Her inquiry: "Is it orange?"
"No..."
"Yellow?"
"No."
"Green?"
"NO, hon..."
"Black! Is it black?"
(you can see where this went....)

(from Andrea) Here are a few from Micah and be sure to catch the one from Emerie below.

Micah is always making me laugh and chuckle daily without knowing it. Last week it went like this...

Wednesday: When an acquaintance at church asked Micah how old he was he answered, "I'm 5 1/2 years old. And did you know that I can take a shower by myself?"

I think Micah thinks he's sort of Josiah's personal manager for soccer. While he claims he does not want to play soccer himself, he has taken to volunteering to retrieve what Si needs for a practice or game; i.e. getting his shin guards, asking if Si has a water bottle, etc. While Micah and I waited for Si's team picture at soccer Saturday he commented to another soccer sibling (whom we have never met), "Hey - did you know that I'm number 8's brother?" He was quite proud.