A Monday Moment

It is scarcely 3 degrees outside today.

Lots of snow.

Chili in the Dutch-oven.

Italian-herb bread, compliments of my friend, Zojirushi.

Christmas Tree Hunting 2010

All of the kids were happy with the choice of our Christmas tree this year.

There was no crying or fighting.

I think they are growing up!

Keeping it Real

This is my attempt at "keeping it real" like some of you other blogger friends out there.

Yes, I tend to be hyper-organized, but it is an impossibility to have a perfectly clean household when I am at home ALL DAY with my 6 little homeschoolers EVERY DAY.

Sometimes life gets in the way of chores.

This is my laundry room this morning.

Today is Wednesday and I have not done any laundry since Saturday.

That is only THREE full days of not doing any laundry. Wait! I did do a load of towels and a load of fancy dresses in between! *sigh*

I guess it is a good thing that I kinda like doing laundry!

Happy Thanksgiving!

A serious artist wears a helmet with a light when making Thanksgiving cards.

Translation:

Grown-up Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving, I love it

Cranberry pie.

On His Mind

Micah has been asking some interesting questions lately. These were his thoughts immediately upon waking this morning:

"Mom, what is in blood?"

"What is usually under a house?"

"Then what is on the roof?"

And So They Grow...

New reading glasses on our resident kindergarten girl!

There is a teen among us.

A freshly minted 13 year old.

Complete with smile and make-up.

(You know they are growing up when they pick out their own birthday dessert and make it themselves.)

Football, football and more football.

Caleb played on one of the 6th grade varsity teams this year and loved it.

He is already asking about next year.

A New Era

We moved Micah from his crib (in our closet) to his big boy bed in Glory's room.

It is officially a new era around here. Gone are the days of babies in cradles in our room. No more little kiddos staking claim to our master bedroom closet as "my room".

Diapers and pacifiers (known around here as "nannies") are a thing of the past.

Surely a bittersweet moment.

I love seeing the kids grow up and watching them change into the people God created them to be. What mother doesn't gleam with pride and joy when her little one successfully navigates yet another milestone?

Still, the days of being a mom of littles are fleeting. Time is flying by and I have yet to find a way to slow it down.

So to this truth I cling.

Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

2010 School Pictures

We began our homeschooling year by starting partial days of school in August. We did that for two reasons. The first was that the kids were getting tired of the summer routine and were ready to begin something. I wasn't. The second reason is that I was trying to build some extra time off into our regular school year so that we would be able to take our vacation and have some extra days off without having to make-up missed lessons.

I love taking the pictures of them their first "official" day back to school. (Let's face it; homeschoolers are always in school). This year I also did some extra shots of them so that they would be able to have some cute pictures to share with their friends.

It is so much fun to be able to look back and see how much they change from one year to the next!

So Many Posts, So Little Time

As I type this I have not yet finished unpacking from our 3,000+ mile vacation through the Black Hills and Yellowstone. Since my last post, the summer quickly came to an end. We started partial days of school in August in preparation for our 9 day/8 night trip. This week the full fall schedule of homeschooling, football for Caleb, piano lessons for Carlie, AWANAs, and lots of other things begin!

I am excited to get back into a regular-ish routine. Then maybe I can keep up a bit better on regular posts...or maybe not.

Check back for school pictures and vacation shots!

North Shore (Part 3)

The last two state parks that we visited were so incredibly beautiful that I feel each needed its own post.

Tettegouche State Park

This park had so many amazing trails and places to explore that I wish we would have gone there first. We were kind of running out of steam by day 3. We were amazed by the way the Baptism River met up with Lake Superior. The color of the river water was similar to a strongly brewed iced tea. Lake Superior was a deep blue.

Rocks everywhere!

Six happy kids.

Baptism River

More places to climb. And Aaron didn't fall.

Somebody's booty.

I don't think there was a bad view in sight.

Aaron considered climbing this.

We all said, "NO!"

Big Announcement

I would like to announce that we are officially done with diapers.

(Well... technically Micah still uses one during sleep... just in case).

This is huge. This is the first time in nearly 13 years that we haven't had a child (and often we had two) in diapers. I still can't believe it! Micah has been faithfully using the toilet, mostly without reminders or help, for about 3 weeks now.

It was worth every single Tootsie Roll he consumed.

North Shore Trip (Part 2)

I didn't mention that we stayed at an Americinn in Silver Bay. While it wasn't "fancy", the pool area had a big water slide for the big kids and a little water slide for the littles. Perfect for them. Oh! They had a great breakfast for the kids, too! Make your own waffles, biscuits and gravy and all of the usuals. What more could they need?

Two Harbors, MN

Lots of things to look at and see in Two Harbors. Unfortunately, I got very few pictures. I ran out of camera battery so I asked the chick in the gift store if I could use her outlet to charge the battery. At least I got a picture of Micah with the train. He was thrilled.

There are a few tunnels that you have to drive through in this area. My kids do a little thing where they all hold their breath until we reach the end of the tunnel.

Apparently, this is how Micah holds his breath.

Split Rock Lighthouse

Split Rock Lighthouse is a fascinating and beautiful place to visit. The weather was perfect and the kids loved seeing a lighthouse, up close and personal.

View from the top.

We were not able to manage to get all six kids to stick their heads through a hole at once. Glory couldn't stay still. Caleb wouldn't stay in the picture.

And Micah. Well, he didn't quite get the idea of the shot.

North Shore Trip (Part 1)

We recently took the kids on a a 3 day/2 night vacation along the North Shore. It was the first time in a loooong time that we had stayed in a hotel. In fact, we had to have two rooms, due to the size of our family. That was actually a blessing because then we had two bathrooms, two microwaves, and two fridges!

Our goal of this trip was to visit MN state parks and let the kids explore and create memories. That is exactly how it worked out. It was our first experience sans stroller and we had a blast.

Moose Lake State Park

At this park we hiked and had a picnic by the lake. Of interest, but not pictured, was their agate center. The climbing tree was a find too!

Jay Cooke State Park

This state park is absolutely beautiful. I definitely needed to cling on tight to some little hands, but it was so worth it. Aaron and a couple of the bigger kids hiked up the muddy trail to the waterfall area.

(The suspension bridge took a little getting used to. Some of us were a little uneasy on it.)

(Love this picture. But I could do without the cleavage.)

The Beach

This area doesn't have a name, but we found a quiet rock beach near our hotel. This was actually our favorite part of the entire trip and we returned a few times. The kids love throwing rocks into Superior, climbing, and playing in the little pools of water.

)Kids are loveloveloving the rock beach here. See the big climbing rock in the background? My husband decided to climb it. And then he lost his footing and fell...almost from the top. We all watched in horror. Thankfully, he only strained his ham string. )

Palisade Head

This rock formation was definitely worth a stop. We weren't there very long...dangerous with the kids. The pictures cannot do justice to the bright blue water and amazing view.

(Don't drop the baby!)