Professional Development

Last week was professional development day for all of the teachers in Wisconsin which meant that the kids only went to school on Monday and part of the day of Tuesday. I was really relieved to get a break from all of the driving, but I forgot how much work it is to have everybody home all day.
Since the kids were born I have planned a morning activity every day of their lives. Our days flow better (read: Mommy stays sane) if we leave the house in the morning and get our energy out elsewhere. When Wyatt started preschool a few years ago I still even planned morning activities for the other three kids. It was super challenging when Shane was still on the two nap schedule and had to sleep through all of the stuff that we did. He learned to sleep through anything though and it all worked!

After we moved here and the kids were out of the house every morning I quit feeling pressure to get out of the house with them in the mornings. Now when everybody is at school (2.5 hours) Shane tags along with me in whatever I do. If we stay home he plays with me or by himself (not so much) and doesn't drive me crazy acting like a caged animal that needs to be exercised. If I go to the gym he plays in the child care area without issue. If we go shopping he keeps me company and helps find stuff that we need at the store. We still try and fit in a ton of stuff in the mornings, but leaving the house is optional.

This week things were different.

The kids woke up on Wednesday morning with big expectations. "What are we going to do Mom?" "Where are we going?" Hmmmm... didn't see that one coming! I thought that the kids would enjoy a leisurely morning hanging out at home and not needing to rush off somewhere. Yeah...not so much!

We checked out all of the local parks, the local swimming pools, a candy store, a hayride, and tons of other activities...all packed into three short days! I feel like I am a certified expert on the local attractions in our area now! Maybe that could be my part time job next year when Shane is in preschool a few days per week... Certified Kid Activity Planner Extraordinaire! I have the resume to back it up that's for sure!

Apples and School Rewards

It seems like forever since I wrote a blog post. The days are so busy that they are flying by at the speed of light! I need to find a sliver of time each day to blog about our life or I will not remember what we did by the end of the month.

We have a reward system in place to encourage good listening in school. If everybody has a good week of listening at school then we do a special activity on Friday afternoon. It has really helped the kids have something to work towards and look forward to each week. For the last two weeks we have gone apple picking as our good listening week reward.

The apple orchard that we have been visiting is fairly small but the kids love picking. We have to drag the kids kicking and screaming to the van when we have enough apples because they don't want to leave...ever! But there are only so many apples that one family needs each week!


I actually went out and bought a food mill since I make so much applesauce lately. It saves me so much time since I don't have to peel the apples ahead of time and cook them with the skins on. Then I run them through the food mill and it separates the skins! I can fill a 16 quart stockpot to the top with apples and make applesauce and it will be gone in 2 days....seriously!

Last week as we were leaving the apple orchard the owner asked if we would be back again next Friday! I guess that we are starting to develop a habit and the owner has started to notice! If the kids have a good week at school then I suspect that we will be eating applesauce again real soon!

Leaving

Grandma and Grandpa left this afternoon. I drove them back to the ferry and John stayed home with the kids and got everyone to take naps. He said that the boys were super sad to see Grandma and Grandpa leave. We all were!

We had a fun weekend and even managed to get a lot of our home improvement projects accomplished!

We got the hot tub working.. and identified some of the problem areas. The kids loved our new "baby swimming pool"!

We got some serious bush trimming done! I thought that I was almost done yesterday, but ended up trimming another 15 spirea today! Mom helped me attack some bushes that were SERIOUSLY at least 8 feet overgrown on all sides. It took us 3 hours to get those 4 bushes cut! I need a gardener. I keep saying that I feel like I am living in the book The Secret Garden... where I find new things every time that I start to weed and trim! Oh, look some more landscape lights! Holy cow underground sprinkling!



We ate outside every day and enjoyed the wonderful warm weather too! It couldn't have been more perfect!

Thanks Mom and Dad we cant wait to see you again soon!

A Warning

Grandma and Grandpa (my parents) are coming for a visit this weekend. They will be our first official house guests in our new house. We are really excited!

However there are a few things that they need to know....

1. The refrigerator is still in the dining room and you have to go through the family room and front hall each and every time that you need to get something cold. It's super fun! It will be moved back after the tile gets sealed and cabinets replaced! Soon hopefully.......



2. The playroom doubles as the guest room, so it may get a little noisy in there at around 6 am. Remember to bring earplugs.

3. We are prepared to assign home improvement projects to anyone that offers to help.

4. There are potties and choo choo undies everywhere. Also you can not laugh if Shane gets mad about something, grabs his potty under his arm, and marches off in a huff!


5. It's been a while so you may get a "little" extra attention from the boys this visit!

We can't wait!

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The pictures above are from a visit to a farmer down the road who had a wagon full of pumpkins. There was a tin can sitting on top of the wagon to pay for your pumpkins. $1 for little, $2 for medium, and $3 for big ones. As we were picking our pumpkins this afternoon the farmer came over and told me to take a few extras. Then he helped me load them all into the back of the truck . All in all I think that we ended up with 8 pumpkins for $5! Not bad for a bunch of city folk huh?

6 Years Old!

Wyatt turned 6 years old today! He is turning into such a fun little guy lately! I am in love with this age!

We celebrated in our traditional low key fashion and Wyatt had a great time! Keep the expectations low I say... and it is working out really well so far!