Magic Moments

Praise be to Charlotte Mason and her educational philosophies. I'm feeling very appreciative of her influence in education and of the fact that our curriculum has absorbed her literature rich and exploration based principles. On Fridays our school time looks different from our other days in that there is almost no classroom time on Fridays. On Friday our job is to spend time outside exploring and doing any outside science activities that corresponded to our weekly lessons. If you have little boys then you quickly learn what a blessing and necessity this is. Plus, exploring nature and appreciating God's creation is something that should be part of everyone's learning or daytime routine anyway. Last night every book was put on the shelf until Monday (except for the Science book that Aiden so dearly loves) in anticipation for today's field trip. We are lucky enough to have a beautiful nature center just miles from our house that offers plenty of places to explore and many ...

We haven't had much going on this week which has been nice. Mostly we've stayed in where it's cool and even though it doesn't really matter for us since Aiden will be going to school at home, I figured it was as good a time as any to get hair cuts, vaccinations (which were TERRIBLE!), new tennis shoes, and do some Fall Clothes Shopping. Today my plan was to go to the Splash Pad since it might be our last chance before they close over Labor Day. For whatever reason my boys would choose the park hands down over the splash pad anyday....even 95 degrees in the shade days. I originally chose a splash pad with no park, but we ended up here instead mostly because I realized it was 2 miles from our house instead of a 25 minute drive. For the record, I would choose the splash pad over the park anyday...ESPECIALLY on 95 degrees in the shade kind of days. So we played at the park in the heat. I made them (and myself) get wet every now and again to cool off. The summary ...

After a wonderful weekend with Jenny, catching up with good friends continued this morning. One of my best friends from graduate school,Pamela, who now lives in North Carolina, was able to spend the morning with us. I sure am feeling blessed by friends this week. Blessed to have friends with whom one can pick right back up with no matter how much time has passed. Amanda, if you are reading this, you were greatly missed! 5 years ago when we graduated these little people didn't exist.  Actually, Aiden was 4 weeks old when I graduated. So, make that 3 out of the 4 of these little people weren't even thought of yet. Now here were are with 4 boys between us. So much changes in so little time. All that to say, grad school was exhausting, hard, nerve racking, stressful, and wonderful. But comparatively speaking, grad school was a cake walk and not nearly as exhausting, hard, nerve racking, stressful, and wonderful as raising these fine gentlemen. :)

One of my best friends from college (and one of my roommates), Jenny, flew into Minneapolis this weekend just to visit. I feel so special! Back in the day we thought it was so great to call ourselves Jenny squared. We were really cool. ;) The weekend was spent reconnecting and catching up with each other's lives and remembering the good ol' days of undergrad and everything that went with it...the dorms, the music, the friends, the escapades, the classes, and the studying (or lack of). Friday morning we packed a picnic and the boys and went to Minnehaha Falls. This place is probably one of my favorite places in the city.  Friday night we went up to the cabin for the rest of the weekend so Jenny could get a small taste of Cabin Magic. The weather was hot and windy (my least favorite kind of day) but we made the best of it and still ventured out in the Kyaks despite the wind, although we didn't make it too far while going against 25 mile an ho...

I set up the sprinkler yesterday because it is HOT! I was kind of hoping to sit back and read my book or waste time on facebook while the boys played, but that was NOT what the boys had in mind. I should have known. I'm thankful they force me to live in their moments...most of the time. So, I ended up all wet as well and I wasn't even wearing my bathing suit. I think I was still wet when I dropped Aiden off at church last night. Sage surprisingly didn't like the sprinkler at first, which was probably because Aiden wouldn't stop squirting him in the face. But he eventually became more brave and even got Aiden back. 20130715(091931) from Jenny on Vimeo . 20130715(155014) from Jenny on Vimeo . And if you don't have any of these at your house, you need to get some! The boys had lots of fun with them! Everyday is better with an adorable baby wrapped up in a towel

We are home from 10ish or so days at the cabin and we'll be home for a stretch of almost 2 weeks before we go back for more. This Summer has been Aiden's Summer at the cabin. He is old enough to do many things now and each night he falls into bed with his eyes already closed because he has been moving all day!  He is Tom's constant companion up at the lake. They swim, fish, jet ski, and even go Sailing. I did get the priviledge of taking Aiden on his first jet ski ride. His swimming skills have improved some, and while I know he would still panic if he fell off, I decided maybe putting him on the jet ski would boost his confidence. My cautious child doesn't love it yet, but he will. :) I think tubing is the one thing he isn't doing yet...all in good time. He loves the pontoon with Pappy and this year he got to go sailing with Grandpa. Sailing is my personal favorite way to be on the lake so hopefully Grandpa makes a sailor out of Aiden so he can take his Mama someda...

We were at the cabin for most of last week, we're home for a day or two only to pack up and head to the cabin once again for the remainder of the week. You just can't get enough Cabin Magic this time of year. We came home tired, covered in bug bites, and brought with us skinned knees and farmer's tans, but all was worth it. We're going back for more! Most of these pictures are a curtousy of Uncle Jim. I was camera-less for the week but I still made out pretty well in the picture department. Everytime I look back over these pictures I think one thought: "Thank you, Grandpa. Thank you, Grandmommy. Thank you, Pappy. Thank you, Marme. Thank you for this place. For the memories. For the legacy. For this sanctuary set apart that holds our hearts, brings us together and gives us refuge. Thank you for knowing what matters most. Thank you, Jesus."   Here is a smattering of our fun. Happy Fourth of July!!! The 6 littlest. Usually there are 13 k...

After a week of one rain storm after another that left our backyard and part of the basement soggy, the weather turned gorgeous. So when I saw that the Minneapolis Pops Orchestra was playing at Lake Harriet's Bandshell we decided we couldn't not go. Couple sitting on a blanket on a warm Summer night with the orchestra playing and the lake as a back drop with homemade strawberry shortcake from fresh picked strawberries, and you have yourself one beautiful night. As it was, the boys had fun and loved the music as did Tom and I. Admittedly, we would have had more fun had we been flying solo (without the boys). Maybe Tom could have been my dance partner instead of Aiden...even though Aiden is one sweet and darling partner.  August is our promised land which will bring more date nights. I shouldn't even say "more" date nights but rather just date nights in general.  Since we've had zero dates in the foreseeable past anything is "more" and will be welcome...

The little boys and I went to Pine Tree Orchards this morning to pick strawberries! We came home with lots of strawberries that will be turned into strawberry shortcake and strawberry pie per Aiden's request. Pine Tree Orchard was very sweet. I had to rely on my phone camera so the pictures aren't great, but trust me. If you get the chance you should go. The berries are delicious!  We got to ride on a wagon out to the fields, we picked until our hearts were content (or until Sage had enough) and our bellies were full. We came home with 8 lbs of strawberries and strawberry donuts too (which were consumed in the car). The wagon ride fascinated Sage Sage was covered in strawberry juice by the time we were done. So was I. Aiden told me he was helping pick, but mostly he just ate.

Without a doubt the basil in our garden is more than ready to be eaten. As silly as is sounds I'll be doing meal planning around a herb. And since basil replenishes once picked, we could be eating basil frequently. I'll for sure be making some of my friends Steph's Basil Lemonade. I think our green onions are also ready to be picked which makes for good timing since chicken salad and veggie enchiladas are on the menu this week. Today was Aiden's long awaited day. He went out to the garden, harvested some basil and then helped me cook dinner. We made zucchini lasagne and Aiden was a big help! He picked the basil, chopped it, cut the zucchini and layered in the cheese. Dinner turned out well. Here is my lasagne tip: I hate making lasagne, thus we rarely have it. So, instead of making a 9 x 13 pan that leaves us with lasagne for a week (ew!) I make two small pans and freeze one. You get two meals for the work of one!!! Other than checking in on our garden we are soakin...

It had been way, WAY too long since we made the trek to Indiana to go to Grandmommy and Grandpa's house. As much as we desperately want them to move close to us, we see why they love living where they do. The area is beautiful with so many things to do. Aside from all the fun things we did, it was good to be H-O-M-E. Tom took a few trips down memory lane. We bored Aiden by driving by Tom's  High School, friend's houses and the Baker's Square where he had his first job. We got to soak in lots of love from Tom's parents and made lots of memories. I sadly have no pictures of the moment, but each morning (at the crack of dawn) the boys would help Grandmommy feed the birds. She had them well trained by the end of the week on where to put the food. And then the boys would stand by the door and make it their job to scare away the squirrels who would eat the bird seed. I know Grandmommy is good to the squirrels too so I think those squirrels were glad to see us leave. ...