November With Temps in the 70's

November 1st and 2nd we went on "family hikes". The temperature was perfect. It was in the 70's. Not to hot, and not too cold. On "family hikes" we do some exploring, map reading, great conversation, some arguing, and good old fashioned fun. I think the boys are ready for compasses. There were a ton of lady bugs out. We saw three buck too. Brian was wishing it was rifle season, and on his property. He just about wet his pants. We did realize that the boys are too young to go deer hunting. They couldn't stand still if their lives depended on it. lol

Brian is getting very good at setting the timer on the camera and getting back to his spot without looking rushed. Owen wanted to take a picture of us kissing. He thought it was funny. He just learned that song, "Mom and Dad sittin' in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G first comes love then comes marriage, then comes Zach, Owen and Jacob in a baby carriage." The 3rd picture is my favorite. If you look closely, the boys are holding hands... all three of them. Sometimes, I really think they love each other. It melted my heart. They really are good kids. Maybe they are listening to me when I talk about how important it is to love and respect our family.

OUCHHHHH!!!

Brian and I started a workout program two weeks ago, and I think I'm still sore from the first day. It's called P90X, maybe you've heard of it. That Tony Horton... He's a hoot. If you've seen or heard of it, then you know I'm an infomercial junkie. You all know my big secret now.

If I were really brave, I'd post my before pictures, but I'm not that brave. Maybe when I reach day 90 I'll post those pictures. Hee Hee Hee, I could post Brian's.... But I won't. I'd like to stay married. Anyway, we like it so far... We're sore, but we really like the program.

Lots of Halloween Fun

We've had some major Halloween fun this year. We went to our church party, but I didn't get any pictures of that... When Nana's in town no one else needs a camera. She takes care of all the pictures we could ever need or want. Plus, it's a lot of fun for her. There was lots of candy, cupcakes, hot dogs and chili. We also went to "Boo at the Zoo". Talk about fun. Nana didn't come to that so I had to bring my camera. We got candy there too, and we rode the train, and saw the headless horseman... How cool!!! Darth Vader, Babe Ruth, and Dash Incredible had a great time.

We had some pumpkin carving too. Yep, that is a couch and love seat in my garage. We got new furniture, so if you know anyone that needs some let us know. Brian gets to park outside til it's gone. The boys each got to draw the faces they wanted. Zach's turned out just perfect. Straight edges and everything. He is a perfectionist like his father. O's turned out silly. Just like him. Such a silly goofy kid. God love him. Jacob's turned out like something a 4 year old would do. One small eye, one really "gi-normous" (a cross between giant and enormous) eye, a nose you can't see, because it is just a black dot, and a mouth smaller than the gi-normous eye. He was so very proud of his work. We were too. They

all did such a great job. Thank you Mr. and Mrs. J for the pumpkins. We were a little scared to put

them outside, because saw the demise of a few pumpkins before Halloween, but they were hidden enough from the bushes. They have survived thus far.

Coolest Mom Ever!!!!!

Well, I discovered today that I am the "coolest mom ever", according to my amazing children. Today Owen didn't want to go over the sounds of the letters, and Jacob didn't want to go over the letters at all...... I am so smart! I taught them how to burp the alphabet... yes, I said burp. They had such a great time with it, that Owen forgot what he didn't want to do, and did it. Jacob though it was pretty cool too. Zach couldn't stop laughing. They don't quite have the burping on command down yet, but they keep trying. Now, I just need to have a talk with them about when to, and when NOT to burp... NOT in church, or or the grocery store, or... well, in public..... maybe at the park. Definately at home. Anyway, today was a very fun school day.

School vs. Beautiful Weather

According to the news, this is our very last nice day. It's going to start getting cold. I'm having a hard time with it. We aren't ready for the nice weather to disappear. Should we have a holiday, and take the day off. Should we just take half a day off, or just suck it up and do the school work. Decisions, decisions, decisions.... Well, we ended up getting all our school work done. Yeah us... Now, it's time to play, play, play. So I better get out there before the day gets away from me too.

LEGO'S... It's all about LEGO'S!!!

Yesterday Zach and Owen went to their very first LEGO club meeting. You may be wondering what happens at a LEGO club meeting. Well, let me put your wondering to rest. You make a creation to bring for show-and-tell. Once everyone is finished showing and telling, the children put their creations aside.The club has access to three huge plastic tubs of LEGO's, and for an hour and a half they get to create masterpieces with maybe 7 other boys K-3 grade. Owen was very nervous. He kept telling me he was sick, and shouldn't go. I told him he would have lots of fun. Finally, we got to the root of the problem. He doesn't make Lego's like Zach does. We had a long conversation about how he doesn't have to make LEGO creations like Zach. He does a great job with his creations. They both do. When I picked them up and asked them how LEGO club was Zach couldn't stop talking about it, and Owen was so happy he went. They are already thinking up some great creations for next time. They are sad it only happens once a month.

Jacob and I had some special mom and son time. We played in the driveway, rode bikes, and we cleaned out my car....

Fall Co-op

Well, fall co-op started today. One of our two homeschool groups get together for different classes. This fall it's: cooking, phys. ed, and public speaking class. They boys like it a lot, but then again it was only the first day. Last spring, the three classes were: nutrition, science, and drama.... As if we needed anymore drama in our house. They did an end of the year musical and loved every minute of it. I was such a proud mama. At the end of co-op this fall they will do some public speaking in front of the whole group (20 something families) Zach and Owen are going to do such a great job. Jacob isn't quite old enough..... Next year.

Happy Birthday to You...

Zach celebrated Birthday number 8 on Friday, but Dad wasn't feeling good, so he couldn't eat any of the yummy cake. Not just any cake... Strawberry Birthday Cake with Donkey from Shrek on it. Wow, that was a mouth full. No pun intended. It was yummy cake though. I've probably eaten enough for everyone, so don't worry... I've had your share of cake.

Blessing of pets at Church!!!

Saturday Father had the blessing of pets. All the church members were allowed to bring in their pets. With 250 families in the church (not all of them have pets), you'd assume that it would be chaos, right? Well, only 4 families came, and it was pretty easy going. We have two boxers, and thought they could use a little blessing. Maybe it was me that needed the blessing. Trex got away from Zach. She slipped right out of her collar (note to self... get her a better collar). She ran over to a chocolate lab, and got on top of him. Weird dog. Zach got to hold the book for Father. He was so excited. I held on to the dogs, Jacob was in charge of holding the treats, and Owen was in charge of the camera...

Favorite Summer Fun

OK, We've had lots of summer fun, but our favorite times are camping in the back yard. We had the "sleep" tent, and the "food" tent. We put the food tent up around the picnic table. The fire pit was going, and it was a wonderland of sorts... A "Summer Wonderland". We roasted hot dogs, marshmellows, and campfire pies. If you've never had a campfire pie.... MMMMM it's a must. They are so very yummy. We didn't have to wait in line for the bathrooms or food. When we got cold, we just paused the movie, and got a blanket.

The best part was when Brian set up our very own outside movie theater. It was like going to the drive-in, only better.... We didn't have to wait in line for the bathrooms or food. Oh, and we didn't have to worry about getting run over either. We had such a great time, and the memories will last us a lifetime.

First time for everthing, Right?

Well, there is a first for everything. Here I am... doing a blog for my family. Most of our family and friends have access to the internet..... Now, if I can just get my 80 something Grandma introduced to the world wide web. Hmmmmmmmm How will I do that? We just wanted a way to keep in close contact with our family and friends. This is how we'll do that. We'll post more later. I am basically just trying to see if I'm doing all this right. I just need to have a little patience with this dial-up stuff, and uploading pictures... or anything for that matter.