Ethanisms

So we are sitting at the table eating dinner last night. A song comes on the radio that he's heard maybe a dozen times in his short 4 1/2 years. He has an amazing memory...he starts singing along "gimme the beat boys to free my soul, I wanna get lost in your rock and roll and drift away..." So, naturally I start singing with him. That little twerp stuck both fingers in his ears and smiled the most devious smile I've seen on him yet! I was laughing too hard to be insulted!

The ability for quick memory comes from me...the instigator tendency he gets from his daddy. :)

Seasonal Affected Disorder

So since the daylight savings time switch, I've noticed those subtle changes in Rob and I. Feel lazier, lost motivation, eating terribly (snacking all day, not drinking water, lower fruit and vege intake, etc.), and feeling a touch of the blues. Luckily, this year, we have FLY Lady in our home! Even on the days I don't want to do anything, I have become somewhat "programmed" to do at least part of my routines. So at least we also don't have a messy house or piles of laundry, or empty fridge to add to the lack of sunlight in our lives.

Another thing that is different this year - I've done the Beth Moore study "Breaking Free". I tell you that Bible study has revolutionized my faith. I have come to realize that daily time with Christ is not an obligation, but a necessity. Not a "have to" but a "get to". Not a drudgery, but a sheer joy. To have the lover of my soul speak softly to me and to feel Him smiling on me as I delight in Him and as I learn more and more each day to walk in obedience. I've found obedience is not the chains so many of us think it will be - it's actually freedom. True freedom like I've never felt. I understand why Christianity is not about religion - it's about relationship. And it's so fulfilling and beautiful! So now that I am armed with a deeper, richer relationship with my savior for my spiritual sustenance, and I'm armed with FLY lady for my physical and mental well being, I should be able to lick this mopey-ness much quicker than I have in the past.

For those of you who are of the praying sort - please remember a dear friend of mine who is going through a much more oppressive depression right now. It's a recurring thing for her and this time of year is always the worst. Remember her family as well.

While daddy's away, mom goes insane.

I've had several calls these last 2 weeks from many of you dear friends and family checking up on me while Rob has been out of town. I am doing fine, but the experience has given me a new profound respect for single mothers. I honestly don't know how they do it day in and day out. Of course, my experience might be exaggerated a bit since 1) I do not live near a grandma that I can bum childcare off of, and 2) I am not used to going it alone, so I have not learned the specific skills to do so gracefully.

Yesterday I yelled at my 19 month old for dumping his plate of fruit in the floor. Ugh. He looked at me like "now honestly, mother, how is this behavior any different than any other day? Why are you yelling? Have you gone mad?" and proceeded with his little gravity experiment. Ethan would have been in tears, and I would have followed. Not Noah. He points out the absurdity of my behavior by not letting it phase him. So one deep breath and a quick trip to my knees in prayer and we were all back to "normal"...whatever that is.

In that respect, having Rob gone for an extended period is good - it makes me take stock of me. It gives me a chance to see how easily I rely on him for my strength or spiritual guidance, when I should be relying in Christ. It gets me back on track.

Not that I'm advocating for him to be gone more often....oh, how I miss him! His absence also reminds me what a terrific man he is and how much I love that my husband is also my best friend. :)

More Fall Fun: the Apple Orchard

Last year we had a lot of fun at Minnetonka Orchards, so it seems this is becoming an annual tradition along with the state fair. Peak color today, so I enjoyed myself thoroughly!

Click to enlarge and zoom in on Noah - he's turning into quite the ham!

The boys enjoyed climbing and rolling in the large mountain of hay.

Simply cannot get enough of John Deere tractors! My boys will be customers for life!

There was a very cool wooden train for the kids to climb around in and on. Noah is slowly starting to catch on to the whole "pose" idea for a picture. I say slowly because usually he either won't even look at you, or will just stare blankly. He only today started copying big brother and saying "cheese" whenever mommy had the camera out.

Mom suggested (much to dad's chagrin) that they boys bury dad in the hay. I think Rob was picking hay out of his shirt the rest of the day! (hee-hee)

Even though they have a rather large sandbox at home, this proved to be one of their favorite activities of the day!

We also went on a hay ride, enjoyed some yummy apple donuts, and played hide and seek in the corn maze. It was a very fun day! Noah wore himself out and was asleep within five minutes after heading home. Even Ethan took a short nap in the car.

After all this beautiful weather, would you believe they are predicting snow flurries by Wednesday? That's Minnesota for you. 9 out of the 11 years we've lived here we've had our first snowfall before Halloween. Guess this year's unseasonable warm streak will not stop the trend. Batton down the hatches....winter's comin'!

Fridley Fire Dept. Open House

Every year, our Fire department has a shin-dig for the kid-os. Lot's of activities, free stuff, and big machines. It's heaven for the boys!

We met up with James and Letitia there. Henry, Ethan, and Noah had lots of fun together.

Better in the front seat than the back, huh?

Fall Family Fun

Well, we've gotten an "Indian Summer" here the last week - the rain stopped and we've had temps in the 70's. That, along with the dazzling color has made me giddy. We've been outside a lot the last week or so. Tuesday, we went to Springbrook Nature Center to enjoy the scenery and see the animals. Of course, one cannot pass up an inviting pile of leaves!
















Honestly, now. Is it possible to be any cuter?

Historic Ft. Snelling

Fort Snelling had 4 special homeschool days this last month. We attended one on frontier technology. It was really cool! I can't believe I've lived here for 11 years and have never gone before now! Not only was the Fort demos fun, but we also caught a glimpse of a barge coming down the river!

Ethan and Noah posing on a soldiers bunk in the living quarters.
Not sure why Noah is sticking out his tongue here. Maybe he is really feeling his "horse" character...

Ethan as a soldier circa 19th century.
I think this was both of the boys favorite part (besides getting to help make a brick)!

All the historians inside are dressed in period. They didn't take it quite as far as the Plymouth Plantation interpreters did...they at least would answer your 21st century questions like "where is the bathroom?" It was a lot of fun, though. The boys got to work pulleys, a wood turner, pretend to chop planks from logs, play in the old schoolhouse, scrape a moose hide, make a brick, build a rock wall, and watch a blacksmith. Ethan thought the potty chairs in the hospital were "GRRRROOOOOOSSSS!!!!!"

September in Ohio

We recently found ourselves on a whirl-wind, action-packed family adventure to Ohio! It was kind of last-minute, but lots of fun. Here is our jouney in pictures...















We got to go to KY for a family reunion of sorts. KY is a beautiful state full of interesting people...many of which are related to me. I can assure you, however, this vehicle did not belong to anyone in my party. This was spotted at a small gas station in Mt. Vernon. You may want to click the picture and zoom in on the license plate. I really don't know what else to say about this - I can't even believe they sell these, much less that someone would actually buy it and display it in public. Ah, Appalachia....















Our flight home had a brief layover in Michigan. The airport was designed with kids in mind! They had several play areas along the way. Ethan and Noah enjoyed this little playhouse while waiting to board.















Here is a picture of the extended family that was able to meet in KY and go spelunking. This is taken outside our "family cave".















This cave was on family property and run as a tourist site by our family for years. I have many fond memories of our yearly reunions that always included a tour through the cave and all the facinating stories that went along with it. Many years ago, it was sold to the University of Cincinnati and there is no more tourism. We were able to pull some strings to go through it one more time. Lots of history in that cave. "Fire Down Below" with Steven Segal has some scenes that were filmed in there. Haven't seen it. You couldn't pay me enough to watch 2 hours of Steven Segal...hurts just to think about it!















Ethan and his cousins enjoyed picking up large "logs" and "rocks" - leftover props from the movie. It's really amazing what they can do with styrofoam!




















Part of the reason behind our trip was my brother's 30th birthday bash. Yep. Nothing will make you feel old like your little brother turning 30. We had a great time. Of course, what would a party be without dancing? And you know me, even if I'm the only one out there, I gotta dance! Usually the kids felt sorry for me and joined along.






























That's my dad. Now you know where I get my goofiness! :)
Also note Ethan...took him a while to warm up, but he was really bustin' some moooooves!

And here is mom and dad both getting into the rhythm. I didn't have the heart to tell them that no one does the "bump" anymore... :)

Been a while...

In response to a few of you e-mailing me to find out how the dramas went...they went very well. I ended up having to try my hand at writing on some of them. Last minute scheduling changes with certain actors caused 2 re-writes, and our writer was in the hospital. So between the Pastor and myself, we tweaked them. Funny...I was only supposed to direct, but ended up having to be in 3 of the 4! Sigh, guess church drama is like any other church ministry...folks just don't seem to be really committed to it. Hopefully that will change.

The performance space is awesome. The church just finished building on a new "sanctuary" that is really a theater. Huge stage with a full catwalk and fly system, theatrical lighting and inclined audience seating. It was designed like that on purpose, so I hope that means there is a bright future for all kinds of theater there! I'd love to stage some community theater and see what happens!

The school year is off with a bang! I have 2 tutees and 1-1/2 homeschool consulting families (I'm sharing one family with another consultant). I'm also still doing stuff at the Science Museum and I am teaching science 2x per month at a homeschool coop. Whew! Already busy and it's just now October! I'm hoping some of these things will translate into clock hours for my license renewal in 2008...

I will have some more pictures of recent events posted later. I've been so busy adjusting to my suddenly busy life, I haven't been on the blog. Now things are starting to gel so I should be able to go back to posting a few times per month.

The fall is beautiful here! It simply doesn't last long enough. The smells, the trees, the cool, crisp air...AHHH. Today we got outside and enjoyed the sunshine by doing some yard work in preparation for winter. Ethan found a spider. We sat and watched it catch a small gnat. Ethan got so excited he suggested we find more bugs for it to eat. So we went on a safari for isopods. After a few attempts, we got one on the web and the spider responded quickly. It was a show well worth our money and time! Funny how it doesn't bother him at all to see a spider devour another creature, but he seems rather disturbed that T-Rex would eat other dinosaurs, or that animals such as owls eat other animals. Guess it's all in your perspective.

Incidently...all you family and friends who've been "promising" me for years to come and visit... Fall is the PERFECT time! So mark your calendars for Sept-Oct. Of course, summer isn't bad but we can get some hot, sticky days in July and Aug. For those of you looking for a true Minnesota adventure - come in January or February. I promise you will not be bored and you will have a story to tell your grandkids ("I remember when I had to walk through 10 foot of snow uphill both ways...)

Real Life Church

For any of you wanting to check out our new church, go to www.reallifechurch.net

I will be making my directorial/acting debut this Sunday, September 10th. I'm gonna love this church...they are multimedia FREAKS!!!!! (in a good way). I think you will see by the website.

So far, people have been very open and welcoming. I didn't expect to be acting/directing by now. I'm very excited!

The Great Minnesota Get Together!

Ah, the end of summer is traditionally marked with the Minnesota State Fair! This year we had beautiful weather...not too hot, nice breeze, slightly cloudy offering off and on shade throughout the day. Perfect. We skipped the corn dogs and cheese curds this year and went for whatever coupons were in the book - but could not pass up the traditional roasted corn! YUM. Here is this year's photo montage...

Ethan and Noah posing next to Big Foot. They both just love monster trucks!

















It's amazing how your kids change in one year. Last year, Ethan was new to rides, so he didn't want to ride anything that went too fast or too high. This year he was all about the thrill!






















Noah was too small for the rides, so he relaxed in his stroller and cuddled his bear. Cute, as always!


...or he enjoyed watching bubby have fun!


I think Machinery Hill is one of Ethan's favorite parts of the fair. He has to sit on every lawn mower, excavator, bobcat, and tractor that he can. Especially if they are BIG. This is an old restored one...he likes the sound of the older tractors. And he gets sooooo excited whenever he sees yellow and green! He breaks into the John Deere theme song from the library videos he's watched about a hundred times!


The animal barns are always fun. We skipped the pigs this year...they are just sooooo stinky. The Miracle of Birth center has been redone - bigger and better. We saw lots of chicks hatching, and a newly born sheep and pig. The kids favorites this year....horses. Especially the tiny ones!


Ethan also tried his hand at carpentry - the Home Depot booth had a kids workshop (which explains the bright orange apron). He hammered together a "really cool racecar that goes super fast". #20 for all you Nascar fans.
*sigh* Summer is officially over on the 4th. It's amazing, but up here, it's like nature knows when the fair is over to start getting colder and changing colors. I love fall, but the older I get, the more I start to dread the long, dark, winter to come. The Farmer's almanac is predicting a rough one. We've had it pretty easy the last several years, so we will see.

Spiritual "re-lessons"

So lately I've been experiencing a lot of anger just under the surface ready to blow at any moment. I've been wrestling with myself, trying to figure out the root. I thought I had that thing licked...and there is the problem. I thought I had that thing licked.

Why, oh, why must we learn and re-learn the same lessons again and again? Why do we fall back into old habits, in my case, the habit of self-reliance. And I don't mean the good kind. I'm talking about the kind that puts us in bondage as we try to work our way to righteousness. The kind that smacks Christ in the face by saying "your sacrifice isn't good enough...I have to EARN my salvation". The kind that says "I can fix myself if I just try harder". Then as you fail miserably, you find yourself falling into the condemnation trap leading to self-absorption through pity parties and a "martyr" mentality. Why do we do the devil's work for him? We willingly put the chains on our own hands and feet. Ugh.

So once again I have to re-commit to cooperate with God in this process of making me into the image of Christ. Once again, I have to surrender my ideas and my will to His. Once again I am reminded that I cannot fix me or anyone/anything else.

Praise be to God for His infinite grace and His mercies that are renewed daily!

"Get it?"

Ethan has entered the "jokester" phase. He tells us jokes all day long. There are a few standards that go like this:
Knock-Knock
Who's there?
Boo.
Boo who?
Well, you don't have to cry about it.

And some that he makes up himself that go like this:
Why did the penguin cross the road?
To hide in the bushes.

But my favorite are the ones that go like this:
Mommy, after I go poopy, will you wipe my butt? Get it? Butt? (hilarious laughter ensues)

What have I learned? 1) That I have an extremely short list of pre-school jokes in my repertoire. Guess I need to get to the library. 2)I think he has my dad's sense of humor (no offense dad...you make me laugh. Usually) :) And 3) if you want to make a 4 year old boy almost wet himself laughing, just say any word having to do with potty functions (plus boogers) or the body parts involved. Ethan's newest favorite: butt crack. I just know that one's gonna bite me in mine one day... :)

Update on homeschooling...

As some of you know, at the moment I plan on homeschooling both boys(I say "at the moment" because I'm pretty sure I will despite my waffling on days when I just need to get away from my kids...). Not sure for how long, but the current state of public education (academics, socialization, world view, etc.) and the innocence and open-ness of my son's minds makes me realize the seriousness of the task ahead...to raise God-fearing, moral children who experience a relationship with Christ and learn to love Him. So, I feel until their character is a bit more "set", I want to lay a strong foundation at home.

This is not going to be easy. There are times that I miss a classroom full of smart-aleck 7th graders (believe it or not), not to mention the financial strain. God has provided some opportunities to fulfill both and I see the opportunities growing steadily. As I have networked with some homeschooling organizations and groups, I'm finding the demand for science teachers to be astounding! I have had 2 offers this year from groups I've never met asking me to be their coop science teacher and one who had already filled their class offering, but wanted to keep my info on hand for next year! Praise the Lord. It's not nearly as much money as I would be making full time in public school, but 1) I don't have to grade papers, 2)I'm around other homeschoolers for support 3) I get to teach lots of kids that are well-behaved, 4) it helps buy the groceries or put gas in the car (or it least it would have helped with the gas when I signed on 2 months ago...$3.00/gallon!!! HIGHWAY ROBBERY!!!!)

I also have come across a homeschooling accreditation organization that is (from what I have seen so far) WONDERFUL and they are giving me an opportunity to become a consultant for their families. I'm excited about this, but a bit nervous. I feel God has presented this to me, but also feel my own shortcomings...how can I "consult" another family when I've never done this myself? Guess that's where my professional training will come in handy.

Please keep us in prayer as we begin this journey. It's one thing to learn to trust in the Lord when it's just you. Another when it involves your spouse. And a completely different monster all together when it involves your offspring who are completely trusting you to make the right decisions for them. Add to that the keen awareness that they technically aren't MY kids...their HIS. Talk about feeling inadequate! I know in whom I believe. If He is leading, and I am following, then the details will take care of themselves.

more pics

During the heat wave, some dear friends of ours discovered their air conditioner on the fritz. So, we all camped out at our house for the week-end. The kids had a blast (the adults had some fun, too!)






Noah likes to sit in his "big boy chair" and look at his books.













It's so funny to me how different Ethan and Noah can be. Ethan is cautious, Noah is fearless. Ethan DOES NOT like to get dirty. Noah finds a pile of black dirt and dives in. He looks a bit like the "Little Rascals" dog, doesn't he?


















I wish I could zoom up on Noah in this photo. This was his first petting zoo. His expression is priceless - he's never seen a goat before!













Noah has invented the "poor man's soccum-boppers"... (I promise this photo has not been staged, doctored, or otherwise encouraged by adults. He did this completely on his own!)













Ethan looks so cute in a tie! He's gonna drive the girls crazy when he's older!












This is one more pic from the Zoo. I thought it was cute... Ethan was trying to hold Noah's hand, but Noah isn't usually keen on that (only mommy or daddy's hand will do). We were riding the monorail 'cuz it was SO DARN HOT!!!

The last couple of weeks have been eventful, so here is a photo update!















Noah simply adores hats. Doesn't matter to him if it's a "real" hat or not...he'll wear it. And then he does his hat dance. It should be illegal to be so cute!



We took a trip to the MN Zoo a couple of weeks ago. Noah, who is not easy to snap a photo of, would not stand next to his brother. Ethan is always happy to strike a pose...even if it is as a tasty morsal for a whale!















Rob's boss gave us tickets to see a community theater production of "Seussical". This was the boys first play. I think they were more impressed with the big hat and slide in the lobby. Ah, well. I guess they have time to become theater connoisseurs.
















Thrill of a lifetime! Bob the Builder was at the Mall of America. Ethan got wacked in the head with Bob's ears which was really funny for mom! As much as he loves Bob, if he had brought any of his machines (Scoop, Muck, etc.) Bob would have gotten NO attention whatsoever.

We were kinda bummed that United Syndicate pulled copywrite rank and took away "Camp Snoopy" (now it is known simply as "The Park at MOA"), but it has allowed it to branch out a bit. Bob would have never gotten to come to Camp Snoopy. So I guess it's all good. I hope United Syndicate looses lots of money over it though...bunch of greedy corporate yahoos.