a day out

One of our recent days out before the weather starts getting colder. We all love being outside.  Mason and Emma listened to the different squirrels and birds chirping and chatting as they wandered around.  They explored favorite paths and made new ones. 

 

 Emma comparing her hand to the bear print we found in the mud.  They thought this was pretty cool.

Playing in what's left of the creek.

We are hoping to get out again to enjoy all the fall colors before the snow flies.

elk

The elk have been roaming through at dawn and dusk.  The kids love studying them.  On our afternoon walks they've been noticing all the tracks in the mud and scat left around. Is it weird that it's the highlight of their walk?  That and watching red-tailed hawks soaring in circles. 

Mason and his best buddy (and soon to be neighbor!!) Jacob have been using toilet paper rolls as elk bugles.  They always hear the elk calling back too. *wink* 

rain and a horse

Just enjoying a little afternoon rainstorm.  It's been lovely to see the clouds rolling in and feel the breeze cooling everything off.

Then we hear the loud thunks of hail on the greenhouse and watch our garden turn to shreds.

We got another small hailstorm that is making for some slow progress in the garden.  The plants aren't totally destroyed but just enough that we need to wait for new leaves to grow and continue on their merry way.

All three kids love being outside.  Caleb turns his head to the breeze and shows his contentment, often even smiling.  This works well for placing him in the shade while we pull weeds or stack firewood.  Mason is a hard worker, never wanting to stop for a break.  Emma will take a break every chance she gets to "check on Caleb."  That's an important job too.  Keeping everyone happy.

It's been awesome to watch them discovering new things every time we're outside. Ants, grasshoppers, yarrow, purple flowers, and rocks are becoming part of daily conversations.

On one of our recent evening walks Emma had a new experience:

One of our neighbor's horses came running towards us.  As soon as Emma notices she exclaims, {eyes wide in astonishment, stopping in her tracks}  "Horses can run!  I didn't know that could do that!!"

Oh to experience summer through the eyes of a child!

camping

Last weekend we went camping with the fams.  We loved hanging out with Nana, Uncle Chris, Aunt Kates and of course, the cousins!  We camped near Beaver Reservoir.  It was the perfect spot for the kids to run around and play.  

 

Everybody wave with Nana.  Or not.

 



Mason was all about helping and using the tools.  He almost always had a shovel or bucket in his hand.  They had fun collecting rocks, pinecones, and firewood.  Then daddy helped him use the hatchet. 

 

 

 

 We went fishing at Brainard Lake.  The kids fished for a while, but mostly played in the water.  We didn't catch anything, which was a bummer.  But it was really fun. 

Until a certain someone fell in the lake.  Sorry about all the screaming, fellow fishing peeps. 

 Although our camp spot was pretty cool, it was a tight squeeze.  All hands on deck to help get the camper through.  Aunt Kates and Uncle Chris did all the hard work.  I snapped a few photos. 

 It was a great weekend.  Mason's favorite part was the s'mores.  He could hardly believe that we made them on a real fire in the ground! Emma's favorite part was taking care of baby Cody.  So glad we could get out and get camping!

August

I was a little hesitant to turn the calendar page this morning.  Is it really August already?  That means school is just around the corner...both for me and Mason.  He's getting excited about preschool.  Although the keeps reminding me that as soon as he turns 7, he will get to be in my class. 

 

 

We went camping a few weekends ago.  Lots of exploring, marshmallows, flowers, potty-training in the woods, rain, and laughs.  Not a lot of sleep.  Oh, and Daisy decided to find herself a porcupine.  Luckily it was little and we had pliers. 

 

 We're still hoping for another camping trip or two in the near future. 

On Tuesday we spent the evening fishing with Karly.  I'm really not sure what we're going to do when she leaves for college.  We're trying not to think about that yet.  I love these fishing pictures.  We didn't catch anything, but we sure had fun playing in the water.

 

Lovin' these last weeks of summer!

fishing

Daddy took Mason fishing Monday evening while Emma and I went to bible study. Mason couldn't wait to try out his new fishing pole.  They didn't catch anything, but did have a few bites.  He sure had a blast though.  

 

I love that he's using Ryan's Woodstock tackle box from when he was a kid.  Mason spent the morning cleaning it up and organizing it.  I guess he loved carrying it around too. 

When he got home he told me that he couldn't wait to go again, but that me and Emma should come too.  Sweet boy!

four

 Happy Birthday Mason man!  It's really hard to believe that you are four!  You are becoming such an amazing young man.  You have grown so much this year in so many areas. 

 You have such a sweet, caring spirit.  You are very aware of how others are feeling.  You are the first one to give a hug if someone in our family gets hurt.  You love to help around the house.  You are amazing at cleaning and organizing.  Sometimes when it's time to clean up, you ask me to leave the room because you want to surprise me.  When everything is put in its spot, you proudly come get me to see "how clean it is." 

 You are becoming more outgoing (I think because of Emma).  Just over the past couple months we have watched you become more adventurous.  You are still a cautious person, but are learning to love the thrill of new things (usually after watching Emma do it first.)  Just last night we heard you both laughing and screaming with glee as you rode your bikes down the dirt hill and crashed into the patio.  Over and over again.  You are still a rule follower though...and love to make sure everyone else is following the rules.

 You love to be outside.  You love watching the chickens, helping around our little homestead, and most recently, playing with Indie.  You two are pretty much inseparable.  You are patient with her and love to help train her.  I think you two are going to be buddies for a long time. 

 I can't believe you are going to preschool this next school year.  You are excited mixed with a little hesitation.  But once you get there I know you will love it.  You love to learn and are so curious about the world around you.  You love love love numbers.  You can count to 100 (and sometimes beyond).  You can count by tens.  You can add 1 and 2 to any number and you know all your double addition facts.  Counting is definitely your thing. 

You also have a great memory.  I can usually ask you to remember something we need at the store or where I last put something and I can count on you to tell me.  You memorized over 20 bible verses this year at Awana.  You can hear a book read one or two times and then retell the whole story without missing a beat.

It's fun to listen to you play.  You are very creative and love to build things.  You can turn anything into a tool.  You love to do art projects and right now your favorite thing to do is paint with watercolors.  You are good at writing all your letters and love to make lists. 

You are so fun to be around.  You make us laugh with your clever sayings.  We never know what you are going to come up with.  We love you so much, buddy.  We are excited to see what this next year will hold for you.  Thanks for all the hugs, kisses, songs, and laughs.

xoxo,
Mommy

september

Well, the month of August pretty much passed us by here on the blog.  We finally got a computer up and running again.  Our laptop was a goner, so we pieced together bits and pieces of other computers between Ryan's parents and a good friend of ours and so far we're back in business. 

 

School got off to an awesome start.  I have a wonderful class.  We have lots of new employees and families at our school and some great friendships are starting to form.  My student teacher, Lia, is amazing.  She sees things that need to be done and just does them, asks lots of intelligent questions (keeps me on my toes) and is building great relationships with the students.  I was a little nervous about having someone in my classroom all day, every day, but it's actually made my job more fun than ever, if that was even possible! 

 

Lots of progress has been made on the bunkhouse.  After church we spent the rest of the day on the property.  We had our first picnic on the front porch.  The door and windows (except two) are in.  We're dreaming of paint colors and cabinet options.  Small pockets of yellow aspen leaves were spotted.  The kids came home tired and covered in dirt.  A perfect day.  

 

The first four are from earlier in the summer.

 

 

I love this one.  Emma's learning all about using the tools from her big brother. 



This was one of those weekends where we were really only home to sleep.  Between doctor appointments and inservice at school, garage sales and football games, church and friends, the house is a little crazy, the laundry is piled up, and the kitchen floor may be a bit of a sticky mess. But we're all smiling and counting our blessings.