Storybook character day

March was reading month at school.  The kids were challenged to read and had a few planned days throughout the month:  Bring your favorite book to school day, comfy cozy day, storybook character day.

So, I sent Annie and Snowball, Hermione Granger, Nancy Drew, and Frog, to school last Friday

On Comfy Cozy Day, they all wore pjs and read books on blankets and pillows.  If they had read the required number of minutes, they got to watch Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in the gym with all their blankets and pillows.  All four made their goal, so they got to watch the movie.  

I find it ironic that a movie was the reward for reading! 

We also got forms to fill out for free tickets to a local AAA baseball game, so that will be a fun outing sometime in the near future!

Fun with cousins

We had some family come to visit and we did our best to have fun.  Matt and I weren't home when they arrived because we were out enjoying an evening of a really good dinner out and an incredible symphony with friends.  It was a great night.

We came home to a house full of people laughing and playing games.  Anika had an all nighter at church so she was off on her own adventure!

We woke the next morning and had waffles then we were off to the St Patricks Day parade. I mentioned to the kids that last year on this day we went swimming in Lake Michigan.  This year we watched a parade in the snow.

We came home, packed some lunches and went on an adventure to Holland. They have an old farm there that harvests sugar maple sap and turns it into syrup.  We went and watched it happen.  My kids will tell you that part was boring, but they had a great time getting REALLY muddy by the river and then cleaning off with a snowball fight before coming back home. I thought it was interesting to hear and see how it all worked.

We enjoyed Pizza Ranch for supper while Matt and his brother went to the Wild Game Dinner at church.  The Orange Hat society puts this on every year.  The only food served is something that has been killed or caught by the people in the church and prepared for eating.  Only men are allowed, which is just fine by me and everyone comes home with a prize.  Matt got a scope for a gun and his brother got scent for hunting.

The old boys went shooting after church on Sunday, but the rest of us enjoyed a mostly green meal for St Patricks Day - a green veggie tray shaped like a shamrock, green jello, and shamrock shakes!

The time to leave came all too soon, but it was fun to make the memories!

Pinewood Derby

Brandon and Matt each made a car this year.  Matt did not enter his into the competition, but they both had fun with the process!  Brandon's won one race and he lost his next - to a tank of all things.  The boys had a good time with it!

Indoor Soccer

Brandon started up something new last week.  He and a friend joined an indoor soccer team.  The pavilion isn't far from our home, and Brandon's friend has been playing there for awhile, so we decided to join them.  They both joined a house team, which means a bunch of kids that just join up and play.  Brandon and his friend were placed on a team that have been playing together, but were short a few players.  Its a U12 team so our 4th grade boys are some of the youngest, but both are holding there own and playing quite well.  They are playing other teams that practice and play together year round, and have won both of their games so far. Its fun to watch!  Brandon was quite excited as the first game he just wanted to play.  He ended up scoring two goals and got to play goalie for part of the second half.  It was a great start to something new.
update: They got beat pretty badly last night, but it was still fun to watch!

Ice Skating

The school had an ice skating party last Saturday at one of the indoor rinks in town. It about kills me that you have to pay to go ice skating here, but its also something I don't want the kids to forget, so we grabbed our skated and spent an hour on the ice.  We had a great time.  There weren't that many people there, but we had plenty of fun. Its great to see Maria on her own and Jessica to start to really get the concept of pushing and gliding!

Minnesota wedding

President's weekend meant 2 1/2 days off of school - so why not trek to MN?!

A former youth group kiddo was getting married on Saturday, so the kids and I packed up and headed back. They had a half day on Thursday and no school on Friday or Monday.

We arrived late Thursday evening and got everyone settled down to sleep.

Friday we helped get the home kids off to school and then we got ready for a day of adventure ourselves.  After breakfast we got gas and I drove past our old house.  There were lots of mixed emotions inside the van  - I didn't really know what to expect from them, but they didn't really know what to feel.  We quickly headed off to Subway and then to a few hours at the Minnesota Science Museum, the Imax movie and some time going up and down the musical stairs. 

We stopped by CCS at the end of the day so each child could talk to their teachers and see their classmates. Brandon went home with some buddies (the gang as he calls it) and the rest of us headed back to home base.  That evening two other families came over and we had a great time hanging out.  When our four families get together - there are 17 kids.  I don't know that we have ever ALL been together, but we sure make a good run of it whenever we can.  A few times we have been at the beach and commented on how busy the beach was.  When it is time for all of us to pack up and walk away, we realized the beach wasn't busy, it was just us, and we are busy when we are all together!  But everyone has a playmate and much fun is had by all!

13 of the 17

Saturday morning I headed out for the wedding.  I arrived early and wasn't really sure what to do with myself when I ran into the mother of the bride and she ushered me in to see the beautiful woman of the day.  It was so good for me to see her, talk and just be so proud of who she has grown into.  There were many times throughout the day that I looked around me and thought 'wow, if only I had my head on that straight when I was her age!'.  It was a beautiful wedding and I am so glad to have shared in it.  I had so much fun seeing people that I hadn't seen in awhile, eating with former youth kids and playing around with friends.

the beautiful couple

There were sleigh rides - I didn't take one - but don't they look cute!

There were couch rides - I did take one of these - what a hoot!

I had to laugh. Only in MN would 200 people be excited to leave a perfectly warm place to head out on the ice, and then comment on what a beautiful day it was!  It was perfect for being outside - no wind, 20 degrees and sunshine! The reception was held at an event center that is located on one of the beautiful lakes in southern Minneapolis.  There was a tent with pizza - games- and hot chocolate, a bonfire with smores, hockey, bowling, broomball, couch rides, and sleigh rides.  We were not the only party out on the bay.  There was a golf party going on to the west (yes REAL golf, golf clubs, tennis balls, ground out holes in the ice, and shoveled fairways) and an ice fishing party going on to the north.  We laughed that you could fit a whole bunch more people in the bay during the winter than you could during the summer.  The ice was over 2 feet thick and there were no worries!

Later that evening, we went ice skating.  Anika was with another friend, so she missed out on this adventure, but we all had a good time!

We left after church on Sunday morning.  It was wonderful to worship among those friends again and see so many people we love and miss.

The kids and I are quite accustomed to travel. We listened to several books on tape - and laughed and cried!  Why do I pick a SAD one?!?!  They watch a few movies and they love the McDonald's stops!  By 9 PM, tempers were short and bodies and minds were tired, but after a half hour, it was quiet.  They all got to sleep in on Monday and were ready to head back to school on Tuesday.

Thanks for some more memories and great times!

A walk on the wild side

 Tonight we went for a walk on the beach, sand fences and all.  I wanted the kids to see what the lake looked like all frozen up.  It is so quiet - no waves hitting the beach.  The sand is piled in drifts from the fences and the wind.  You can see the tops of a typical snow fence in these pictures, we walked right over them!  Its hard to imagine that this is one of the top beaches in the US and will be again in just a few months. We did climb out on the ice, but we had been warned to not go far and to not go into any crevices. I let the kids climb the first hill and then to the next one and just look over the edge and the rolling waves covered in ice. It was pretty cool.  Then we started to walk out to the light house, but we could only get halfway as the rest of the walkway is so bumpy and ice covered its pretty impassable.  We had a great view of the sunset, and then when we turned around we had a great view of the full moon.

sand fences

the icy edge

The impassable path to the lighthouse

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