That Freaks Me Out

While on our trip up north, Mike had the luxury of spending some one-on-one time with each kid. He took Eric on a little hike into the woods near Lake Superior. Both of them loved their little adventure!

Charlotte had wanted no part of going out on the boat fishing with the boys, her Daddy and Uncle so she stayed on shore and played Barbies. However, Mike had promised her he'd take her out on the lake just the two of them. Finding time alone with each one of your children is such a challenge, so I'm glad Mike got an opportunity to do that over Labor Day weekend! Here are a few photos of Charlotte and her Daddy.

Charlotte gets into the boat and is looking a little unsure about this whole rowboat QT with Dad.

And they're off!

Every time the boat rocked a little bit, she'd say, "That freaks me out!" Ahhhh, nothing like some quality time with Daddy! :-)

What Did She Say?

While in the north woods we spent a day at the private lake on my inlaw's property. I happened to be on the pier getting photos of Mike and Charlotte out on the row boat when I found myself in the position of capturing a totally boy moment. See, Zachary had already been in the water (in his jeans) and was changed by Mom and told not to go back into the water in his jeans. As his Auntie, who would never dream of snitching on him, I had to take the photos for the story they told.

The water calls me......

See how it goes splish-splash??

Hmmm. Momma told me something, but I can't seem to remember.

Oh I remember now. Don't chew on my shirt.

Wet jeans were made for decorating.

But that's OK. I can just slip right back into the water and wash the sand sprinkles off!

Soil Experiment

This past week has seen our little school in full swing. I wasn't all too thrilled with our curriculum's decision to start things off learning about dirt and rocks (aka geology), but have been trying to make the best of it.

We imported soil from two states, so combined with our own, we had Arkansas, Wisconsin, and Illinois covered. Soil has many different layers - I'll spare you all the lesson - but to see those layers we dumped in about 1/2 cup of soil into a container (I recommend glass; plastic isn't as easy to see) then filled the container up half way with water. The kids enjoyed the shaking part immensely, then we let it all settle down into layers. They were running to look at it all day long to see the progress. It's a little difficult to see from the photo, but rocks are at the bottom, followed by sand, clay, water, and humus floating on the top.

And there you have it, a soil experiment!

My Crafty Self

Our local library is really awesome with all their children's programs, contests, free stuff, concerts, books, movies, and their "Adult Programs." For instance, they offer various crafts for kids and adults. I decided to sign up for one of them since it sounded simple enough - an autumn grapevine wreath - and the price couldn't be beat: Five bucks! So I went there this afternoon, and along with a bunch of other ladies and one 9 year old boy (who didn't do such a shabby job, I might add), put together a wreath in about an hour. I have to say that it turned out really nice, but that bow was a real pain!! Think hand cramps. While I'll be sad when the weather requires Mike to remove the front screen door and put in the storm door, on the plus side, I'll have something really pretty to hang up on the door!

Randomness

We drove up to the north woods again this Labor Day. It may become an annual trip for us. We all enjoy the time we spend there hanging out with family, the weather is still nice, and the autumn foliage is just starting to turn. This trip was made even more special by being able to meet our newest nephew, Mason, who is the cutest little peanut I've seen since my own kids were
"lil peanuts". :-) I could hold him all day long! I've picked a few random photos of the weekend to share (and maybe I'll be able to post a photo of me if it gets emailed to me by my mother-in-law....hint hint). Stay tuned next week for a funny recap of an episode that I was able to capture on camera.

Charlotte, Eric, Zachary, and Aaron on a frog hunt.

Mike & Charlotte at the lake (Lake Ethel?)

The Cousins
(purely coincidence that they lined up in height order!)

Mike takes a dip in the frigid Lake Superior waters. Brrrrr......

Zachary has these amazing eye lashes.....

My Mother-in-Law's walking mop. ;-) Actually, Zeke (or "Z") is a very sweet dog.

LIVE, From Green Bay, WI

Last weekend I went with the women in our small group and a couple others to Green Bay to see Beth Moore. This weekend was also a live simulcast at over 500 churches worldwide, and something like 90,000 mostly women were listening this weekend. But she was IN Green Bay, which is where we were!

What an incredible weekend! The worship music was amazing, and Beth Moore's message, per usual, was relevant and spoke to my heart. Here's a short slide show of the weekend in Green Bay (you'll have to silence my radio off to your right first.)

Delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart.

~ Psalm 37:4

Living Proof Live - Simulcast - Green Bay WI from Rich Kalonick on Vimeo.