Category: Children

Back to School

SleddingToday, for the first time in a long time, everyone was home to work on school assignments together. While Mark was gone, school was different.  It seemed quieter and he was not around to help answer the younger ones questions.  Today’s noise and controlled chaos felt so good!

After a morning of hard work, we went to the park for Adrian’s science class. We left early so we could see if an inch (or two) of snow was enough for sledding. It was! We played outside until class started, and then the kids enjoyed playing a few more minutes after class.

It is so good to be all together again!

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Hard Work

It seems like we had a lot more leaves than normal this year.  We have completely raked our yard three times. I think we are finally finished.

I am so thankful for children who are willing to help us work hard. Then as a reward, they enjoy playing hard too!

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Capes

Girls capesIt all began innocently enough. An e-mail saying “Such a cute costume that I think you could get away with as a Sunday outfit” with a link to a sweet little cape tutorial.  I happened to show it to my girls.  Before I knew it, they were digging through our cupboard looking for the perfect material.

Within a week, and very little help from me, each girl had a new cape.  Each cape reflects their owner’s personality! Audrey used fleece because it is soft and snuggly. The reverse is bright and playful. Andrea’s cape is “satin” with long bow ties to show off the contrasting inside. Megan’s cape is made with pink denim and colorful hearts in easy to wash material.

Now the girls have capes that they use for church and for dressing up. Thank you Lilly for the idea!

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Safari

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This morning, we took a nature walk at the park.  We looked for leaves and pretended we were on a safari.  We drove around the “game park” looking for animals.  We discovered deer, turkey, flying geese, chipmunks and lots of squirrels.

Soccer Weekend

Soccer2This weekend, Andrea’s soccer team participated in a fall tournament. Even with cold and rainy weather, they played very well.

The first game was good, though cold!  The girl’s had a shut out game of 5-0.  The second game was miserable; it was very cold, breezy and started to rain.  However, the girls pulled off another shut out game of 8-0.  They were excited!  They knew they had a chance at the playoffs.

The sun was very low when they started playing at 8:15 Sunday morning with the weather clear and around 38 degrees.  It was a tough game.  The referee seemed very fair even with some controversial calls. We won again, 2-0.

We thought the third game was hard, but it was easy compared to the championship game!  Our girls ran and fought for the ball the entire game.  The other team was sneakily “dirty”.  They fell often and we noticed them tripping or pushing our girls. Our girls aren’t perfect, but usually play fair.  The referee tried hard and he called many of the fouls. After a very exciting, loud game, we ended up losing 0-1.

The girls played so hard!  Most of them needed a break, did not have enough subs, but continued playing their best. They ended up in second place!  We learned later that the last two games they played were with Level 1 girls, and our team is Level 3. So they played a lot better than they realize!

Accident

It was such a beautiful day, that when I went shopping, I left the kids at home to enjoy the weather.  When I returned home, Audrey came out of the garage and told me that she had a bad accident on the swing set while I was gone.  She said she fell off the swing and scraped her nose on a rock.

I noticed her limping and her foot wrapped in a bandage.  I realized that she was covered in bandages–in all different colors of face paint!

Accident

Flower Girl

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Megan was asked to be the Flower Girl for Esther’s wedding. She did an excellent job!  She stood with the bride’s maids during the whole wedding and then followed them nicely when they paraded behind the newly weds. You could tell she was a little nervous, but when the ring bearer broke away from her and ran down the isle, she still walked slowly to where she was supposed to be, tossing the bird seed she had been given.

She did not have flowers to carry, but we borrowed a small bouquet that Esther had for the flower toss at the reception because Megan thought they were pretty. She enjoyed being able to hold Esther’s bouquet some of the time too.

Here is what she thought of being a flower girl:

I wore a purple dress. It was sparkly! It was so sparkly in the sun. Miss Tracy painted my nails green and purple. Miss Crystal put my hair up in a bow and put flowers in my hair. Esther helped me put on my dress. Someone put on shiny lip stick.

My job was to walk before Essie and smile and show everyone my dress. They knew the bride was coming next!  It was an important job. I walked down the hill. I dropped birdseed down the hill before Esther came. I stood by Miss America and the girls. They were nice.

I was just standing when Esther got married. All the girls were watching too. When Esther kissed Essie’s Alan* it was the end. I followed the girls down the hill to the bridge.

Then we took ten pictures. Then we went inside. I ate lasagna, bread and cheese. Then I just had to look pretty. Then I went to Oma and Opa house!

I liked being a flower girl.

*“Essie’s Alan” is how we differentiate between my Allan and Esther’s new husband.