Last Bike Ride of the Season

After two months of rain, rain, rain, we had a sunny day last Saturday and took advantage of the warm Indian Summer Day by loading up our bikes and hitting the trails one last time! It felt sooo good to be out in nature peddling away. It was neat to see things that are usually hidden by all the trees now that the leaves are all off.
Hannah rides in the red "burly" type carrier with all sorts of drinks, snacks and buddies to keep her company. She wants to ride with us like a big girl, so next year we may have to come up with another alternative.
We rode 10 miles (20 total) from Welch Village to Cannon Falls. When you get into Cannon Falls there is an awesome old train station building that is a photographer's delight. I always drool over it when we pass by. I finally got the family to take a break there and smile a few times for me. Someday I'd love to do a full photo shoot there of the girls. I love the textures and colors of the old wood.
Isn't this view beautiful? It is in Welch, where we started our ride. In the summer you can also go tubing there and there is a great ice cream shop there as well:)
Now I guess it's time to put our bikes away and snuggle in for the winter. Hannah and I were working on a quilt for her today so maybe that will get me motivated to get some sewing done over the winter months. I used to hate January because it is so depressing and cold and it reminds me of the babies we have lost, but when I discovered how much sewing I can get done in January, I decided that maybe I could start to like January again.

Oh yeah, and you all would be happy to know that I managed to eat chili tonight, with my kids for dinner - what an accomplishment!

Mom's Dinner Menu - Hostess Cupcakes, Twinkies and Peanuts...

Oh, what is a tired mother to do? Daddy has been gone hunting all week and us girls are going a bit crazy about now. I wanted to hang the children up by their toes this evening, but as we all know that is not acceptable, so I did what I had to do. I put them to bed and then started eating. First a chocolate hostess cupcake... you know the ones with the yummy white filling inside? Then next, a twinkie. Oh, I can feel the stress melting away now. The house is quiet and the chocolate is starting to calm me down...

So about an hour after the cupcake and twinkie, I started to wonder why I was feeling hungry. I went in search of another snack and landed upon some peanuts. Then my brain awoke and I realized that I never ate dinner. Well, I guess it turns out I ate a cupcake, a twinkie and peanuts for dinner. And then because I was such a good girl I gave myself a few candy marshmallow peanuts for dessert. (Don't tell my mom, please!)

Uff Dah. No, don't get all worked up, the kids ate a very nice well rounded meal of mixed veggies and spaghetti - ohs. But somewhere in that mix of dinner I missed the part where I am suppose to join them in the eating of the healthy food. Oops. Anyone out there, can I get an amen? Oh, Ted, please come home soon!

Now, really, we have had some fun, but 3 women in a house all week with no maleness to bring some balance? It's a setup, I tell ya!

On a happy note, us girlie's did make it to the rock climbing outing with our home school group this morning. The girls did an awesome job climbing, but guess who forgot her camera? Has that ever happened before? Not to my knowledge. Yikes! And, even mommy gave it a go at the climbing. I made it to the top two times... It made me feel like I was 15 again, climbing at Taylor's Falls with my youth group. Hopefully next time I can get a few pics of the climbers.

Sleep sweet everyone. It's time for mama bear to sign off. But maybe just one more cupcake before bed.... Just Kidding! (Okay, maybe just a bite of chocolate...)

The Butter Dance

Last week we had some Pilgrim fun as we made our own homemade butter. It was so much fun... it brought back memories of when I made butter in Kindergarten! All you do is put some heavy whipping cream in a glass jar and shake, shake, shake. And just when you think it will never happen, it suddenly turns into a big glob of butter! I know that you are going to want to make your own after you watch this video:)

My Very Verbal Child

I am sitting here correcting last weeks worksheets while Emelia is doing art. Here is a snippet from one of her worksheets that will make you smile.

"Write two sentences about what Don will do with his sled the first time it snows."

Here is her answer:

"Don got a new sled. When it snows I will go sledding. And when it snowed he got out his sled. He went down down down the big snowy hill. It was fun. His mother maid hot chocolate after. It was good. :)"

Yeah, that was 7 sentences...

This girl came out with something to say! I can't wait to see how God will use this gift as she grows!

PS - Did you catch that phonetic spelling, "maid". I think deep down she meant what she wrote, "mother maid". Aren't we all?

Fall Fun Fest!

Since I am not much of a fan of Halloween, but the girls still like to dress up in costumes, we have found a great alternative at the local church called a Fall Fun Fest. They have games and candy for the kids, and it's in a safe, lighted, non-scary environment. So here they are doing the cake walk, which was Hannah's favorite game. The both were excited to win a cupcake:)You can probably tell that Hannah is a Ballerina Princess. Emelia is being the American Girl Molly. These days she loves American Girl anything. And since mom did not get the elaborate costumes sewn for them that she had hoped to (maybe next year!), Emelia the creative woman dug through the closet and came out saying, I've got a Molly costume! Yay for Emelia and Yay for Mom, who did not have to stay up until 3am the night before, sewing:)
And just who are these two adorable honey's you ask? My neice and nephew. It was Clara's first birthday last weekend and I happened to catch a shot of Clara and Zion together for their moment on the rocking chair together. And these two lucky babies are both getting a new sibling next spring. One of my sisters is due in March and one is due just a few weeks later in April. I only wish I could join the pregnancy bandwagon and say I am having one in May, but a friend of mine has taken that slot as well. I've missed the slots for June and July and probably August as well. I've always wanted a fall baby, so maybe God will open up my womb soon and bless it:) In any event, we are all enjoying these new little lives in our family and I love having new subjects to capture. Don't you just want to eat these two up? I know that their Nana does!
And here are all of the cousins together. "Z" is a giraffe, Emelia as Molly, Hannah as Ballerina and Clara as a Bumble Bee. Happy Harvest Ya'll.