Strawberry Pickin'!

Beautiful, red, ripe strawberries!

(a preview shot of the loot)

It's that time of year again...and we took our 2nd annual trip to Sanderson Gardens in Brookings to pick strawberries. Well, Matt and Nathan actually stayed back and went fishing (which they caught about 10 fish, one of which was Nathan's first ever! Way to go boys!) Me and the girls met my mom, Amy, and Mayah, and got a perfect day for picking!

Mayah's harvest...get that bucket full!

Addie did much better than anticipated. I guessed she would just sit in the straw and gorge on strawberries the whole time. But, she only ate about a half-dozen.

Here's the crew (minus Amy):

total I brought home 19 lbs of strawberries!

Nana and Ella coordinated and wore their red strawberry picking shoes:)

(I love how these are her "sparkly princess shoes". Really they are so worn I don't think they have any sparkle left...but if Ella has her say, she will wear them until her toes grow out the ends!)

Pizza Perfection.

It's been cold this year...and at times it's been hot this year, but finally the other day, it was just right! It was friday night, so we were doing pizza anyway-so we decided to move it out to the grill. This is the second time we've tried pizza on the grill-and both times it has involved lots of running back and forth and a little burnt crust. But, it was soooo worth it! I think we got it down so next time it will be smooth sailing!

(this is my pizza, which was made last...you can see Matt's in the background, which was made first...with a little char).

5.

We are having a bit of a crazy week...

Everyone just returned home yesterday-the kids and I went on a family retreat to Spearfish, SD with my parents, sisters and their families. While Matt went to Minneapolis to visit his grandma, then on to Medford, WI for a family reunion of his own. Yes, we were 800 miles apart, and it broke my heart that I couldn't be with him and his family. But, he had a great time and was able to say good-bye to his grandma before she went to be with the Lord on Sunday July 3, 2011.

Tomorrow we will leave again to go to the Cities for the funeral.

Today Matt's mom is here. The kid's time with her is so treasured by them, we hate to have to leave when she is here, but so it goes.

In the midst of this, Nathan you are 5! You seem so big, yet still so little. You are still the same "passionate" kid as you have always been. It's not uncommon to hear you exclaim multiple times a day that you are having your "worst day ever!", and then later, "your best day ever!".

You are still so smart-you can easily read most "reader" books, and you even started reading a few chapter books. You amaze us with your math skills, and how easily you catch on to adding and subtracting.

You are sweet and shy-yet rough and tough. You love to wrestle with daddy, practice your head stands (which you once held for 8 seconds), play catch with your ball and glove, and of course, watch movies (or really any t.v. at all). Inevitabl, you will retreat to a room by yourself and read books if you are with a large group for more than a couple of hours. It's how you recharge.

I think your love language is gifts-but we are trying to hard to train you to have a thankful heart! You are amazing, wonderful and will always be my baby boy.

We love you!

Little Day on the Prairie

Ever since we started reading the Little House series, we (or at least I) have been excited to visit the Homestead in De Smet. On Memorial Day we went to De Smet for their annual Memorial Day service at the cemetery (which is only about 5 minutes and we missed because Ella had to go to the bathroom...but we still got to see lots of my extended family and visit family grave sites). Afterwards we took our little half-pints and farmer boy to the Homestead for the afternoon. We just finished reading On the Banks of Plum Creek when we went. Now we are a few chapters into On the Shores of Silver Lake, so we'll have to visit again when we finish- since this is the first book based in De Smet. (once you pay, you can go ALL year!)

It was lots of fun! It's very authentic and very hands on. There are actually signs up that say, please touch everything! Needless to say all the kids had a great time.

There are several buildings set up on the land. Some are originals that have been moved on to the property, and some I believe are replicas.

Here is Addie in the first shanty that we looked in. She instantly went to the hat and put it on.

Ella in the same shanty "pouring some tea".

When asked at the end of the day what his favorite thing was, Nathan answered "the water pump". We did have to pull him away from this-I'm sure it wasn't so fun when you had to do it though.

Thankfully Ella and Addie were content to let Nathan do all the pumping, and the would do all the splashing. If you can't tell from this picture, it was very windy!

We steadily moved along from place to place...next we went to the house that Charles built, which started as a one room shanty, but later became a 3-room house. Here's Ella trying out the sewing machine.

Poor Addie was not quite big enough to sew.

This woman told them all about the house, and then taught them how to make button toy (using a button and a piece of string) and also how to braid to make a rug.

Nathan testing out his button toy:

Addie even payed attention as the woman spoke and caught a button toy of her own.

Here's Matt helping Nathan with the braiding. It was good for Nathan to try, but still pretty difficult for Ella.

Outside the home we got to use some homemade soap (which they made from the ashes of the stove) and wash some clothes!

Nathan's turn!

After they are washed, you have to hang them up to dry of course!

Next stop...pony rides! There were two bigger ponies and a little cart which were already out, so Ella and Nathan got to ride this adorable little thing. Ella LOVED this, she even went out twice.

Ella is shucking some corn at the machinery shed. Here they learned all about The Long Winter, and everything they had to do to survive, like burning straw for heat and grinding wheat in their coffee grinder to make flour.

Addie & Papa. Addie doesn't seem so sure about her corn cob doll. She did get more affectionate, but then later disrobed it and try to eat it!

Nathan making a rope! Nathan got to make a lasso, and Ella made a jump rope.

This is a little out of sequence, but after you put the corn through the machine and get all the kernels off, you get to make a corn cob doll. Nathan made two so he could give one to Addie.

All of the workers at the Homestead were awesome! They really focused on teaching the children and letting them experience everything.

Our final stop was the school house. This was on the edge of the property so we took a wagon ride.

Ella got to drive the team, Sam and David.

School time!

Hearing about country schools like this actually makes home schooling seem easy!

Nathan as usual was a great little student.

All the little boys got a hat and all the little girls got a bonnet and sun dress to wear in the classroom.

We're excited to go back again! I'm a little biased, but it was a great way to spend the afternoon-so educational yet no one thinks about it because they're having fun!

It also doesn't hurt to follow up with a trip DQ!

Summer Days.

Though the weather doesn't always show it, it's beginning to feel a lot like summer...our days and evenings are full of walks, bike rides, trips to the park, ice cream (or frozen yogurt), and lately swimming lessons.

It's nice that our days are more open and care-free.

Lately the kids have asked me why we haven't been doing pre-school. The short answer is that Nathan has swimming lessons everyday at 10:30...but I'd like to think that we are just learning as we live right now. There are so many opportunities as we are out in nature, at the store, or where ever. So this summer, school is casual. We'll still do lessons on the days it works-but look forward to the other opportunities that arise with this season.

In the Garden

By now it's been a few weeks-but on May 19th we got our seeds in the dirt. Well, when I say "we" I mean Matt and our friend Jim (the night we went to plant someone else has planted in our plot! So, Matt went back the next day and did it after work). It was great timing because then it rained all weekend.
After all the rain and it warmed up a little (though not a lot), the kids and I went out to plant the tomatoes and the peppers. We planted 6 tomato plants, 1 red pepper, 1 green pepper...and 1 basil.

Here's Ella working on getting a tomato in the ground.

Matt and Nathan doing the same. I'm hoping the tomatoes are successful and I'll get my first try at canning!

Working together: Gardening with a 4, 3, and 1-year old is not always easy or productive, but I do try to keep it a positive experience. (That being said, I did yell at Ella for stepping where seeds were planted, which resulted in much crying. I forget how sensitive and affected by words she is...odd since I am the same way!)

I'm so glad they all love it! Since this day, we've been back to plant some flowers (a requirement of the city for having a community plot or I wouldn't have done it), weed once and water twice.

Ella especially is our little gardener...she seems to care the most about the actual plants and not just being in the dirt (or in Nathan's case running the hose).

Do you notice that they all have boots on? Another requirement was to lay down 3 bags of manure fertilizer...the garden looks and smells extra fresh!