Autumn.

Autumn is definitely one of our favorite seasons (OK, so there's only 4 seasons, and I would probably say that about everyone of them...except winter-but Nathan loves winter!) The weather here, like many places, has been beautiful. It's been sunny and 80 degrees almost everyday, but 50's at night-perfect for sleeping with the windows open...also did I mention no humidity! Yes, it's been wonderful.

Gorgeous Autumn weather + Saturday equals annual trip to the pumpkin patch. We ventured to a new place this year called Garden of Weedin'. It's very "earthy" and affordable...not at all commercial, and really great. The kids had a lot of fun finding the right pumpkin, and I had a great time searching through the produce shed.

I went home with 2 large pumpkins, 2 butternut squash, 2 acorn squash, and 7 mini pumpkins
for about $5.00!

We were able to meet some friends from Church. They have a daughter the same age as Ella as well as a son the same age as Nathan.

(Adeline, Hannah, Nathan, Ella, and Joel)

Now we just need to light our pumpkin candle, have some pumpkin muffins (or maybe some pumpkin pancakes), and do some leaf prints! Oh yeah, and who could forget the apple orchard...hopefully we'll have pictures from there next!

Go Twins!

This past September, we finally made it back to the Twin Cities, and finally made it to our first game at the new ballpark, Target Field (Target seems to own everything over there, but I still love Target). It was a great stadium, a great time...horrible team, but still lots of fun! We entered at gate 34, for the late great Kirby Puckett of course.

The nice thing is that you can walk around the entire stadium and still watch the game. Since the game wasn't so entertaining, we did this for 6 innings:) Here is a view from standing room.

Here is the view from our seats. Not bad for $10. (Sadly, it was way too easy to get tickets under value).

Angie was able to go too! Notice the puffy vest-the only disappointment (besides the team) was that it was cloudy and cold when we went. Thankfully as the game got going the sun came out and it warmed up. We were also able to go with Jake and Nicole Klein, Angie's bro and sis-in-law and good friends of mine.

It was a noon game, so of course we enjoyed some stadium dining...this was taken from where we ate. There are tables around the entire stadium where you can stand and watch the game while you eat.

The kids stayed with Grandma and Grandpa, though next time we'll definitely bring Nathan because he would LOVE it! This does mean however that Matt was the main subject for the pictures. Here is with Twin's Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew.

(this is all I got...not a whole lot of effort on Matt's part:)

But, this is better...here is Matt with Kirby.

It really is a great stadium and something I hope we can make an annual tradition. Even though the Twins were terrible this year (just one shy of 100 losses), they'll always be a team we love to cheer for and always something Matt and I will have in common...Go Twins!

See Bug.

We got 2 pets: Jaysa and Popcorn, 2 very active fuzzy, orange caterpillars. Nathan was very excited because he found one all by himself in the tall grasses, and all the kids helped set up a home for them. As caterpillars, we observed them eating ferociously everyday (now we now where that book the Hungry Hungry Caterpillar is coming from), and had lots of fun when they would try to escape (we once found one crawling down the table leg).

Sadly I must report that Popcorn, who was very lively, escaped for good, and Jaysa though she spun a beautiful cocoon has not emerged...and we're losing hope (and interest). Also, it was a cocoon, which means we were raising a moth, which didn't bother the kids at all, but I was a little disappointed.

Addie, who is terrified of most animals, was greatly intrigued by the fuzzy creatures. Though she would never never touch one, she also couldn't keep away from watching them through the glass. She would always climb on the stool saying "see bug, see bug". It's a good picture of her energy (always climbing!) and curiosity!

Clint & Amber's Wedding.

Labor Day weekend we were blessed to get to attend a wedding of one of my high school friends. The kids were all excited...Ella just wanted to see a bride in a pretty dress, and Nathan just wanted to dance:)

It was a beautiful outdoor wedding, very casual and rustic, with a twist of elegant:) My friend, Amber, is beautiful and deserves a better picture...but sitting through a wedding ceremony with 3 children doesn't lend to lots of photos, so thus I only have this:

But, hopefully it gives an idea to how beautiful it was, and how perfect the weather was too!

Matt and Nathan during the ceremony. To save money they had all the guest just bring their own lawn chairs. It worked well.



Here's Addie with her matching dress buddy, Brandy. Brandy is another high school friend of mine


Both of the girls enjoyed the "kiddie table".

There were no other children there that our kids knew, but they had a great time-they are willing to run around outdoors with anyone:)

I'm very blessed to have great high school friends that I continue to keep in touch with. We will always be close-even if we don't talk for a year...though I much prefer that we do (talk that is). Many of them live in the Sioux Falls area, so it's great now to see them more often.

Brandy, me, Jenny, Beth, Shannon, Virginia

(Jenny was a bridesmaid, and we were wearing very similar dresses:) Oops, I wasn't trying to look like a member of the bridal party.)

Here we are again, though with the Bride (Amber) this time. If I look a little akward it's because Ella had her hand up my dress.

It was a beautiful night and I wish the best to them!

Friends?

Could it be?

Could Addie and Micah (Bucka as Addie likes to call him) be sitting close and playing nicely? Normally Addie would be trying to attack, but here she seems ok with him. She's always loved him, but in that "hey, I love babies...but let's be clear that in this house I'm the baby!" sort of way. So, it's good to see Addie being nice and Micah sitting calmly without fear:)

I should note that I did not leave them unattended in the basket:)

Rocket Launched.

Sometimes Matt gets these ideas-then he just does it.

Here is one said idea:

It's a little difficult to see in the picture-but Matt, with the help of my dad and Nathan, built a rocket launcher out of some PVC pipe and various other things. Nathan is holding the trigger (rope), and Matt is pumping the air from a bike pump. The rocket, a 2-liter filled with water of course.

I should also note that this was an idea he got this summer when some cousins of his built something similar in Wisconsin...those Zimmermans:)

(I got distracted and took a quick picutre of Ella's messy, wind-blown braid)

Here is the cheering squad. They would take turns pulling the rope to launch the rocket. Everyone else would chant "Nathan, Nathan, (or whoever was pulling the rope) over and over again. So fun. Did I also mention we were watching 4 other kids for the day? It added to the fun.

Here's Matt getting in ready...pumping it up.

And it's off! I didn't get a picture of the bottle in the air because it was much too bright (even if it wasn't I'm not sure I would've been able to follow that thing!) But here you can see the water coming out of the bottle as it is shot up.

I was running in an out of the house, so unfortunately I didn't get photos of everyone pulling the rope. But it was fun to look at everyone's reaction!

Hudson, the birthday boy...just turned 4.Grace.

Patie.

It really wasn't difficult to pull, but everyone acted like it was!

Nathan's already asked to take it out again today, I'm sure it will make a few more launches yet this year.

Also, if you're interested you can see the instructions to build one yourself here. Matt of course added some variations.

September.

We've had a great 3-day weekend...lots of times with friends, Lifelight, and some relaxing. I've enjoyed a start to a new month, which means a fresh new routine with homeschooling and homemaking.

Our biggest September adjustment will be homeschooling Nathan in kindergarten (and doing pre-school with Ella), while we also adjust to having my nephew Micah (8mos) with us everyday. Nathan and Ella will both be doing a curriculum called Five in a Row, while Nathan also does added phonics and math, and Ella works on numbers and letters.

In response to this new busyness (and to last month's grocery budget explosion), I'm attempting to simplify life. Though it definitely took some time and planning, for the first time I wrote out an entire monthly menu-I've done weekly and bi-weekly, but this was a new challenge. (I did do themes to simplify it...Wednesday is soups, Thursday is chicken, Friday is favorites, etc.) So, I did a big shopping trip for the whole month on Sept. 1, and I'll go back on roughly the 15th to restock on produce and dairy...but nothing else! My goal is to save a couple of hours of time, and at least $100. I'll let you know how I do:)

I've also been creating a new baking schedule. I love to make homemade bread, muffins, granola/granola bars, and these:

Yes, it takes more time-but the kids and I both enjoy doing it, and it's a lot cheaper and a lot healthier. I just find a couple of days a month that will work, and try to do lots at a time. I'm even becoming strange to my family and soaking grains and using products like kefir and coconut oil. Anways, I'm loving that my family is eating healthier.

So, for now my day is getting ready and school in the morning with some playing outside, lunch and stories in the afternoon, usually with a little t.v. time in there, then naps, and dinner prep. Now that school is in session my evenings are filled with on-line tutoring, school prep, and hopefully just relaxing! My day in a nut-shell; ideally bookended with some prayer and time with the Lord.

(if you've read this far, sorry for the useless info...archiving my life as it happens is not always exciting... cute pictures of children to come:)