Merry Christmas!!

Here we are Christmas afternoon - I can't believe it's already come and half-way gone already! The boys are each enjoying their gifts - Josh on his PSP with a new game and Ian and Brian are working on Ian's new Lego Star Wars X-Wing. Ellie is napping although I may hear her waking up as I type. It has truly been a wonderful couple of days. Brian has taken the week to be off and accomplish some last minute Christmas stuff as well as just enjoy some down-time with the family.
Monday both he and I went shopping (separately) in the morning but had the afternoon to relax and do some gift wrapping. That night we had some friends over for dinner and enjoyed a couple of hours to get to know them a little better. Josh, however, was out having a movie marathon with friends! Tuesday he and Josh went had had some much needed "guy time" while I did some cooking and other activities. That evening we enjoyed a family dinner all together at the table - with the busy season it's been a while since that has happened and it was nice. We then were enjoying a family game of Rummikub when the doorbell rang and it was a group of carolers - all the Commanders and their spouses! What a lovely surprise!
Christmas Eve I spent some time in the kitchen and then realized I needed a couple of last-minute ingredients so we headed into town a little early for our Christmas Eve service so I could stop by the store before the service. What that meant for our family was having to get ready for church at 3pm! Not quite used to that! We had to wake Ellie up from her nap and although I had a beautiful Christmas dress ready for her to put on because we woke her up she was in no mood to change so we left her in the outfit she was wearing (thankfully it was a Christmas-y outfit). After a stop at Target we realized we were pretty early for church so Brian actually offered to stop and get us all coffee/cocoa - something that's never his suggestion! So, we went through the drive-thru at Cariboo Coffee and then headed to church. It was a lovely service but, unfortunately, it wasn't the candlelight service and we really enjoy that service but it was still nice. Once the service was over we headed home to some heavy appetizers - something we did last year on Christmas Eve and really liked. We'd invited some folks over but most had plans or just wanted to be home (which we can totally understand). We did end up with Josh's friend Chris and his mom (who works for Brian) and then a stop-by visitor, Colleen, who dropped by with gifts for us. Chris and Colleen are both in Josh's Calculus study group that meets in our home every Sunday afternoon and usually concludes with me feeding them all dinner. There's more of a story with that that I'll have to share another time or this post will be longer then it already looks to be! Anyway, it was kinda fun to have the group here and they all started playing games. It was a lovely way to spend the evening. Oh, our food was cheese fondue with bread and green apples, sweet and sour meatball, port-wine cheese with wheat thins and Christmas "wreaths" (similar to Rice-krispy treats but made from corn flakes and dyed green).
This morning the boys were happy to see that Santa had, indeed, come to visit and I don't think they were disappointed! Josh got a laptop, Ian got a Star Wars Xwing (mentioned earlier), Clone Trooper gun (nerf type) and a light up/sound purple light saber (we have termed this Ian's Star Wars Christmas), and Ellie got a travel magna doodle, lady bug tea set, cloth manger scene, and a cute dinnerware set she can eat on/with. They immediately noticed, though, that their stockings were not hanging with care! Turns out Santa sent them on a scavenger hunt to find them! I'll post later the hints and all that he left. It was a fun twist on our Christmas morning. We then opened our stockings, gifts from friends and family (THANK YOU EVERYONE!), and then gifts from each other. Brian's big/little present - I tricked him by telling him it was just a "little" something - was an Ipod Nano. I got some clothes (I wanted) and cool socks and pretty earrings. Plus, a hair straightener I wanted. So, it's been a wonderful Christmas for all of us! I hope it has been for you as well! I hope through all the gifts, food and good times together you take a moment to remember the baby born in Bethelem who gives us a reason for this season as well as hope for all year long! Merry Christmas to you All!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

What I Have Done

My friend, Amy, posted this on her blog, and since I have NOTHING (HA!HA!) else to be doing right now, I thought I'd participate!! I highlighted the things I HAVE DONE in Green. If I counted right, I have done 48 of these things!

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars (camping as a kid)
3. Played in a band (does band in high school count?)
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower (pretty sure I watched one in Columbus, MS)
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo (I'm counting this because my mom and I sang a duet in church when I was little and I don't think anyone really wants to hear me sing solo!!!!)
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea (in Singapore while safe in my house)
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train (going to East Berlin!!)
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse (I'm pretty sure so I'm counting it!)
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run (I'm counting the ones on the Wii)
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors (my ancestors lived in Savannah, GA, and I was born there!)
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing (I've climbed the rock wall at the gym, sort of)
40. Seen Michelangelos David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt (I'm pretty sure I did as a kid but I won't count it just in case)
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud (I used to love makind mud pies as a kid)
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie (No, but married to someone who has!)
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business (Stampin' Up! counts, I'm pretty sure)
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp (more than I'd care to)
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone (I sprained my ankle bad enough to be in a half cast for a while)
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life (I'm counting going and rescuing Brian from a storm)
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous (I'm pretty sure yes but because I can't think of who, I won't count it)
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

Our North Dakota Weekend

Well, the cold has definitely come to us here in North Dakota and to top it all off, we were expecting the worst blizzard they'd seen in 10 years starting Saturday. And, wouldn't you know we had a ton of things going on Saturday! But let me back up a minute to Thursday and I'll go from there (and include pictures as I go)!

Brian and I were able to attend Josh's performance on Thursday thanks to a friend volunteering to come watch Ian and Ellie for us. We really enjoyed the show and seeing him get to be the lead! All the pictures I tried to take of just him came out blurry but this one of all of them during the play turned out okay - he's got a pretty serious face going!

Friday night Brian and I went to his squadron Christmas party. It was well done and we had a good time.

Here's the run-down of our Saturday: Josh had the ACT at 8am, Ian had dress rehearsals for the church's children's Christmas musical at 10am and hockey at 12:15pm. Josh then had the final performance of his play that evening at 7:30pm. We were able to accomplish everything on Saturday plus finally get a tree before heading home that afternoon! The wind was definitely starting to pick up but the roads were still fine. I wasn't crazy about Josh still having his performance that evening and Brian taking him but it worked out okay and they made it home fine. (In the picture Ian's the one on the left in the white helmet.)

In my mind, a blizzard is getting dumped on with a bunch of snow and not being able to go anywhere. It turns out that a blizzard must just mean the roads are not able to be traveled on due to visibility. Because it's so flat out here and the wind is so fierce, it kicks up all the snow that is on the ground and blows it around so hard that you aren't able to see in front of you. That's how Sunday was. We were in road condition red which meant we were only able to be on the roads if we had to be at work or something like that. So, we stayed in our jammies all day, decorated the tree we'd gotten, finished decorating our ginger bread house, watched movies, did our advent devotional and had a nice quiet day at home. What got canceled Sunday due to the weather was Ian's first piano recital and his Christmas musical at church. The musical is rescheduled to this Sunday but I don't know yet if his recital is being rescheduled.

Here's a picture of our house today and you can see the snow drifts in front of our windows! The sun's out and it's simply beautiful - even if the wind chill is supposed to be near -40 degrees!!!

Great White North

Well, I was beginning to think the saying "Great White North" was just a misnomer - until today! Don't get me wrong, it's been cold but today we are finally getting some of the white stuff to go with it. I took this picture about an hour ago (it's currently 3:50 central):
This I just took so you can see it's piling up quickly!

Ellie and Santa

Yesterday the Community Activity Center had a tree lighting event where they had snacks, cider, the "official" tree lighting, kids singing carols, Santa, etc. Well, we arrived a little early so there wasn't much of a crowd and we were able to get Ellie's picture with Santa. I was surprised because Ellie actually held out her hands and went to him. Once she was in his lap, though, she wouldn't even look at him! Here are a couple of pictures. I remember when Ian was this age - he cried when I put him in Santa's lap so she did a great job!

Thanksgiving

I can't believe another Thanksgiving has come and gone already and we're already into December! Even though I was trying to be "prepared" for the season, I'm feeling as though I'm already behind and stressed out!!!! Part of the stress is not having renters for our house in VA yet so that's an expense we weren't ready for. We are hopeful and know that God has a plan and we're trying to be patient and see what that plan is.

As for our Thanksgiving... it was quite nice. We left last Wednesday and went to Brian's cousin's (Deborah) house in Wisconsin. I've never been to Wisconsin so that's another state I can cross of my "been to" list! We arrived there around 8:20pm and let the kids run amuck for a little while then tried to put Ellie down but after an hour and a half nap in the car before we arrived she, apparently, wasn't ready for bed. She ended up staying up with us until we went to bed (at least she was being cute during that time and not screaming) around midnight and since she was staying in our room she went on to sleep when we did and slept in until about 7:30am (which is kind of early for her) but, thankfully, napped well on Thanksgiving. We got up on Thanksgiving and had a yummy breakfast made by JJ (Deborah's husband). Then, we watched the parade and relaxed for a bit and the boys went with JJ to register some deer he'd gotten over the weekend. Deborah and JJ live on 120 acres and it's beautiful! He hunts right out his back door!! Brian's uncle Steve (Deborah's dad) and Judy arrived around 12:30 and we had a nice afternoon while the final preparations were done on dinner. We had 2 wild turkeys JJ got, a "fresh" ham (not cured or anything - straight from the pig), some stuffing, sweet potatoes, corn casserole, bread, zucchini bread (made by me and it's Deborah's and Brian's grandmother's recipe), broccoli and carrots and some home-made cranberry sauce. It was all quite delicious and we were all sufficiently stuffed. After a nice dinner we decided we should go on a little walk to make room for dessert. Then, we came back and had a choice between pumpkin pie, banana cream pie or apple pie a la mode - YUM!!!

Friday we got up and prepared to head back into the "cities". We left JJ and Deborah's around noon and got to the Mall of America (after a stop at Ikea) around 2pm and had a light lunch knowing we were planning to go to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. I had the great idea to get Ellie a smoothie (I make them for her and she loves them) since she wouldn't eat much lunch and I had them add a protein booster since she doesn't eat a lot of meat. Well, that was a mistake! After about 10 minutes she threw it all back up and it just kept coming. I bought her a new shirt after I thought it was over, got her changed and we were looking around again when it all started back up. So, I had to buy her another whole outfit!! (Thank goodness we were at the mall, right?!) It turns out the "protein booster" is made from milk!!! It just confirms for us once again that she is allergic to dairy!!! And, on her face where some of the throw up got she broke out!! It's really frustrating - especially since she doesn't eat much!!

Anyway, we ended up having a lovely dinner that evening at the Cheesecake Factory then called it a night. The next morning we went to Steve and Judy's for a lovely brunch then headed out to look at a couple of colleges for Josh - Northwestern University and Bethel - both Christian colleges. The Northwestern campus, although small, is quite lovely nestled between two lakes. We just realize that it's hard to make a decision about schools when you've only seen a couple and thought it a good idea to see some around here. This picture of Josh is at Northwestern on a bridge that connects to a little island chapel on campus - very picturesque even in winter!!

That evening we had dinner at a nice Mexican restaurant Steve and Judy recommended then headed back to the hotel. We got up Sunday morning and made one last trip to the Mall then headed home! Oh, I should mention that we woke up that morning to an inch and a half of snow! It was beautiful but we were glad to give it a couple of hourse before we got out on it. We arrived back here last night and there's no snow. Now, to get the fall decorations completely put away and get out the Christmas ones!!

We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving - giving thanks for all of your blessings, we have so many to be thankful for!

The Kids

Well, I don't actually have any pictures to post but thought I would do a quick post about the kids and stuff going on with them.

First, Josh found out last week that he got the lead role in the next school play entitled "Audience". It's set in London so he gets to practice his British accent! It's going to be a quick turn-around because the play is set for December 11, 12 & 13 and he has to have his lines memorized by this week and they just got the script last Thursday!! So, needless to say, he's busy. He's also started his practices for the science team and he sang with the youth praise band a couple of weeks ago.

Ian is enjoying our church's Wednesday night activities and is absolutely loving hockey. He's doing really well with his schooling and we're in week 12. We've been learning all about different countries and World History plus just finished reading as a family "Gladys Aylward." What a truly remarkable story about the way God works! He's doing well with his Math but his favorite is Science and he especially loves Fridays that are our "experiment" days!

Ellie is still growing. She's been a little under the weather in the last week with a runny nose and cough and the last couple of days a decreased appetite but we keep praying she'll get over it soon. One thing that Ellie started doing recently that really surprised me is whistling! I was whistling while taking her out to the car one day and I had stopped but I still heard a whistle - it was Ellie! Now she can do it on purpose and it's so cute! She is 17 months now and finally seems to be wearing about a size 12 months! She will cuddle dolls and stuffed animals and pat them while she holds them - simply adorable.

Me and Ellie

If you haven't figured it out yet, I can be pretty cheesy and yesterday was no exception except that this cheesy-ness was a couple of years in the making! While I was pregnant with Ellie I did some clothes shopping (of course) and found an adorable outfit size 12mos that looked similar to something I had. I had to get it but didn't realize that she would be almost 1 1/2 before she would wear it! Well, yesterday was the day (unbeknownst to Brian) and he asked me what I wanted her to wear for church and I told him. He got her dressed and then a little while later when I came out dressed he was like "Oh my goodness!" Well, we had to get a picture so here is my cheesy-ness in full effect!

Thank goodness my outfit still fit!

Ian and Ellie on Halloween

Just a quick note with pictures of Ian and Ellie on Halloween. Didn't get one of them together because Ellie wouldn't cooperate, but here's Ian as CloneTrooper Cody

and here's Ellie reprising her outfit as Pebbles again - ready to go with her bucket and her...crackers?! Yep, she wouldn't let go of the crackers! She did a great job and would try to say "Trick or Treat" and she would do her sign for "Thank you."

Earlier in the day, I took the kids over to the Medical Clinic because they were doing trick or treating there, too. One of the hallways did a fantastic job making it look like Candyland. Here's a picture of Ellie and I in that hallway.

Our First Snow!!!

Yes, it's official we had our first snow this morning!! The wind was blowing like crazy last night - it was amazing to listen to - and we awoke this morning to snow blowing all around. What's weird about it is that yesterday was beautiful - I think we almost got to 60 degrees - so to wake up to snow was just amazing! It, obviously, didn't stick around but I was smart enough to get a couple of pictures before we left for church this morning since it was gone by the time we got home. Our temps only got up to about 36 today so much different than yesterday and the wind has been blowing like crazy all day! I was hoping it would at least wait until November 1 but according to all the locals it has been unseasonably warm for October so I guess I should be happy!! The other picture (not of our house) is the field across from our house.

Halloween Festival

The base had a halloween festival last night and today indoors with games and stuff for the kids. Ian had his costume already - he's Commander Rex the clonetrooper but I haven't really gotten Ellie one. Well, on the fly I decided to put on her leopard patterned "sweatsuit" put her hair up on top and......

ta da - she's Pebbles!!!! Well, at least Pebbles that lives in North Dakota!! We got lots of comments on how cute she looked. I was surprised that she didn't mess with her hair at all. I really thought she would!!

It was also really cute because there was music overhead and she would just randomly start dancing. We tried to get it on video but this is as close as we could get and, yes, I'm sorry it is crooked so you'll have to tilt your head to the side!

Ian's Toothy Smile

I don't think I've mentioned it, but Ian has lost most of his top teeth except for one permanent one he's had for a little while. It gives him quite a toothy grin. Here it is in all of it's glory!

Stress-Free Holidays

Every year I realize I get to Christmas and didn't enjoy the season as much as I would've liked or as much as I did as a child. Some of that comes because I wait until December 1st to get my Christmas cards started (I hand-stamp all 120+ of them) or I'm "too busy" doing other things than to just enjoy some true down-time with my family and just BE! I love the holiday season and everything it entails - the lights, the gifts, the parties, the excitement, BUT more than all of that I enjoy what it's really all about - celebrating Jesus' birthday. I love birthday's and His is the best of all! I love reading the nativity story and trying to picture the scene in my mind, I love doing Advent wreaths with my family and reading the stories and scriptures to go with each one, I love reflecting on the past year and realizing how blessed I am. BUT, unfortunately, I don't always get to have those special moments because I get too bogged down with the rest of it. Now, I could do as some friends of mine have done and completely skip the rest of that stuff (all the material things) but because it's a part of what I enjoy about the season I just can't bring myself to do that. SO, I have a great little resource I want to share with any of you who might feel as I do. The place I order my Mom's Plan-It calendar from each year is a website called Families with Purpose and they have a free e-book called 8 Weeks to a Frazzle Free Christmas. I also happen to love to do lists so this is an even better resource for me! To download the e-book go to www.familieswithpurpose.com and click on the little banner that mentions it. The "book" includes worksheets and everything. I only printed out the book itself since I have places I put addresses and recipes and such but you could print all of it if you wanted! One reason I mention it now is that the 8 weeks started as of this past Monday - don't worry though, you haven't missed a lot and can still "catch up!" I hope it helps you to be able to have a stress free Christmas focused on the true meaning. (Leave me a comment if you decide to do it and we can check up on one another and share tips/ideas!)

The Pumpkin Patch

Ian, Ellie and I went to the pumpkin patch this morning with our MOPS group. It is literally about 2 miles from our house so it was pretty easy to get to. It wasn't the biggest pumpkin patch I've ever been to but it wasn't the smallest either. It was very quaint and had fun games for the kids and the weather couldn't have been better!! (Well, okay, I wish it had been a little warmer so Ian wouldn't have been wearing his coat - the color was all wrong! :)) Ellie didn't seem quite sure what to make of it and I couldn't get her to look at me for a single picture!! So, there aren't any OUTSTANDING photos but still some cute shots. LOVE this time of the year! I decided I should go ahead and create a little scrapbook with the pictures. Hope you enjoy!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Church and other deep thoughts!

Unlike some of the blogging I was doing in Alabama, I haven't done a whole lot of "deep thoughts" in a while. I was pondering this the other day as to what might have caused this change and a couple of thoughts came to mind: 1. I'm a little busier now with homeschooling and actually trying to get my business going with Stampin' Up! (R) again. 2. Brian and I have a little more time together now (don't know how but it's true) so I can chat more with him about things. 3. I've gotten a little bit addicted to Facebook and spend entirely too much time on that (wow, can't believe I actually admitted that on here!!!). Anyway, whatever the reason, it hasn't happened as much so I find I'm "searching" for things to blog about. It's not that we're any less exciting now than we were mere months ago, is it?! No, it can't be! We're definitely just as busy doing things but it's funny because I still feel like the pace has slowed down and I think it has a lot to do with WHERE we live!! Maybe I'm not such a city rat after all?!?! Nah, I still love the thrills of the city but perhaps I enjoy visiting it more than living in it. Moving on....

We are now living in the land of a plethora of churches to choose from - as long as you're Lutheran. Since we aren't it's been a little bit more of a challenge to find where the Lord wanted us to be during our time here. We have visited four churches and it turns out that it's not a good idea to visit churches during the summer here because none of their usual activities are actually going on and you have to revisit them all again once school starts back to really get a feel of the place. We think we have finally settled on a church and we're starting to try and get involved. The name of the church is Faith Evangelical Free Church and it is in the process of getting a new pastor. Their pastor before had been with them, if I remember correctly, something like 30 years and just retired. The pastor they've hired is a younger guy with a young family and he's coming in from California. He's here and getting settled and should be starting soon. We're hoping (we heard him preach while he was out here for his "interview") that his youth and vibrance will really be just what the church needs. Ian, Ellie and I went last week for the Wednesday night dinner so that Ian could then go to the children's choir and activities. (One of the things he asked me about before we moved here was if he could do choir this year so it was one of the considerations when looking at a church). Ian really enjoyed the activities and I ended up helping the MOPS (Mothers Of Preschoolers) steering committee get set up for their meeting the next morning. They convinced me I should go so I did the next day and really enjoyed it. It's now going to be a normal part of our routine and I'm looking forward to it (especially because most of the good friends I had in VA were friends I'd made through MOPS). Anyway, Brian brought Josh for the youth group and he really enjoyed that, too, so that was all we needed to know! We have really been praying about it and didn't really feel the Lord pulling us strongly in any direction but I think he's been quietly leading us there just through the people we've met.

Size in North Dakota

I have to tell about something we got a huge laugh out of the other night. We ended up going to this little diner our friends had told us about for dinner Monday night and the boys asked if they could have a cinnamon roll for dessert. Well, we originally thought about letting them get one and split it but they both complained about having to share so we decided to let them each get one thinking that we could all share two of them. Now, we made this decision having not actually seen them and thinking they were of normal human size. We should've remembered we're in North Dakota and portions seem a little bigger here. I saw the waitress coming with them and just burst out laughing because they were the biggest cinnamon rolls I think I've ever seen. So, of course, we had to get some pictures!!!

Needless to say we all shared one and took the other one home for another time!!

Boys Night Out

Last night, we got tickets for the boys to go see Stomp. I would've liked to have us all go (except Ellie) but at $30 a ticket, that adds up quick and, since Brian and I saw it a few years ago in Biloxi for my birthday, I decided the boys should just go. I knew they would love it. Plus, with only a year (maybe) left with Josh in the house I thought it would be something fun for the two of them to do together. I have fond memories of my brother and I doing stuff like that together before he left for college (he's six years older than I am). In fact, I remember us going dancing at a club one night (we lived in Germany at the time) - talk about being the envy of all my friends!!... But, I digress....

The boys had a great time at the show and came back telling us all about it. I hope it's a memory they'll take with them as I have mine!

Josh's Happenings

I haven't really posted much about Josh lately so I thought it time I did. Josh has adjusted pretty nicely to being here in North Dakota. He's enjoying his classes and seems to be doing pretty well in them. A couple of weeks ago he tried out for the upcoming school play and landed a role! He's one of five guys and seven girls in a play called, "And Never Been Kissed." He was pretty happy to get the part and is enjoying rehearsals. The show will be Halloween weekend.

Last weekend was homecoming weekend. He went to the game Friday night with a group from here on base. Then, Saturday, he met up with a group of people at a friend in town's house. I (in a separate car) went with him to her house so I could meet her and her mom. (I should clarify that she wasn't Josh's date just the person inviting everyone to her house before the dance!) The picture to the left is one of Josh with a girl they call Simon (on the left) and Alex is the one on the right. Very nice folks and looked like they were all having a good time. I would've liked to stay longer but Ian was still on base with friends and I told them I would be back by 4 and it was already 4 so I had to go. Since I wasn't there when they took pictures (once they were all dressed up) Alex's mom was nice enough to take some and Alex posted them on her facebook so I have a couple to share with you (thank you Alex and Kim!). You may or may not notice from the pictures but I took him to get a haircut before he went to Alex's house. He was not at ALL happy with the way it turned out and he's been surprised how many compliments he's gotten on it! He says, "Why can't people compliment the haircuts I like?" Oh, well, as he said, it'll only take about 2 weeks for his curls to come back!! He had a fun time at the dance and it sounds like fun was had by all. Plus, he was pleasantly surprised to discover that they played other music than just rap!!

Last night Josh told me he had something kinda surprising happen to him at school yesterday. He was walking through the halls when his Biology teacher stopped him and told him that he had recommended Josh to another teacher for the Science team! Then, his teacher happened to see the other teacher and introduced him to Josh and the teacher asked him something like, "So, are you really a genius?" Anyway, the Science team would start at the end of October and the competition would be in February. What's neat, too, is his Biology teacher is a Christian and has made it pretty clear in some of the things he says in class - which is great when in a Biology class! I told Josh that based on this (being asked to be on the Science team) and his true abilities in the science arena that, perhaps, he should consider doing something with it as a profession?! I told him that God gives us talents and abilities and we really are designed to enjoy our work and wouldn't it be cool to be able to make money doing stuff we love (plus, what we were designed for). I thought it interesting that he came up with Biochemistry - he enjoys both biology and chemistry and he's pretty good at both of them. SO, perhaps it's something he'll consider rather than feeling locked in to graphic design just because of the things he's done in high school.

Well, I think that brings you pretty up-to-date on the goings on in Josh's life. Please say a little prayer for him when you think of him with it being his senior year and trying to make some big decisions. Thanks so much!!

Funny from Ian

Yesterday during our school time, Ian and I learned about geese and how they "imprint" on the first thing they see when they are born. We just happen to own the movie "Fly Away Home" so we watched it after we were all done with school so he could see that it could, literally, be anything that the geese will follow. Well, later that evening Ian tells me a joke that he made up (unrelated to imprinting but about geese). He said, "Mom, why do the geese fly south for the winter?" The answer - so they don't get goose bumps!! I thought that was pretty cute.

Fun at the Playground

Well, I haven't posted anything in a little while so I thought I would post some pictures I took yesterday while we were at the playground. It was a beautiful day yesterday so we had to get out and enjoy it! You'll notice the pictures seem to have a haze on them and I think I realized why - little fingers left marks on the lense! ARGH! Oh, well, it just makes my kids look all the more heavenly! :) I'm including a few of Ellie so you can see how big she's getting! I thought the one of her looking at the slide looks like she's contemplating something serious!

Quick Ellie Update

Thought I would post a picture I took last week at a UND football game of Ellie. The reason I thought I would post it is you can see her tooth coming in (okay, you can only see it if you look at the big picture and squint to see her bottom gum area). Unfortunately, it does appear to be coming in crooked but at least it's her baby teeth and we can hope her permanent ones will be different!

Homeschooling

Well, I thought I would put out an update about homeschooling Ian. We officially started last week and our first week went quite well. We've really enjoyed our science so far (Dinosaurs and the Bible) and we've been doing the read-aloud book as a family and we've all be enjoying it. All of us look forward to each chapter and finding out what happens and we've each used "voices" to spice it up so that's been fun. Math looks like it's going to be a little bit of a challenge but it usually is for me - not because I don't get it but because I have a hard time understanding why HE doesn't get it! So, I've been praying for lots of love and understanding with that.

Another concern I'd had was how it was going to work with Ellie and God has been good because Ellie has done wonderful! With the way our schedule is working out she sleeps from about 10am-12pm and we're able get almost all of it done during that time so I've been able to focus on Ian. I'm sure some of that will change when her nap schedule changes but so far, so good!

This week has been a little more challenging with the holiday on Monday. We had a tough time getting into it yesterday and then this morning I had some training to go to so we didn't school at all today but I suppose that's the beauty of homeschooling!

I'm attaching a picture of each child - Ian's first day of school, Josh's first day of school, and one of Ellie on Ian's first day of school (she put on the sunglasses by herself)!

North Dakota Adventures

I keep thinking there are a few stories I want to share but they aren't specific to anything but then I realized they are some of our North Dakota adventures! So, I have a few of those I want to share now and I'll periodically share more as more come up.


The first adventure I want to share actually happened the day after we arrived here - the 4th of July! We were on our way home after the fireworks. We were on this stretch of open road (imagine that) that we believed was a speed limit of 70 the whole way. Well, after a little bit Brian starts to pull over to the side of the road and I was asking, "What's the matter?" and he says, "I think I'm being pulled over." I looked behind us and, sure enough, there were flashing lights coming from the car behind us. The officer came up to the window and says, "Do you know why I pulled you over?" To which Brian replies, "No, sir." He says, well you're doing 73 in a 55. Brian said, "Oh, we just arrived here yesterday and I thought it was 70." The officer says, "Well, there are these signs they're about "yay big" (using hand motions) - you'll see them if you're looking for them!" He ended up just giving us a warning but we still joke about the signs and our first and, hopefully, ONLY run-in with the local law enforcement!



The second adventure happened a few weeks ago. Brian is training to run a marathon in a couple of weeks in Ohio and because his knees started having issues the last time he tried to train he only does one big run a week. He was at the 16 mile run and he was getting all of his stuff together the night before when I asked him if he was going to take his phone with him and he said, "I wasn't really planning on it." I reminded him that he's always talking about safety and with as far as he was planning to go I felt like he should have his phone. So, although still reluctant he rearranged things so he would have it. He leaves EARLY to run before work and I sleep until my normal time. Well, the next morning I was awakened by the ring of the phone, answered it and heard the voice of my husband saying, "Joy, it's about to start storming, would you please come get me, I'm too far out to beat it home." So, I hopped in the car and went to rescue my husband from being struck by lightning. By the time I got close to where he said he was, it was POURING rain and lightning. I had slowed down to find him and finally saw him when he poked his head up from the ditch where he was croutched down. I finally got to be HIS hero (since he always seems to rescue me)!




Finally the last story I have to share isn't really much of a story it's just a point of interest. The boys got to go plow a wheat field a week ago. Brian has a lady that works for him who farms in the area and she invited us to join them on the combine. Well, it was later in the evening close to Ellie's bedtime so I stayed home while they went. They had a good time riding on the combine and thought it was pretty cool.

Ian is 8!!

Well, after quite a while of calling him almost 8 I can now officially call Ian "8"! I asked him earlier in the week what he would like to do for his birthday and gave him a few suggestions and he finally asked if we could go fishing. So, we made plans to do just that and got our fishing licenses so we would be "legal." Also, when I asked him what he would like to do about dinner his first response was, once again (that's what he had last year), cordon bleu (I get it from Schwan's so it' not like I make if from scratch). However, I hadn't yet started getting anything from the Schwan's guy here so I told him I'd try but that he might need a backup plan. Well, I tried but the day the Schwan's guy arrived, he had no cordon bleu. When I told Ian he promptly replied, "Well, I guess we'll just have to go to Boston's that way everyone can just get what they want!"

With all of that said, here's an overview of "his" day. Woke up and watched his normal Saturday morning cartoons and played a little play station while Brian got the breakfast ready he'd requested - crepes. (I'm only now realizing a french theme...) After we ate he opened his gifts from us and got 2 games for his Wii plus another kind of controller for it. Then, he got ready for the day and while Brian and I got ready for the day he and Josh had to test out one of his new games. I packed a picnic lunch and we were on our way to go fishing. Although it was a gorgeous day - the wind was pretty fierce and the first place we went didn't have a lot of cover so it was a little chilly. That place also had pretty grassy water so everytime you cast, you got caught in it so it wasn't much fun. After a little bit we decided to try another place and this time there was enough cover that the wind was blocked and it was beautiful. There were lots of frogs around and we played with one for a little bit. The fishing wasn't great (only little fish around) so we had fun just enjoying the area. Since we were going out for dinner that night we brought Ian's "cake" with us. I say it that way because it wasn't a cake. He requested Golden Graham's recipe of "Indoor Smores" as his cake! We got some great pictures and decided to head home for a little bit before heading downtown for dinner. While we were home Ian went to play with some friends for a little bit and after about an hour Brian got a call from one of Ian's friends dads saying, Ian had a bad fall you might want to come get him. Brian went to get him and they were home in a few minutes. He was fine but, apparently, had fallen off his bike and landed on his head that was covered in a helmet so it didn't do anything but put a little scratch in his helmet! Praise the Lord he was fine. Then, we left for dinner. After we got back he opened up his cards and gifts from our out of town family, played Wii for a little bit then called it a night. He said it felt pretty good being 8!

He is quite a character and many feel he seems older than 8 and to be honest he is pretty independent and capable and thinks on his feet better than some teenagers I know. But, I have to remind him he's only 8 and he can't go to the store and swimming pool by himself even though he thinks he should be able to. And, yes, he has great ideas but if I've already asked him to do something he needs to do what I asked - not what he wanted! My neighbor told me he's like talking to a little adult and he really can be that way. It'll be interesting to see how this year goes with me homeschooling him! I plan to try and start tomorrow - say a little prayer for me that I will be covered in love and wisdom (because wisdom leads to patience)!!!

Have I mentioned...

Ellie is walking??!! She doesn't do it consistently but she is definitely getting more and more adventurous with it! We actually witnessed her doing it for the first time the day after our anniversary but I finally got it on "video" yesterday to share with you. Also, her first tooth has finally broken the surface! I felt it (against much protesting) on the 14th but think it might have broken a little before that. She really is growing up! Well, I suppose since she's 14 months now that it's okay - we got to keep her "little" for quite a while. Oh, she is also trying to say some words - ball, juice, please are a few that come to mind.

Josh's School

Well, Josh starts his Senior year tomorrow and he is really looking forward to it. He's been at a different high school every year of high school career and he's handled it all really well. Part of what has him excited about this year is the school itself. It's a school with history in that it opened in 1917. It's a really neat building in the downtown area and we went Monday to check it out and walk his route so he'll have an idea of where he's going tomorrow. We even got to meet some of his teachers while we were there so that was nice. He took some pictures of it while we were there and I thought I would share a couple of them with you. The one on the left is the "main" entrance. The center one is looking down a hallway on the first floor (there are four) and the one on the right is a picture of part of the cafeteria area. Should be fun!

A Field of Sunflowers

Last week a friend took us to pick some raspberries at a field not far from our house. While we were there I saw a field of sunflowers and thought it would be fun to do a photoshoot with the sunflowers. So, although, I would love to say we just happened along this field today and decided to stop and get some quick pictures...I can't. It was a planned event complete with some fussing at the kids! Ellie, however, really wasn't quite in the mood so I wasn't able to get any good shots of her by herself but some of the others came out pretty well. Since there were so many, I've compiled a little slideshow for your viewing enjoyment!! I hope your summer days are filled with fields of sunflowers, too!