Wednesday, August 27, 2014

First Day of School

This year we enrolled Jack in A Beka Academy, and he has his lessons online with a teacher and classmates, and I am the helper.  Yesterday was our first day and I thought it would be full of bumps, but it went very smoothly!  I wanted to start on the same day as my mom so we can stay pretty close to her schedule.  So our school room has undergone a couple of new things.  We bought some chalkboard adhesive paper and made a larger chalkboard and I moved my desk so I can control and watch the lessons as well and we got a TV to project it onto so Jack can pay better attention.  It helps!  So our school room is evolving!  I feel we've come a long way since last year when we started out in the kitchen at our other house.  



Ready for masterpieces!





Have to have a party!  This was our celebrate summer party last week.  I asked what their favorite parts of the summer were.  Jack said the Wow Zone and Ava said the watow powk.  (Water park).  Of course, we had just done those things last week so that's what was on their mind.  But we did have a great summer.  I'm not really ready to say it's over quite yet.  I loved our trip to Colorado I think the best.  What an opportunity to see so many things (and family), and I like that we drove and were able to stop along the way and see some amazing sites like Mount Rushmore.  I'm sad to say good bye to it.  I'm not ready for the weather to change quite yet and I know now that we've started school, it goes and goes and goes until May.  But it was fun getting ready for it to start, and I'm very excited about the opportunity for Jack to have a great 2nd grade year!  
Somebody was motivated to stay up and read all night after the first day of school. It lasted about 15 minutes I think.  

State Fair

We love the fair!  Matt and I even met at a fair of sorts.  We met Gandpa and Grandma there and they spoiled us all as usual.  It was the first time in 7 years going without a stroller!  We were high fiving until we realized there were some drawbacks too.  Where do you put your stuff and mainly, where do you put your kids when they get slow?  And then we realized that the kids all of a sudden have opinions about what we should do next.  And they weren't as excited about the same things we were.  It's probably how our parents felt when we were kids.  But we had fun and drove there and home in the same day.  Well, Matt did.  I was falling asleep within a few minutes on the way home.  We were tired and sore and grimy but full of good fair food and full of good memories and experiences from 2014!  




More Random-ness

We were able to see some cool planes last week while visiting some church families.  One of our members owns a company that works on planes so he showed us around and this is the one we want!  


Bowling with buddies!  
A garage sale find from Grandma Cushman
This is my motivation for school!
Here are a few housey things we've done.  We took the bunk beds apart.  I wanted to start out that way but I knew the kids wanted bunk beds.  I like it better this way and it also gives us more sleeping space.  


A new bathroom cabinet made from a shelf in the kids' room.  
The benches I found on the junk days were not holding up so well so I took the plunge and bought one.  Now I don't have to worry about my guests falling off and getting injured.  I guess there's some things you just should leave on the side of the road.  
My new TV stand - it has wheels!  Why do I love anything that has wheels?  They don't actually roll which is probably good with the TV on it.  The other one went downstairs for the school room and goes perfectly down there.  

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Other random doings

I pulled out the last diet coke and it was appropriately a "Mom" one.  I don't think there will be a Shannon one.  
Jack learning to tie.  We should have done this a while ago but just haven't. 
A farmer friend's pigs - 5 babies

Weekly Wrapup!

Busy last few days as we went to the Martin County Fair and the church softball tournament and then last night, we went to the Wow Zone in Mankato with all of the kids for a back to school bash.  So fun!  And now looking forward to the state fair and of course the dreaded S word (school - shhh!)  Since Jack would have been in my mom's class this year at Woodcrest, she is just pretending that he is and includes him in all of her 2nd grade fun!  I love that, and I love you, Mom!  So we will probably start up this week or next.  I just need one more good work day to get it all arranged.  Then there will be pictures!  But in the meantime, here are the ones from the past few events.  Jack was busy with Noah and had gone to the fair with him, so we took Ava.  She said one (kid) is bettow!  It's fun to get her by herself sometimes.  She's holding her ear because of the tractor pull, I think.  


Yet another picture with Levi and Lexi!  Softball tournaments are fun because we have all day to play.  They were so filthy, you could almost see a cloud of dust around them.  This was taken before all of that happened.  


Ava being a puppy at Jack's soccer game
Noah building Lego machines at our house
The Wow Zone with our buddies





Monday, August 11, 2014

Threshing Bee

We were back at Heritage Acres yesterday for the Threshing Bee!  So fun and so much going on.  This was the first time we really got to spend time out there with all of the buildings open.  I loved it!  Especially the house of course and the one room schoolhouse with a teacher there who had actually taught in a one room schoolhouse years ago.  It's such a picturesque place and so full of history.  There were vendors selling all kinds of things, good food, and Matt got an ice cream float - one of his favorite things. The kids got to ride a tiny train and take the corn off the cob with the old hand cranked machine along with play on the playground and make huge bubbles.  We also ran into a few friends there so that made it even better.  I got a framed chicken wire wall hanging for pictures and momentos, so a good time was had by all!  



Corn at the Sennes


What a blessing to be able to get fresh sweet corn and what a blast to help cook and freeze it and an added bonus have it all winter!  The Sennes are faithful people in our church who are farmers and givers.  They gave us corn last year and we had no clue what to do to freeze it (being city folk) so they did it with (for) us.  It got us through most of the winter, and I became a corn snob only wanting their corn.  The kids got in on it this year, and I am able to proudly say they actually were a help.  I try to always say yes when they want to help.  Jack was excited to use a knife - eek! - and Ava got to scoop.  And we all get to partake in this sweet goodness for many months to come!