Kittens!

Our friends the Hoffmans have a beautiful farm that we love to visit, and last week when we went, they had kittens!  I don't think the kids had been around kittens much if ever.  They were very friendly and so cute.  And no, we did not bring any home!  But fun to hold and play with for a little while. 

Jack's Habitat Project

I'm so glad he chose the ocean and not something else since I had all kinds of stuff for this project.  And I think this is really his first school project.  He painted the inside of the box and dumped my Florida sand in it and then arranged the shells and coral and sand dollars.  And Matt had fun helping prop up the sharks with nails on little stands.  This is a really fun stage!

Center Creek Orchard

What a perfect fall weekend to go to the apple orchard!  We had a few families from our church join us and really had a great time.  Nancy even came for it!  So we enjoyed that too!  There was a ton of things for kids to do, but of course we got in on the action too.  There was a huge slide that we all slid down.  Even me!  And a haunted forest and a maze and stuffing scarecrows and bouncy houses and pedal go karts and of course a hayride and kiddy train rides.  Oh the fun we had!

Goofy Glasses Night

A new record for this year and last at Kids 4 Truth this past week.  19!  We have split the kids a little, and so I now have a class of 4 - 6 year olds.  I really have enjoyed them, and I think it helps them to have their own class and attention.  So far they seem to like it.  Here they all are in the opening exercises sporting some goofy glasses.  There's definitely a lot of energy this year!  I also have taken on a 2-3 year olds Sunday School class.  We had a need for one, and it seemed like something I could do.  So I did.  I'm glad we have had a need since that means more  people!

Freddie's

We've enjoyed Freddie's Steakburgers in Maple Grove a couple of times recently.  I think I have posted these before, but it must be a place for some good pictures and I must really like them, so here they are again.  And it gets its own post because FYI YUM!!

Happy Fall!

I have driven lots and lots and lots these past couple of months.  I love my morning drive and usually see a spectacular sunrise.  The fall in particular has been amazing.  I love seeing the farmers in their combines or other machinery even early sometimes with big lights on working in their fields.  We have had great weather this October, and I'm holding on to it as long as I can!  The colors have started to change, and it has been beautiful everywhere I look.  The most beautiful and brilliant colors I have seen have been in the Maple trees in the front of our church.  "East, West, Home's Best!"

Best Grandparents Day Ever!

What a great Grandparents Day weekend!  It meant so much to have all 4 grandparents come this past weekend to our church and house and then to school for Grandparents Day!  The kids did a program which included  some cute songs and thoughts about grandparents, and then we had an awesome lunch and sort of an open house in which the guests could walk around the school and classrooms and meet the teachers and see the kids' work.  We had a wonderful time together, and I was happy they got to see our school for the first time.  They were impressed, and I was too!  It made me appreciate once again the legacy and spiritual inheritance we have from our parents and theirs before them.  I am so grateful for them. Our kids have the best grandparents! 
And the school!  The school excited me from the beginning and has since exceeded my expectations in every way.  I love the education, the spiritual emphasis, the opportunities to do projects socially and academically, the teachers who  invest themselves in the students every day, the other kids who have a good spirit, and even my job in the office in which I am surrounded by an administration that lets me see the heart behind all of the planning.  Yep still happy!  Even more so!    I love it when people I love come together!

Looking for a good time?

I know I have said this before but if you want a good time, take your kids to the Halloween costume aisle to play.  They love it and I laugh and laugh.  This one cracked me up!

Ava and Friends

These are the girls in Ava's class right before we left for the apple orchard.  So cute and fun!  Of course my phone died right after I took it and have no pictures of the apple orchard.  ACH. 

Flowers

Happy anniversary to me!  (And Matt!) Well not our official wedding anniversary but he always keeps track of how long it's been since our first date, how many months of togetherness, etc.  I love that he does that and I love him.  Recently he brought me flowers to my office and the card said "Happy 150 months anniversary!"

And here are some beautiful flowers growing around the school.  Yes they're still blooming!

A Few Random Pictures

The kids got new costumes, we had a great time with the family at Freddy's Steakburgers in Maple Grove, and also included is the first picture I took of Matt with the new phone.  I added a picture of the 6 Maple trees in front of our church. They are in the midst of changing colors!