Magic Moments

Every parent thinks their child is a genius. My thoughts about Sage are no exception. His expressive language is still waiting to emerge, but he has absolutely no problem communicating exactly what he's thinking. And he'll tell you and entire story by babbling and you'll understand most of what he was trying to say. He understands exactly what I say, knows how to do many, many things and keeps up with Aiden quite well. It certainly is apparent how strong a role the social learning theory has when you watch your second child. Sage learns so much just by watching Aiden. I'm curious to see how Sage's interests grow. Right now he is my thinker and my child who loves to figure out how to do things. He loves to match blocks to their right shape in a container, do puzzles, put marker caps on and off, build towers with blocks or legos, and the list goes on. He is doing really, really well at potty learning and we'd have all our bases covered if he would actually sleep t...

  The garden is a little out of control. I didn't realize how big tomato plants and pole bean plants would get! The cages that I put around my tomatoes are buried in that mess somewhere and I don't think they are even serving a purpose anymore. The plants have gotten so heavy that they have fallen towards the ground and have taken the cages with them. Since the tomato plants are touching the ground I think I'm going to have to try and steak them up. I have a tomato plant on each end of the garden that is actually trellising nicely, but the four plants in the middle are planted too close together. Despite being somewhat tangled and overcrowded, everything seems to be producing fruit. There are lots of tomatoes growing, and from what I can tell the bean harvest should be bountiful. We've eaten all the snap peas and had a few salads even though I thought the lettuce wasn't doing well. Once the tomato plants got huge I think they shaded the lettuce making the g...

Our homeschooling books came today!  I guess that makes it kind of official. I probably should have ordered our books long ago but I held back, most likely because I was having such a hard time deciding on a curriculum and because I think I was afraid.  Ordering books makes everything so much more real. Anyway, while I don't think my blog will hold much of our homeschooling experiences, except for maybe showcasing cool projects and milestones once in awhile, I thought I should mark today on my blog. Today is the day that our journey begins. Starting today I suppose I am officially a homeschooling mom who should probably be spending August planning and preparing for the year ahead. From what I can tell, I think this first year of homeschooling is going to be an emotional path. As undecided as I was about curriculum I was so excited today when our books came and I discovered that every Friday is only consumed by a Science lesson and time to explore nature. WHOOO!!! T...

I set up the sprinkler yesterday because it is HOT! I was kind of hoping to sit back and read my book or waste time on facebook while the boys played, but that was NOT what the boys had in mind. I should have known. I'm thankful they force me to live in their moments...most of the time. So, I ended up all wet as well and I wasn't even wearing my bathing suit. I think I was still wet when I dropped Aiden off at church last night. Sage surprisingly didn't like the sprinkler at first, which was probably because Aiden wouldn't stop squirting him in the face. But he eventually became more brave and even got Aiden back. 20130715(091931) from Jenny on Vimeo . 20130715(155014) from Jenny on Vimeo . And if you don't have any of these at your house, you need to get some! The boys had lots of fun with them! Everyday is better with an adorable baby wrapped up in a towel

We are home from 10ish or so days at the cabin and we'll be home for a stretch of almost 2 weeks before we go back for more. This Summer has been Aiden's Summer at the cabin. He is old enough to do many things now and each night he falls into bed with his eyes already closed because he has been moving all day!  He is Tom's constant companion up at the lake. They swim, fish, jet ski, and even go Sailing. I did get the priviledge of taking Aiden on his first jet ski ride. His swimming skills have improved some, and while I know he would still panic if he fell off, I decided maybe putting him on the jet ski would boost his confidence. My cautious child doesn't love it yet, but he will. :) I think tubing is the one thing he isn't doing yet...all in good time. He loves the pontoon with Pappy and this year he got to go sailing with Grandpa. Sailing is my personal favorite way to be on the lake so hopefully Grandpa makes a sailor out of Aiden so he can take his Mama someda...

We were at the cabin for most of last week, we're home for a day or two only to pack up and head to the cabin once again for the remainder of the week. You just can't get enough Cabin Magic this time of year. We came home tired, covered in bug bites, and brought with us skinned knees and farmer's tans, but all was worth it. We're going back for more! Most of these pictures are a curtousy of Uncle Jim. I was camera-less for the week but I still made out pretty well in the picture department. Everytime I look back over these pictures I think one thought: "Thank you, Grandpa. Thank you, Grandmommy. Thank you, Pappy. Thank you, Marme. Thank you for this place. For the memories. For the legacy. For this sanctuary set apart that holds our hearts, brings us together and gives us refuge. Thank you for knowing what matters most. Thank you, Jesus."   Here is a smattering of our fun. Happy Fourth of July!!! The 6 littlest. Usually there are 13 k...

After a week of one rain storm after another that left our backyard and part of the basement soggy, the weather turned gorgeous. So when I saw that the Minneapolis Pops Orchestra was playing at Lake Harriet's Bandshell we decided we couldn't not go. Couple sitting on a blanket on a warm Summer night with the orchestra playing and the lake as a back drop with homemade strawberry shortcake from fresh picked strawberries, and you have yourself one beautiful night. As it was, the boys had fun and loved the music as did Tom and I. Admittedly, we would have had more fun had we been flying solo (without the boys). Maybe Tom could have been my dance partner instead of Aiden...even though Aiden is one sweet and darling partner.  August is our promised land which will bring more date nights. I shouldn't even say "more" date nights but rather just date nights in general.  Since we've had zero dates in the foreseeable past anything is "more" and will be welcome...

Every 5 year old kid wants a Toga, right? Haha! Aiden's favorite books right now are the Magic Tree House series. Each book has a bit of history in it and chronicles the adventures of Jack, Annie and their tree house. Aiden has fallen in love with Jack and Annie and like to dress like them when they go on their many adventures. In the book coming up (and in a couple books in the past) Jack and Annie have visited Ancient Greece. So I shouldn't have been surprised when Aiden asked for a Toga. Thanks to my high school days which included Toga Day at school a few times, I knew how to fashion a make-shift toga. We stopped at the fabric store, bought some white fabric and Wha-La! Aiden has a Toga. Can you believe the lady who cut the fabric had the nerve to ask my 5 year old what he was going to wear under his Toga? That might have been the standing joke in high school, but not in the world of my 5 year old who is honestly and truly just wanting to be historically accurate in his man...