korean meal

Well, we made our Korean meal after we spent the week studying South Korea and it turned out great. Look at the concentration on Thomas's face chopping those green onions for the marinade.




The kids thought the chopsticks were fun to use and the chopstick helpers that Scott brought back after one of his trips really came in handy...for me too!

enjoying a good book

Here is Ava in her playpen this afternoon looking at one of her favorite books - Good Dog Carl.

fresh herbs year round

Last year around Thanksgiving and Christmas time one of our local grocery stores was selling rosemary trees that I was really tempted to buy but passed up. This year I decided to bring in my rosemary plant that has been in my herb garden all summer and see if I can get it to survive through the winter. It was unwieldy and huge so I did some major trimming to it. I'm hoping to keep it pruned to grow in a tree shape and will enjoy pulling off some of it when I made foccacia bread and our Thanksgiving meal. My thyme plant is still doing well even through the frosts we've had so I'm tempted to pot that one and bring it too.

china experience

We have been using a fun geography cirriculum called Galloping the Globe for both Thomas and Elle. It's set up to be used as a unit study with listings of several books to read for each country along with fun activities to do. They spent the first week learning how to read a map, memorizing the names of the 7 continents and where each is located as well as studying a few explorers.

The first continent we are studying is Asia, starting with China. We spent some time each day last week reading books about China that we borrowed from the library. We colored and labeled a map, learned about ducks after reading The Story of Ping, practiced writing the Chinese symbols for the numbers 1-10 and colored the China flag. One of the suggested activities in the book is to eat a Chinese meal. I thought it sounded fun so last night we went to the Chinese restaurant in town. It was the first time the kids have been to a buffet and they were so surprised that they could go back for more food. :) They were really good about trying many different things. It was a fun way to end our study.

Today we started learning about South Korea. There is a recipe included for Korean Barbecued Beef that I plan to have the kids help me make at the end of the week. I think we will even look for chopsticks so that they can give them a try!

loving autumn

We savored all of the warm and sunny weather while it lasted. Yesterday the kids had breakfast on the porch and we even did some school out there for awhile before the rain clouds rolled in.

I finally found my autumn colored mums and the leaves are really getting beautiful!

one more swim

It was in the 80's here on Sunday so we decided to take the boat out one last time before we bring it in until next year. Thomas and Elle had been playing outside and were hot and sweaty and automatically went and put their swimsuits on when they heard we were going on the boat. I told them that the water was going to be cold but they said it would be fine. They both jumped in without hesitation and quickly realized that Mom knew what she was talking about! Thomas jumped in one more time but Elle jumped in several more times. Each time she'd jump in she'd swim back to the ladder as quickly as she could.



We ate dinner on the porch that night and were talking about how we couldn't believe they jumped in the lake. I asked them if they would jump in again for a dollar. (That's a lot of money to them!) Thomas said, 'Yeah, for a dollar' and Elle said 'of course!' I asked them if they'd do it for a quarter and Thomas said, 'Nope, that's not enough' but Elle said, 'Sure, I'd even do it for a penny!'

bye bye crib??

Here is my baby sleeping in her big girl bed! She has took her nap in this bed for the past two days now. Doesn't she look precious cuddled up there with her puppa?! :) Elle is excited about this because she can't wait for Ava to start sleeping with her at night even though they each have their own bed.

how thomas likes to start his day...

...with breakfast and a good book. He recently found the Series of Unfortunate Events books at the library and has been reading them any chance he gets. Here he is reading them this morning while eating his egg and toast. We call him our reading machine.

little climber

Ava 'helping' clear off the table after dinner last night. Yikes!

i love elle

Today was our errand running afternoon and Wednesday night church activities. While we were eating our dinner at Culver's Elle looked at me and said, 'Your face is so pretty.' I was thinking 'Wow! My daughter is so sweet!' Then she innocently said, 'You must be wearing makeup.'

That girl has had some of the funniest things come out of her mouth without even knowing it!

This age is just so funny. She got her first phonecall from a friend today. We were in the middle of school when she called so we let the answering machine get it and then she called her back when she was done. They talked and talked for almost 30 minutes about everything from kindergarten to Girl Scouts to hockey...you name it. She was walking all around the house and out onto the porch while she was talking. It was pretty cute. When she was done she came and found me. I jokingly said, 'Done already?' And she said, 'Yeah, Eden said she was tired of talking to me.' :)

planting an apple orchard

Last week I bought a couple of bags of Gala apples and put them in a bowl on the table and told the kids they could have one whenever they wanted one. They are small apples, just their size, and they have ate half of them already. Elle has been saving all of the seeds from the apples she eats and has planted them in the one part of the yard that doesn't have grass yet. She said she is planting an apple orchard and that she will share the apples with me.

taco soup

This is a good recipe to serve on a chilly day. It's not healthy but it's convenient because most of the ingredients are probably already in the pantry and it cooks all afternoon in the crockpot. It's good game food!

Taco Soup

2 lbs. ground beef, browned
1 onion, diced
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp pepper
3/4 tsp garlic salt
2 cans kidney or pinto beans
1 can chili without beans
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 can Ro-Tel tomatoes
1 lb. Velveeta cheese, cubed
1 (16 oz) carton sour cream
Fritos corn chips

Put meat, onion, spices, beans, chili, tomatoes and cheese in crockpot. Cook on low 6 - 8 hours or high 3 - 4 hours. Add sour cream just before serving. To serve, pour over corn chips in individual bowls.

pumpkin scam

This afternoon a local farm advertised that they were having a pumpkin party so I convinced Scott that we should go and get the kids some pumpkins and enjoy the festivities. When we lived in the cities we went to a wonderful apple orchard and took a hay ride out in their field and picked out a pumpkin with Thomas when he was just a little 2 year old. I remember that being such an enjoyable autumn afternoon but unfortunately the place we went to today didn't live up to that memory. It was unorganized, the festivites were non-existent and the pumpkins were ridiculously expensive but we didn't know that until we already had 3 picked out and were ready to pay. Oh well, I guess we have a new memory now. One Scott will enjoy reminding me of probably! :)

They did have some haybales stacked up which made a good backdrop for some pictures of the kids....if only Ava would look at the camera!

After the pumpkin patch I asked Scott if we could take the long way home (read: go out of our way) so that we could stop in at my favorite nursery and pick up some mums to put on the porches. Being the sweet and patient husband that he is, he did and when we got there there were only pink mums left and not many at that. I love pink flowers but really wanted fall colored ones so we drove home with our 3 pricey pumpkins and no mums.

a newsy post

My updates here on the blog have slowed down quite a bit, especially since we started school again last week! I just don't have as much time in my day now that my mornings are spent teaching the kids. Scott has been traveling during the week and I'm tired at end of the day. As soon as the kids are tucked in their beds for the night I usually spend some time getting the kitchen cleaned up and then reading a book and enjoying the peace and quiet for awhile instead of blogging.

It has been chilly here. Tomorrow's high is 49 degrees. Brrr! Thankfully it is going to warm up again though. The leaves are starting to turn and the lawn is scattered with fallen leaves but not near enough to rake for a jumping pile yet. The kids are looking forward to that!

School has been going well. We are trying out a couple of new things this year for cirriculum and are really enjoying them. I like being in a routine again. We are still figuring out exactly what that routine is going to look like but that's ok too. We decided to wait on swimming lessons until after the new year so I have been looking into other activities for the kids to do. We gave Tae Quon-Do a try but it was going to be too big of a time committment and too much running into town for me. For now, we are going to be doing the Wednesday night program that our church offers, Elle is going to be in Daisy Girl Scouts and Thomas is going to join Cub Scouts. They are pretty excited about it.

Well, that is a real quick update to what has been going on around here. I've got the latest issue of Martha Stewart Living sitting here beside the computer that I've been looking forward to reading all afternoon so I'm going to go cuddle up in a blanket and read it for awhile. I'll be back soon with a picture post of some of the projects that the kids have been doing in school!

almost a human being

Ava has been surprising us lately with new words that she is saying. Today while we were eating lunch Elle asked Ava if she wanted some icecream and Ava actually said 'yes'. She has always just nodded her head for yes. It took Elle by surprise and she started laughing and then said, 'Mom, Ava's almost a human being now!' That's when I started laughing!

So of course we had to get out the icecream and have a little, even though that wasn't part of the plan!

thank you terri & scott

Look at these cool Nebraska t-shirts that Thomas, Elle and Ava got in the mail today from Aunt Terri and Uncle Scott! They love them and had to wear them right away. This is the best I could do at a photo shoot of them this afternoon. Ava missed her nap and just wasn't in a picture taking mood. Thank you Terri and Scott! They will definitley be wearing them as we cheer on Nebraska against USC on Saturday!



Check out state teez if you'd like to get a state tee custom made for you too!

for nikki

Nikki, we are thinking of you as you are preparing for your big test this week and praying that it goes well! We love you!

little husker cheerleader

Touchdown! We didn't get to say that near enough today. That was a nail biter game against Wake Forest.

good bye to summer

With 50's in the forcast I think 'good bye to summer' is an appropriate name for this post. Yikes! That is going to seem chilly. I really do love fall and seeing the leaves change to brillant red, yellows and oranges. We are surrounded by trees so it is especially gorgeous but I also know that winter is just around the corner now. And winter I do not love!

So since the swimming season is pretty much done I thought I would share my favorite pictures of the kids swimming and tubing in the lake that Scott's parents took when they were here visiting a couple of weekends ago.

so messy

Ava has been learning to eat with a spoon and fork and this is what she looks like after most meals. (The floor looks just as messy too!) She thinks she's big now and will only feed herself...no more help needed from mama.




Here is she is signing 'all done' after breakfast.

i love saturday mornings

I know I've said this before but I really love leisurely Saturday mornings. Taking time to make a special breakfast, music playing, staying in pajamas till 10:00, and the sun shining.....makes for a great start to the day!

Now it's time to get busy with the work that needs done around here - laundry, canning raspberry jam, and tidying up. It looks like it's going to be a good day to go out on the lake for awhile this afternoon and listen to the Huskers game on satellite radio. Go Huskers! :)

(Nicole, notice the computer screen in this picture. We keep checking out your blog in hopes that you've updated it with some new pictures of you and the fam! :))