A Picture Perfect Day

           Today I was able to steal my Mom's camera. And so I took these pictures and many more.

A non lake version of a cattail

           This is some plant that I saw at the top of our hill that I thought looked somewhat like a cattail. (Also known as Mullein or Pioneers Toilet Paper.) And so seeing as it seemed to be posing for the camera I decided to give in.

My shadow is following Me!

           There was very nice lighting and since the sun was going down I found a shadow of Me waiting at  the bottom of the hill for the real Me.

the Moon and A Meteorite, can't get much better.

           Then I saw the Moon with a jet passing and I got separate shots of both but, this one put them together so nicely.

             There was an airplane following the jet about half an hour later and I took a picture of it at Harrison's request.

I'm a Star!!!!

            Then I got all my siblings (We all had been banished from the house by our evil ahem, nice Mother.) To pose for me as I took their picture.

Chocolate! Chocolate! Mustache!

             When we had, had hot chocolate earlier today Gregory had been messy and Mom didn't notice it and so there he went with a mustache throughout the day.

pretty picture

              I was actually able to get them all around smiling (I really don't know what Harrison is up to but, it may be he just hasn't had enough practice smiling with his teeth.) And as I said the lighting was perfect.

I'm a little Egyptian

            Beatrice wanted to pose again so they tried the Egyptian walk but couldn't quite get it right so they look more like little teapots. I have another picture of them doing this but Gregory was in the middle of falling and alone Bea looked like she was trying to model something.

A bad self-portrait

            I had decided that there needed to be a picture of me on this day so I tried to do it by myself and it didn't turn out so well. Oh well.

Natasha's house

            I liked the way the sun was on her window so I took the picture for that reason and only that reason.

  Adios,
Margaret

2011 RePlay

January

 Although I know we must have done many exciting things in January I seem to have lost those pictures. I know we took pictures because Jaten Rae came for a visit with her family and Margaret can't be around her without taking at least a few pictures. We went to the Winter Carnival, froze our feet at the Grand Day Parade and toured the Bakken and did school work.

February

 We had a visit from the Johnsons. Had tea parties. Went bowling, went ice skating and did school work.

 March

 We traveled to Bemidj and attended the annual winter retreat at the church there. Where we sang songs, listened to others sing songs, watched a play, heard good preaching and had good fellowship. Harrison attended a one day band festival, we did school work and were involved with other church activities. Beatrice had a frenectomy done and we finalized our decisions about braces on the children's faces.

 April

 We went on a hike at one of our favorite spots for the first time this year. We played Pooh sticks over the little crick. We did school work. Harrison was in Honor band one Saturday, he was honored by Grandma and Grandpa, Keren and Irindee coming to be in the audience for the evening's concert. We also were honored to have the Cobbs be our guest one weekend. We took the first bike ride of the year.

 May

 Beatrice made the decision to have Christ as her Savior and to follow Jesus for the rest of her life.
Gregory turned into a six year old, he chose to have a pyramid cake and asked his friend Walter to come with his family to make the day more special. We went camping at the Wilderness and had more visits from the Johnsons, among others. We did a little school work, but the weather was getting awfully fine to be committed to wholly to the books. We rode bikes. We took a walk to Cub in a down pour so Martha bought shampoo to use on the way home. We try to keep the neighborhood entertained.

June

 On Travis' birthday the girl's had their music recital. Margaret played beautifully on her violin and Beatrice did amazing on the piano. We did a photo shoot with the soon to be newly weds. We went to Feed My Starving Children a couple times. We went to Sharon Bluff Camp for a week. We visited Grandma Cleone. We played with Pandas for a week at VBS. We finished the Life Group year. Travis got a basketball hoop for the kids to play with their friends at. It has been well used. We took a canoe trip on the hottest Sunday.

July

 We had a blast with our neighborhood shooting fireworks and visiting on the fourth of July. We went to Bemidji and had wonderful fellowship with our dear family who live there and joined us there. Pay Day was the board game of the summer, the boys played it most every day, taking breaks to drive Henry crazy with wild nerf wars through out the house. We went to the zoo. Took a canoe trip. We packed bags at Feed My Starving Children. All four of my offspring played in the Junior Horseshoe league this summer.

August

 My little brother married his Molly Bea. 

 We toured the Landmark and took a picture for old times sake. It was one of the first places we toured when we moved to the area.

 We went to our first Twins game and said that was enough.

 Took a trip down the Cannon River. And packed bags at Feed My Starving Children. Took bike rides. Cleaned our teeth and put braces on them. And we had friends and family come visit us!

September

 Margaret turned 11. We did FMSC. We started the school year. We went camping at our favorite camping spot. We took our final canoe trip and bike rides for the year. We had family and friends visit. We sang songs, we read stories, we prayed. Life Group started up for the  year.

 October

 Beatrice turned eight and Harrison turned 13! I grew older. We played bocce ball. We worshiped the Lord. We learned about bridges and arches and concrete. We took a short trip.

November

 We went to the Minnesota History Museum for like the 5th time this year. We celebrated all of our blessings on Thanksgiving. We harvested the last fruits of our garden for this year in the form of carrots. They were great and we were pleased. 

December

 We traveled a round about route to Indiana by going to Bemidji first to watch Keren perform in the Christmas Carol-so well done. We got to spend time with our grandparents! Such a treat. They are such great people. We have been so blessed to have them in our lives. 

We got to spend time with other great folks too and we are so Thankful for that time. Margaret drove the Polaris all by herself for the first time. Harrison had a Christmas concert with his band. Beatrice drew a thousand pictures. Gregory showered love in many ways, I hope he keeps his sweetness. We dreamt dreams, laughed laughs, cried tears, hoped hopes and shared memories. 2011 has been a good one.
Thank you for sharing it with us,
~Anna

Savoring the end of summer

Here is a 'brief" synopsis of our perfect summer day, in pictures. We have had a lot of wonderful days recently. Weather and activity wise. I feel saddened that summer is coming to an end and the freedom it brings from knuckling down to schoolwork. Learning in a leisurely way is fun, though not productive enough to allow to go on always. I am trying not to feel too sad that we haven't gotten in as many bike rides and canoe trips as I had wanted this summer. Maybe fall will give us several more opportunities for those things.

So, onto today's delights,

We started the day off at the baseball diamonds. It was a sunny, high wind day and so delightful to be out in. Here is Gregory with some of his team mates, the Brown Cannon Balls! They were in great form, all of them, hardly ever getting struck out. The Green Lightnings were playing a mean outfield so they had to run fast to get on base.

This noon Harrison and Gregory were wanting to get right onto the computer when we returned home so I was suggesting books for them to read. Harrison thinks he has read all of the books in this house that interest him so I was trying to give him some new ideas. We have a lot of great books around here that he hasn't read, although he has read a large percentage of them, there are a few gems left. Today however was not the day to deviate from the old tried and true and this time he introduced one of his favorites to Gregory. For an hour after lunch Harrison read out loud the Boys Book of Sea Fights by Chelsea Curtis Fraser. I have never read the book but I think Harrison has read it enough times for every one in this house to have read it at least once. I should look and see if Chelsea has written any other books. This one is a good fit for him, in that it is geography and fighting in one cover.

We played board games and then while I let everyone have their computerized time I ran and got groceries. I have been on an every other week big grocery shopping, little grocery shopping pattern. The little week I just get the basics at Kwik Trip since they have the best price on milk and bananas. This was the big week. Some played dolls. I was the grandma and had to pick the beans for supper with a doll on my hip. Because Suzy wanted to see Grandma. For supper we enjoyed beans cooked in olive oil and a liberal amount of slivered garlic; fresh tomatoes; apples (from our tree) fried in butter, cinnamon and brown sugar; round steak baked in a lovely gravy and mashed potatoes. I actually had salmon since I am not eating beef right now. But the gravy looked and smelled very lovely. All in all it was a yummy meal. Although I threw in a picture of my lemon drop pepper plant we didn't eat any of those, I just like how many peppers it has on it. And they played some basketball.

So the end of a good day has come. I am including a picture from our walk on Monday evening since it fits the theme so well. They have been overhauling the train tracks the last week or so so we needed to check out their progress.

All my love,

~Anna

The Weekly Review

I am planning to do less blogging this summer and I decided to do a once a week, weekly overview. This will help me to not get completely out of touch and serve somewhat as a journal for me.

Sunday~

It was a big day for us! Naturally we went to church, it was also Gregory's 5th birthday, and Margaret had her first Violin recital. For Gregory's part we had the Morgan family over and a few random other kids for lunch and a playtime. He had opened gifts on Saturday so it wouldn't need to be rushed. The girls and I decorated his cake like the game CandyLand. We had fun doing it. Margaret's recital was at 5pm but we needed to be there about 4 so she could practice with the piano at that church building (really so I could, since I accompanied her). A couple families from church came and watched her and then we had supper together afterwards. Margaret did a really good job doing her song. We are glad to move on and have that past us since neither of us are performers at all!

Monday~

Is almost always violin lessons and a quick run to the library. We had hoped to ride our bikes to the library but ran out of time. It would have been lovely weather to do it in. Margaret and Harrison have been super into the Warriors cat series and got several more to read. They are going through these books like crazy, and they aren't little books. They don't look interesting to me but they sure love them.

Tuesday~

Harrison had his trumpet lessons. Travis and I worked awhile trying to figure out why some of our street lights are not working. Hence the picture above. We found out one is not getting any power and one is. Two lights work and two don't but they are at either end and seem to have different problems. We just keep running into dead ends on this. Travis changed the light bulbs last week (with the kids and I holding up the pole and ladder trying to keep him from crashing to the ground). He also worked on the grill today replacing some wornout parts. Now we need a chance to grill!

We, Nahum and Deborah went to Chuck E Cheese for supper with Gregory's gift card from Granny and Pappa.

Wednesday~

Gregory had his 5year old check up and went to see Dr. Goble. My kids love to go see the Dr. and I really like her. We don't get to see her near as much as we once did and for that I am grateful, but even so I am really happy with their Dr. I think I like her because she Oohs and Aahs so well over my children in important ways. When ever she looks at their legs she says some thing like "I love kids with bruises here, it shows they are up and moving", or "here's some busy feet". She often has practical tips for things rather than medicine, like "a nice vinegar bath should take the itching away". She is always impressed with their cognitive skills on the interview paper she has me fill out by asking them questions. Gregory is 55 1/2 pounds, 46 1/2 inches tall and he passed his hearing and eye test wonderfully.

We went shoe shopping for Margaret on the way home from the Dr. It took awhile and we were so worn out when we quit. We found tennis shoes and a pair of dressy shoes for Bea but No Sandals for Margaret that she and I agreed upon. She wants very sturdy playing sandals and none of the places we went had any. I guess we need to try Fleet. We went to church early for a teachers meeting. Margaret and Travis stayed home because Margaret didn't feel well at all. A head ache and stomach ache.

Thursday~

Now Gregory is sick. We had a homeschool end of year picnic with our group. It was very warm out with a nice breeze. Perfect weather for a picnic. The kids all played kick ball and Basket ball while we moms chatted. Travis stayed home with Gregory and they watched Lord of the Rings (the first one). He thinks that will be the next series he reads to the kids. I am really enjoying reading To Kill A Mocking Bird this week. Beatrice planted some carrots and cilantro seeds. I gave her my opinion on how to sow them. She also hosted a Tea Party. Deborah, Kristina and Margaret attended. They had mint tea, brownies and frosted vanilla wafers, She and Deborah did the decorating of them and I found blue frosting everywhere when I came back in the house!

Friday~

We did Schoolwork! What a novel idea. Travis and Harrison mowed the field and our yard. It looks so nice right now. I planted a few plants and some bean seeds. We got a few sprinklings of rain, and we tried out the grill. It works marvelously! Travis was pleased at how much better it works. We had pork chops that I rubbed a lot of paprika and steak seasoning onto. They were so yummy! Nati has been sick all week with a cold that keeps bothering me every time he comes in. At supper I prayed for him and when I got done he was grinning so big and said "that was nice when you prayed for me!". We read a few stories from Russia for bedtime stories (we have been all week, actually). I finished To Kill A Mocking Bird, such a good book!

Saturday~

I went grocery shopping. I have spent more on groceries this month than I do typically because I am trying really hard to increase my omega 3's, to clear up my skin issues. The verdict is still out on whether it is helping. Dr. Goble thought it was a good idea for Gregory's dry skin problems too though, so that was nice.

Harrison and Margaret had a Middler event at the Countryman's. A cook out and games. Margaret made truffles to take. They were so yummy. She has made them once before and I wasn't too impressed with the recipe, but this time they are really good. Practice makes perfect!

I planted a little more. It is funny how long I can take at it and I have so little to plant. Today we made a bean teepee. Travis gathered the poles with Gregory, Beatrice and my help. We can't wait till we have a living tent in our backyard.

Happy Spring to You,

~Anna

Springtime Walks

With the warm days and beautiful green we have been taking a lot of walks this past week. It helps that my van wasn't working for a few days so we walked to and from Car-X and took a bike ride to the library to return over due books during that time. Also we had company and that seemed like a good source of entertainment. You can't help but want to get out and see the colors of the new flowers and leaves opening right now. It was beginning to mist and sprinkle at the beginning of this walk but we went ahead and started out. We never really got wet. There were a couple very brief showers that dampened the pavement but that is all. I think it sharpened the colors though. Doesn't Keren look very sweet explaining her thoughts to the girls? At every flowering plant some of the girls thought they better try to add more to their bouquets. Our arms were quite laden with lilacs, apple blossoms, wild mustard, lilacs and a few other varieties by the time we returned home. The boys, they gathered sticks. We had a mock wedding under the trees of one vacant lot. Here we are doing a bridal dance?

Live! ~Anna

My Kitchen Window

Every-so-often I get comments from friends saying, "your house is so clean, your kids are so nice, you home school, you make all your own food, whatever, how do you do it?". I always think it is funny because I do Not have it all together and I am well aware of that. Right now one of the many places that reminds me that I have more clutter than not in my house is this window! Is that ridiculous or what? I thought you might like close-ups of both sides just to see it better :) We are growing tomatoes, marigolds, asters, salt crystals, and cosmos, basil and parsley. We are washing coffee filters and drying them on empty pop bottles. We are keeping elephants and violets, candles, feathers, short straws, mortar and pestles and nappa cabbage flowers over here.

When a friend was telling me the above last week I told Travis about it when I came home later. Margaret walked in and said you should have them over just so she can know the truth! I really do.

~Anna

Springtime

In one week you can really see a difference in our greenery. We have gotten two nice rains and everything looks so much nicer! I love new buds on all the trees.

There is just one week between the taking of these two train pictures.

Now that Spring has Sprung I am enjoying grazing around our yard for edible plants. There isn't too much out there yet but I have managed to insert dandelion greens into two meals so far, with a bit of red clover leaves for good measure. Harrison and Margaret try to say they don't like greens, but truly they do. Especially when they are in a nice rice Pilauf or in Kabab Masala. The Shepherd's purse are growing nicely. They are really good cooked until tender and add a few beaten eggs and salt and pepper. Cook until set. Yummy stuff.Spring is when my Birthday is. This is my terimisu cake Margaret made for me. This is also yummy stuff! We had it for our morning tea. She couldn't wait any longer to see how it turned out. All week, until yesterday, she was trying to get everyone to vote on the type of cake to make and never could she get one hundred percent vote for her choice so yesterday she just went ahead and baked it without consulting the rest of the clan.