September 24th, 2009
Clint, Ethan and I (Audrey too :D ) just got back from 1880! We went on a "Time Travel" Adventure @ the Prairie Woods Environmental Learning Center for a field trip with our homeschool co-op. The kids all dressed in old fashioned clothes and hats. They were so cute. They were able to lean how people lived back then and all the work they did. Clint was shelling corn and Ethan was carrying wood. They learned some fun songs and a dance too. They even had different names, Clint was Jonas and Ethan was Nils.

Ethan was in a group with his cousin Carson and they were having a blast together! They are quite the buddies- I'm sure we are going to have our hands full when they become teenagers!They are probably going to be getting into lots of troublesome adventures :) When they had their "old fashioned" snack they were drinking LOTS of coffee! Ethan is bouncing off the walls because of it!

I'm so happy we have this great group of homeschoolers to be a part of! Its so wonderful to know that there are other people going though the same things we are. It is especially wonderful to see my kids growing friendships with other homeschooled kids. If we didn't have this I think it would be alot harder to homeschool. The support of them all helps me to know that I can do this and I'm doing whats right for our family.

P.S.....Audrey learned how to roll over this week from back to front. I always get so excited when my kids learn to roll over- its just so cute! Actually, I was probably most excited when Clint rolled over. I feel silly to remember HOW excited we were. Matt and Christa had been over and we were all just watching how cute he was (he WAS our first you know ;-P ) and then he turned over, so we got out the video camera and just kept having him roll over- lets just say I would probably be embarrassed to watch how excited I sounded and how I was acting! But sadly, Blake completely destroyed that tape when he was around 1 or 2 : ( .

September 21st, 2009
I am SO glad last week is over! Boy, was it a doosey ( not sure if that's a word,hehe)! We started school last week. That in itself is usually a crazy week trying to get everything figured out. On Tuesday, we had a field trip to the Willmar Airport. The kids were so excited about going. It was interesting but they we bummed that they weren't able to get rides- you had to be 8! Clint is still asking why he couldn't because he says he's almost 8. They did get to get in a plane and pretend a little that they were driving.
After the airport, my week just kind of fell apart. It felt as if something could go wrong it would. Between running to Walmart to just get diapers turned into everyone having to go to the bathroom and Audrey screaming though the whole store, finally making it up to the checkout and getting behind who I believe is the SLOWEST customer ever( I mean could you write out a check any slower! She had to be hearing the wailing baby behind her!) Finally get out to the van to feed Audrey. Then we go to Cash Wise because I did need a few more things at Walmart but could do it with a screaming baby. Rushed through Cash Wise to get what I needed while dragging a very slow Ethan who was complaining of getting sick now. Finally get to the checkout and my debit card was not working. Had no cash on me so I had to leave my groceries there! So embarrassing!
To top the week off Blake broke his foot on Wednesday. I was in the house enjoying a little quite while Owen was taking a nap and the 3 older boys were playing outside. In comes a screaming Blake. Ethan close behind( of course) telling that Clint pushed Blake off the table out side. After getting Blake settled on the couch with ice on his foot , they explain that they were taking turns riding off a long table in a wagon! I asked them WHY??? I mean I do not understand how these little minds work? They said they were riding off the cliff! Even after all this I have had to run outside to make them stop trying to attempt this! I was hoping his foot had just gotten a little bruised, but it swelled up pretty bad and by the next day it hadn't gone down so I took him into the Doc to see if it was broken. He thought he was pretty cool to ride in a wheelchair in the clinic. He kept asking the nurse if he could keep it! So his foot broke in the middle and they wouldn't put a cast on it because he said that it is already splinted by the other bones in his foot. This made Blake a little disappointed, he was hoping to have a "foot thing". When we got home the boys found the piece of his cast he had when he broke his leg a couple years ago. They were hoping he could were it again- but it didn't fit :) He is doing pretty good now- the first couple days he was hopping and crawling or I was carrying him where he needed to go but now that the swelling has gone down we can get his shoe on and he can mange to hobble around.I am thankful for that- he in NOT a light little boy!
The week did get a little better after that. Friday was my birthday- but we celebrated it on Saturday. I went out to lunch with my Mom and sisters. I love that Tea Shoppe!Then that afternoon, Ben and the kids and I went to St. Cloud and did a little shopping and went out for supper. We went to La Casita. The boys really wanted to go to Red Lobster( I admit I did too) but it was packed and the thought of waiting for a table for 45 min with 5 kids wasn't appealing enough for that! So we went to LaCasita and were seated immediately. I will say that was one of the better times we have eaten out with the kids! They were so excited to get "fancy" drinks with little umbrellas in them that they just happily sipped on them and ate chips and salsa and didn't cause any problems. Owen probably ate a whole bowl of just salsa! I didn't realize he liked it! Makes be sick thing about it though- Ben was just spooning it into his mouth! Yuck! That restaurant get 5 stars for a good place to go with kids! Plus its already so loud in there you don't have to worry if your kids are adding to it :)
We are now in the second week of school. Ethan is having SO much fun! As soon as he wakes up in the morning, he's begging to start. Kindergarten is so much fun- if only kids would keep loving school after that first year! Clint on the other hand just puts up with it and is happy when he gets to take breaks in between subjects to help entertain Owen for me. I'm amazed every year so far how quickly and easily kids learn things! It is so encouraging as a homeschool mom to know that your kids are listening and learning what you are spending so much time teaching them.
We don't have a set schedule for when we will start and how long it will take us. Having 3 kids that aren't in school yet is proving a little difficult in that area. Owen is probably the easiest one to entertain while I'm trying to teach, as long as he has some trains or little cars he keeps quite busy. Blake on the other hand is constantly wanting to do Ethan's school. I have a preschool book for him but he wants Ethan's. I guess I should have bought 2 of all the books for Ethan and started kindergarten with him. We have to take LOTS of breaks for Audrey! She is always wanting Mommy to be holding her and talking to her. I'll be happy when she is big enough to have a nap schedule.

Oh, I forgot,the book I made for Audrey turned out really cute except for the fact that I made a bad typo! I don't know if you can read the word or not when you look through it in here but basicly instead of the word "pour" I wrote "porn" ! Not exactly the word you want in a baby's book! Oh well, I'm sure we'll have lots of laughs over this in years to come, right?!
The Baby Dedication went great. Clint, Ethan, and Blake sang "Because He Lives" for it. They did such a great job! I was having a hard time not crying while I was playing the piano for it! It didn't help that I could hear my Mom crying. I was so proud of them. Unfortunatly the video was taken with my crappy digital camera and you can barely make them out but you can hear they're sweet voices. I will try to get it up on here as soon as I figure out how to do it. I'm not very techy!
Well, I better head to bed, I'm sure Audrey will be waking me up at least 4 times tonight! As much as I do not like getting up in the night- I'm so happy I have such a sweet little girl to snuggle. Time goes by so fast and pretty soon getting up during the night and holding her will be nothing but memories. I cherish those moments when I spent that time rocking my babies!

My house feels so empty right now! Clint is off with Daddy this whole week working. He's been having a hard time lately with Ben being gone from Monday thru Friday every week. He's never seemed to bothered with it til just lately; I don't know if its just him growing up and realizing that daddy isn't home much or what. Two weeks ago he was begging Ben to take him with him, he even packed a bag and was going to sneak his way along with Daddy. So Ben said he should take him this whole week. So far Clint is having so much fun with Dad although he does miss Owen and Audrey- I guess he's needed a break from the rest of us:) Clint is really excited about tomorrow though since Ben surprised him and got tickets to the Vikings game. He is so excited to see Adrian Peterson play! I know this week is probably one that he won't ever forget. Getting special time with Dad AND getting to see the Vikings:Priceless!
Ethan is staying at Carter's tonight. We've been trying to do this all summer and thought we'd better hurry up and do it before school starts.
So tonight its just the three littlest ones with me. Its feels so empty and quiet if you can believe it. I think Blake is excited to have me (almost) to himself.