Summer’s Close

Summer is wrapping up for us and with the end of summer came the end of our summer reading challenge.  I wasn’t as organized as I usually am about this year’s reading challenge.  I think I was being a little lazy actually and the library changed their program into something ridiculous so that sort of took the wind out my sails too. Thankfully I managed to think of something and it worked to get my kids reading this summer.  I bought them Sonlight’s summer readers.   Strawberry and Chocolate shared a pack, Bubble Gum and Blue-Raspberry got their own.  It worked out really well.  Sonlight packaged them up so nice, it was like they each got a present!

Anyway, the challenge was to get the books read before the end of July and in return I would take them to Nelson’s and buy them an ice-cream cone!  They all finished the challenge earlier then the date I set, so off we went! 

        

It was a magnificent day!  Warm, bright, not muggy!

         

I was a good girl, I didn’t have any ice-cream.  I was too busy wiping up spills and dolling out the wet wipes! 

Afterward, we decided to surprise the little people by taking them to the most adorable park ever created:  Teddy Bear Park.

I love it that my teens will still be in family photos, and go to the park with us.  lol

   

Isn’t that cool?  The whole park is like a squishy Astroturf, it’s really fun to walk on.

We ended our adventure at the Stillwater Farmer’s Market, which was quaint and delightful.  My husband spoke my love language and paid the big bucks for a gallon of pure maple syrup!  I am one blessed woman!

Joyfully,

Mrs. Taffy

December 2012

December was a full month, and even though there were emotionally exhausting times, when I look back over the photos on my phone I can see moments of joy too.  I like to focus on the joy.  Here’s a run down of December.

     

Chocolate Taffy got his wisdom teeth out. This might have actually been the end of November.

We got to go to a Christmas Orchestra Performance. (yeah we got there early…what can I say?)

Breakfast at Panera.

Marshmallow got her very own name plaque.  I took my time getting this, I was just procrastinating to find the perfect scripture.

    

We had the tummy flu…over Christmas.  Sad.

Blue-Raspberry turned 10!!  The ice-cream cake that I made melted in our subzero garage, I still can’t figure out how that happened.  Thankfully there is a Dairy Queen very close by!  Happy birthday son!

I got a new hat for Christmas.  Strawberry and I wore our BRIGHTEST hats to the Children’s Museum and EVERYBODY was starting at us.  lol

     

  

We ended the month with a visit to the Children’s Museum.  A happy day that ended with more sadness as our oldest son is going through a really hard time.

The good thing about hard times is that it makes us rely so much more on the Lord.  I can’t do this alone.  I can’t carry the weight of a rebellious child and a struggling relationship.  Thankfully I don’t have too.  This is my faith.  God is in control.  Ultimately it is His fight.  He loves my son even more than I do.  Focus on the joy.

The battle is the Lord’s,

Mrs. Taffy

Alive and kicking!

I just wanted to say HI!  and let you know that I’m alive and well.  I’ve been trying to figure out why I haven’t had time to blog, Lord knows it’s my desire to do so, I still don’t have the answer completely figured out.  But I do know that I’ve been focusing on school and doing it with excellence, keeping myself moving around so as to be both a good example and to burn extra calories.  I’m longing for fall and predict I’ll have more energy to blog once the crisp air of fall starts blowing through my windows. 

Here’s a few pictures of what’s been going on around here!  I pray you are all well.  Please know you are in my thoughts and prayers continually!

Joyfully,

Mrs. Taffy

I turned…gasp…40!

Birthday Lunch!

This is what happens when Daddy goes to Costco with us.  lol

Cleaning up mess and mess after mess…

MN State Fair

       

Beach Day

We have had a tradition for a few years now where on Tuesday’s we meet our friends at the beach.  It’s not really a beach, it’s a man-made lake in a Park Reserve.  It’s a pretty long drive for me, but it’s worth it.  The children have so much fun and I get to spend time with my friends, visiting.  Here’s how I get ready for a day away.

Pack a LOT of food!

Being outside and swimming makes for hungry children.  I actually dread this part of getting ready, but I’m always happy when I’m done!  For this trip I made about 12 sandwiches of the turkey, cheese and pea shoot variety.  We had peanut butter balls that Blue-Raspberry made especially for our trip.  Carrots, sugar snap peas, cherries, and potato chips.  I brought a slice of cheese, graham crackers and a peach for marshmallow.  She’ll also eat the cherries.

All the food goes into the cooler, I have the kind with wheels and a handle.  I also pack paper plates, napkins, plastic wear, cups, a target bag for trash and our picnic table cloth.  And I’m always thankful when I remember to add a knife and a little cutting board.

I try to pack light, because it’s hard to keep track of everything once we get there.  In the white and pink bag are the kid’s beach towels.  The teenagers have their own stuff that they are responsible for, so I just have stuff for 4 of the children in here.  There is also goggles and sun hats in that bag.  The Trader Joe’s bag has a change of clothes for all my little people.  I actually have them change before we leave the beach.  I just do right there in the grass, I keep them covered up with their big beach towel.  It’s so much nicer than waiting until we get home, then all the sand falls out at the beach, not in the truck or at home.  The bag then becomes the wet bag and holds everybodies wet suits for the drive home.  The little bag there is my beach diaper bag.  I normally use cloth diaper, except on beach day.  So this bag has a couple diapers, some wet wipes, the sunscreen, and some Bee Spray (for owies).

When the kids get up in the morning they put on their swimsuits right away. And we try to put on a layer of sunscreen then too, but we don’t always remember to do that.

One of my older sons loads the truck up for us.  See our big water cooler?  That butterfly bag holds the sand toys.  I have two chairs that I bring, one for in the water and one for out.  The stroller is a life saver when Marshmallow is eating lunch or needs a break from the water, plus it’s a good place to stash my purse and her diaper bag and the sunscreen.

The Park Reserve has lots of nice grass to play in, the kids love to play baseball and ultimate frisbee and other things…

But their favorite place is definitely the water!

When we get home, the whole process is reversed.  Everybody helps unload.  Everybody has a job whether it’s starting the laundry, unloading the cooler or putting away the beach stuff.  We have a pretty good system which makes it so we can keep going back.  Being organized keeps all the effort it takes to get there a joy instead of a burden.

I hope you are enjoying your summer too!

Joyfully,

Mrs. Taffy

Teddy Bear Park

We took a short trip to Teddy Bear Park in Stillwater, MN.  We had about an hour to kill between the orthodontist and meeting our friends at the beach.  It was gorgeous out and the park wasn’t crowded.  And even though the park is designed for children ages 7 and down, all my children had a good time.

         

               

I brought bagels from Panera for our second breakfast (we’d been up since 5) and we enjoyed an hour of loveliness!

Joyfully,

Mrs. Taffy