Grand Marais Day 1- Happy

{Just arriving at our campsite}


{Setting up}


{Exploring}


{My love affair with photographing mushrooms begins}




{Our site 37e- Private and beautiful}


{Hiking to the falls}








{Nora helped me discover many mushrooms and informed on their "names" as well as which fairies live there.  "And this one is called a pelican sunrise."}


















{Campfire dinner.  Roasted hot dogs, soup and smores.}

After the kids were asleep Ryan and I sat up repeating various versions of I think this camper was the best decision we ever made! Then we daydreamed about our next big trip before watching an episode of "Detectorists" and falling asleep.  Happiness.

A Nora Date

Nora (who is having a little trouble with mama being gone on occasion for my internship or a class) has learned that what she needs more of in her life are dates.  Recently she shared with the family that she had a date planned for her and I to go eat treats together.  Both Jackson and Grace looked at each other and said, wait, does she really just get to plan a date and have it happen?  Yes, apparently she does.  This one to French Meadow.


{Peanut butter brownie gets the thumbs up}

October Days

Farm School

Nora and I had our last day of farm school last week.  Oh how we love farm school.  Every week beginning the day after farm school Nora would to ask if tomorrow we have farm school.  We gave the animals extra hugs and snuggles last Tuesday and promised to return again in the spring.

{Also I back tracked our first field trip tonight}

Stone Soup

Always one of my favorite days with our homeschool group.
{Sept. 20th}

Hello

I've left this space before for a period of time but never for this long. A lot as happened in 5 months.  As much as I wish I had the record of our lives here, the time away was needed and good for me.  I have been a bit of a lost soul as of late. But now I am starting to feel like I'm emerging (not sure from what yet) and I'm ready to be back.  I miss this little record of my life.  It makes me happy.  I kept wondering how I would return (would I try and go back and post about all we'd done?  Just skip over it?) and then I decided to figure that out later.  For now, just this.

Field Trip: The Arboretum

We are studying botany this year and so it only seemed fitting that our first field trip of the year be the arboretum.


{Doing some bark rubbings and leaf collecting}


{Picnic lunch in the "tree house"}


{Playing at their favorite little houses.  Jackson was the wolf hiding in the corner.}


{The four of us visiting my grandma's bench}


{Sketching some flowers}




{Dreaming of all the Dahlias I will plant next year}





They got so into drawing the flowers.  They didn't want to leave even when I told them we might be in traffic.  On the way home I asked what they thought of their first field trip.  Well, they all concluded, trying to be very respectful as they responded (as we had just been talking about this very thing), it was a fun field trip but not the funnest field trip.  I reminded them that most field trips will not be the funnest field trip, in fact technically only one field trip a year could win the funnest field trip award (and yes, I know most people say funnest isn't a word but it turns out it is).  Anyway I told them, you didn't want to go home which means you were engaged in your learning which is how a teacher would measure whether or not it was a successful field trip.

It was good to see my Grandma's bench too.  She's been showing up in my life lately in her tiny magical ways.  Plus visiting her bench means they ask me questions about her and I get to tell them about her.  I love that.

Secret Beach

Farm School

A Date With Three of My Favorite People

Random Thoughts

~After insulating our house a few months ago we are now embarking on the huge project of residing it.  At the moment Ryan (with help from our parents) has pulled about a third of it off.  This is very exciting.  Although the process of a huge dumpster in our yard and "siding paper" (I don't know the name of it) flapping in the wind around our house is not.

~ Speaking of things not exciting or inspiring, I realized I'm not really a fan of this time of year.  Or maybe I already knew that but I'm just remembering.  Everything is still brown and bare outside, lost mittens and last year's half finished kid projects (the plywood box that was built and packed with snow to be used as a jump for example) now exposed from the melted snow.  Blah.

~ Oh while I'm on this tangent, I should talk about food.  Not excited or inspired there either.  Last month Katie came over to help me meal plan.  Then I went to the library and left with a stack of cookbooks.  For a few weeks I felt re-energized by the idea of cooking for my family.  I made a lot of new things.  Korean ribs, maple cider pulled chicken, lamb stew, and others I don't remember.  Out of all that only one meal was hit for ALL of my people.  One.  It doesn't help that I'm in my first trimester of pregnancy either I suppose.  But I think what I really need is my garden.

~ On a more positive note, my kids are amazing.  Everyday they ask me how I'm feeling.  They let me take naps.  They surprise me and put all the laundry away.  One day when they noticed I was feeling stressed while getting dinner on the table Grace sat me down and gave me a hand massage while Jackson finished getting the table set.  So amazing.  I am so blessed.

~ Also on a positive note, last week I started school again as well as two internships.  It was a very full week.  Given the fact that my sickness was at it's worst last week and I was feeling so tired, I was very scared I was going to hate all of it.  But instead I felt the opposite.  I'm not sure I can explain it but it feels like exactly what I need in my life right now.

~ While I am not totally over the sickness part, in the last few days I've been able to eat dinner again (as opposed to crackers).  I think I might be over the worst part.

~While early spring is decidedly not my favorite time of year, according to my blog late spring is my favorite time of year here.  I am looking forward to the spring peepers and blooming magnolia tree, which shouldn't be too far away...

Weekend Hightlights

~ Telling our family about baby number 4
~ Having Nora ask every morning since how many days until the baby will be here.
~ Having Jackson come up and hug my tummy several times a day to "snuggle" the baby
~ Having Grace beg me to bring up the baby clothes, which I finally did, and then watching her ooo and ah over each piece of clothing.
~ Getting a lot of next year's firewood chopped
~ Having my dad come out to help
~ Today's warm sun and feeling good enough to be outside in it

Friday Knitting