Accomplishments

Don't worry, this isn't another post about all that Rachel is doing. (Although, she DOES walk about 3/4 of the time now.) :)

Yesterday, Micah and Garrett were playing out back and I was working downstairs. All of a sudden, Micah opened the door and said, "Mom I want to show you something!" So, I went outside to see what was so great. Garrett was on the swing pumping back and forth and Micah was so proud of him. What I see as the bigger accomplishment is that Micah patiently taught him to do it instead of tossing a ball around or running around the yard. Micah usually prefers to play by himself and often complains when others want to play with him. Although it's not necessary to ALWAYS play with others, we have working on at least thinking of the feelings of others and SOMETIMES including them in whatever play is going on. In this instance Micah willingly and selflessly took time to teach his brother how to do something. Then, he was not proud of his own personal accomplishment in teaching Garrett to do something but was genuinely encouraging his brother. ahhhhhhhhh.....

Karissa and Micah have also been spending a lot of time reading to Garrett. Thankfully, I do think that Karissa has given up on her original goal of teaching him to read at the age of two though. (When he was born, she announced that he MUST read at two, since she read at four and Micah read at three. Logically, this also means that Rachel needs to hurry up as well, because she would need to learn to read at the age of one. This thinking could lead to real trouble if we were to have two more children. Would that mean they would need to learn to read in utero?) We have also been working on NOT comparing ourselves with ourselves, but obviously we haven't accomplished that goal yet. ;)

More Baby News

Rachel is getting SO big! She now walks at least half of the time. She also loves to watch her brothers and sister play and tries to join in the fun. Getting thrown in the air by Daddy or playing "hide and seek" with him are great fun! She's got such a lovable, easy-going personality. She's rarely fussy-- just so content. (And unfortunately she didn't learn that from her Mommy, but I'm working on it.) I think her favorite person to watch and play with is Garrett. He's full of energy and is always entertaining. He's also always singing and she loves music! Sometimes it sounds like she's really singing along!

A Working Day

Today we kind of puttered around. I did lots of laundry. I worked on sorting out clothes bins (when I changed out bins for the fall, I realized they really need some work) and I still have lots more to go. We did some straightening up. Micah did some vacuuming-- YES my seven year old LOVES to vacuum! Am I a blessed woman or what?

We also had times where some people were having "diligence problems." We have tried all manner of punishments, incentives, rewards, consequences, timers and other methods to increase diligence on morning jobs, chores and family work times. We are still working on it! Today, Matt and I decided that we would institute a new plan. If someone isn't working diligently and with a good attitude, when they satisfactorily finish the job they are doing they get an additional job. That way they get extra practice on whatever area is needed: focusing on the work at hand rather than worrying about what others are doing, doing your best, having a good attitude, getting your work done in a timely manner, etc. We figure that if the kids don't learn to work hard with a good attitude, at least we'll have a clean house! ;)

Oh, and lest you think all that we were doing was slave-driving our children today, we also played a game of "Sorry" with Micah and Karissa while Garrett was napping. Our family likes games. We have LOTS of them! Garrett is just starting to get old enough to get in on the fun and the kids do a good job at patiently teaching him how to play. There are some games he's just not quite ready for though and those are a little more fun when he's napping or already in bed for the night.

Another highlight of the day: Rachel listened to Matt reading lots of stories to Garrett and her before bed tonight. This is a rare event. Usually she acts as though she is being tortured when someone is reading to her. In our house of bibliophiles, that is quite distressing! (She has enjoyed looking at board books for quite a while, but listening to stories has been quite another matter.) Let's hope this is the beginning of a whole new era for Rachel!

Oh, and there's more Rachel news! She is toddling around quite a bit. I would say she walks about 1/3 of the time and crawls about 2/3 of the time. It's hard to believe that she will be one year old a week from tomorrow. My baby girl is growing up SO FAST!

Vision Forum Drawing

I really like Vision Forum. They have lots of great books, CDs and toys! Someone sent me a link with this entry at the Life in a Shoe Blog. So, I thought I'd share it.

Here is my dream order (well, kind of-- I'd like to be able to spend more money ;) but it's a little version of my dream anyhow :D ):

Passionate Housewives: Desperate for God by Jennie Chancey and Stacy McDonald ($16)
Thoughts for Young Men by J.C. Ryle ($8)
The League of Grateful Sons DVD ($20)
So Much More by Anna Sofia and Elizabeth Botkin ($20)
How to Dethrone the Imperial Judiciary ($14)
The Importance of the Electoral College ($10)
Of Plymouth Plantation ($24)
Beloved Bride: The Letters of Stonewall Jackson to His Wife ($15)
The Influence of Older Children on Younger Children CD ($10)
The Bible Lessons of John Quincy Adams for His Son ($12)

The contest is only for products that are published by Vision Forum. There are lots of other things that our family would enjoy as well!

Saturday Soccer Game

Our kids seem to be involved in a lot and it keeps us busy. But at this point we still can do most things together. If, because of the busyness, everyone starts going in different directions we will probably need to rethink some of activities. On Saturday, we all enjoyed spending part of the day at Micah's soccer game. The other kids didn't watch 100% of the time, but they did spend some time cheering Micah on.

Here are some pictures of our time on Saturday. (Daddy had the camera that day, so he's not in any of them.)

Brothers

Don't you love it when one of your "big kids" does something nice for one of your "little kids"? It just makes my heart melt when I see my kids being kind to one another. I wonder if that is how God feels when we are kind to our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Sorry the picture is so dark. I tried taking it several times and resetting the lighting on my camera and just couldn't get a good picture for some reason!

World Map Baby Blanket

Someone on the Woodshed message board was asking about fabric maps. I mentioned this cute baby quilt that I have. So, these pictures are for "the other Anita" on the Shed. Sorry that it's so wrinkly. It's a nice blanket and gets used a lot.

Here is a picture of the whole thing:


It also has "facts" on it. However, I'm not sure how accurate the populations are, because I don't know when they are from.


There are also pictures of things that are associated with each area.

Milestones

As of last Friday, October 5, Matt is officially as old as I am... for another month at least...


As of yesterday, October 11, Rachel is 11 months old.

Here is a picture of her last week with Grandma:


Here is a picture of her today at nap time:


I haven't gotten a picture yet, but today Rachel has been standing for MINUTES at a time. (This isn't the first time, but I forgot to write down when she started doing this.) She also has been taking 2-4 steps at a time. (Also not the first time.) I don't think she's been doing it for more than a week or two, so I'm not too far off, am I? sigh

Nap anyone?

What happens when Garrett doesn't sleep during his naptime? Well, I found him like this a little before 5:30 yesterday.

Apple Picking

We went apple picking last Friday. This has become a yearly tradition and we really like it. This was our fifth year going. We definitely go for the memories as much as for the apples.

The first year we went to Edwards Orchard in Poplar Grove, IL. After two years of trying other places, we have returned there both last year and this year. They have a nice orchard, a wonderful store with lots of "goodies", a good place for the kids to play and the people are friendly and down-to-earth.

Here's what we picked:


Here's some of the fun we had along the way:

Fall Days and Remembrances of Summer

I will admit it! I don't enjoy fall. I don't savor the "cool crisp air and leaves on the ground." I like it HOT! I like the summer! Thankfully today is in the 80s. So, it's nice still. But, it's getting dark earlier in the evening, the nights are getting cooler and there are Christmas decorations at the stores. Fall is coming (and by some definitions is already here)!

One thing that fall brings, which I do enjoy, is our annual apple picking trip. We started this when Karissa was in kindergarten. So, this will be the fifth year of what has become a family tradition. As of today, we are planning on going on Friday.
Perhaps I will even remember to post pictures... but, don't hold your breath! I am looking forward to making apple pies, applesauce and drying apples. YUMMY! I also like pumpkin pie and pumpkin butter. So, I guess that fall FOODS are good! Just not fall weather!

Fall also brings a re-evaluation of our homeschooling. For instance, about a month ago, I was thinking, "What do a second grader and a fourth grader REALLY need to do?" This is a good checkpoint for us. "What's working? What's not? What's missing? What's overkill?" This year, I also asked the kids ONE thing that they would each like to learn this year. Micah wants to learn a lot about fossils. Karissa wants to learn to cook a simple meal. I think that we can accomplish both. However, Karissa's task would be easier if her brothers didn't have food allergies and she could make mac-n-cheese or grilled cheese and tomato soup or something like that. Math is going well. Spelling is going well. English is going well. Reading is going well. History is going well. Handwriting is going well for some and not as well for others. Piano is going well. Science is so-so. (And our kids have a teacher with a chemistry degree!) Memorizing 1 Timothy this summer was a good experience for the kids. I hope it sticks with them for their whole lives. We'll need to review a bit, I'm sure. We intended to start a new passage this fall, but haven't gotten very far.

Fall also brings a reintroduction of the "crazy life" to our family:

Gymnastics (for Karissa)
Soccer (for Micah)
AWANA (for Karissa, Micah and Matt)
Piano lessons (for Micah and Karissa)
Family Small Group (for all of us)
Sewing lessons (for Karissa and I)
Bible Quizzing (for all of us)
...and a myriad of other activities.

I realize that these are all our choice (and I don't think I'd choose to have it any other way), but things sure are BUSY!

For Laurie, and anyone else, who has wondered about the last couple of months in our family, I'll give you a quick rundown and a few pictures.

From July 27-August 5, we went to MI and stayed at my parents. Matt did some sort of computer training in Grand Rapids. He and Dad put a new roof on my parents' barn. Matt and I celebrated our fourteenth wedding anniversary. My Grandma arranged for she, Mom and I to take the kids for a ride on a "scale model" train along with some friends. We went swimming at "Uncle" Burt and "Aunt" Cindy's pool. We went to the zoo with my Mom and Aunt Cindy. We went blueberry picking. We also got to see people that I haven't had a chance to catch up with in years!

Here are a couple of pictures that I "stole" from my Mom's blog:






From August 11-August 16, Matt went on a trip to the Boundary Waters with his Uncle Doug. He has lots of good memories from this trip. He left his pillowcase with all of his extra clothes at his parents, after he stayed there the night before their trip. He also has a good "hero story" (as Karissa calls it) about he and his uncle helping a ranger paddle someone who was injured out of the "boonies" to a place where they could get to the hospital. He took a lot of really good pictures. Here are a "few":












Here is a picture of Rachel one month ago today. Such a big girl!



Here are some pictures from August 20th, our "first official school day". (Micah would not consider himself in second grade until I declared a specific day that we were starting, even though we did some academic things on and off all summer!):






How do those of you with more than one child EVER get any good pictures?

Labor Day weekend my parents came to visit. On Saturday, we went to Brookfield Zoo. Micah was lost for about 20 minutes at the end of the day and it was definitely a time of great prayer. Daddy was standing right next to him and had looked at him about 15 seconds before I asked, "Where's Micah?" These things can happen so fast! Thankfully, Daddy found him sitting nicely on a bench. God is good!





Here are a couple of pictures of Rachel and Grandpa from that weekend:




Here's a picture from September 5 of Rachel "reading books". She's almost 10 months old here. Aren't you impressed?



Oh, and I forgot to mention that sometime between the first day of school and Labor Day our house almost flooded. Exciting times!

I think that gives you a good "snapshot" of the last couple of months in the life of the McFarlane family. Is that good enough Laurie?