Interesting Day

Our day started out as most Saturday's do these days...with a soccer game. Brian brought Rachel to her game while the rest of the kids and I stayed home. We had planned on an afternoon of caching. I packed snacks, extra clothes, water bottles and our caching packs.

After a quick lunch, we headed out for the cache of choice. It was a multi, which means there are more than one part. It is a very interesting idea. The parts of this cache are pictures of birds that can be found around the area with choices of their Latin names. You have to find each multi (they were hidden in small bottles with screw tops and taped to tree branches with camo duck tape), identify the bird (a bird book is a must) and pick the right Latin name, which gives you the coordinates to the next part. It is along a walk/bike trail on the Mohawk River. It is a beautiful spot and was fitting nicely with our science study of birds.

All was going well, we set out, but while searching for one of the multis, we found a woman's purse scattered about. I was a bit nervous, hoping we wouldn't find the owner as well. We gatherered it all up and headed back to the van. Brian called the police. After a few calls and getting the right police department (we weren't sure which town we were in), a very nice young police officer was sent.

There was no money or credit cards, but there were a lot of gift type cards, driver license, SS card and what not. We found a few receipts and it looked like it had only been there a week or so. I kept thinking that maybe this would save this poor woman some bother if she got it back.

The police officer took all our info and we showed him where we had found it. He was going to look around some more in case we had missed anything. He was very nice and Gabe was extremely facinated with him. At one point Gabe whispered to me...is that a gun? I said, yup, the real McCoy. He was quite wide eyed and all the way home said he wanted to be a policeman. The officer did tell us that there were no reports of missing persons or anything, which I was glad of.

It was getting too late to finish the cache, so we packed it in and headed home. We made a stop at KFC to pick up dinner and a quick stop at Michael's to pick up the last skein of floss I needed to finish a cross-stitch block I am working on.

After dinner, everyone had a shower and we set everything out for church tomorrow. The day didn't go quite as we planned, but I was glad we were able to find the purse and report it. Maybe it will bless someone.

Postscript on Kite

After the sun started going down, the wind dropped. The happy kite ended his day of adventure and came back to earth. Brian and Gabe were able to retrieve it with no damage and only a minimum amount of string loss.

Sunny Afternoon

The rain stopped around 1pm and the sun came out. The temp dipped into the low 50s.

Brian decided to try and get the pool closed up. It had a ton of leaves in it and the pump was seized up. He netted out most of the leaves and took the pump apart and got it running again. Bessie asked if she could take a dip...now remember..the temp is only in the low 50s. The pool water temp was 62. I said sure...go ahead. She got right in. I just love her adventurous spirit. I wish I was more like her. She will try anything, go anywhere, eat anything (at least once) and basically has a tremendous zest for life. She actually stayed in for about 15 minutes.

Bessie takes a polar bear swim

Gabe got his kite out as the wind was really blowing today. We had it up and going in no time. It was very easy to keep up there today.

Gabe takes a leisurely approach to kite flying

Unfortunately, he lost hold of the handle. Brian tried to reach it in time, but it flew up and up. The handle caught in the tops of the trees and the kite is still happily out there dancing in the wind. I'm not sure if we will be able to get it our not.

The kite enjoys a solo flight

Rainy Friday

Yesterday was one of those do nothing days. Dan had nursery school. We played outside. Brian came home early to work on one of our vehicles. It needs to be inspected and has a broken rear spring. It is such a blessing that he can fix cars and that most of the time he actually enjoys it. We had three soccer games. I brought the kids so Bri could finish up the car. After the Littles were in bed, Gabe and Bessie watched a movie and Bri and I brought the car up to the garage.

Today is a very wet day. Lots of rain and lots of wind. Brian had taken the day off in hopes of having a caching day. I guess that won't happen. Hopefully the rain will end and we can get something done. We still need to close up the pool.

Bessie took care of the four youngers this morning and Bri and I slept in. It was so nice to snuggle and chat. Bessie is such a blessing to us and has a wonderful servants heart.

Brian and the boys get in a little Jedi training

Bri worked some in the garage. He is trying to clean out one bay so he can put his little car in this winter. Our van is too big to fit.

The Joys of Fall

We had a fun afternoon. The kids played outside and I stitched. I just love fall.

Gabe on top of the monkey bars

Bess, Dan and Gabe
Rachel on the mini tramp
Hannah and Bessie

Bessie had piano late this afternoon and then a babysitting job. Brian took Rachel and Gabe to mid-week church club. He likes to attend the mid-week service. It is very laid back and informal.

Settling In

Another glorious fall day. It has been so nice. A bit windier today, but also warmer.

We had a good morning. I'm trying to work with all the kids at once (well the older four). This keeps everyone on task and doesn't create hard feelings because one or two are playing in the other room, while some are working. Dan likes to sit with us and as long as he is quiet, he stays. If he gets too noisy, he has to go play in the other room. Rachel and Hannah are working on their basics...number recognition, colors, shapes, letter/sound recognition and handwriting. Gabe is continuing with his 2nd/3rd grade work. We have added SWR (Spell to Write and Read). We are continuing with the living math type activities, but I have to admit to throwing in more worksheets this year. He is okay with this as long as they aren't to long.

We throw in science and history when we can along with the extras. Bessie does her work independently except for some science stuff and discussion. We bought the DIVE cds this year and they are helping out tremendously. It was hard for me to help her understand because I have a math brain and often couldn't understand why she couldn't understand (It made perfect sense to me!). If she is having trouble, she just watches the DIVE. She has had many lightbulb moments this year in math.

I am hoping to add more of the hands on activities from our TOG (Tapestry of Grace) book. There has been a lot of talk on one of the on-line yahoo groups I belong to (SHS) about lapbooks. We tried this several years ago and Bessie didn't like it. I recently showed her the one we made and she commmented, why didn't we do more! In light of that statement, we might try them again.

What a beautiful fall day it was today. Blue skies, puffy white clouds and a breeze ushered in the day.

Dan had nursery school. I'm not sure if we are going to like this or not. He always comes home way more aggressive than when I drop him off. I know there is one or two other high energy kids there and unfortunately, they seem to be having a negative effect on him (and perhaps him on them). We will give it a bit more time and see how it goes. It is nice to have that 1.5 hours to get some solid work done with the girls while he is gone, but I'm not sure it is worth it at this point.

After lunch, Gabe wanted to try flying a kite. I wasn't sure how it would work as we usually fly them across the road in the corn field. They haven't harvested, so that was out. The breeze was also somewhat sporatic. We have a large yard, but there are a lot of trees. We gave it a go and had great success. After I got it up above the tree line, the kids had a great time taking turns holding the kite-string as the kite danced on the wind. We got it caught in the trees once, but were able to extract it without mishap. We have a new larger double handled kite, but will wait to try that across the road.

The little guys spent the rest of the afternoon outside. Bessie finished up some school work and I was able to sit and work on my cross-stitching.

Bessie has been doing a lot of cooking recently. She made chicken pot pie with biscuits lastnight and homemade mac and cheese tonight. She is becoming a very proficient cook. She really enjoys it and what a help to me.

Bri was suppose to fly tonight, but the flight was canceled, so he was home for dinner. He took Hannah to her soccer game. Bessie and I finished up the bins of clothes that we had started on this weekend. We were able to cut the amount in half. I'm hoping to do the same thing with all the other sizes we have saved.

Today was a quiet day. It was raining this morning and very dark. I just wanted to crawl back in a bed and get a bit more sleep. Dan and Hannah are trying very hard to not wet at night, so they are getting me up 3-4 times to go to the bathroom. Lastnight, they both had accidents, so I was up changing bedding and clothes.

I worked on math cards today...skip counting by 2s and 3s for Gabe and number recognition cards for Hannah and Rachel. I'm trying to come up with several different math games/activities for each of the kids.

We took a run to the Post Office this afternoon, dropped off some library books and went to the pharmacy.

Brian took Bessie to her soccer game this evening and brought Rachel and Dan with him. Hannah and Gabe stayed home with me. Usually we all go, but I was feeling tired and enjoyed the time at home with just the two.

Brian had to unexpected go into work today, so the kids and I went to church and Sunday School alone. There was a missionary family speaking today. It was very good. I thought I was in the nursery today, but I mixed my weeks up. I really hate doing nursery but it is sort of a requirement if you have your child in there to take a turn every month or so. I was glad that I was able to hear the speaker.

It was pouring when we got out...really pouring, one of those sideways downpours. We were soaked by the time we got to the van. The kids thought it great fun to splash in the huge puddles that had formed. I wasn't thrilled with getting my good clothes so wet.

Brian was home when we arrived at noon and had lunch all ready for us. He is so sweet. We all changed out of our wet duds and had a nice lunch.

The kids played nicely and Brian and I looked at boats on-line (a favorite pasttime of ours).

The rain finally stopped mid-afternoon so Bri and I took a walk. Bessie was making apple crisp and she kindly watched the youngers. It was nice to get out and walk, just the two of us. That doesn't happen very often anymore.

After our walk, we booted all the kids outside. It had gotten warmer and the sun was nice. Bessie, Gabe and I went and did some caching near by. These were quick, easy caches, but still fun. One was a magnetic cache on the back of a guardrail. It was fun trying to be inconspicuous while you are searching the back of a guardrail on a busy road. The second one was our first virtual cache. It was the site (it is marked) of a murder in 1930. This brought up quite a discussion started by Gabe on what is murder and how we thought it happened. I'm going to do a search and see what information we can come up with about the event.

Bessie and Gabe at the murder site

I had put a roast in the crock pot this morning before church so we had a nice hearty dinner followed by Bessie's wonderful apple crisp. After the "Littes" went to bed, the four of us watched the end of a movie we started lastnight. A very nice day.

Rachel and Gabe had a game this morning. It was raining hard, but they played anyway. Thankfully it wasn't as cold as it has been. Brian and I took turns sitting in the van with the other kids and watching the game.

Our afternoon was spent catching up on some chores. I did a few loads of laundry and Bessie and I sorted clothes. I'm trying to cut down on the amount of clothes everyone has. I do wash almost everyday and we really don't need as much as we have. We have very little storage and with three extra kids now, we have a lot of clothes.

The rain let up and the sun came out later in the afternoon. Brian was glad to get some outside things done. This time of year we start thinking about winter and all the things that need to be done before cold, snowy weather...wood to be gotten and stacked, chimney cleaned, furnace cleaned, the gardens to be picked up and made ready for spring planting, pool closed up, leaves to rake, camper winterized and covered...the list seems endless.

It was one of those days where I felt busy all day, but don't really feel like I accomplished too much.