Michael's Birthday

(Actual Date: November 11)

This fall Michael, Nate's brother, was a steady visitor as he made five weekly trip from MI to MN for medical reasons. The last visit was the day before Michael's birthday which we couldn't let pass without a celebratory Butterfinger Freeze. For those who have never had Butterfinger Freeze it is an ice cream dessert that my mother-in-law made for her kids. Whenever we have company I usually take requests (or at least suggestions) as to menu items. When Michael visits Butterfinger Freeze is ALWAYS his request. Happy Birthday Michael and many more!

kids

As a parent I always love my kids but I will admit that there are days it's easier to like them than others. Tonight as I was finishing cleaning up supper things in the kitchen I couldn't hear then kids boisterously playing anymore so I looked around the corner to see what they were doing. Pleasantly surprised, I found them on the couch with Evan leading Hans and Lydia in some quiet evening reading. Left undisturbed they read for quite some time before inviting me to join them. Who could turn down an offer like that?

trees

One thing I missed about falls in SD was the color red. Nearly all the trees there turn yellow and then brown. Now I have a full range of warm colors adorning the fall trees around me. The first picture just seemed to be the ideal fall tree with the golden hues accentuated with rusty red highlights. Although it wasn't for lack of trying I didn't quite capture all of that in the picture but it's still a beautiful tree.

The second tree was along the lake and looked like it could be on a poster with a Bible passage or inspirational thought floating in the upper left corner or maybe as a screen saver.

Just sharing.

Fine Fall Day

Yesterday the weather was beautiful here in Oshkosh. We took full advantage of the 70+ degrees in November and spent some time after school down by the park on Lake Winnebago just enjoying being outdoors. The kids love the water and will gladly throw rocks into it for as long as possible. They also enjoyed finding the tiny shells that are washed up on the beach in long rows now that the beach is all but abandoned. Pictures 1&2 show the kids on the small beach front area but most of the shoreline is made up of small boulders that are perfect size for kids to hop from one to the next. Small pools between the boulders also hold great "treasures" that wash up from the lake. When we'd exhausted the lake front the kids chased seagulls and geese in the large grassy area around the lake. Here we found a giant statue of Chief Oshkosh, the cities namesake (pic. 3). The kids still think Oshkosh is an odd name for a man since it's really a city despite my best efforts to explain that one.

Fall Trip 5

Day 6: Our final destination for the trip was my sister's family's home in northwestern WI. This meant that they would get to see two of their cousins. And since we were visiting on Halloween we went trick-or-treating with those cousins. My kids have never been trick-or-treating since every year previous they'd attended our church's Harvest Fest instead. They enjoyed the evening but I think it was more the time with Joey and Jesse than the actually trick-or-treating. Another result of Harvest Fest is that my kids assume that they dress as a group. Lydia had received a hand-me-down Tinkerbell costume so Evan and Hans came up with the idea of going as Peter Pan and Captain Hook. This idea kept rolling and Joey went as Smee (the other pirate in Peter Pan) and Jesse went as Peter's little brother, Michael (pic. 1).

My sister and I wore 50 cent tinsel wigs and blinking clown noses. Festive. Our costumes were outdone by the gorilla at one of the small business we stooped at while trick-or-treating (pic. 2). None of the kids were sure of it to start and Lydia still talks about the "big, big monkey that was scary" even though he did nothing to scare the kids except stand there. :)

Day 7: Saturday morning we headed back home to find Dad. We had a great trip and hope that everyone enjoyed being seen as much as we enjoyed seeing them. One of the best parts is that we get to see everyone and then some in just three and a half weeks for Thanksgiving. Yeah for family! Love you.

Fall Trip 4

Day 5: Late in the evening on day 4 we arrived at my in laws so day 5 was really when we spent the bulk of our time with them. The day was about as perfect a fall day as one could ask for. Most of the day the kids were outside in the sandbox, playing on the "playground" (pics. 1&2), romping around with Freckles (the dog), checking the pigs in Grandpa's barn, picking some soybeans from the neighbors field with Grandma (which were roasted later for a tasty snack), and collecting woolly-bear caterpillars by the handful. When they ventured indoors they made treat bags with Grandma, colored pictures, read books (pic. 3), and "helped" in the kitchen. For the most part they just enjoyed soaking up the attention of their loving Grandparents(pic. 4).

Fall Trip 3

Day 4: Since Kristi is a preschool teacher and I have three kids at or near preschool age we just tagged along with her to work for day four. The kids enjoyed all the activities especially "work time" (For those of you out of the preschool loop it is a time where the kids choose their own activities and play at stations/centers for an allotted amount of time.) Evan worked at the art area (pic. 1). If I had a penny for every project or picture Evan has created I'd be rich. He's creative to say the least. Hans started off in the leaf table playing with a collection of fall leaves (pic. 2), then he found the trains and happily parked there the remained of the work time. Lydia found a friend in a quiet little boy and the two of them plays in the kitchen making food (pic. 3). The little boy did often have to remind Lydia not to eat the food but they got along well otherwise. We even got to do a special project (pic. 4) that they've requested to do at home and frosted our own cookies.

What's not to love about visiting Kristi and Matthew?? Apparently nothing since there were three kids in tears as we drove away. Good thing we see them again in three and a half weeks. I'm thinking well have to visit again in the spring. :)

Fall Trip 2

Day 3: We left my parents a little later than scheduled since all four of us slept until nearly 8am! It was as if we were on vacation. :) Then we headed northwest to find Matthew and Kristi and their new house. I'm fairly certain that if their wall could talk they'd be saying, "WOW! It's never been so loud and crazy in here!" Parachutes dropped, darts flew, caramel corn was made, the Great Pumpkin was watched (pic. 4), an aunt and uncle were often used a comfy furniture, and the adults even got in a little catching up and visiting. I'd really like it if we were eight minutes apart instead of eight hours so we could drop in for the evening more often. I don't think that they'd mind. ;)

Fall Trip

Evan had a week long fall break from school so the kids and I made the most of it visiting sixteen family members while traveling through/to three states. It was a GREAT trip. The kids are accustomed to traveling for multiple hours at a time so the 2 1/2-5 hour chunks of driving most days were a lot of fun. We listened to Laura Ingles Wilder on CD, sang Veggie Tales, and learned the alphabet game to pass the time. When we actually got to our destinations the fun just kept coming.

Day 1: We left Oshkosh mid afternoon with my mother-in-law along (see back two posts to hear of her visit) and met my father-in-law for supper. After happy meals at McDonald's we parted ways with the kids and I heading to my parents. With three kids I don't arrive quietly anymore so with much ado we made it to destination number one.

Day 2: The pictures are all from the second day. We spent the day with my parents and even visited my Grandma. In the afternoon Evan (pic. 1) got to go hunting with Grandpa. If you know Evan this in no small feat since in required him to be quiet for an extended period. Despite having to be quiet he had a great time and wants to do it again. Hans was upset at first that he couldn't go hunting too but was quickly appeased by getting to help Grandma make supper and (pic.2) make his Halloween costume but more on that later. For dinner my brother, his wife, and their cutie little son (pic. 3)joined us for dinner as did my Grandma. Lydia is in love with all things baby including her baby cousin Ethan. That fact is not reflected in picture 4. All that is there is her ability to smile like a goof ball. :) Day two was a success!

carving time

Our kids have had their pumpkins since September and they have nicely decorated out front step. Now it was time for the pumpkins to be transformed into much, much more. Since it was chilly we filled the kitchen with pumpkiny-ness as we opened, gutted, designed faces, carved, and candled the seeds, and finally, roasted seeds. Each of our kids were in true form as Evan plunged in up to his elbows to gut the pumpkins and then had very specific directions as to how to best carve his pumpkin face, Hans declared that I could gut his pumpkin since it was too slimy and they was much happier helping cook the seeds after a few mild directives as to his pumpkin face, and Lydia wasn't sure if she really liked to touch the slim but she did like the seeds and had specific instructions including a "sad smile" and "mean eyebrows" for her pumpkin face. The end result brought three unique pumpkins to match the kids they belong to and a bunch of tasty pumpkin seeds for snacking.

1. The whole gang carving (Mary was here and took the picture.)

2. Evan with specific instructions for Dad. 3. Kids and pumpkins as they adorned our step.

4. The "silly picture" the kids begged to let us take. (Aren't most kid pictures silly pictures?? Hmm??)

Grandma Time

Last weekend Nathan's mom, Mary,came for a quick visit to see the boys sing in church on Sunday morning. You can see (Lydia demonstrates in the picture for you.) the kids used it as an excuse to have some "Grandma Time." I don't know who was happier to cuddle, read, chat, and just be together Grandma or the grandkids.

In the picture Mary is reading Mrs. Wishy Washy by Joy Cowley. Lydia can actually recite the entire book but still loves to have it read over, and over, and over.....

Company like Crazy

Today is a longer than normal Monday as we're all adjusting to an emptier house and "normal" routine again. The last four days have been so filled with fun family and friends that today seems, well...., dull. This past Thursday evening Nate's youngest sister, Joanna, came over to visit for her fall break from MLC. She's spent up to a week with us several times in the past years so even in a new house she feels right at home with us. (She didn't even complain about the lack of guest room! :) On Friday afternoon, after a morning of bagel munching (by us all), coffee sipping (by Joanna), and caramel corn baking (by all of us), Tammy, Nate's sister-in-law, stopped in for an afternoon visit. She was in the neighborhood for a wedding and couldn't resist the lure of niece/nephews tender affection. It was also a great excuse to eat that fresh caramel corn. Saturday Joanna and I managed to escape the house without children in tow and spent a few hours at the outlet mall hunting for bargains (we found exactly 3). Then for dinner on Saturday evening Nate's brother, Michael, came over to get his fill of us and some soup too (and maybe join his wife for that wedding). We all joked that it was odd to have that many Smiths together without it being a major holiday or wedding.

Sunday since all the biologically related Smiths were at or heading to their respective homes and we hadn't had our fill we headed down to Jefferson, WI to see some SD Smiths. A former student of Nate's was giving an organ concert and since his parents had driven 830 miles to hear him we drove the 70 to see all of them. It was again nice to see some of our SD friends again.

After all that in four days it's easy to see how today was kind of dull around here. Hopefully tomorrow picks up again. :)

Twin Day

Here at Martin Luther we just finished the fall "Spirit Week" which is pretty much a junior version of homecoming week. Evan enjoyed all the dress-up days with "backwards day" being his favorite. Tuesday was "twin day" and since there are only five boys in the kindergarten class and not wanting anyone to be left out they were all "twins." The week previous I took the top picture of the boys and then created the shirt that they're wearing in the bottom picture (one boy was sick and the other left early so only three made the picture). They all got a kick out of wearing a picture of themselves and they were one of the biggest groups of "twins".

Saturday on the Bridge

Here in Oshkosh one of the five bridges in town has been rebuilt and is nearly ready to be reopened. On Saturday the 11th there were some minor festivities along with a dedication ceremony at which the mayor and the governor spoke. None of that will really be remembered by Evan, Hans, and Lydia since it was over shadowed by the fact that they got to lay on the bridge and watch the boats through the steel grate pass underneath it. They were so animated about it and enjoyed themselves so greatly that they attracted the attention of not only the locals but also a reporter from the newspaper. I'm not sure if the link is still there but you can check at www.thenorthwestern.com under the "Wisconsin St. Bridge Dedication". If not the first picture is about the same as the one the photographer took. The boys also really enjoyed getting to try their hand at playing the drums that a local business has set up as part of the day. It all provided a good excuse to be outside on a spectacular fall weekend.

Passing Through

Little did we know that there would be easy ties from to western SD to northeastern WI. Now that we know we're delighted. This past week two dear friends of our family were in the neighborhood and stopped for dinner and the evening. Before we left SD the deal had been struck that they would visit in the fall with them springing for pizza if I'd make dessert. Papa Johns and taffy apple cheesecake pie were thoroughly enjoyed by all. The kids were beyond excited which was displayed repeatedly throughout the visit. Pastor and Mary were enjoying some leisure time visiting parents and family in WI so we appreciate them taking time to pop in at our house. It's our hope that now that they know where we live they'll visit again. :)

1) Pastor reading the kids a bedtime story.

2) Visiting.

3) Mary playing Hungry Hippo with the kids while waiting for the pizza man.