So much for keeping up

It has once again been a while since I last posted. This one is very picture heavy. We have had a great September. The weather has been so warm and Joe took a nine day vacation. It was nice to have him home and not on call, no phone calls, no pager, no text messages. We had a busy month and here are some pictures.

Please remember to check Maddy's blog as well. She is planning on updating soon and would love a comment or two. :)


Joe took this one. Lately we have had to force Madeline to go outside. If she had her way she would sit on the couch and read ALL day long. So we made her go outside and she sat on the swing and read instead. LOL.

She walked all the way into the house from the swing set while reading.

We went to OMSI again. The kids love it and I hope we can get a family pass soon. Madeline and Daddy spent over an hour in the chemistry lab together.

Michael loves this huge crane.

Marah and Daddy.

Marah again, this time in the ball room.

We went hiking at Lucia Falls which is north of Battle Ground. It was a nice short little loop hike and the kids enjoyed it. It was a no water access park though and the kids were a bit bummed they could not go and play in the water. We talked a bit about salmon and how the water is protected.

Hiking.

Looking at the waterfall.

The baby is growing. I am showing so much right now, much sooner than any of the other kids. I also have not lost as much weight as with Michael and Marah. I am at only 10lbs this time compared to the 30lbs I lost last time.

I made Madeline a cape. Hers was the prototype and is a bit big. It is reversible to a yellow fabric (see below). Michael also has one in flames and pirate fabric.

The other side.

I made a diaper. It turned out really well for my first diaper. It is a fitted diaper that would need a cover over it. The inside is a pink fleece and I used an old towel for the inner absorbent material. Unfortunately it is a bit too small for Marah and the velcro won't hold. Maybe the new babe can wear it.

Marah is getting so big, I had to post this pic.

Madeline is almost 7!!!!

Snack time. Michael's favorite snack is popcorn. We make our own in an air popper and the kids love it.

Marah must think Maddy's is better.

The kids have been having a campout in the play tent in their room. There is no room to move in there but they are on night 4 of sleeping in there.

Marah's new face. Its so silly and she does it on purpose now cause she knows we will all laugh.

Yesterday Michael caught a preying mantis. We did some research and found out it was a male. Later that evening while Joe and Michael were looking for bugs to feed it they found another. That one was a female. Well they mated for almost 12 hours starting last night at 11pm and ending sometime around noon today. Then she proceeded to eat him. All that is left is his wings. The kids are excited about the possibility of babies later.

Here she is.

Jumpy and Woky (the backyard squirrels) have gotten to our sunflowers. We were planning to dry them for the birds this winter.

Completely bare.

So instead we cut them down and they played sword fight.

Madeline is holding the one she grew in her own garden.

We went to Great Grandma Evelyn's a few weeks back to visit. My Aunt and Uncle were there with their little girl. She would be the kids second cousin. Here is a video of her playing with Michael.

Summer Update

It has been a month since I last posted so it will be a big one. We have been enjoying the last days of summer. Michael is looking forward to fall and asks every day is it fall yet.

Madeline is learning fractions and this week has made brownies and zucchini bread with minimal help. I opened the oven and helped her solve the "issue" of accidentally using a 1/4 cup instead of a 1/2 cup. She is still getting Zoo Books in the mail and jumped into the current issue about Sharks when it came in the mail today. She loves getting mail. She also signed up for her own library card this past month. She has also been interested in learning about the presidents so we checked out a bunch of books at the library. Her latest project can be found here: http://www.madelinejo.blogspot.com/ You can also link to it at the right on this blog under Blogs I Read. She loves getting comments on her own blog so please respond if you can.

We also participated in a home school family swap this past week. We sent a package to a family in South Carolina and they sent us one as well. We sent info about WA state, pictures of the kids with little info cards about them, balloon animals that Maddy made, some art supplies, and items the kids collected from nature (rocks, shells, and flowers). Our package arrived on Tuesday and the kids were so excited. There was a lap book about Pageland, SC and the family we swapped with, info about the area, sand, flowers, and some toys. It was a lot of fun and I hope we do it again soon.

New baby is growing well. We recently chose a MW (midwife) in Portland, OR. Unfortunately we were not able to find one that would take our insurance. :( Why insurance will pay thousands to tens of thousands for a hospital birth but not 3,000 for a HB (homebirth) is beyond me. We are at 13 weeks and recently saw our MW for our first prenatal visit. It was not much but talking as we decline most prenatal tests. The heartbeat was a great 150 bpm. Joe and I really like our midwife and the kids seem to like her as well.

We have been u-picking and canning like crazy. So far we have canned strawberry jam, blueberry jam, whole blueberries, peaches, pears, pear sauce, and apple butter. We still have apples left to make applesauce with. The freezer is full of peach slices and several gallon bags of blueberries for smoothies. :) The garden is also doing well. We have had a bunch of zucchini, squash, carrots, and tomatoes.

Here are some recent outings:

We went to the Clark County Fair.

The goats.



There were races. The kids loved it so much that Joe took them back for the second show later that evening.


We went to Cannon Beach. It is so nice to be a day trip away from one of our favorite vacation spots.

Michael loves the waves.

Marah would run right out into the ocean if we let her.





Madeline enjoying the beach.