LIghts at Bluff Valley

On Friday night we went to see the lights at Bluff Valley, I love light displays and I think am passing it on to the kids, they were ooing and aaahing the whole time (actually three times through, it isn't very long!) Everyone wanted to choose a favorite to take a picture and this is Jack's; We think this was Daddy's, he was being secretive but we guessed he would like this one best.

Who do you think chose this one as a favorite?

And Selah chose the balloons, so cute, I liked this one too.

So we looked at the temp before we got out of the car and it was 18 degrees! We figured they wouldn't last long outside in such cold weather, an hour later Luke still wanted to stay and was saying "but I'm not chilly!"

This was a light maze we went through many times! Luke has a great sense on direction and always seems to know the right way, and then remembers it so I just follow him.

There was also glow in the dark basketball.

And glow in the dark mini golf! This was so much fun, the ball had blinking lights in them so you could see where they were going.

We truely have Minnesota kids right now, in 18 degree weather we are playing mini golf and basketball with no complaints! Iowa winters will be nothing compared to this!

Thanksgiving Favorites

These are some of our favorite books we are reading for Thanksgiving. I love this book and so does Jack, what a great story about how God uses terrible things that happen in our life for his glory. All three of my kids love this book. There is a happy baby named Jack in green and a crabby baby in blue and on every page they find the happy and crabby baby. They think it is hilarious! This is Jack's resource for his face painting, his poor face is really suffering this year from the markers and face paint! I am having to limit his trials to once a week. The book is good for learning about everyday life for the pilgrims.

They LOVE this book, in fact Luke has memorized it and will recite it througout the day. If you see him ask him and he will recite it, really he will!

This was one of our crafts for Thanksgiving, we went on a nature hike and gathered a bunch of stuff. Then they each chose a few letters to glue the stuff we found on to, it was so easy and very fun. I did have to run out a few times to get berries from the front to finish the letters but otherwise even Selah did this one easily. I should have strung it up with some twine to be cute but I right now don't have the time or stuff to do it.

This is Jack singing for his homeschool chorus group last weekend. He sang "Do Unto Others" and "A Song of Thanksgiving" and did a really good job.

Our First Snow

Last Friday we had our first snow and the kids were way excited. Brad actually took them out to deliver Jack's popcorn for Cub Scouts that night. Luke kept saying "I love snow!" Okay buddy, we will see in April how you feel!

He couldn't wait to make snow angels.

Selah was not too excited about all the clothes but soon caught on it was way too cold not to wear mittens.

They did stop playing a minute to take a picture. Notice Jack has face paint under his eyes (thanks Leah!). He was playing football with the Boysen boys who were over on Friday and by the time they were done we had no more snow in the back yard, just mud! I think that I want it to freeze just to stop the endless muddy boots, and coats, and pants, and gloves! The joys of having boys. I wouldn't change it for anything.

Selah's 3rd Birthday

Selah had a puppy party for her 3rd birthday on Saturday with 13 of her friends! It is clearly not easy to get everyone to sit and smile!  Luke would not join the picture unless he sat with Grandma Cathy, and my favorite is that in the mirror you can see Miss Bekah trying to get everyone to smile!  Thank you Bekah for helping do adoption certificates, thank you Rex and Cathy for helping at the party, and Miss Monica for taking all of the great pictures it helped me so much! Her puppy cake! These were the puppies we adopted out to her guests.  Selah chose a beagle and named it Lucy, I love it! (we have a beagle named Lucy)  Luke didn't want one until after the party and he got a scotty he has named Charlie and reads to him and loves him very much.  Jackson chose a white dog he named Whitey, I love the originality!  Jack's friend Calvin got one with prominent eyebrows that he named Eyebrows, I LOVE what kids name their animals!

Selah the Ladybug

Monica took a ton of pictures last Tue after her dance class when Selah dressed up as a ladybug. I so wish I could figure out the slideshow on this blog so I could put them all up because they were so good! These are a few of my favorites. How sweet to have a photographer next door for all of our events? Next post will be from the birthday party! Again thanks to my personal photographer.

Trick or Treating

Halloween this year was really fun, it was soooo nice outside! Brad's Mom and Dad were here for a visit so we even got to all trade off giving out candy to walk around with the kids. I did not do to well on pictures this year but here is what I got! Jack put together his own outfit for the first time this year, I'm not surprised he has done this costume MANY times and has it down very well. I am a little sad about him not needing help anymore.

Selah was an Iowa State Cheerleader this year, she already was a ladybug earlier in the week and she decided on this costume last minute. For a better picture of her go to Monica's blog!

Luke was all business this year, can you believe he was Thomas? He got started trick or treating and never looked back, really! I told Brad we could have gone home and he wouldn't have noticed we were gone until all of the houses turned their lights out! He was like a machine going from one door straight to the next. He actually did last the longest.

All three trying so hard to stay still for a picture before taking off.