Preschool, Apples and Art Prize

We did it! All three kids are in school and loving it. Bryan loves being just like his sisters and is excited on Tuesday and Thursday to go to his school after Mommy drops them off at theirs. He's had a great first couple of weeks and keeps assuring me that he will make friends "next time." Oh, the social skills of a 3 year old. :-)

My baby and I before his first day. He does get quite offended at being called my baby but he is, and he's a wonderful note to end on. We enjoy our days together but it's nice that he has something special that he gets to do with other children.

This past week was a very busy canning week at our house. Bryan was thrilled to turn the crank on the Sauce Master which is an awesome contraption if you do a lot of applesauce. We ended up with about 80 quart jars and I was so thrilled to pack up my canner for the year. God blessed us with a hugely productive garden this year and our freezer is packed full. It's a lot of work, but very worth the effort in December when fresh veggies and fruit are rare.

On the day before leaving on their Mediterranean cruise, Grandma decided to make HER Grandma's recipe of chili sauce, so off to the orchard for tomatoes, peaches and pears. Bryan spent his time traipsing between us and the baskets carrying tomatoes, apples and peaches.

An apple fresh off the tree has to be one of the best snacks there is.




It was a fun day with Grandma.

Friday night, we had a picnic on the way downtown to visit the Art Prize exhibit. This is Nessie, the Lochness Monster. It was fun to see all the different ideas that so many artists had and incorporated into the city landscape.

The table and chairs on top of the bridge was definately a favorite.

Bryan's legs got a little bit tired, truthfully, so did Mommy and Daddy's. :-)

Elizabeth in a maze/house built out of recyclable materials.

The girls with their names on the Grand Rapids Tree. Some of GR Public Schools' art teachers collaborated on creating this tree with thousands of ribbons for the community to sign. It was also a very cool exhibit. This afternoon we're off to watch as thousands of paper airplanes are launched off the top of some the buildings in the city. Have a great week!

Grand Haven

This past weekend we were able to do one last fun summer outing. It's been a couple years since we last took the kids out to the pier in Grand Haven so we decided to do that. We invited Eric's brother, wife and kids to join us and had a great time. The weather was absolutely beautiful.

The other Tower family.

Sister-in-law and friend

We heard no complaints from Bryan about holding someone's hand. I think he felt much more secure while doing it. As someone who used to have nightmares about falling off piers, I can completely relate.

A beautiful and long walk.

Mommy and her kiddos.

We were glad Bryan had Eric's hand at this point, as he was LEAPING from rock to rock with no regard for whether it was flat or slanted. Thankfully, we had no major spills.

I think every child who goes to Grand Haven insists on walking on the rocks.

Our precious third grader.

Our niece was happiest when pushing the stroller rather that riding in it. We ended the night with a trip to Temptations Ice Cream parlor and enjoyed their fabulous waffle cones.

Off to Third Grade!!!

Off to FIRST GRADE!!!!!!

Coming soon: Bryan's first day of preschool next week.

The girls did great on their first day of school. They already love their teachers and are excited about what the year holds in store for them. We are so blessed to have such a wonderful public school to send them to and we don't take that for granted.

To Aunt Shari's house we went

We had an awesome week last week as the kids and I traveled the four hour trip to Indianapolis to visit my sister's family. Shari loves to make memories and this trip we visited Conner Prairie which is a living history museum from the 1800's. We learned so much about what it was like to live in those days and were even able to help with some of the chores that had to be done. We did make many special memories. Thanks Shari and Stephen for an incredible week. We love you!!!

Learning how the Indians made clay pots.

Visiting an Indian home.

Riding a bronco that was pretending to buck. :-)

I wasn't really expecting it to feel like this!!!

Ashlynn was much more calm and serene and didn't scare the chick to death.

Brushing a goat in the animal barn.



Taking a break to enjoy the wonderful picnic that Aunt Shari packed for us.

Amazingly, Bryan was strong enough to get this pump to operate and was ready to exchange the buckets so that he could fill the second one. He quickly found that that was not possible when he tried to lift them.

Getting beautiful at the General Store.

Pickled tomatoes, anyone?

Bryan is learning how to play hoop and stick.

Elizabeth was given a special job to do by the blacksmith and his wife. She was asked to deliver this pot of slop to the pigs at the inn.

These are two happy sows.

Making sure they finish their dinner.

Bryan and Elizabeth all dressed up for tea.

I'm pretty sure who is enjoying this more. :-)

Our silly little boy discovered "Pringle" fun this week. Have a great week! We're off to school tomorrow!

InterGenerational VBS and Canning Peaches

We had a really special week this week as the girls chose to attend a VBS at the retirement home where my Grandpa lives. They were actually the only kids there with a great-grandparent as the rest of the kids seemed to be the children or grandchildren of staff members but it was really special for them to spend the time with Great-Grandpa. Several of the residents joined in on the fun and just enjoyed watching the children.

Great Grandpa and the girls.


Canning season is here and for those of you who know me, you know that my canner is about to be used overtime. A friend once offered to get me an apron that said "Talk to me in October. I'm canning." (I don't think I'm really that bad :-)) I had already done some beans, sweet pickles and dill pickles, but we added peaches and some tomatoes from the garden this week. I found out this week why God gave me girls first.

Ashlynn was an incredible peach peeler. It seemed I would look away and she would have a jar half full.

Elizabeth was also a great peeler. She was a huge help with washing the peaches, laying them out under newspaper, dropping them in the boiling water and fishing them back out. They both lasted about an hour and decided it was time to play so I got to finish, but we got a lot done in that hour.

70 quarts of peaches canned. Aren't they beautiful? Pears are next...

Summer's here!

So after a couple of months of colder than average temperatures, summer is finally here. It's in the high 80's and HUMID. Eric's brother had an unfortunate biking accident this week and walked away with a broken collarbone. Because of this our niece and nephew joined us for a morning this week and we headed off to find some water.

One of the boys playing at the park with his grandma had brought a bottle of bubbles which quickly attracted 3 of our 5 charges. They had a great time racing to pop the bubbles.

Elizabeth posing for a picture.

Our girls are forever attracted to the hand over hand bars at any park we visit. It amazes me that they can do it so well. I tried but was sure my shoulders would be dislocated and gave up. It may have something to do with weighing about 50 pounds vs. ??? :-)





My niece just enjoying the day.

Another posed picture. This girl is growing up too quickly. About once a day, something happens to make my mind fast-forward to the teenage years. If only I could slow time.

We are all gearing up for school. The school supply bags are packed, backpacks are ready and Daddy's already been back to school getting a few things ready. We have a couple more weeks of freedom before all four of my little/big ones head off to school. It's always a little sad to see summer come to an end but I also get a bit excited about the prospect of having a little more structure in our schedule. It also helps that the kids love school.