My entrepenuers

My kids love making money, so any chance they get they are trying to earn it. I love it because they always have money with them to buy gum, etc. that they want and I don't have to buy (:

It was enterprizing kids at the mall again and this year Jonnie decided he wanted his chance to sell. So him and I made candy necklaces-little trains and scarecrows and his business was named "Candy Cravers." Very appropriate for him don't you think? He ended up making around $80, but he had to pay back his suppliers (aka me) and it was a great lesson to learn about how businesses run.




Alaina and her friend Rossy teamed up again this year. They were in a tough location and didn't make as much as usual this year. Their friend Angelica was with them and they all worked so hard. At least they had fun together and learn new things every year. Their store name was "Sweets and Co."

Alaina made over 50 pairs of earrings!!




Also, the day before Halloween the kids sold pumpkins along the highway. They were out there most of the day and made $20 each! Not bad, and I love seeing them work together. They are great friends again when they are out working together!



So proud of these two!

Cool Bassist

Jonnie had his first orchestra concert last week and he did a great job! I was so, so proud of him up there. Jonnie plays the Double Bass and what a cool sounding instrument. It is so low and not squeaky at all-I love it! He is doing really well with his first instrument.





The Bass is bigger than him and probably weighs about as much, so it's been interesting watching him carry it around (:




Great Job Buddy!

We are approaching winter.....

I am feeling down these days. I think it is the change in weather and I know winter is coming and fall is ending. I get this way every year and I dread the long, cold winter. Everything seems so overwhelming, too. Holidays are coming and I never have enough money to do everything I want with and for the kids, and there is always something going on with school stuff for the kids...I am not very organized with myself and it is always challenging for me to keep track of everything they need, too. This year seems especially challenging with Jonnie and Sawyer. Jonnie has so many projects and homework to be done nightly, that it is like I have homework just trying to keep up with it all and make sure he gets it done. I know I should be letting him be more responsible for it all, but honestly he is a lot like his mother and organization is a struggle for him. Sawyer also has a lot of things I have to remember for preschool. It's adorable and wonderful, but it's little things like having to bring him to school at 7:00 am for donuts with dad and hoping Jon gets off work in time to be there. And, I have the other 2 at home getting ready for school by themselves. I know, it seems trivial, but it is just one more thing to figure out. It's just the mood I am in and I know I will be better tomorrow....
Also, Halloween is approaching fast and I haven't bought anyone costumes yet. Luckily Sawyer wanted to be Batman and I already had that one in the dress up bin. So I was grateful he had a costume to wear for school today. I think it all boils down to money this time of year. So much is due and so much is expected from us, it just gets overwhelming at times.
Now I am going to go drink some tea and maybe throw in another endless load of laundry...

Amazin Farmyard!

I finally made it to the Amazin Farmyard this year. I've been wanting to check it out for awhile now. We went with my sisters-in-law and their kids and it was a really clean, cute little farm.

We were able to buy bottles of milk to feed to the VERY hungry goats. Goats are always hungry, aren't they? We were also able to buy food to feed them and with all the people there throughout the day, I am surprised they are not all obese!



Here's Sawyer and Hunter in the kitten room. The kittens were all pretty sweet. They also had a puppy room, but the puppies weren't real interested in being handled all day.



Here's Katelyn and Alaina in the rabbit area. Alaina fell in love with the rabbits and would have loved to take one home.



"Look ma, no hands!" I couldn't talk Sawyer into riding a pony with his brother.



They had this really cool maze there I and ran around in it with the kids. After awhile I got dizzy and just wanted out! Kate and Jonnie cheated and went under the fence at one point (:



They also had a large slide. There's Kate, Alaina, and Jonnie going down if you can't tell that is them. I couldn't talk Sawyer into this either. The boy is fearful of heights I'm afraid.



But, he is not afraid of 4-wheelers! They had a really cute "road" for the kids to drive their vehicles around. He loved this part.



All three of them in one of the bouncy houses.



Next, my kids and I boarded a little train and had a very slow train ride into a field and back. It was relaxing and Sawyer said this was his favorite part of the day. Mostly because he was sitting on my lap, playing with my hair.



They had the cutest, sweetest donkeys that were just walking around. Other cool animals they had were camels, pot belly pigs, and these strange looking cows that I have never seen before (I forgot to take pictures of them) and I forgot what they were called.



So, all in all it was a fun place and I will definitely go back. I recommend it to anyone in the area!

Harvest

I am happy to report that everything is complete for this years harvest-including the plowing! An awesome year and they were done early. Last year at this time, we hadn't even started combining yet! Good Job guys!!

Hotel Extravaganza

We got together with the Hillenbrands for our second annual hotel bash. We get together to celebrate all our birthdays and just have fun together. So swimming, pizza, swimming, cupcakes, games, and wine (well for Julie and I) to celebrate a fun night!

Nelson Farm!

I had another awesome field trip to the Nelson Farm today. I think this is my 4th (maybe 5th) time chaperoning a Nelson Farm trip and I still love it! I could probably give the tour and the safety talk myself (:

Here's Sawyer and his partner for the day. They were very cute together. In fact, all the kids today were adorable. For a lot of them this was their first trip without their parents and they were all so well behaved and held our hands, etc. So sweet. I am not sure how Sawyer would have done without me. I am sure fine, but I am glad I was there anyway!



Learning about angora rabbits.



I always enjoy the pigs. Even thought they stink, they sure have funny personalities.



My favorite animal of the day was "Menace." He was hysterical. This picture was taken right before he ripped off Sawyer's name tag and started eating it. He was so cute!



"Who me?"



Here's the whole gang. This is actually the morning and afternoon class together so that's why there is so many. It's funny how Sawyer and partner are the only one's in the sun and you can't see their silly faces.



Waiting to take our wagon ride out to the pumpkin patch and giving rabbit ears (:



Sawyer and his best bud Kelsey. Unfortunately Kelsey was in another group, but I think she would have preferred to stay with us.



"We got our pumpkins!"



Wrapping up the day on the bouncers and trikes!



What a fabulous day and the weather was so beautiful! The only downfall was the bees at lunchtime and the fact that I didn't take as many pictures as I wanted due to the fact that preschoolers are very hands on and I was always helping someone (: I loved it, though and so did Sawyer. I still find it strange that I have started chaperoning Sawyer's field trips!! The first of many, I am sure.

Jon's Birthday and Sunday School

Here are a few pictures of Jonnie's birthday. On the day before his b-day, we had a little party for him at my in-laws and had cake and opened presents. Then we took him out to El Tapitio for supper. The next day was his official birthday and he brought cupcakes to school and was All-star kid for the week in his class. Which means he was honored everyday of the week with something. Grandma Karen even went in and had lunch with him on Thursday. He finished out the week with a friend party out for pizza and a movie and one of the boys stayed overnight. Pretty great birthday, huh?






Oh, and he even got a hamster! He named her Chelsea. She's pretty sweet.




Also, Sunday School has started up again and I realized I never put my rally pictures on here. We had our Rally Sunday at a nearby lake and played games and had treats. We also had our church service there as well and celebrated Grandparents day with poems and songs throughout. We followed everything with a potluck lunch and swimming for the kids. It was a fun day!









This year I am teaching 2nd and 3rd grade and they are a little more challenging then my easy K and 1st graders last year. Here's to a great Sunday School year!