Mom! I'm bored!

"Mom! I'm bored!" I'm so happy to report that I haven't heard that highly annoying phrase

since we moved here. It came out occasionally in Oregon; it sure is a nice excuse to put the kids to work! Anyway, the kids have been enjoying their new home. Ryan had his first fieldtrip to the zoo just four days after school started. They are studying frogs, and the zoo happens to have a frog exhibit today. Dad came up and watched Emma, so I was able to go and volunteer. I tried to get a better picture of Ryan, but he just moves too fast!

Emma and I get to walk to the school twice a day to deliver and pick up Ryan. Last week, she wore her backpack every day. I think she looks so big in this picture!

We've spent a lot of time riding bikes. I'll walk along with Emma while she rides her Radio Flyer. When Ryan gets home from school, we'll put Emma in the carrier on the back of my bike and ride around the neighborhood.

My wonderful friend, Betty, suprised me with a flower delivery. What a great way to start a day! Everytime I saw them, I thought of happy times. Thanks, Betty!

Emma reading to her baby "Emma."

When we were kids, we went to the races quite a few times in the summer. I remember the

smells and sounds like it was yesterday. We joined Dad at the races...a first for Bob, Ryan and Emmalee. We knew that Ryan would love it, but we weren't sure about Emma. It's loud, long and can get kinda boring if there aren't any crashes...

Yep, Ryan loved it...

Bet you can't tell if Emma did!?

Just in case you haven't guessed yet!

Disclaimer: for those who may think I'm a bad mom for exposing her ears to this, she did spend most of the evening with ear protection on.

Even though we were about 10 feet back from the fence, Ryan liked using his binoculars.

Mom and Dad have beautiful, huge gardens on the farm. They are always kind enough to share their bounty.

Mom and I spent one afternoon putting up 35 bags of corn for winter. Yum!

The tomatoes actually taste like tomatoes! So much better than the ones available in the stores.

To welcome us to our Wednesday night Bible study, Katheryn shared her blackberries with us. I made a yummy cobbler.

We went exploring one Friday evening. We headed downtown to the MK Nature Park. The kids loved it. They had so much fun running around a blind corner to see what treasure could be found. There are fish throughout the park...sculptured metal fish, live fish in the streams, and huge tanks filled with huge fish. We also found a great playground. The kids did a little swinging.

Whee!