Passports

Here are the passports we filled out this week. They were from REI, a sporting goods store in Minnesota. The passports had places for pictures and descriptions of our week's "travels". This was our first attempt at journaling with the kids, but it gave us ideas for the future. We generally try to spend some time together with the cousins every summer. In the future we'd like to try to have everyone memorize a Psalm together or journal what they are learning spiritually or draw pictures of Bible stories Grandpa tells during the week. It would be a good way of keeping God in all their thoughts, even when on "vacation".

In the Same Backyard: Friday

Today we took the bus to the store. Cyride is free this summer, so I am hoping to use it more often. Nina and I had lunch again at school and enjoyed the antics of the kindergarteners. There was plenty of drama in the afternoon; Anna's youngest scraped off her toenail as she was dragged by a bike. I worked on the garden some before going on a date with Will in the evening (thanks, Anna!). We are working on passports of the week's events. The kids finished up those on Friday night.

In the Same Backyard: Thursday

Zoo Day!

In the Same Backyard: Hump Day

Wednesday was a day full of surprises. We planned to celebrate Kaisa's birthday after school and made pink cupcakes in the morning. After doing the baking, we took a big trek around Ada Hayden park, thoroughly tiring out all of the kids. We ate lunch and received a phone call from school at 1:15 saying that our dear girl had pink eye! I made a quick call to the doctor and set up an appointment for 2:00. I raced to school, grabbed the girl and made a mad dash back to West Ames to the clinic. We received a confirmed diagnosis of pink eye (!?!) and ran back to Walmart to pick up the prescription before returning to school to pick up a friend who was going to come home with us. The party went on as planned with the birthday girl wearing sunglasses. Anna went to Ankeny after supper to help Matt move everything out of the apartment (whew!), and I held down the fort back at home. At the end of the day, the reinforcement troops (daddy and Aunt) met me back at home, and we agreed that the kids had won the battle that day (the house was a mess!). God was good in providing just what we needed in the perfect timing. Thankfully, the pink eye has been confined to the one child and not all nine!

Oh, and Happy 9th Anniversary to me... : )

In the Same Backyard: Tuesday

On Tuesday we traveled south to Ankeny. Anna helped Matt pack to move and Amy had accountability group. We ate lunch at Matt's apartment and picked up some groceries on the way home (lots of food being consumed at our house this week!). The kids played in the sprinkler after school. Some friends from church volunteered to watch all eight kids at night so that we could walk around Hobby Lobby and go to Dairy Queen in the evening. What a real treat!

In the Same Backyard: Monday

What a full day! Today was Daddy's day off. He spent the morning putting in a new slide for our fort. Everyone loved trying it out. Nina visited Kaisa at school for lunch. We all played at the neighboorhood park, cleaned the garage, babysat a neighbor, and had spaghetti for supper. In the evening we shot off a rocket in the backyard. It soared to 900 feet and caught the wind all of the way to Gilbert! Daddy chased it bravely but could not recover it.

In the Same Backyard: Sunday

Though the weather is still chilly, we donned our matching Easter dresses today and made our way to church. The kids enjoyed attending classes together. We stayed for a farewell dinner for our friends, Aaron and Carrie, who are moving away. The day ended eventfully as Grandpa H. was rushed to the hospital with chest pain. We prayed for him this week as he had tests and finally had three stents put in his heart. We praise God for doctors who are skilled to do these procedures. It was also a blessing to have Anna here to watch the kids at night.

In the Same Backyard: Saturday

Today we watched two soccer games, visited the baby chicks at Theisens, and had Matt & Molly over for supper. The Iowa wind was freezing today! We all wore our winter hats and mittens. We started "passports" of our adventures this week.

In the Same Backyard

We're together this week (with all nine of the kids) as Anna's husband is out of town (actually out of the country) doing some wilderness training. We're going to be busy!


The cousins arrived today while Susan, a friend from church, was here. Much to everyone's delight, she read them a book and wrestled with the boys.