Annikan the snake tamer

When Andrew saw the blog this morning he was disappointed I didn't post the pictures of him holding the Ball Python. He is not a snake fan so this was a big deal for him. :)

Harvest Party - 2nd time

*Hopefully, this time the pictures will work. :)*

The church had their annual Harvest Party on Sunday. Andrew went as Annikan Skywalker. Maddie was a Duck cheerleader. And Samantha wore her ballet costume from a couple of years ago. She is really going to be Darth Vader but you weren't allowed to wear scary costumes.



Zany Zoo came with exotic animals that the kids got to touch and hold. Even Jay wanted to hold them. Not me. I was talking to someone when Andrew touched my arm and I jumped out of my skin. The guy asked me if I was a little jumpy. Below is Samantha with a baby tortoise (weighs 60 pounds). It just wandered around the party. I even got to pick it up and direct it in another direction when I caught it trying to go out the front door of the church.

Duck Football

Saturday Jay and I went to the game. We arrived 30 minutes before kick off because we got front row parking (parking pass).

It was a big game because it was the first time in Duck History that 2 teams ranked 10 or higher had played at Autzen stadium.

We froze during the game because we were in the shade with a breeze. The other half of the stadium was in the sunshine. The announcer said that the shade side was 45 degrees and the sunny side was 70 degrees.

It was a great game. The ducks won. This Saturday is another BIG game. I think Ducks and the other team are both ranked 5 or higher.

Food & Rain

It has been raining so much here that it is ruining our new lawn. The rain washed grass seed all over the yard even in spots where we don't want grass. It will be interesting to see if we have grass growing in our flower beds and in our new walk area when it sprouts.

Fall is "oven weather". Tonight we ate our stew in bread bowls. Yummy. Currently, I'm making Cinnamon buns for tomorrow. I hope they turn out yummy because they are easy to make.

Yesterday I made Pumpkin Pie Cake. It turned out yummy.

Last week I made Cracker Jacks. We enjoyed them right after they came out of the oven.

Jay got inspired and made Kahlua. It won't be ready to try until next month but it smelled yummy.

I'm sure I've made more things since the weather turned but that is all I can remember right now. Give one of them a try.

~Amy

Yard update

This summer I posted pictures of what Jay did to our yard (ripped out the bushes, took down the retaining wall, leveled the yard where the retaining wall was and ripped out the lawn).

We hired a landscaper to finish our yard.


He widened the walk way for us (that is my favorite part of our yard).

The dark brown is the "planting area" and the light brown is where the grass is going to grow in.

We didn't pay him to add plants and flowers. So, I will have to do that part. Which is overwhelming to me. So, luckily my friend Heather is going to help me. But I think I have to wait a month before we can walk in our yard.

WFMW- Lunch for Dinner & Dinner for Lunch

I was sharing with a friend the other day about our new daily schedule. She told me that I should share this tip.

When school started this year (Sept) our son's gymnastics team changed their work out time from the morning time (Summer schedule) to a night schedule. Andrew now practices from 5:30 to 8:30 pm 5 days a week.

Well, that means he/we have to eat at 4:30 so he can have food before he practices.

So, my hubby suggested we switch our "menu" around. Now, we have our big "dinner" type meal at lunch and at 4:30 pm we eat more of lunch type food (sandwiches).

Of course this works for us because we homeschool and Jay come home for lunch.

Another benefit to this schedule is the dining room table stays cleaner. I have more time and energy after lunch to do the dishes then after dinner. So, I love having a clean kitchen when I wake up in the morning.

If you want to read more tips you can find them at Shannon's blog.

Part 5 Pumpkin Patch (Boo)

I was editing the last post and I accidently deleted this cute picture! So, Maddie is getting blessed to have her very own blog post with just her! She is too cute!

Part 4 Pumpkin Patch (posing for pictures)

family
too bad there were people in the back ground

Part 3 Pumpkin Patch (more cow tail)

S & A getting ready for their 2nd time on the cow train.

Enjoying the ride.

Maddie!

Yippee!

Part 2 Pumpkin Patch (cow train)

Andrew and Samantha were the only ones who were brave enough to ride the cow train. The cow train cost $3.00 per person. While we were waiting for Samantha and Andrew's ride to end a lady in line handed us another ticket for Maddie. Maddie told her "No, thanks." She told us to go ahead and keep it. A & S got to go for another train ride since Maddie wouldn't go.

Andrew getting excited about the upcoming ride.

Samantha waiting patiently for the driver to buckle in each kids.

Total train ride cost= $9.00

Part 1 of the Pumpkin Patch

We learned years ago to first go to Winco to buy pumpkins and then go out to the pumpkin patch for pictures.
So, on Sunday it was a nice day and we decided to do our pumpkin tradition. The kids searched high and low for just the right pumpkin.

The pumpkin patches price was $.25 a pound. So, we saved some money doing it this way. Plus the lines in the store weren't as long as the lines at the pumpkin patch.

There are 4 pumpkins in the basket. Each one has a name on the top (written in sharpie) so there won't be any arguing later on whose pumpkin is whose.

Here are the weights and prices of the pumpkins:

• 23.92 lbs = $3.35
• 22.25 lbs = $3.12
• 25.87 lbs = $3.62
• 26.77 lbs = 3.75

Youth Auction

The youth group at church had their annual Cake Auction. That is where you buy tickets for dinner and then bid on your dessert. Samantha is finally old enough to be in the youth group so this year she was a "Server." She filled our drink cups and brought us our food. And for an added bonus she gave everyone (8 of us) at our table a hug. She was so cute.

School Pictures 2007

Samantha is attending LOGOS this year for math. They have a strict dress code.

Samantha has been enjoying her class and she made a new friend, Sophie.

In math class they are teaching the kids to do math like a computer.

Gentleness

Last night while reading my bible I came across something that I wrote in my bible (the blue color words are what is written in my bible)...
gentleness- using your stregnth to meet another person without over powering them.

1. when you are gentle and kind you have trust in the Holy Spirit to work in someone else.
2. when you are angry and harsh you are trying to change that person.

Remember the cross when you get harsh. (Hebrew 5:13 ->Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whomwe must give account.) You can't hide anything from God.

Proverbs 15:1 ->A gentle answer turns away wrath but a harsh word stirs up anger.

This really hit home for me in my parenting skills. I'm going to keep this in mind while I got about my day.
How does this speak to you?

More Survivor Challenges

Survivor Challenge- PB&J

In this challenge the girls were given 20 index cards to write out exact directions on how to make a peanut butter & jelly sandwiches. Then the "She's" read and followed the directions to a "T".


Survivor Challenge- Cat tail (outside)

This challenge took place on top of the big "litter box" (otherwise known as -sand). One girl was the cat and the other members on the team had to run and find the "cat tail". Once they got it they ran back and tied it on to the cat to make a long tail. The poor Panthers were at disadvantage because their "tail" was black (yarn) and it was hard to find them around the camp ground. The Red Dogs took first place.


Survivor Challenge- Group Cooperation Challenge (human caterpillar)

In this challenge the girls had to make a caterpillar with balloons and not using their hands. Once they got their caterpillar connected then they had to go around in a big circle. If the balloon fell or popped then the team had to start over.

For fun we connected all three tribes and had them go around the camp ground. It was funny because some of the "She's" put the balloons under their shirt (because we just said you couldn't use your hands...we didn't say you couldn't use your clothing).

Well that is about it for our Survivor weekend.
You can read more about our challenge:
here
here
here
here

Survivor Challenge- Fashion Challenge

Survivor Challenge- Fashion Challenge

The next challenge was the Fashion Challenge. In this challenge we gave each team as much newspaper and masking tape that they wanted. We also supplied markers and other craft supplies.

Samantha and Maddie


All the tribes and their outfits. I was so surprised to see how creative and different each tribes outfits turned out.


Samantha created these "shoes" made of newspaper and masking tape.

To see more fun from this weekend ...look here, here, & here.

Surivor Challenge- Tribal Art

Survivor Challenge- Tribal Art (create a tribe mascot) have the girls collect leaves, twigs, pine cones and other things

Our next challenge was to create a tribal mascot out of things we could find. I provided the pumpkin or gourd for each tribe and then Sami (Jill's daughter) gave us a tour of Cleawox. This past summer Sami spent several weeks at different camps at Cleawox. She did an awesome job showing us around the camp and explaining how things are run during the summer time. It sounded like fun. We got to see wildlife (newts) which some of the girls were very excited to hold while others wanted nothing to do with it. We also saw this "heart seat" out in the forest.

While taking a tour the girls collected stuff to create their Tribal Mascot.
Panther's Tribal Mascot (it is panther...head, body and tail).


This was the Panda's Tribal Mascot. They even created a spider web on the left side of the picture.


This was the Red Dog's Tribal Mascot. They had two "dogs" for their mascot.


It was fun watching how creative the girls and their "she's" were with what they found through out the camp ground.

To see more about this camping trip...go here and here.