These pictures are a little over due. We went blueberry picking for the first time ever in August. We had a blast. We picked about 22 pounds of blueberries. That should last us a few months, at least... Once Kaden found out that he was allowed to eat them, he was hooked. I'm sure he weighed more when we left.Kaylee enjoyed the berries as well. She seemed to want to sample berries from every bush. She wasn't super focused on actually filling the bucket.
Rae Ann did a better job. She spent a lot of time going from bush to bush, but she did manage to get a fair amount of berries into the bucket. Andrew did a great job. Poor kid doesn't even like blueberries. Maybe that helped him fill his bucket- he wasn't wasting time eating them like the rest of us were...LOL. I found that all the berries on each bush tasted the same. So, if you find a spot where you like the taste of the berries, stay in that spot.Tony made blueberry pancakes for us the next morning. Yummy!

After we got done picking the berries, we got to go visit with a couple of horses. I forgot to get pictures of them.

Camping!

Here is a picture of our new trailer, and our tent.

We had a great time camping last weekend. On Saturday, we went out on the boat to a sand bar where the kids could play on Saturday.

We caught some crayfish,
and skipped lots of rocks

On our way back, it started raining on us. We stopped and had some pizza, hoping it would stop raining, but it didn't. Once we made it back to the campground, the kids spent time watching movies and taking naps. By dinner time, we decided that we needed to go into town to give the kids something to do. We successfully avoided multiple toddler meltdowns. We ate dinner at a restaurant, and by the time we got back, it had stopped raining for a little while.

On Sunday, it was a beautiful day, and we were able to spend the day out on the river.

Rae Ann rode the raft for a long time. The river was pretty rough with all the boat traffic, but it was a lot of fun. We stopped in a cove to have lunch and play.

Last night, as it was nearing bedtime, Kaylee was engrossed in a magazine. When we told her it was time to go to bed, she reluctantly closed the magazine, looked up at us and said "I counted 27 pillows so far".

Oh to be a kid. Wouldn't it be nice if the biggest task you needed to do was to count pillows in a magazine? I wonder why she chose pillows? It's so neat to see what goes on in a kids mind.

This morning, after she got dressed, Kaylee came right back out to the couch with the magazine, I saw that she was right back to counting pillows. I wonder how many she will count today?

fireworks

on the 4th, we went downtown to see the fireworks. there is a parking shortage downtown, so we were happy when we found a sandy/grassy field near the post office. as Tony started to drive into the area, he noticed that there was a PT cruiser stuck in the sand. This is an area where only SUVs should attempt to park. But Tony decided to be nice and pull the car out of the sand with our Expedition and a tow strap. Afterwards, as we were parking we saw a 2wd van coming into the sandy entrance to get stuck. I guess vehicles are going to just keep getting stuck in that spot as soon as there is an opening...LOL.

the fireworks 'show' was pretty short this year. Budget cuts, I guess. We used to have 3 shows during the course of the Summer Celebration. Now we only have one, so I was hoping it would be pretty cool. Next year we will go to a cottage with our neighbors- the fireworks went for an hour and a half there.

As we got back to our truck after the fireworks, we saw that there was another car stuck in the sand.Tony shook his head and said he wasn't going to keep towing people out of the sand. The car was a Honda Accord. A guy in a Chevy truck drove by and yelled to the driver that he should have bought "American". I guess the genius didn't know that his truck was made in Mexico/Canada, while the "foreign" car was made in Texas. Go figure (of course, I don't know these things either until Tony tell me...LOL). That dumb comment changed Tony's mind, and he decided that he did want to help the stuck car. When he walked over to the car, he saw that it was stuck up to the frame in the front of the car. There were people trying to push the car out that direction. Do you think that was going to work?? About that time, a guy in a Dodge truck backed up towards the car as though he was going to use his truck to help get the car out. Then he looked over towards us. I was pulling the tow strap out of the back and he said in a surprised tone "oh, you have a strap?!" and then he turned and left. I have to wonder WHAT DID HE THINK HE WAS GOING TO DO?? In what way is his truck helpful if he has no strap or chain? AND even if he did, since the car was in the sand up to its frame in the front, what would he have even hooked a chain to from the front? So, Tony hooked the car up, and towed the car out of the sand (from the back) without any problem. AS SOON as the spot in the sand was vacant, we saw ANOTHER car heading towards the same spot where all the cars kept getting stuck...LOL.

I'm so frustrated. I wish I could feel successful at something. I wish I could know what the future holds. I wish I could be with my family more. I wish I was good at my job. I wish, I wish I wish...

TAGGED!!!

Liz tagged me to do this.

The rules of the game:Mention the person that tagged you. Complete the lists of 8. Tag 8 of your blog friends.

Eight Things I am Looking Forward To:
1. the weekend
2. buying a camping trailer
3. going camping with friends this summer
4. finishing my class
5. getting my real estate license
6. eating Fricano's pizza for dinner (stole this from Liz. sounds great!)
7. going golfing with Tony. (he golfs, I drive the cart)
8. getting organized


Eight Things I did Yesterday
1. ate breakfast
2. played on the computer
3. went to work
4. went to a soccer game
5. watered the garden
6. went to field day at the kids' school
7. stalked craigslist for a trailer
8. watched TV with Tony

Eight Things I wish I could do:
1. know the future
2. lose 20 pounds
3. finish daily tasks before I run out of 'day'
4. get my kids to stop arguing
5. be more successful
6. see without contacts/glasses
7. fly
8. convince my dog that it's OK to be calm and lazy in the house

Eight TV Shows I watch (this is the easiest one!):
1. Grey's Anatomy
2. Private Practice
3. All My Children
4. Here Come The Newlyweds
5. Desperate Housewives
6. News
7. Food Detectives
8. The Bachelor/Bachelorette

Now I'll tag 8 people that I think look at my blog at times:
1. Amy
2. Angela
3. Janelle
4. Jamie
5. Jenn
6. Erin
7. Jerry
8. Linda

I want to share a song composed by 22 month old Kaden (still nursing).

He sings this to me in the sweetest voice, usually after I've been gone all day.

"Ahhhh Boob
Ahhhh Boob
Boob Boob Boob
Ahhhh Boob"

School Choices

Last summer, I really wanted to put the kids into private school. Some people said that if we just had faith, God would provide a way for my kids to go to the Christian school. Unfortunately, even with the income-based discounts, there was just no way we could come up with the extra money. Wanting something and having faith doesn't make money appear, and it's not like I could just cut other expenses- there was nothing left to cut. In the end, we decided that having electricity and heat was more important than sending the kids to a school that we can't afford ;-)

Now, I am back to wondering what school to send the kids to in the fall. I've been mostly happy with the charter school that they attend. But I'm not so sure that "mostly happy" is good enough. There are some influences there that I would like to avoid. But is there any guarantee that I would avoid those influences in a Christian school? And even if I could, would we just find a new set of problems?

I can scrape together the money for the school this year, but I don't want to spend such a large chunk of money on the school if it isn't really going to make a difference, you know? I know people who say that the school made a big difference in their kids's lives. But how can you measure that? I think the biggest influence is the home that the kids are raised in. But on the other hand, I don't like that the kids go to school and get exposed to things I don't like. decisions, decisions...

Anyone care to weigh in?

I was talking with another mom today. She was telling me about how she recently went from part-time work to full time work. She hasn't gotten the hang of balancing work and family yet. She is trying to let some things go, such as whether or not the kids' clothes match. Some days, she feels like she's not doing a great job as a mom...

I can relate.

I'm overwhelmed. I am so blessed and thankful to have a great job, especially with the economy the way it is. I even like my job. But I feel like I'm letting my family down. I'm so busy that I'm starting to miss out on some things. *sigh*

The following is a paper that Rae Ann wrote as an assignment in her 3rd grade class:

MY BROTHER'S FIRST STEPS

It was late afternoon in the middle of summer when my baby brother finally did it! He walked for the first time! It was so awesome. When he came up to me, he fell because it was so hard to come all the way to me from across the yard. I was so excited for his success, but at the same time, I was sad because it made me realize that Kaden is growing up faster than I thought.

It makes me realize that my family has to baby proof my house a LOT more! For instance, we could put gates on the stairs, or we can get cabinet latches for the kitchen so we can even get into the kitchen!

Now I can play lots more games with my baby- or should I say my big boy! We could dance, watch TV, play with pretend kitchen, or listen to music. It is so fun!

Now that I know that Kaden is walking, he will also be climbing soon. It scares me because he could fall down the stairs and get hurt really badly, or he could fall off the couch! That is really scary! We need to really watch now. Not that we didn't before, but just way more!

As you can see, Kaden is growing up faster than I thought. Now he is getting to be a big boy.

by Rae Ann Evans

I am not a fan of winter AT ALL! But my kids are really enjoying it. I took this picture earlier this week when Kaden had his first experience playing in the snow. He loved it!