Black Friday Madness

Although I did not participate in the madness of Black Friday, I did venture to Sears in order to have the girls' pictures taken. It was really crowded but we managed to get through and get to the studio. The girls were pretty good when they were getting their pictures taken but not so good when I was picking out what to order. We made it home with only minor scolding and a few tears. Here are some pictures from the studio.

Halloween

I just now realized I haven't updated our blogsite for a month! Sorry. It has been a crazy month with Christmas rehearsals (yes, I said the "C" word before Thanksgiving) and Harvest going on.

The girls had a nice time on Halloween. Grandma T. came for a visit and went trick-or-treating with us. For those who don't know, trick-or-treating in a rural area is great. You get into the van and drive from farm to farm to collect your goodies. Farmers are pretty generous when it comes to treats. The girls came away with at least 5 to 7 pieces of candy from each farm. 5 pieces of candy x 3 girls x 12 or so farms = a TON of CANDY!

Hope you enjoyed your Halloween!

Chopping Corn

It was a glorious day yesterday when Todd was chopping corn so Rachel and Sarah decided to "help." They spent 3 hours with Todd playing in the silage pile. Jordan and I brought brownies out to the field and she was able to ride in the CAT with dad. As you can see, the farm dog was very hard at work sleeping in the back of the 4-wheeler.

Visit With the Schultes!

We took a trip to North Branch, MN to visit Todd's cousin, Brenda and her family. The girls had a great time playing with Abbie! We were able to visit and apple orchard where we took a hay ride, picked our own apples and fed some animals. We also had a birthday party for Todd's other cousin, Lori when we returned from the apple orchard. I even had a couple hours of "kid free" shopping! It was a wonderful and relaxing visit!

First Day of School

Rachel began 2nd grade this year! Here are a couple of pictures of Rach on the 2nd day of school. The first day was pretty wet and cold so we decided to take this picture after school on the 2nd day. If you don't remember, Rachel brought this tree home in the spring of her Kindergarten year. I am planning on taking her picture in front of it every year until she graduates from High School.

Rachel is enjoying 2nd grade so far. She has the same teacher she had in Kindergarten which is nice because we already know the way Mrs. Sorenson runs her classroom. They did not split the class this year so Rachel has 24 students in her grade.

Sarah starts pre-school on Sept. 17 so we will have pictures of her next week.

Harvest

Harvest is in full swing at the farm. Todd is harvesting the wheat and I am harvesting tomatoes, beans, lettuce, cucumbers and corn from our garden. Here are a few pictures of Todd combining, the girls waiting in the pick-up and Jordan helping wash up the beans.

The Puppy Saga Continues

We managed to find a good home for the little black lab who wandered into the yard last week with his sister. He went to a retired teacher I worked with and her husband. Of course, there were a lot of tears from Rachel after they left with the dog. She asked Dad if she could keep the other dog and Dad had to think. He asked me the next morning what I thought and I said, "If you would have seen all of those tears, you would have said 'yes' right away." So - to make a long story short - we have added another dog to our brood!

Puppies!

We had 2 stray puppies wander into the yard on Friday night. After many phone calls to see who they belonged to, we concluded that someone must have just "dropped" them off near the farm. They are really cute (and I am not even a dog person) and well behaved with the kids. Although I did lose one of my potted plants to the puppies last night! They also thought they should come on my morning walk with me. Not a good idea! Rachel, of course, has fallen in love with the pups but Mom and Dad are already searching for a home for them. Already having 12 farm cats, 1 dog, 3 kids and a yard full of cows, I don't think we need to add 2 puppies into the mix. Wish us luck!

Corn Huskers

We had our first taste of sweet corn from the garden the other day. The girls had fun husking the corn!

Sunflowers

In the midst of a busy week (Grandma's birthday, 2 days of Music Teacher workshop, carpet cleaning and moving furniture), we did have time to go up to the sunflower field for some pictures. Good thing I took the pictures this week - the sunflowers are starting to mature so they won't be this pretty very much longer!

Other news - Rachel is very excited to have her own room! We moved Jordan and Sarah into the same room so Rachel could have "her own space." The room is very tiny and looks even smaller with the furniture in it but she is happy.

I only have 1 week left of summer before I have to go back to work. It has been a wonderful summer and I have enjoyed staying home with the girls. Todd will hopefully start the wheat harvest next week.

I guess that is the end of the news. Enjoy the pictures!

Slumber Party at Grandma's!

Grandma Marilyn took on a lot when she invited all 3 girls to stay all night at her house. They were so excited to pack their suitcases and walk the "long walk" to Grandma and Papa's house (it is only on the other side of the yard.) Of course, we received a phone call after 9:00 saying that Jordan wanted to come home. She did go back at 7:00 in the morning for "supper" (which is breakfast, lunch, dinner and supper to her!)