Kids are funny

Samuel was in the car with me and I slowed down for a traffic light:

(Samuel) Mom, did you just step on the brake pedal?
(me) Yes, I did -- you're right!
(Samuel) The brake pedal is on the driver's side and the "go pedal" is on the passenger side . . . but really they're both on the driver's side, because there's no steering wheel on the passenger side!

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One of the things we've been studying in school lately is sea creatures (sharks, dolphins, whales, seals, etc.). At 7:00 Saturday morning, Daniel and Emily had climbed into our bed and were talking with us.

(me) What's Levi doing?
(Emily) Oh, he's reading a book
(me) What book?
(Emily) One of the library books on sharks and whales, he's trying to find out what kind of whale swallowed Jonah!
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Samuel was in the car with Kevin and told him "when I get older I want to have a car just like this . . . but people will have to teach me how to turn the radio on!"

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We were discussing human development and how long babies generally are when they are born. In our family they were pretty much 20 - 21" at birth. We decided to measure how long our little dog, Suki, is . . . just so the kids would have a visual point of reference. He is pretty close to 21". As I was measuring him, he stretched out and was closer to 23". After I let the poor dog hop down from the couch Anna turned to me and said "when I was a doggie I was 23 inches!"

Fall and several "firsts" . . .

We enjoyed a fluke "summer snow" on Monday (since we never managed to plant a garden, we just got to marvel at how fun it was without suffering any personal loss!). We're now delighting in the first days of autumn and some cool, pleasant weather. Last week the kids returned to AWANAs and Anna was perfectly delighted to finally be old enough to go! She also got to begin worship dance with Emily (in a different class, but at the same church). Over the weekend, we went camping a few hours from home (at a place called Kenosha Pass, where the Colorado Trail cuts through a beautiful area of aspen trees). The kids enjoyed turning the surroundiing woods into their own private play place. They even found some downed trees big enough to create a makeshift teeter-totter! We experienced another "first" when Levi fell and sliced his leg open. He needed to be rushed 50 miles back to Denver for 17 stitches! He handled the whole ordeal quite well and is on the road to recovery. He's looking very forward to being able to bend his leg again!

Bible Bee

This summer the three oldest kids spent many, many hours memorizing hundreds of scripture verses and Bible facts. They were studying for a local "Bible Bee" competition which was held on Sep 12th. There were 17,000 kids who took part in it all across the country (the National Competition will be held in November in Washington, DC). None of our kids advanced to Nationals (and they're a bit relieved!). Nevertheless, they worked really hard and we are proud of them! We presented them with trophies at church the day after the competition ~ they were pretty happy about that!

Back to School

We started school again right after Labor Day. We always celebrate the return to school with some sort of cake. It used to be a school bus (with gummi bears as passengers!) . . . until Emily reminded me that they don't ride a school bus! So, we've since tried a notebook, a big pencil and this year I attempted an apple (except it looked more like a heart!) Oh well! The kids returned to their Monday enrichment program shortly after we began our studies at home (hence the photo with the backpacks and lunch boxes!)

Hiking our very own Castle Rock

We went hiking with my sister and her family on Labor Day weekend. We followed the trail up to the base of Castle Rock and the kids took off to see who could shimmy their way all the way to the tippy top of "The Rock" first. Emily reached it first, but the boys took a very impressive alternate route and found a fun little "cave" to stand under. Kevin didn't have nearly as much fun trying to help them get back down! Anna dubbed Suki "Hiker Doggie" and we took him with us! I was a little concerned that Anna and Samuel would slow us down . . . when they raced up the trail it quickly became apparent that they were up for the task! I don't think they even slowed down until we got to the top. It was a fun time, especially for the cousins to hang out together.

A field fresh full of fun!

We were thankful that they didn't charge us for all the berries that we ate as we picked strawberries and raspberries Labor Day weekend! We have a local "pick your own" produce farm that is a favorite at the end of the summer. We filled our tummies and our little containers with some awesome fresh berries!

Conversations with kids

Daniel -- "Samuel, I run really fast!"
Samuel -- "Are you faster than God?"
Daniel -- "well, no"
Samuel -- "are you faster than Jesus?"
Daniel -- "no"
Samuel -- "then you're not that fast"!

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We were talking at dinner about how there may be some 18 or 20 year old young man out there who could one day be Emily's husband. Or there may be a baby down the street or across the world that one of the boys may end up marrying. Since it isn't that unusual for women to marry guys who are a bit older than they are, "because girls tend to be more mature" . . . to which Levi got his "yuck face" look and said "we're not less mature, we just don't use it!"

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The kids had dentist appointments a few days ago.
Levi: "The dentist left me sitting in the dentist chair for 45 minutes, waiting . . . with nothing to do -- except play with Mr Sucky!" (the water suction hose)