Halloween

Slimy pumpkin insides- so cool!
Digging away
Caleb named his pumpkin Fred- no real reason, just seemed like a Fred I guess.
The "I love chocolate! Can I have more chocolate?!" face
They're so cute!
Rugged Daniel Boone
Ferocious leopard
One cuddly bunny

Pumpkin Farm

Going on a hayride
In search of the perfect pumpkin
The morning and afternoon preschool sessions
Just needed a picture of Caleb in this post
Such a cute helper
Having fun with Daddy on the field trip

Isaac had a field trip to a pumpkin farm. The trip was rescheduled because of bad weather and I couldn't take him as I had something else going on. Nate got off a night shift, slept for 3 hours and then went on the field trip with Isaac. What a great Dad! Isaac had fun playing games, picking a pumpkin and getting a goody bag. And he likes chocolate candy. He enjoyed eating an Almond Joy. I'm a little bummed because that was the candy I could eat out of the Halloween bags without the kids caring! Isaac's teacher told me today that Isaac is part of a 'love triangle' at school. (She was just making a joke.) There are two girls that are always vying with each other to be next to Isaac or to play with Isaac. That's kind of cute. What makes it funnier is that Caleb has been telling me recess stories recently. I guess the girls spend the recess chasing the boys and trying to catch them. Apparently the teachers ended that game today. As Nate said, "they're DeMaster boys, of course the girls like them!"

Julia is saying some cute things. When we stop at the mailbox she asks if we're getting "email." Ah, children of the internet age. Julia is calling one of her dolls "her baby daughter." Isaac and Julia have an odd game right now. Julia will pretend to cry and then Isaac will clap and say, "good show, good show." Then they both laugh. Not sure where that came from. The two of them also like to annoy each other by singing a song and putting the other person's name in it. For example, "A, B, C, D, Isaac, Isaac." It drives the other child crazy and I'm not sure how to end this annoying game. Julia wants to be Little Miss Helper these days. Whatever I am doing, she wants to help me. It is cute, but I have to admit I am not handling this stage well. Her "helping" slows me way down and it is hard to find a balance.

I had a nice Mommy Mental Health day. I spent the evening with other Korean adoptive Moms and that is always a good time. I also enjoyed having alone time to read, spend time with Jesus and get some shopping done. I came back refreshed and ready to keep going! Please pray for Nate as he has the engineering test on Friday, thanks!

Playing Catch-Up

Ahh, apples
Command Central
First foray into canning
So proud of my 4 qts of applesauce. Yes, I know there are only four. Baby steps, right?
Goodbye beautiful fall weather


First of all, we found our camera! Normally when things go missing I don't panic because they tend to show up. However, the camera was gone for a couple weeks. Granted we didn't do an exhaustive search for it. Yesterday Nate pulled out a coat he hasn't worn in awhile and voila- there was the camera! I'm glad we found it, but I was getting a little excited about the idea of buying a new camera. :)

Nate is now studying for a big engineering exam on the 28th. He had 7 days off in a row so he took the camper to a local campground. He came home for meals, carpool, etc but spent as much time as he could out there studying. This was a win-win because he got a quiet place to study and he got his camping fix. And I didn't have to camp in the cold!

Before Nate went camping we had 2 weeks of beautiful, warm weather. It was so awesome. And it was a great way to end our fall soccer season! We really did have a good group of boys. They listened pretty well and didn't play mean on the field. We'll start up again in the spring and I am glad for a little break!

The kids are all healthy right now. And somehow I avoided the last cold that went thru our house. Oh, here is a little story about how God works all things for good. :) Caleb had a field trip this morning. Nate was going to meet the class at the nature center not at school. Halfway thru the morning it hit me that Caleb didn't have a booster seat at school so they wouldn't let him ride in someone else's car! Now Nate had just woken up and I pretty much asked him to leave for school in 10 minutes so Caleb would have a booster seat. Being the great Dad that he is, he headed to school. (Remember, we live 25 minutes away from school.) When he arrived the teacher was so glad to see him because they didn't have enough drivers for the field trip. So, see my memory lapse was really a good thing! Can I just say sometimes I feel like my brain is going to explode with the amount of details I keep track of? :)

Which leads to our new "command center." We don't really call it that, I just don't know what to call it. I quickly became tired of the younger two kids always asking me, "what are we doing today? can we watch a video? what are we doing next? can we watch a video? where are we going?" So I made up the schedule. I realize they can't read, but we go over it in the morning and it's easy for me to say, "when do we watch a video? that's right, after supper." And don't ask me again! I don't really say that, I just think it. We also started the chore chart. The kids have had chores for awhile, but we felt like we needed a way for them to earn money. The idea of giving an allowance for no reason just doesn't make alot of sense to us. So the kids have required chores because we're a family and we all have jobs to do. Then they have allowance chores. We're also going to set up 3 jars for each of them. A giving/tithing jar, a savings jar and a spending jar. We'll see how this new endeavor works!

Today I canned for the first time! I have never canned because I thought I needed a canner, but apparently you don't! A cookbook I have (Family Feasts for $75 a Week) inspired me to use the equipment I have. I make applesauce and freeze it every year and I have to say that is much faster than canning applesauce. However, this was my first attempt and I imagine it would go faster the more I did it. I have fond memories of my Mom canning peaches. Maybe next summer I'll do more canning, anyone want to buy me a canner? :)

I'm looking forward to the upcoming weekend. Tomorrow I am going away for a Mommy mental health day. Nate worked alot the past month and now he is studying alot. He was sweet enough to realize that it has taken a toll on me. Let's just say I feel like I am angry Mommy too much these days. I'm going to spend the night in a hotel, hopefully sleep in, do some reading, maybe exercise and do a little shopping. Then on Saturday night we have our Calvin 10 year reunion. Tim and Jenny are coming to watch the kids (and spend the night) so we a) don't have to pay a sitter b) we don't have to rush home and c) the kids get to hang out with their uncle and aunt- a win for everyone! It will be fun to connect with people we've lost touch with and also hang out with our good friends.

So, I think we're all caught up now!

Tackle video

Fun new game...




I love the part when Isaac is yelling, "Julia, Julia!" And Julia is saying, "tickle your armpits!"

Apples

She preferred picking the small, non-ripe apples
A great-looking apple
Caleb dashing down the field

I can't believe it is October now! We are well into fall weather here. At the soccer game yesterday the younger ones were wearing their snow gear- brr! However, this week is supposed to be in the 70's, I'll take that weather any day! Coaching Caleb's team is going well. Our last practice wasn't great. The boys did not want to listen and spent the hour throwing grass, wrestling and messing around. As one friend pointed out, they must be used to us now and feel comfortable being themselves. We wish they didn't feel that comfortable! The games are fun for them and us. We have two high-scorers on our team so we're trying to balance letting them show their stuff and stopping them from scoring too much. :) Caleb has some solid soccer skills. He's scored some goals this season and he likes being a defender. I'm still afraid Isaac will not want to play soccer after sitting thru so many of Caleb's practices/games!

Last week Isaac went on his first field trip. Julia and I went along to the apple orchard. Getting to pick apples has been high on Isaac's wish list for a while. Now that he is cleared to eat apples, this is a big deal. He learned about how to pick apples- you have to twist and pull, don't yank! He enjoyed seeing the different varieties and of course filling our bag with apples. We drank apple cider and saw some geese, ducks, chickens, alpacas, and cats. Overall a great first field trip! Isaac is enjoying preschool, I think. :) He doesn't share many details with us. Thankfully every week his teacher sends home a detailed description of what the class did. When I ask him about certain activities he'll nonchalantly say, "oh yea, we did that." Little stinker.

I took a funny video of Julia and Isaac today. Julia would tackle Isaac, "pin" him down and tickle him. Isaac was laughing hysterically. She has found his weak spot.

Nate has been working ALOT these past weeks. Various things have broken at the plant. Today they got everything working again- yay! However, he is now exhausted and sick. Poor guy.