Leaves on the ground!

A few days ago the kids got into an argument while playing outside. Not unusual, of course, but non-the-less, this particular argument was a bit on the noteworthy side. You see, this little spat was over who got to use the rake to make a pile of leaves. Mind you, we only have a small amount on the ground. They were actually going to go and gather leaves from the neighbors house down the street. (I put a quick stop to that idea, thank you!) But we are, in fact, losing the green and moving into the dull yellow and grey of fall and the leaves are making a rather early departure from the branches and landing square in the yard. More and more, I'm seeing signs that lead me to believe that winter might be early and snowy. The termination dust I mentioned a while back is gone, but the mountains are becoming rather surrounded most days in a haze of dark clouds. The fireweed has gone to seed and I've not seen a bloom on one in days and days. And night time temperatures are dipping into the upper 30s. Brrrrrrr.....

Weekend Away

We spent the weekend at my DBILs "fish camp". It's becoming a lovely weekend getaway up near Talkeetna. They have the cabin well on it's way with only stairs to put in to the loft and some minor electrical. They don't have the plumbing complete yet either, but they have a lovely outhouse that has it's own light and heater. The seat is even nicely tiled in a beautiful mosaic. Of course, this being August, it rained, but there was a roaring fire, lots of food, and tons of wonderful company. The kids of course, found the best way to get wet.












Happy Birthday Opa! We had a wondeful time at your party.

Catchin' Up

I'm taking a moment from the mountain of housework to say "I'm still here!" It's been a really busy week what with trying to do 10 layouts (LOs) for a Digital Scrapbook Place challenge. It's one of my favorites because it gets me to scrap a full 10 LOs in just two weeks. And what did I scrap? Well, my DDs very first ballet lesson, the kids enjoying the wonderful sun we had a few weeks back, the boys birthday, and general life with three kids.

Then, of course, there was school. The kids have really gotten into the swing of it, and most days I've had to look to keep them busy. The boys are slowly getting used to long term assignments, although I'm still having to remind them which I expect to have to do most of the year.

Today we went to the library and after we fed the ducks. It was raining quite a bit, so I didn't take the camera. I wish I had though, because DD nearly got surrounded. She really has to learn to through the bread instead of drop it so the ducks won't think they have to come to her for the food. To say it was cute would be an understatement.

We also have a big weekend coming up. More on that after the fact.

Termination Dust!

Yep, in early August (actually about 5 days ago), termination dust was spotted by all who could actually see the mountains. Of course, I had to hear it on the news and from friends, since from my home all I could see was clouds.

What is termination dust you say? It's easy! It's the first dusting of snow spotted at the top of the mountains. There are some who say that what we have seen is not true termination dust. The light snow that showed up is expected by most to melt in the next few days. But it has been there for more than one, so in my book, it looks more like termination dust than a freak summer snow. The name comes from the fact that with that first dusting, fall days and then winter is soon to follow. Or - the 'termination' of summer.

Thankfully, today has dawned bright and sunny, but I'm afraid that days of high 60's are gone for another year.

Cookin'

Anyone who really knows me, knows that I don't cook. It's not that I can't, really, although I have never considered myself a good cook. It's more a habit. It really started when I was pregnant because I could not stand to be in the kitchen. All those smells just left me miserable and nauseas. Over time, both DH and I fell into the habit of him coming home and doing most of the cooking. Well, that is changing. Recently, I prepared what I consider to be a very big meal. It was such a big deal that DS#2 captured the moment and took a picture of me making mashed potatoes. And to tell the truth, those potatoes turned out really well. There wasn't a single lump. And even the kids ate those potatoes claiming them exceptional. (Thank goodness as my DFIL was in the house!)

TGIF!

Well, we have now completed our first full week of school for the year. It's taking a bit for all of us (yep, me included) to get back in the swing of things. I would have to say that we didn't do too bad, although at least two days this week we had a boy working right up to dinner and even a little beyond. Poor thing, writing is just not DS#2's thing. He can do math all day long, but words elude him something awful. At least he's doing much better on the reading than when we first started home schooling. Now if I could just find a way to get his muscles involved in the writing process we might jump this hurdle too. He is truly a kinesthetic learner with a healthy dose of auditory thrown in. Some days I wish I had a sound booth for him to do his work in, then he could talk his way through it all.

Our little miss loves math and asks daily to do more than is in her folder. She fought the reading/writing portion a bit until she realized that it wasn't that hard. As for DS#1 - well, it took a day or two, but he's doing well and has shown he really does understand money. Now to get him to pass the level two math exam and we can move on.