Fishing!

Lee took Grant fishing on June 4. They took the old truck (for those that don't know, we "inherited" a 1976 Chevrolet Scottsdale (?) pick up truck, apple green) down to the bridge, put lawn chairs in the back, drank Pepsi (Lee) and milk (Grant) and ate granola bars (Grant) and pickled eggs (Lee). Lee had chicken liver on a catfish pole and Grant had a worm on a Lightning McQueen fishing pole.

GRANT CAUGHT A FISH!

He was reeling and reeling (they were fishing from the bridge, so it took awhile to bring it up) and finally it came up over the side of the bridge, and Grant freaked out and dropped the pole (in the back of the truck), but he recovered and thought it was SUPER COOL! They called me on the phone and Grant was SO excited!!!

Grant was also very empathetic toward Lee. He kept saying, "It's okay, Daddy, you'll catch one." Sweet!

Umm, yes, it's in my kitchen!

Lee filleted it and fried it,
Grant never did eat it even though he said he wanted to.

Memorial Day

After all the fun at the farm, we ended the long weekend with lunch at Matt and Tiffany's. We grilled some great pork loin and steaks that Dad had brought down. We didn't get to stay very long because our kids were exhausted and were a bit unruly, but we had fun anyway.

Dad cleaning Brynna's face and hands before letting her in the truck. She is the MESSIEST baby on the planet! She had been playing in the rocks and kept putting them (dirt and all) in her mouth...GROSS!

Grant with a stick, and Owen. Grant probably wanted to take that stick home to Riley...he does that, as if we don't have enough sticks at our house!!!

Who knew a carpet cleaner and a paper plate would be so interesting???

Memorial Day Weekend at the Farm

Memorial Day Weekend at the Vandewater Farm has become a tradition. Hay rack rides, four wheelers, food, and fireworks were all a part of the fun!!!

Abby, Grant, and Maddy on the chair lift.

Going over the crick...Grant was scared at first, but must have thought he better do it since the girls did :)

Brynna must have thought we were "camping" again.

Brynna and Eddie playing in the Gator.

Cheese!!!

Abby, Maddy and Grant chasing the parachutes from the fireworks.

Sparklers!!!

Waiting for fireworks.
I didn't get a picture of Brynna during fireworks, but she didn't seem to mind them. She had two glow in the dark bracelets and was too busy taking those on and off her wrists and her sippy cup to be afraid. She would jump a little when a loud one went off, but then she'd go back to her bracelets. They were up until about 11:00/11:30 Saturday night...they were a total mess the next morning. I knew there was a reason I try so hard to keep us on schedule!

It was a wonderful weekend!

"Camping" trip

We (well, Lee and Grant) decided to go camping on the Friday night of Memorial Day Weekend. It's times like these that I am SO thankful we live on 6 acres in the country. We have the most perfect camping spot, withing walking distance to our own beds, showers, toilets, and kitchen!!!

We had a great set up, thanks Lee!

Daddy and Grant in front of their sleeping quarters :)
(Grant's tent that he got for Christmas from Grandpa and Grandma V.)

Cooking out

The water jug made for some great entertainment for the kids.

Brynna would climb up into this chair and attempt to lie down. It was like she knew we were supposed to sleep outside :)

In reality, once it was bedtime, Brynna and I went inside and slept in our own beds. Lee and Grant slept the entire night out in the tent. They read magazines with flashlights and had a fantastic time!

I am praising God for all of the memories we are making before the deployment!

Daddy Dolls?!?!?

What do you think...yes or no!?!? Helpful for the kids or not????

https://www.hugahero.com/store/hugahero-dolls

Let me know what you think!

Pool Party

It was so nice last week...we were able to get the baby pool set up. Brynna was more than happy to just play next to it (she did eventually get in, and loved it) and Grant was super excited to "swim." Can't wait to take them to the water park in Winterset soon!

Didn't even realize they were red, white, and blue...until they were out on the deck, TOO CUTE!

Home school for preschool!

Okay, it's official, we are NOT sending Grant to preschool! We are starting our home school adventure now! Some of you may think we are crazy and some of you fully support our decision. Bottom line, after much discussion, thought and most importantly, prayer, we have reached this conclusion. We have NO idea how long we will home school, we'll take it one year at a time. In the state of Iowa, mandatory school age is 6, so we don't have to do anything official for two more years. There is much more information I could add here, but I'll save it for later.

I have been browsing lots of curriculum. WOW!!! I had NO idea how much was out there. Different companies, books, thoughts, ideas, and theories on how to do it. I've decided on (with recommendations from a few more experienced home school moms) a few work books and an interesting curriculum based on children's books to start with.

I ordered the Beginner's Activity Set from this website:
http://www.clp.org/store/by_grade/1
and still want the ABC Readiness Series.

I am planning to order this book also.
http://fiarhq.com/fiveinarow.info/beforefiveinarow.html
It's called Before Five in a Row. The idea is to use literature (read the same book 5 days in a row and do different activities based on the book) to start a foundation for more formal education while preserving childhood and not pushing too hard too soon.

The Before Five in a Row book requires lots of children's books to go along with it. For now, I plan to check most of these out from the library, but eventually wouldn't mind having them all here in our own personal library. So, for you grandparents that always want ideas on things to buy for the kids...here is my WISH LIST of books that I would LOVE to have to go along with this curriculum. Some of these are old books and out of print, so search garage sales too (Mom)!

Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear?, by N.W. Carlstrom
Yellow Ball, by Molly Bang
My Blue Boat, by Chris L. Demarest
The Little Rabbit, by Judy Dunn
Ask Mr. Bear, by Marjorie Flack
Blueberries For Sal, by Robert McCloskey
Goodnight Moon, by Margaret Wise Brown
The Big Green Pocketbook, by Candice Ransom
The Runaway Bunny, by Margaret Wise Brown
The ABC Bunny, by Wanda Gag
If Jesus Came to My House, by Joan Gale Thomas
Caps for Sale, by Esphyr Slobodkina
The Carrot Seed, by Ruth Krauss
The Snowy Day, by Ezra Jack Keats
The Quiet Way Home, by Bonny Becker
Play With Me, by Marie Hall Ets
Prayer for a Child, by Rachel Field
I Am an Artist, by Pat L. Collins
Angus Lost, by Marjorie Flack
Katy No-Pocket, by Emmy Payne
We're Going on a Bear Hunt, by Michael Rosen
The Red Carpet, by Rex Parkin
Corduroy, by Don Freeman
Jenny's Surprise Summer, by Eugenie


We ask for your prayers and support as we begin this new adventure!