Seasons

i was talking to Adam about the 4 seasons. He said he misses wintertime, and wants to play in the snow (poor thing doesn't realize we don't ususally get snow!) i told him God gave us all the seasons to enjoy, and it's important to enjoy the season we are in. So i'm going to try to practice what i preach, and be ok with Fall coming. It's not like i can do anything about it anyway!!

Things i look forward to in the Fall:
The leaves
Our church thingy we have at our place
My birthday (i still look forward to that, even though i'm old now!)
Moving bulbs around & planting new ones
Fairs
Less outdoor maintenance
Making soup again
Baseball playoffs
Pumpkin pie

How about YOU?

And this can be taken a step further, in that i should enjoy the season of life i am in right now and not wish for the next season. I think i'm pretty good with that but it doesn't hurt to be reminded, since we all have our days!!

So ok Fall, come and do what you gotta do!

These are too easy and good, i have to share the recipe.

Ham & Cheese Quesadillas:

Using tortillas, layer chipped ham,

Mexican cheese,

Diced tomatoes with green chillies (or w/out the chillies if you don't want them spicy)

Top with tortilla, spray with pam.

Bake at 450 for 1o minutes (yes, 450!). Take care not to get distracted, or they will get a little dark, as pictured below :) still good....
Serve with sour cream. These have been a lifesaver, particularly for lunches, when i just don't know what to make!

Tractor rides

The other day our hay field was getting mowed. We set up chairs outside and watched him. Then the farmer randomly stopped, got out, and came and asked the boys if they each wanted a tractor ride. How nice! They've had tractor rides before, down at my parents. But this was unexpected, so it was special!

It was even a John Deere Tractor ride!

Brad's ride:

Ben's ride- FYI: He does have undies on, i promise. Adam's ride:

Family picture worth displaying

This ones a keeper. Look at Brad, the nose-picker!! And Ben watching him! too much. The "normal" one is on the side bar. Seriously, thanks Don for taking these :)

Ben & Brad

Adam spent the day with his second cousins' today and i had some time with just the twins. After lunch it dawned on me that they are both fully clothed and half clean (both are rare!) so we went outside to get some pictures. Nothing fancy, we didn't leave the front porch. But it was good to get picture of just them, i don't have many since they are usually with Adam.

Blocks

Clay's first experience with blocks....

Hmm, these look interesting.....

REAL interesting.....

Hey watch Mom!I'm going to kick these over..... Yea, like that...

Sure hope we do that again sometime...

Snakes

Here's a fun, sneaky way to get your kids to eat healthy stuff :) I saw this in Family Fun magazine and knew the boys would love eating snakes. We've been doing these all summer. So easy, just slice a cucumber and cut the slices in half. Arrange how you see it here. The eye is a black olive. The tounge and center of the eye is a tomato, (the magazine suggests using a red pepper). make sure you cut a slit where you want the tounge to be. Enjoy!

update

It's been a busy week. Don't know how it all gets done!

We're having a wedding here next month, so i figured i better weed around the barns! I haven't done that at all this summer. It's just not priority. So it took me 4 days, but it's now done. We get this horrible stuff called Bermuda grass that invades my beds. It spreads under the ground and quickly.



We found someone to live in our apartment. She's moving in on Labor Day. We're excited to have her here. She's a missionary in Haiti and is back for a time, not sure how long. So we're doing a few things to the apartment before she moves in. I warned her the boys will get attached. Ben's already said "i love you" and he's only met her once!



Rod's lower back and neck are in bad shape right now. He's very good at managing his pain, he doesn't complain. But i know it's bad. He has a history of back problems and surgeries, but hopefully this will come and go, like it usually does.



Life is never boring with little boys. I don't know how many times I've looked at them and said "How did you break that??" "Where did you find that??" Or in a recent circumstance "How did you kill that?" (ask me later if you want details on that one). And i still haven't figured out just what is so funny about boogies and poop. It's a mystery i tell you. With that said, i always wanted boys and i wouldn't have it any other way. We are very grateful for 2 dedicated Grandmas who help out on a regular basis. Rod and i said we probably wouldn't have had a 4th child if it wasn't for them, just knowing they will help when needed and give us breaks. I really believe that's true. So, THANK YOU ladies!



Clay turned 4 months old this week! wow. He eats solid food like a champ, i can hardly believe how easy it is compared to the twins. I don't even wear a bib on him, he just woofs it right down. applesauce, banana, green beans, and rice cereal. We're not really on a schedule with it, i just give it to him when i have time or when i feel like it. (I'm a pediatrician's dream come true in more ways than one :) He's always moving around so i really haven't gotten any pictures lately that aren't blurry. But here's a recent one. Adam let him borrow George for a little.

It was nice to sit down and reflect a bit on the week. Now i have someone that needs tended to in the bathroom.

Happy weekend

Pretty things

another homeade butterfly! This was right after it hatched...not ready to fly yet.

Smart car

Rod brought a dealer's car home this weekend (with his permission). It's a Smart car! Boys had a good ride up and down the runway. It's just a tad smaller then the "burban".

Great Grandma and Clay

My Grandma with Great-Grandchild #20. (they have 21 total) I like this picture of the 2 of them:

Butterflies!

These pretty, green caterpillars live on my carrot tops in the garden. A friend told me to keep them, and they turn into beautiful butterflies in just a couple weeks. So we put 4 in our butterfly house and got our first butterfly today!! So amazing! It took this guy one day to hang himself and get his cocoon and 10 days to hatch. I'm facinated with this.

In the chrysalis:

They are called Black Swallowtail Butterflies:

We will set him free after I'm done looking at him...maybe tomorrow. Truly amazing.