What in the World Is It?

One of the best things about living so far North is that there's a never-ending supply of strange and new-to-us creatures that we see! It's not unusual for us to see some creature that we've never seen before, and then get online and find out all about it!

Well, imagine my surprise when the kids came runnning into the kitchen from the deck yelling for me to come quick! I went out there to see what the hullabaloo was all about and came across 2 of these strange looking moth like things. One was on the side of our house and the other on our deck. They were clearly dead, but still a bit freakish, nonetheless! I've seen some pretty big moths around here...some that rival small bats, but never anything like this! (Does it scare anyone else like it scares me that I know what a bat looks like...from personal experience?!)

So off to the computer the kiddos and I went to find out what this strange thing was...who knew there were so many moths and butterflies in Wisconsin to sort through...and on dial-up even better! I was about to give up, when on a whim I decided to look up Luna Moth to see if by chance that's what this was...and sure enough...it's a luna moth! It's quite unusual for people to see them since they only fly at night and live only a week.

One of the best things about living in the country has been seeing our kids sense of wonder at the Lord's creation increase. Daniel often asks if we can look things up on the internet and learn about it...like the day we learned about a western fox SNAKE!!! that's a story for another blog!

Bowling never took so long!

It was taking forever for the ball to make it down the lane so the kids loved having the ramp to help their ball build up some momentum. Daniel was actually doing okay without it, but he liked aiming it much like you would on a video game!








Hannah and Daniel used a 9 pound ball...it was almost more than Hannah could handle. She started out wanting Brent to help her, but when she realized Daniel was doing it without help, she decided she was big enough to do it without help, too! "Daddy, can I go up by myself?" Miss Independent, I tell ya!






Hannah started out pushing the ball between her legs...it was taking around 40 seconds for her ball to make it down the lane. It was going so slowly by the time it got to the pins, the ball was barely able to knock them down! But she patiently waited each time until the ball made it down to the pins. I wonder where she picked up the hands on her hips thing?!?




Daddy's little princess! We had such a great time....Northland gave everyone certificates for 2 hours of bowling, free shoes, etc. that the bowling ally in town donated to the college. We had a great time...and the best part...it was free :-) Well, the best part may have actually been bowling with children and having an excuse to use the gutter guards! For the first time in my life...the gutter queen had a gutter free game and actually broke 100!!! Clearly, shopping is much more my thing than any sort of sport!

Finally...I'm back to posting!

Sorry for the long delay since the last post. Brent changed some things on the printer to help me out, and I thought I couldn't use the printer to download pictures from my camera...Duh...it took a week to figure out that I could still do it the old fashioned way with the cable! Thankfully Brent is smart enough for both of us--because there are days when I'm barely smart enough to make blonde status :-)

Daniel and Hannah matched yesterday for church! Navy and White is such a sharp look! And a friend at church had a very similar dress as Hannah's on so they were excited to be twins!

Daddy, please don't do that!

So Hannah played basketball with us, too, on Saturday. She was on Mommy's team against Daddy and Daniel. She clearly does not get the idea of personal fouls, but had fun nonetheless! Everytime Brent would try to block her or get in her way, she would stop and say, "Daddy, please don't do that!" What Daddy could resist such a plea? Certainly not Brent...especially since he knew very well that our team would need all the help we could get! I'm afraid she's going to end up just like me...her idea of sports includes running up and down the mall being the first to spot the best bargain! Don't worry...she's got the world's best shopping coach!

Polish Basketball .in June...or is it February!?!

We had a great time Saturday playing basketball in our driveway with Daddy! Funny thing is that the game hardly resembled basketball and the weather hardly resembled June! We got a kick out of Daniel, who is used to wearing shorts lately, being cold enough that he went and got his winter coat on! Shorts, sandals, and a winter coat? Only in the northwoods of Wisconsin where it was 35 degrees Saturday night! But we can't complain because it's only been in the mid 70's during the day which is beautiful! So Great Grandma...yes, it's cold at night, but you'd love the weather in the daytime! and my 2 tomato plants and 1 cucumber plant that I've planted to see if I can make them grow before I commit to a real garden next year survived with no frost damage! And unfortunately all the weeds that we "Yoopers" like to call our flower gardens survived, too!

Aren't they a bit young for this?

I've had a couple of those sappy hallmark moments recently and wanted to share them...

The other day I was talking with Daniel and told him to tell someone that "Mommy had said..." He looked at me quite innocently and said, "Can I say 'Mom'?" And we were writing a note to Brent from the kids and myself and signed it Daniel, Hannah, and Mommy. He asked me to cross out the "-my" and have it say "Mom" instead! He's only 6 but doesn't want to call me Mommy any more!!!

And Hannah the other day said to me when I was fixing her hair, "No, Mommy...I don't like it like that!" And then yesterday she said, "Mommy, can you make me look cute?" (meaning she wanted 2 little pig tails instead of the one pony tail I was putting in) Isn't 4 a bit too young to have an opinion about how I do her hair?!?

Perhaps I'm just getting a bit sappy about my kids growing up all of a sudden! Talk about feeling old!

Hannah's Latest Passion

Our sweet little Hannah has taken up coloring, and do we mean taken up coloring! I found this little desk (and a yellow one for Daniel) at a garage sale recently thinking they would use them in the car while we took road trips. However, Hannah carries hers everywhere! She loves keeping her coloring books and crayons (except for the ones she keeps in her purse which is always next to her and her desk) in the side pockets. She takes it out to the swing set, the front porch, the car, the garage...and tries to sneak coloring is whenever possible...here she is right after her bath! She started out making everything one color, but has since progressed to making everything as colorful as possible. Her favorite thing to say to me lately is, "Mommy will you teach me to color like you?" Who can resist? And it has provided some great one on one time with her. Tonight we sat and colored together and sang and talked about God being so good to us. With precious times like this, who can't help but stop and praise God for being so good! Now if only I could fit under the desk like she does! :-)

Like Father Like Son

Daniel's new haircut is not a flat top, but it sure is close to Daddy's! Now they not only act alike, but they look alike, too!