I love...

...the creativity.

I asked the boys to strip sheets off the bed the other morning and bring them downstairs.  Joe invented a handy way to accomplish it.

And, of course, I enjoyed the giggles and laughter that were prompted by their creativity.

Where does time fly?

    I have to admit, I have been a bit of a scrooge to start this holiday season.  Lack of sleep and feeling the onset of stress of "all that has to be done in a small amount of time" will do that to a person. 
    But, task one...getting a tree...proved to allow a relaxing stroll up and down the hills of the great outdoors.  We basically saw a tree we liked, looked for 30 more minutes and came back to the initial tree!  It is still fun to see all the shapes and sizes...and anticipate the cutting of "the one"!  

 Jake collected things to make a "creation" when he got home!
 

 
   Joe just wanted to muscle up and help carry the tree to the tractor!

Later...task two...making Christmas cookies!   Jake made Jake Thumbprint Cookies...which have been the favorite so far! 

Well, that's all for now...I better get going...more tasks are calling my name!

Doe or Buck...

   Who cares?  He finally got one!

   After days of hunting, Josh finally got a shot off on what he thought was a doe (it was at dark as he was just packing up for the night).  Turns out it was this guy...

    The boys wanted "trophy pictures" with it before we stripped it!

    And, if you have never opened an animal...it is amazing how intact everything is.  What a science lesson of what our own body holds!

The Ride

   We spent an afternoon recently doing school work in the truck while the boys took turns riding with dad in the tractor and the combine.  Jake graciously let Joe have more time...since Joe loves farming stuff.    And Joe genuinely thanked Jake for allowing him extra time in the combine.  :)

On the go

    While Jake and Josh went hunting, Joe and I went to the skate park.  Joe started with this...

And soon we progressed a little to more of this...

 And then we got brave enough for this...

 

Pottery...with a spin

    Thanks to a contact through a friend, we were able to move to a whole new level with pottery.  Jake took a spin on the pottery wheel "throwing" the clay.  I guess he has watched enough (combined with his amazing attention to extreme detail)...because he did it like a pro. 

     Joe was unsure about "throwing" the clay and using the wheel prior to our arrival.  So, he planned to make some pinch pottery.  While he is anxious to make something on the wheel now that he has seen how it is done, he did a great job creating this piece.   He started with a bowl that he wasn't pleased with.  So, he re-worked the clay and created this bowl.  And he added a "spin" on it by rotating the bowl to add lines and holes on the outside.    I love the intensity on his face as he works!

    They will glaze the pottery soon!   Can you guess the colors they will each choose? :)

Harvest Time

Falling leaves around these parts means corn and beans being harvested.   That always gets the boys..especially Joe...excited.  As we drive, we are constantly passing tractors, combines, grain wagons, and the such.  It is not unusual for Joe to be pushing himself up from the armrests of his car seat so he can peer out the window to point out tractors and combines in the fields.

This year has had some fun moments.  With Josh working for Bill, Josh got instructions on how to drive the big red tractor that pulls the grain wagon.  This wagon has to be brought to and from the combine over to the grain cart where the auger is moved around to empty the grain from the wagon to the cart so another tractor/auger set up can send the grain to the grain bin.  The boys and I got to stand at a distance and watch the learning process...which held a lot of learning for each of us! The boys had a lot of interest and a lot of questions.  And Bill patiently answered each question...sometimes leaving their question with a math problem to solve for the answer! :)

Josh jokes that he is a big boy now.  He had a successful first day driving the tractor and emptying the grain from the bean field.  So much so that Bill quickly asked Josh to help him at his dad's farm...which meant a lesson in driving that combine.  It is an older, slightly smaller combine. Bill felt it was easier to learn on.  So, Josh learned to drive that combine and had a successful day with it as well. Then, that combine broke down later the same day and Bill had to get the other bigger combine to use before the 5 days of rain came.  Thus, Josh got to drive the big combine!  

Needless to say, Joe can't wait until Josh and Bill are harvesting down the road from us so he can ride next to Dad in the combine!  At this point, I'm not sure who would be enjoying it more!