Sorry to be MIA...we had family in town!

Gotta love this picture of Brian posing like the girls! :) We had such a good time! Last Saturday, cousin Jacque, Uncle Nick, Uncle Tony, Aunt Joann & Grandma Hasse flew in for a visit. We went to the cottage on Sunday for good food and just to hang out. On Sunday night we spent the night in Algoma and then stayed the day at Theresa's house. Tuesday was Door County. Remember the stomach flu from last week? Well, it went through our family one kiddo at a time. And then Grandma Hasse got it on Tuesday! :( I felt so bad, but it went through her quickly and she was able to spend the night at our house Tuesday night and on Wednesday we had a get together at our home. The only bummer was that Aunt Joann took a fall in Door County on Tuesday and ended up spending the rest of her vacation in the hospital in Sturgeon Bay with a fractured disc in her back. We hope she is recovering well back in Phoenix!

My two sickies

My two sick boys. :( Stomach flu is making a rampage through our house. First it was Brian, then me, now TJ. I hope the other kiddos can escape from it.

Pickles, pickles & more pickles.

My mom and I pickled tonight. Bread and Butter Pickles, Dill Pickles, and my fave, Sweet Pickles. Yum, Yum. Super easy fridge recipe that keeps the pickles fresh in the fridge for 6 months. For longer shelf life pickles you need to do more boiling and waiting (not good for someone as impatient as I am) but then you can keep them for 18 months or longer just right on the shelf.

Big Boy Tractor

Daddy had fun today on his big boy tractor. He had 16 tons of rock delivered that needed to be spread around...big boys and their toys! :)

School shopping with a Diva Daughter! :)

Ahhhh...Mackenzie. I think it is awesome that she is so fashionable. I mean, I think it is relatively awesome. Our pocketbook doesn't think so. And neither does the time clock. But, at any rate, I took our little Diva out for a shopping spree. She got some great clothes...though, of course she has to layer most of them to make them even remotely modest. But that's okay. She looks beautiful inside and out.

Can't you just caption what she was thinking in the above photo... "Come ON mom! You do NOT have that huge camera out and are taking a photo of my WALKING down the mall???". Oh, yes, I am. "Do you LIKE those bags you are carrying???". Sigh. "Snap away, mom." Hence the smiling photo shown below... :)

from homeschooling to public schools...in 24 hours.

As most of you know, we intended to homeschool the children this year. Or, I should say that Brian agreed to let me give it a try for the first 9 weeks (first quarter) of school, only to be evaluated at that time. I have spent countless hours researching both the benefits and challenges of homeschooling over the last 5 years, and after we found a wonderful community of about 200 Christian homeschoolers here in the area ( http://www.gbach.org ) we decided to go for it. I had Mackenzie fully on board and Alex was definitely being a sport by saying he would have a positive attitude about it and make it a good experience (he is a social-lite so this was very mature of him). Of course, Natalie was too young to understand...

Anyway, to make a long story short, real life happened. Anyone who knows me, knows that I am willing to go against the grain on issues when I feel strongly about a subject. I can do it with little support on all ends. Really, all I need is the support of my husband. Brian, on the other hand, tends to need the support of many around him...his crazy wife just doesn't suffice when it comes to do something out of the ordinary! :) Brian received a few off handed comments about what people thought about homeschooling (I mean, come on, who hasn't heard of all the stereotypes?), and while I think I could have pushed the issue, I felt as though if I lost the support of Brian then I was going to be set up for failure. And thus, amidst my disappointment and frustration, our children went to public school today.

As Mackenzie would say (she is a "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" fanatic):

When life hands you a lemon, say, "Oh yeah, I like lemons. What else ya got?"

or another one:

Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you are a mile away from them, and you have their shoes.

last one, appropriate from someone like Mario Andretti:

If you feel like you're under control, you're just not going fast enough.

Camping

What an awesome weekend! We went camping in Door County's Peninsula State Park. It was a blast even with the not-so-perfect weather. We stayed warm all bundled up together (yep- all 7 of us) in the tent at night.


Brian built up the side of our snowmobile trailer so that we could bring all of our camping gear and bikes...he did a fantastic job!






It was a group effort to pitch the tent...even TJ helped!






TJ and Kennedy enjoying Pop Tarts on a rock!



TJ eating a peanut butter sandwich while we wait for everyone to come back from the bathroom on their bikes.






I love the look on his face here!



We did about 20 miles of biking total as a family in the two days we camped. It was beautiful scenery through the woods on the trails!












Kennedy and Daddy sharing a moment at the beach.












Gotta love this pic of Kennedy!



This was Alex's signature pose for this trip.









Alex and Kenz wrestling on the beach.



Brian and Alex did a little kayaking.












What's camping without s'mores?