I have so many little matters to tell you of, that I cannot wait any longer before I begin to put them down.
Posted in Elizabeth, Homeschooling, Iowa, Janie, Susanna on Dec 15th, 2021
All three girls played in the Mid-Prairie Homeschool Assistance Program Christmas Concert! Between the band, orchestras, and choirs, about 150 kids participated. It was Janie’s first-ever public performance, and she did great! Grandma Willett even got to drive up to see it! Janie’s beginning viola class joined the whole combined orchestra for “Joy to the […]
Trick or treating happened again! Our new friends who moved here from Australia, the Hedts, invited us, the Shroeders, and Lashmits over to help them celebrate their first American Halloween. Our kids, of course, went as children’s book characters. Presenting the Mysterious Benedict Society! Milligan, the world’s best amnesiac secret agent dad, ready to protect […]
Posted in Annie, Elizabeth, Iowa, Janie, Susanna, Tommy on Jul 20th, 2021
The zoo in Des Moines had a special event on Sunday for families of special needs kids. So the kids and I drove over for Annie’s first trip to a zoo that she actually remembers. Everything was free–from sack lunches to giraffe feeding to all the rides!–and it felt great being back in a public […]
We’re so excited that ball parks are open again, and back before we knew when the mask mandates would be lifted, Derek got us a suite for a Cedar Rapids Kernels game so that we could celebrate the end of the school year and eat and hang out with friends, without masks. We were so […]
Leah texted last week to say that their little Lutheran school had a teacher work day on Friday, and it just so happened to be the only free day for weeks for our family. So the three little girls and I drove over to Davenport for the day to hang out with Lydia and William […]
We’ve been super lonely here in Iowa City this covid winter, so it’s nice when we get a chance to play with old and new friends! We met the Fellers at a Mid-Prairie Homeschool Program ice skating date, and our girls immediately recognized kindred spirits. You know, the types who have dress-up pioneer dresses and […]
We’ve had a LOT of snow this winter–way more than the kids have seen during our brief midwest forays over the past nine years! But until now, it’s not been the best packing snow. When Tommy went out to snowblow the driveway this afternoon, he announced that it was finally sticky snow, so the girls […]
Posted in Annie, Elizabeth, Family, Iowa, Janie, Susanna, Tommy on Nov 28th, 2020
Grandma and Grandpa came down to spend Thanksgiving with us and helped us find the perfect tree! With covid restrictions closing down tractor rides, Daddy and Grandpa had to drag the tree all the way through the fields and back to the check-out area, but we managed it, even in masks.
When I saw that we were getting one more day in the upper 60s last week, I texted Jill and had Abe and Amy join us for one more warm weather hike! Pushing a toddler in a stroller up and down semi-cleared hiking trails is actually not too bad when you have two teenage boys […]
Our California girls have the old master bedroom, with pink walls picked by Janie and our old beachy striped curtains for a little nod to their birth state. I had pictures hung until I decided to move all the furniture around again, and I haven’t gotten them back up yet, but this was as clean […]