I have so many little matters to tell you of, that I cannot wait any longer before I begin to put them down.
Oct 27th, 2017 by ECM
We wanted to get in one more time before our reciprocal membership ended this month, and the kids had just as much fun as last time! We checked out their creation lab and did a lot of hammering and screwing and hot glue ingredients. Best of all, today no one needed to be carried out, screaming, at the end of the day…
Oct 25th, 2017 by ECM
My Magic School Bus crew joined our homeschool play group today for a costume party, complete with snacks, hot cider, a fire pit, and games. Have I mentioned that we love it here?
Oct 17th, 2017 by ECM
Just three days shy of her half birthday, Susie lost her first tooth!
Oct 10th, 2017 by ECM
When the Havemans, Lashmits, Isbells, and Mullers get together for dinner, there are 16 kids 12 and under! We love our Iowa homeschool friends.
Oct 9th, 2017 by ECM
Derek gave a talk at Notre Dame last week, so the kids and I came along to see our South Bend friends! Susie was in Columbia for the week, but the other three immediately hit it off with the Skeens and Page-Woods, and we got to hang out with the Raglands not once, but twice!
Sep 30th, 2017 by ECM
Today we checked out Living History Farms, just outside of Des Moines. It’s a 1875 era town, with three living farms (Ioway Indians, 1850 settlers, 1900 farmers) that feature authentic reenactors to explain all sorts of little details about daily life in a small Iowa town in the 19th century. We helped the printer work on her printing press, talked to the milliner and seamstress about hat making and wearing so many layers in hot weather, and spent a long time with the blacksmiths learning about the changes in smithing over the Industrial Revolution and how to shoe a horse. The kids even got to hold a very large horse toenail clipping! At the 1900 farm, the farmer let the kids climb into the hay mow and help pitch hay down for the horses. We played with period toys, including the fancy 3D picture viewer and innumerable tops, and we helped grind spices at the drugstore. We played school in the schoolhouse for a long time, and the girls each did a little recitation. Our feet were very sore by the end (and the little girls each had a bit of a meltdown at one point), but I think we all learned a lot. Tommy thought it was slightly less interesting than Greenfield Village, because these houses didn’t belong to famous people like the buildings there, but we all agreed that this felt much more authentic. So glad to be learning all this Midwest history while we’re here!
Sep 29th, 2017 by ECM
It has been so fun to see so many Hillsdale friends while we’re in the Midwest. Kristen Gregory grew up down the road in West Branch, so we were thrilled to see them this week when they were out to visit her family! We met up with them at the Hoover Library for a joint homeschool field trip /play date, and we learned a lot and had fun with Mary, Marta, Lazarus, and Simeon. Total kindred spirits!
Sep 25th, 2017 by ECM
After the girl’s club play date last week, their ten year old brothers decided they needed their own play date. Nerf guns figured heavily.
Sep 23rd, 2017 by ECM
Sep 20th, 2017 by ECM
This morning, the Isbells took us to Kent Park and showed us one of their favorite nature hikes. We saw milkweed pods, prairie grasses taller than us (with roots three times as big), lots of bugs and flowers, and a bull snake!
