First Bank Accounts

We have been giving the boys an allowance for a while now but half of that allowance is to be saved for college/missions. The boys have been begging us to open accounts for them to put that money in, so we finally got around to it today. It only took 2 hours to open three minor accounts--I couldn't believe it! Not only could I not believe how long it took but I couldn't believe how well the boys behaved. They were amazing! And now they have bank accounts! Yay! And they are excited to save more money and manage their money responsibly. It is very exciting to see! Way to go boys. :)

Leave, leaves everywhere!

Well, no fall would be complete without raking leaves and raking leaves is no fun without jumping in leaves! We were very blessed with a very beautiful day for the task. This weather can stay as long as it would like! The boys and James helped me make the biggest leaf pile I have ever had the pleasure of creating. I must admit that we stole some of the leaves from our neighbors but since they moved this past weekend I don't think they'll mind.

Michael thought it would be fun to make a next in the leaves. They are so creative!

And yes, I even got in the leaves. It has been awhile since I have been in a leaf pile!
And where was Jacob? Unfortunately, he is sporting a pretty high fever, so he was laying in the kitchen watching James bake. Hopefully he will get better soon!

Carving Pumpkins with Daddy

I must admit that I love having James home on Fridays! He still has to get some work done but it is nice to have him around! Last week he had pumpkin day on Friday. The boys got to carve pumpkins with daddy and roast pumpkin seeds. We even had pumpkin ice cream for desert! Here are some pics of their creations!

Mummies

What better field trip than to see mummies the week of Halloween! A mom in the area was planning a trip and decided to make a group field trip out of it, and I am glad she did! We went up to the Putnam Museum (in the quad cities) and watched a movie on mummies. It was fascinating to learn about the discovery of the tomb of the pharaohs. It amazes me how little I knew about mummies.

Then, we had a tour of the mummy exhibit. I didn't realize there was a real mummy so close. It was really fun to see.

It is amazing to watch a group of home schooled children sit and listen and try to ask as many questions as they are allowed.

Michael really enjoyed writing his name in hieroglyphics!

Then, we wandered around the rest of the museum and enjoyed the children's discovery area as well as the mammal exhibit. They got to make their own pyramids, play with tornado machines and play with puppets in a huge tree. It was really cute to pretend to be different animals in the tree. Everyone had a great time and learned a lot! What a great trip.

Mini vacation

Last month the boys and I took a mini vacation to visit grandma and grandpa Hutchings. It wasn't a very long visit because James ended up not being able to find a flight to join us but we had fun anyway. The boys got to write books with grandma, start growing grass and hear many grandpa stories! I just relaxed--it was great!

But we also got to stop at a hotel on our way there and back which the boys loved! We didn't get there until after midnight but it was fun anyway! Darn traffic. :)

Bright Futures

There is this great place in town that lets you check out toys. Well, they also have educational toys, etc. I love it and so do the boys! I just had to blog this cool little smock thing that we had fun playing with. So cute! It was really fun watching them play and act out what it would be like without their lungs, brain or whatever it was that they were missing. The brain was the best because they couldn't talk, think, see or anything else. It is amazing what a difference your brain makes. It was a great time and educational!

It is hot!

The funniest thing happened yesterday and I just had to blog it. We were eating Adobe style pork stew (I don't know the technical name) and Joshua came to us and told us it was hot. James asked if he meant spicy hot or warm. Joshua then said slowly and loudly 'It is HHHOT.' We gave him some more water hoping it would solve the problem and tried not to laugh too loudly but had a great laugh in bed last night. :)