Halloween

Decorating for Halloween is pretty simple around here, but still spooky enough to get us in the ghostly spirit!

Poor Turkey

Noah wanted to know why the stuffed turkey had such a worried look on his face.

"Do you know what we eat for Thanksgiving?" I asked.

"Ummm...pumpkin pie?" he responded.

Well, yeah, that too...

Cub Scout Camp {by Jason}

Adam went to his first scout camp last month and he had a blast!  He has some great leaders who are very engaging and they have made scouting a wonderful experience for him so far - and this adventure was no exception.  This particular scout camp was open to all the troops in the Des Moines area so there were lot of new scouts to meet.  The morning started off cool and cloudy and it had rained the night before so attendance was a little light but that meant we didn't have to wait in line as long for some of the activities.  We started at the climbing wall.  Adam almost made it to the top but his legs started getting shaky toward the top and there were some big stretches you had to make to get all the way to the top that were a little too big for Adam.  He did great for his first time on the climbing wall. 

 After the climbing wall it was on to the indoor activity where Adam built a toolbox - he did all the nailing!  Once the tool box was done we went over to another station where they branded Adam's tool box with the Boy Scout symbol.  

After we finished the tool box it was time for lunch.  During lunch it began to rain and kept raining the rest of the day.  Fortunately, Adam was prepared with three layers of clothes, a jacket, and a rain poncho so the fun kept going.

 

 The afternoon was filled with archery (Adam got a bulls-eye on his first round!), rifle shooting, soda bottle rockets, and wooden bird houses.  

I was pretty proud of Adam for not letting the rain get in the way.  We got to do all of the activities we wanted to and on the way home Adam was already asking when the next scout camp will be - I think he's going to really enjoy scouting!

A Family Story

by Emma, written during sacrament meeting.

 (I adore how she gets bigger or smaller, based on the brother.)

 This smart little cookie has been working so hard in kindergarten!  

She passed off her first set of sight words after two unsuccessful attempts.  I promised her that the third time would be the charm, to which she tearfully fretted, "But what if the third time isn't my charm??"  But it was!  She earned it!

Record High

 The fluff is strong with this one.

Observations by Leah

"It's like we live a school, and we get to come home for vacation."

I'm so glad she sees our home as a safe haven from the hard work of life, and I hope she'll always want to vacation at home!

Scream Time

I hope I never forget that Noah calls it scream time, which is hilarious, but also kind of true.  

Sometimes screens make me want to scream!

Jason and I didn't grow up with screens constantly attached to our hands and faces.  We barely learned about email in high school.  People on TV had bricks for cell phones, and pagers (which probably no longer exist) were super high tech.  We had TGIF family sitcoms on Friday nights, Saturday morning cartoons and the Wonderful World of Disney with Michael Eisner on Sunday evenings.  All family events, and if you didn't like what was on, you didn't watch anything.

Our children are of the generation that get all the shows, all the time at their fingertips.  We don't have cable or any way to stream TV, but there are still plenty of options on Netflix, Youtube, iPads and smart phones.  If they don't like their first pick, they pick something else, and there is literally no end to the entertainment they can access.

Of course, we don't allow much of that.

And we're always trying to figure out what the best screen time balance is.

We have rules about no screens in the bedrooms, bathrooms, or at the dinner table.  Screens never come out at church, or in other public places.  If we're at a soccer game, we're at a soccer game.  If we're at a restaurant or even at church(!), we're all there together, body and mind.

Any video games played on the Wii are done with Daddy.  Adam recently discovered that his best friend has basically unlimited access to the fairly harmless video games at his house, and the lure is strong.  We're trying to figure out ways to make sure they are still engaging in other meaningful play when they're together.

As we get closer and closer to having teenage drivers in our house, Jason and I are trying to shift our habits away from having our phones within reach while we're driving.  Too distracting, and we're experienced drivers!  I can't quite imagine what that distraction would be like for a brand new driver.... that's age 14 here in Iowa, heaven help me.

Whenever the kids ask when they can have their own iPad, Jason replies, "You can get get one at the same age I got my first iPad".  (Age 30, and I got my first and only, now 5 year old iPhone at age 31.)

We're just trying not to be in a rush.  Yes, we have to teach them how to handle technology responsibly, but we're trying our best to take it slow.  They've got their whole lives to binge watch Netflix (not that we've ever found time to do that) or care how many likes their latest social media post garners (I've always found it fascinating that social media gathers "followers", but that's a post for another day).

This is my kind of scream time though- 

Saturday morning found Leah snuggled up on the couch typing out her story for AELP- if she can develop it into 10,000 words it will be published!- Emma was working hard on a birthday card for her kindergarten teacher, Noah was assembling his dinosaur puzzle and Jason and Adam were poring over potential Cub Scout requirements they could work on after breakfast.  I took a picture of it all and then I sat next to Leah to read her story.

So yes, screens are in our lives, but not center stage, not keeping us from connecting with each other, and if anything, we're try our best to use them to bring us closer together.

And I'm especially grateful to siblings and friends that are traversing this path before us, so that we can learn from their lessons along the way.  I have a feeling we've got an uphill battle ahead of us.