Kitchen Buddies!

I love having buddies in the kitchen with me! Today, Bree and Rylan helped me make a fresh Italian sauce puree go with meatballs for lunch. We had beautiful tomatoes, onions, and peppers from Bountiful Baskets, and we used fresh herbs from our garden. Rylan and Bree even plated up the food. They did such a gorgeous job. So proud of my kiddos!

Pond Study

We love our Mills County Conservation Board! They offer great nature classes several times a month, and this last week the class was on pond life. Usually the classes are very well attended, but it must have been a busy week for everyone in the county, because Rylan and Bree were the only ones who showed up, so they got a nature class specifically catered to them! 

Aaron doesn't work until late in the afternoon this Summer, and I love that he gets to be more involved with the kids' schooling and make field trips a special date with the older ones. 

Here are a couple of pics he sent me from his iPhone.

Using nets to gather samples from Pony Creek Lake.

Catching tadpole and studying the life-cycle of bullfrogs. 

Bree lost her first tooth!

There was a LOT of anticipation building up to this momentous occasion!

Bible Pictionary

This week has been so hot that even the kids don't want to play outside for more than 15 minutes at a time. I can hardly blame them. I love summer, but 110 degree heat index is a little much for me too. We've had to find activities to do inside, and tonight we played a sort of Bible Pictionary. Rylan and Bree drew their favorite Bible stories(with a few helpful hints from Daddy), and I got to guess which story their art portrayed. We awarded candy prizes. Here are a few of my favorite pieces of art from the evening.

Exhibit 1

Exhibit 2

Exhibit 3

Exhibit 4

Exhibit 5

(1) - Daniel in the Lions' Den - by Rylan

(2) - Eve, in the Garden of Eden - by Bree

(3) - David and Goliath - by Rylan

(4) - Jonah and the Big Fish - by Bree

(5) - I have no idea...Elle called this a "stroll-ba"

Busy Bees

The kids have been doing various fun projects this morning to keep them busy and distracted. We're taking a trip to Kansas this weekend for Grandma Dawn's birthday and it's going to be a surprise for the kids. We aren't going to tell them until we're on the road! I can't wait!

So, I'm packing this morning and the kids are happily distracted.

In the meadow we will build a snowman...

Aaron had fun pushing the bottom snowball uphill.

Smoothing and sculpting...

...filling in the holes....

....sticks for arms....

....classic carrot for nose...

A finished work of art!

Bree is FOUR!

I feel like just yesterday I was writing about Bree's 3rd birthday, and here we are, another year gone.

Another year to be thankful for our sweet, funny little Bree. Bree is my biggest little helper around the house. She loves to hold Ivy when I'm busy cleaning or cooking and she keeps a good eye on what the little ones are up to. Definitely an oldest daughter!

She has been memorizing a lot of scripture these last couple of months and likes to bring them up when they are applicable. Her favorite is the "bee" one. "Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other." She tries to 'help' Rylan with his verses too, by jumping in and quickly finishing the verse when he pauses. He really appreciates that. Not. :)

Bree is such a joy to us. We love her cheery heart and silly faces. She keeps us laughing all the time!

Bree wanted a pony party this year so we decorated the house with LOTS of pretty colored paper ponies. Here are a couple of pics from the celebration!

Aunt Michelle always makes the perfect pinata!

We had rainbow cake....

...and enjoyed the company of family and friends who came to celebrate with Bree!

Look at all those cuties!

A 'crispy' sort of day

A cool and crisp Fall day! Aaron's working so the kids and I made mini apple crisps. We used tasty new crop Jonathan apples. So yummy and tart!

Getting ready to bake them!

...and after much anticipation(seriously, there were tears during the LENGTHY 20 minute baking time)....Ta Da!

What we've been up to

Rylan: The artist of all things monster

His current obsession is drawing monsters and robots. They are all very colorful and have a serious amount of sharp teeth. Last week we bought school supplies, and with all the new crayons, colored pencils, scissors and glue, he probably spends up to 2 hours a day creating paper monstrosities. His summer has been filled with all the typical boy things: swimming, making mud, building forts, playing with Daddy's hammer and nails, and collecting bugs.

Miss Bree

Bree has been busy being Rylan's best friend this summer. They are pretty much always together in whatever they are doing. She still enjoys the girly side of things though. It's rare to find her without some article of princess dress-up on. She gets a major kick out of getting her hair done and is constantly asking to wear lip gloss. She is really excited to start doing some pre-school work this Fall. Bree is a BIG help with Grant. She is always available to entertain him or give him a bottle when I need her to. She has a very cheerful spirit and a helpful heart.

Elle: Our almost 2-year old!

Elle's 2nd birthday is next week. We measured her last night and she was almost exactly where Bree was at the same age. Elle is loud. Very loud. She loves to talk at the top of her voice. Keeping Rylan and Bree in line by yelling "Ryo" and "Bee" is one of her self-appointed tasks. She is definitely a 'busy' girl. Some of her activities this month include: dumping out a tube of black paint on the carpet, coloring with a red crayon on the couch, drawing on various walls, and trying to have a tea party with toilet water(Don't worry, I caught that one really quickly). She is constantly singing and dancing. She loves to sing the theme song to Calliou, her favorite cartoon, and she is quite the entertainer.

Grant: Mr. Funny Faces.

Grant's been up to the most of anyone. Crawling, pulling himself up on furniture, trying to stand on his own, and biggest of all.....getting some teeth! It's about time! He has two of the cutest little teeth in the bottom front, and he loves to bite with them! His favorite activity is trying to sneak up the stairs. He's made it up five before I could catch him at it. At his 10 month check-up he was weighing in at 16lbs, 4oz.

Bad Blogger

Wow, I'm a bad blogger. Did you see the date of my last post?!?

So, I started keeping a list of funny things the kids say incorrectly.
This past week....
Grant: Won't laugh. He just growls.
Elle: She calls any food item "cookie." Doesn't matter what it is.
Bree: Calls her toenails "ponytails." (Think about it, it kinda rhymes).
Calls pop cans "trash cans"
Rylan: Calls croissants and biscuits "casseroles"
Calls shampoo "cream soda"(I really don't get that one)

"We are AWANA Cubbies, we're happy all day long!"

Well, it was a momentous year for the Penningtons at AWANA. Bree started her first year as a Cubbie(She was actually a "practice cubbie" since she turned 3 mid-year). She still has 2 full years to go as a Cubbie, but Rylan's Cubbie days are officially over!

Last night was the awards night, and Rylan received his 2nd year book award. I can't believe we'll actually have a Sparky next year!

!

Here are the kids with their Cubbie leaders Max and Carol Willison, and of course, Aunt Michelle! :)

Spring = New Bikes!

Spring is here! I don't think I've ever been so happy to see it before. The kids were so ready to get some fresh air and exercise. Aaron decided we should probably invest in some decent bikes for the older kids since they'll probably be passed on to the younger ones in years to come, so we took Rylan and Bree to good 'ol Walmart and let them pick out brand new "big kid" bicycles. The rest of the afternoon was spent at Glenwood Lake Park. We just love our park. There's a great sidewalk all the way around a cute little lake, and the kids biked all afternoon.

Rylan, having the advantage of being a boy, was a obvious natural. He took off right away.

Bree's still pretty little. It took a some coaching and just a lot of practice. By the end of the day she definitely had it though.

Almost had it…..