Trains and Taco Bell

Well, it wasn't insanely hot(95 degrees,) but this pregnant lady was still pleasantly relieved when Aaron suggested taking the kids to the Union Pacific Museum in Council Bluffs. We hadn't been there for probably 5 years, so we were due a visit. They added a lot more exhibits since we were there last, and it is more kid-friendly now. My photos are REALLY poor quality because there is no flash photography allowed, and it is a seriously dark museum. Indoor photography is not my forte' to begin with, so I was really struggling to get my camera figured out while hanging out with the kids, and after a while I decided that I'd rather have fun with them instead of worrying about great shots. Luckily, we still got a couple of cute, albeit blurry, pics out of the day!

A fun old-fashioned dynamite box. They had a cool rock wall that lit up and made a huge boom when you pushed the lever down. Rylan really got a kick out of it.

Nona was NOT feeling friendly towards the Old West cowboys.

Party line!

Relaxing in a 50's era train car.

I love that Union Pacific bought the old Council Bluffs Library and turned it into a museum. What a beautiful building, and it's fun to tell the kids that Grandma Sargent used to come here to get books when she was their age!

History makes us hungry. We stopped for a not-so-healthy lunch at Taco Bell, for a special treat.

 This may or may not be a "please-stop-taking-pictures-at-Taco Bell" look.

Wednesdays at the Glenwood Farmers Market

Our little farmers market here in Glenwood is gaining momentum every year. We love spending Wednesday evenings there, at the beautiful Glenwood Lake Park. Hip Hip Hooray for farmers markets! They make our lives so much better. We just love local produce!

Tonight was our first visit of the year. Not too many tables out there yet, due to such a rainy, cold Spring, but we still got some great stuff.

Honey sticks, from our local beekeepers!

 Rylan was our money handler tonight. He did such a great job counting and sorting.

Rhubarb! Oh, the possibilities!

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!

What??? A blog post??

Yeah, I know. It's been 11 months. I totally fell of the blog wagon. No promises that it won't happen again. I have 6 kids, you know(yeah,*sheepish grin* we had a baby since I last blogged.) But I sure will do my best to post a little, even with life's busy-ness. For now, here's a super sweet photo I snapped of Aaron last Sunday as he was rocking our lovely Nona Joy to sleep.

Thanksgiving Dinner

Why are we having a thanksgiving dinner in September? Because it's always a right and appropriate time to celebrate and give thanks for what God has done! Tonight is Aaron's last night of his mandatory year of the night shift. It hasn't been fun for any of us this last year, being on such opposite schedules, but God knows that fun isn't always for our good. Sometimes, well, a lot of the time, fruit comes through struggle. God is always faithful and we knew that He would bring us through it - stronger than when we started. Thank you Jesus, for protecting Aaron and protecting us at home. Thank you for how You make us stronger and mature us along the journey. Every good gift comes from you!

Psalm 52:9
"I will give You thanks forever, because You have done it, And I will wait on Your name, for it is good, in the presence of Your godly ones."




Sparking grape juice is a REALLY big treat!

Elle turns 3!

Someone turned 3 yesterday! We celebrated with cake and ice cream in the evening, and opened gifts with Grandma and Grandpa and crew. Elle will have a 'real' party on the 11th that she'll share with Grant, but it was nice to focus just on her last night and celebrate 3 wonderful years with her! One of her favorite gifts was from Uncle Wyatt - a tiny coffee mug and coffee creamer. Hah! Such a coffee connoisseur at the age of 3!



The 'terrible two's' were anything but terrible. Elle is a sweetie who loves to entertain and make us laugh. She is the queen of funny faces and random statements. She is great at helping Mommy with baby Ivy and is super protective of her! Earlier this summer we took the family to Shakespeare of the Green and decided to leave at intermission. As we were walking out, Ivy(who was in the stroller) dropped her pacifier and a nice gentleman picked it up for her. As he was giving it to Ivy, Elle apparently thought he was trying to steal her, because she quickly ran up to him and started clobbering him with her shoes, screaming, "NO NO NO." The poor man(who was already slightly intoxicated) was so taken aback. Elle was genuinely distraught and we really had a lot of trouble convincing her that he wasn't trying to take Ivy. It was one of the funniest things I've seen her do. Hilarious, and good to know that she is so protective over her siblings.

Apparently 3 is the charm, because this last week Elle has decided on her own to stop using diapers, and today there have been no accidents so far! It might have something to do with the princess underwear Grandma bought her for her birthday yesterday. :)

I am excited to see Elle grow and mature this next year. So many fun things for her to experience this year, including starting AWANA cubbies next week!