It was the most PERFECT timing and SO appreciated!!
Gonna be honest here – I have wanted magnetic tiles for the kids for awhile now!
They were so excited to receive these new things!
They have had endless hours of fun with them already!
Eliza especially has enjoyed the magnetic tiles!
What a sweet surprise to receive this delivery!
Bless you and thank you Grandma Norma!!
WE LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU SO MUCH!!
Even with all of the limits of this crazy world, we kept ourselves busy!
I am so thankful our lives are so full here at home!
Each day starts with breakfast, chores, Bible time, and then school.
How I love when they do their Math while sitting in a little squat!
A snack always helps them think better.
At least that’s what this cutie tells me!
Our school room is my favorite room in our home – but we don’t always do our school work there.
After we finished studying Canada, we headed to South America and started studying Brazil and the rain forests!
I had ordered lots of books from the library for our study, but the library was closed again because of a COVID exposure.
WAH!
Since I use library books as my teaching tool, I had to find another way.
Pinterest worked!
We found all kinds of good stuff there.
It is in the sixties outside as I type this, but we have had some very winter like weather already!
And even our first snow!
It was barely enough to play in, but we got outside anyway!
We love to be outside.
These cuties are studying flying creatures in Science this year, so they spent a lot of time with their bird field guide and binoculars out on the land looking to see who lives here with us!
So cute!
The guys got the pool winterized.
They also got the hens moved into the garage for the winter!
Praise!
This camouflaged one was super diligent in mulching leaves for us.
Good job, Lane!
We also started a new activity in the afternoons once in a while – puzzles!
I am surprised at how much my trio enjoys doing a puzzle.
It is a great way to spend some time together!
And games….how many photos do you think I have of them playing a game?
Eliza loves to do crafty things in her free time!
A girl after my own heart!
You can usually find me running around keeping up with everything and everyone, or spending some time working on my Bible reading and Bible memory.
I am enjoying this book in the early mornings.
My favorite devotional book of all times!
I force myself to rest almost everyday – not because I am tired – but for health!
Sleep and rest is a very important part of healing!
After a rest I love a warm cup of coffee or cocoa with whipped cream, and then some time stretching or working out.
My laundry days are Mondays and Wednesdays.
Everyone here has laundry responsibilities!
One day I found $40 in the dryer – hmmmm.
I posted this photo on Instagram with the hashtag #whattodo and I received SO many messages!
It was hilarious!
Most of the messages told me to keep the money, ha, ha!!
This is what two patient puppies look like as they wait for their puppy pancake.
The kids say I spoil them!
I say that I just love them!
In my defense, those same kiddos wrap Ruby in blankets and lay with her under the school table, just saying!
She’s a cute one though!
And sometimes she eats like she is still in China!
Here is another cute one!
He is my best kitchen helper!
He comes running when he hears me in the kitchen!
Especially when there is good food to snitch!
They are all good helpers.
I am so blessed to be their Mama!!
November is HERE!!
One month closer to our next grand baby’s arrival!
YAY!!
Our calendar is full and we have so much to look forward to!
Stay tuned and Lord willing I will tell you all about it soon!
Happy November everyone!!
It’s been awhile.
I enjoy posting here so much…but sometimes it just doesn’t fit very well into our days!
So, here’s a little recap of the first half of October.
This is part one of an October recap – part two will be my next post and the second half of October.
I bet you can guess everything that we have done!
We are pretty predictable that way!
School.
We are enjoying school SO much!
Learning about polar bears while studying the Canada!
We study quite a bit of geography too.
Their illustrations and narrations of what we learn are my favorite teaching tool and my favorite keepsake!
While we were studying Canada, I was needing an art project for our Thursday art and craft time.
I hopped on the computer, went to Pinterest and typed in “crafts for kids Canada unit study.”
This project came up!
We painted with the salad spinner and it was super fun!!
No worries, I got the salad spinner completely clean again!
While we were studying Canada we also did some maple leaf rubbings.
They turned out beautiful.
We still sing every morning too!
Then we work on our Bible memory, have a devotional and finish with a time of prayer!
When I saw Eliza with her eyes closed praying one morning I could not resist tip toeing up to take a photo.
How sweet is this??!!
I spend a chunk of time every morning preparing school for the day!
Chad has told me many times that he is enjoying his curriculum this year very, very much!
We have some excellent books that he is working through!
The kids go outside everyday while I get lunch ready.
Playing disc golf has been there favorite activity lately!
While they are outside the Mama of that crew might dig around to find some chocolate covered nuts to snack on while she makes lunch!
I have a cute lunch crew.
Speaking of good things to eat – our food choices are more comfort foods now that it is so cold here!
Our afternoons are full of all kinds of things – but usually very much of the same things.
You know we love games!
Although games have been taken away as of this afternoon for several days!
Just in full disclosure that my children are not always angels – which is why those games were taken away!
Some Chinese checkers with a Chinese squat!
I love when they sit like that!
Grant can still do that!!
Chad has been hunting a couple of times in the late afternoons!
These two aren’t quite sure what to think of that!
Chad shot a buck on David and Kayla’s farm right at sunset one afternoon.
He came home to eat dinner and then we sent a search party back to look for that deer!
They found it!
And it filled David and Kayla’s freezer with meat!
When Chad gets photos like this from his camera that he has set up in the woods I beg him not too shoot the cute ones.
Isn’t this adorable??!
Some afternoons call for a popcorn and movie party!
We still like to read in the afternoons too!
We actually have a 30 minute quiet reading time that everyone must participate in (including me!) right before dinner.
I am doing a Bible study with a girlfriend once a week in the afternoon while our kiddos play.
It is WONDERFUL!!!
The weather has been kinda all over the place…but when it is nice enough we spend the afternoons outside.
A brisk walk in beautiful weather is such a day changer!!
The colors were beautiful this October, which is no surprise for us here in Wisconsin!
I am still stocking back up on Young Living products with the commission I am making each month.
It has been such a blessing to have those things on hand again!
Pan Away is a great one to grab for a headache!
I had a streak of headaches that were relentless – I am so glad they are gone now!
I have been enjoying our new diffuser too!
We run it often – but just today I took some screen shots on my phone of some oil blends to try.
The first one I am going to try is 3 drops of stress away and 3 drops of peppermint!
I bet it will smell fantastic – with no harmful poisons from burning a candle!
Here’s an adorable photo of a little cutie who stole my slippers to walk Ruby on a cold day.
He is SO CUTE!!
I found that cutie lying with Ruby under the school table while I gave Eliza a spelling test.
Why, yes, we have the most tolerant pup in the universe!
She puts up with a lot!
Here’s another cute one – who looks like this when he uses my favorite mug!
That mug has since been dropped and shattered to pieces!
Time to shop for a new favorite mug I guess!
I was privileged to have after nap snuggles out at the farm one day while Kay took the boys to get their new hens.
Briar is a cuddle bug!!
That was fun looking back to the beginning of October!
The Lord has really allowed my heart to settle into to our school routine this year.
These crazy times have made things weird, yes, but we choose to focus on ALL the good!
Life here at Twin Oaks with these kiddos IS GOOD!
They are inspiring, enthusiastic, joyful, quick learners, good helpers, my friends, each other’s friends, and just FULL OF LIFE!
We memorized Job 42:2 recently – “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.”
YES.
YES, yes, yes!!
God can do all things!
And His purpose will prevail!!!
How exciting is THAT?
I can’t wait to see the rest of the story…and watch Him use it all for His good.
God is GOOD.
He is SO good!
Rest in His promises, friends!!
I am SO thankful that Kayla gives me this gift every year!
She graciously not only takes the photos – but plans where, when, and how it will all happen!
We send messages back and forth, as we plan, with photos of what colors of clothes we all own as we try to kind of coordinate everyone!
I always ask for four different photos – one of each child alone, one of the Kozelek crew, one of the Moschel crew, and one of ALL of us!
I love how the individual photos turned out!
The kiddos’s smiles are bright as always!
Eliza Claire, eight years old –
Tate Owen, nine years old –
Lane Stevan, twelve years old –
Chad Ryan, sixteen years old –
Addison Mae –
Grant Evan –
The grand babies got individual photos too!
I LOVE THEM!!
The photos show their personalities perfectly!
Briar Promise, almost two years old –
River Salem, three years old –
Ellie Joy, almost five years old –
Clyde Strength, almost five years old –
Here’s the Kozelek crew!
The grand babies did AMAZING getting their photos taken!
And finally a sneak peek at one of the group photos…you will have to wait on the rest until Christmas!
I would say we had a very successful photo shoot this year!
We took all of those photos, walking around a little town to find back drops, in less than thirty minutes!
Bless you, Kay, for doing this for me!!
I absolutely love that you captured this moment in time!
Memories made and memories kept!!
