A few celebrations...

Luv this girlie...she's becoming quite the little helper in the kitchen! She snacked on a radish and helped me wash spinach and kale from the garden. She definitely has the salad spinner down pat. :)

A manly dinner for Justin's birthday. The only bummer was that I realized I forgot to bake the potatoes...oops! It was very yummy anyway, and, my goodness, the kids definitely enjoyed the steaks! We finally had to put a cap on their requests for more and more and more. :)

The kids and I made a trip to Walmart to select some special treats for dessert and a gift for Daddy. (I hope I didn't look as stressed as I felt as we marched through Walmart. The kids were quite happy...but I was trying to protect the bread, bananas, and my mother-in-law's M's Day gift from getting smashed or trampled. They were greeting everyone we saw, as well. Yes...shopping w/ children can be quite the experience. :)

Enjoying the ice cream--Madeline makes this silly face now when I take her picture. She's saying "Cheese!"

I love the age Samuel's at right now. He's ever so sincere and assumes everyone thinks like he does. He loved watching Justin open his card and the presents he selected from around the house. He told Justin, "Daddy, you can keep the card." He wrote exactly what he wanted his card to say.

The big bag was full of things from Samuel: a gigantic book: Memoirs of Robert E. Lee, The Self-Sufficient Life Homesteading Manual, an assortment of his favorite dinosaurs and a ball. I loved watching the boys' facial expressions...they thought it was the greatest gift. :)

The kids actually "bought" him a Stanley Thermos. He was in great need of a leak-proof caffeine container. :) An attempt at a family picture...kind of.

I'm also happy to announce that today we're also celebrating our engagement anniversary. 6 happy years ago, Justin asked me to marry him. I'm SO glad we said "Yes!" (Man, that seems like forever ago! Much has changed!)

I have a lot going the next few days, so I have to run, but if I get a chance, I'll have to post the pictures of the kids singing "Happy Birthday"--it's a hoot!

Happy Weekend!!

Bike Riding, Sunshine, Salads, and Friends...

Here's a few pictures from this past weekend:

They think they're rabbits!


Chickens...

Lots of Children! (a few years ago, we had 1 child and the Schouts had 2.5--wow! Now it's our 3 + their 5.5!) Fun times for sure



William has just learned to pedal his bike. Yay! I was talking to Justin on the phone, and asked him,"Guess who is riding their bike, has a big wad of bubble gum stuck in their hair, and just crashed into the fence b/c he was looking at his feet pedaling the pedals????" He guessed correctly!

We're enjoying salad--spinach, beet greens, green onions, and radishes-- from the garden. Samuel has just learned how to make it. He's very excited to help me and to be using a knife. He was very responsible and did a great job. Very fresh and yummy!

"Mixed Messages"

Nancy Leigh DeMoss is speaking this week on a needed topic in today's culture. It's titled "Modesty-Does God Really Care What I Wear?" I love listening to her while the kids are napping and I'm folding a mountain of laundry. She always has good food for thought and teaches women to live out Titus 2. I missed her progams last week, but I thought I'd share that's it's excellent, if anyone wants to listen in, or print it off, to read later. You can find the message at: www.reviveourhearts.com Blessings to your week!

~megan~

Lots of Sunshine and Spring Cleaning...

We've been busy lately! Here are the kids w/ the chickens...

William finally caught it!






...a few Easter pix from G-ma Janeen's...


(my batteries ran out before the egg hunt)


Good Friday Potato Planting (Justin thinks I'm silly to always have to take pictures...so this is him posing for me--note the forced smile:)


...my sweet very-exacting hubby...yes, that's a tape measure. If you look at the garden, you can easily tell which rows I planted--my onions rows are rather wavy. :)

I'm so thankful I have a child old enough to dress himself. However, as I've been going through my pictures to print, my goodness, I need to teach him about matching. :) His outfits make me smile. Day to day, when we're around the house, I don't really notice what he has on. The pictures I've taken have captured it, though. :)

The kids are following in my footsteps and going through a horse stage. Samuel and William like to pretend they're knights riding mighty steeds. :) William's battle horse is named "Goblin" (just like Johnny Tremain's) Samuel informed me that his horse's name is "Kyle" I'm not sure if anyone else thinks this is funny, but I laughed so hard I think my kids wondered what was so funny. We have a good friend named Kyle and for Samuel's war horse to be named in his honor, just struck me funny. Sometimes it's not so much what my kids say but how they say it that makes it hilarious. I love this stage that they're in. They aren't embarassed to express themselves and most things in their pretend world are very serious and real-life to them. I love their honesty and sincerity. :)



They love their swings!~


We've had playdates w/ friends, but I haven't taken very many pictures. Here's some of one of my childhood friends, Britta, and her little munchkins. It's so funny to me that we're grown up and have children of our own. My childhood memories are so vivid and happy, I don't feel old enough to be 27 and have 3 children!

Fun times w/ friends...


Last week was my spring cleaning week. I neglected our usual routinue and focused on painting the rest of my trim, cleaning the kitchen cabinets, touching up the laundry room paint and washing all the windows, screens, and curtains, inside and out. I still have spring cleaning inside to do, but I've decided to go room by room, and throughly clean. This is my last week of orchestra and I need to use nap time to practice, but next week, hopefully I'll finish up the deep cleaning. I went through the kids' clothes for the next season and de-junked our clothes closet. It takes TIME to do these things! Doing these activities w/ children throws a curve ball at me! Creativity and strategy is key, I've decided. :) I bought little squirt bottles and had them help me w/ some of the projects. Samuel is getting old enough to be able to work on a job for more than 30 seconds--yay! I can already tell that Madeline will be a big helper, as well. In some ways, she amazes me. W/ the boys, I have to instruct them that their pj's don't belong on the floor, they go in the hamper. Before they have a chance, she's already picked them up and put them away. :) Yes, I'm going to need her! :)
I did find, that getting up several hours before the kids, was key to getting the jobs accomplished. My paint looks, oh, so much better! Now I really need to touch up the walls. From 3 ft. and down looks very rough in the high traffic areas!
While my kids were "helping" me spring clean, I consoled myself that things usually get worse before they get better. My house is back in general order---I like it that way. I love my sparkly windows and I'm amazed w/ myself for living w/ such dirty ones. :)
The kids were outside w/ my while I was washing windows. They love to swing, so I'd quick run and give them each a big underdog, then run and scrub away at the windows. Then by the time they were asking plllllleease for another underdog, I'd run quick and do that again and get back to drying/scrubbing. That was my exercise last week. :)
I'm so glad that the kids and I can do this kind of stuff together,even if it takes twice as long and gets dirty again in less that 2 minutes. I have to remind myself that someday I'll really miss this stage.

A few belated Easter Photos

very behind

I'm so very behind w/ pictures. I got caught up on albums in December, and now I'm behind again. :) I haven't been blogging recently either. The kids are keeping me very busy, and now that it's nice outside, we've been

gardening and playing. I've been going through clothes and organizing the house. Goodness, somedays I really think I could use a housekeeper or just duplicate myself. I'm not lacking in motivation or afraid of hard work...things just don't get done like they did pre-children. Washing windows and painting the rest of my trim is on the top of the list now. Oh, yes, and my kitchen floor--it could use a washing every day. :) For now, I'm content to sweep it and go play or read to the kids.

Justin has had super long days this week...ah, the work season has begun! Alarm has been going off at 3:30 or 4 am. and it's 9;45 pm and he's still gone. Thankfully he has a great job...I know he's a great supervisor. Ahh..here he is. So, goodnight! More randomness soon!

Check out the new sites...

www.ascentangusfarms.com

www.edenstringquartet.com