Lucy's first Science Experiment!

2 year old + Dime + plugged in phone charger =

 big blue spark and startled 2 year old!

In all fairness, had Lucy known what was going to happen when she put the dime behind the plug in I don't think she would have done it.  The huge blue spark that flashed was pretty impressive, Lucy was pretty startled and after checking her over she complained her foot hurt and there was a raised spot so I took her in to our Dr. office.  He quickly took a look at her and said she looked great.  That I should just watch her pee make sure it wasn't brown, he didn't think it would be as she looked good.  She might be sore in her joints and muscles.   She was a bit "shocked" for awhile but then seem to perk up and be fine until she crashed on the rocking chair.  Which might have just been because of the cold she had.  I hope her experiments with outlets are a thing of the past but she is a pretty inquisitive child. 

Melted Dime

Fried Outlet

Sleepy Girl

Lemonade With a Purpose: K-Love Shares Lemonade with the Nation!

K-love picked up the story about Wesley’s Lemonade stand and is running it on their radio news broadcast you can also find it on their website.  

Wesley’s Lemonade Stand has effected many people.  His heartfelt quote; “Everyone needs to know God!” (Click here to see the story that ran on Keloland news: Lemonade With A Mission.)

This simple message is so true.  It is also true that God has chosen to reach the world through all his children.  We get to be a part of his display of love to all the the nations.  

Our neighbor doesn’t know God.  Wesley is very burdened for him to know God and has shared with him several times now.  It amazes Wesley that people don’t also share the same heart for God.  

Wesley said to me after we talked about some people that we love that don’t know God.  Wesley said, “I just don’t understand it; I love God so much that it makes me want to cry.”    

We are very proud of our son and his love for the Lord.  It continues to inspire us to teach him diligently about God’s love and God’s love for a lost world. 

We can all reach out to those around us who do not know God; through prayer, conversation and friendship.  We can all spread the love of Christ wherever we are.  

A great missions scripture is 2 Cor 2: 14-17  which says we are the aroma of Christ wherever you go.  To some that smell of Christ on you draws them to Christ and to others it makes them want to avoid you.   We choose to be an aroma of Christ that is pleasing to God first and our prayer is that it will draw others to a relationship with Christ.

Isn’t it amazing how God chooses to do things through his people.  

If every Christian does their part in their own community and those called to go to the other places around the world were supported by Christians here at home.  Think of how much of his love could be revealed and how much joy we would receive.

If Wesley has inspired you at all:  Pray, Give, Go!

Pray, for those who don’t know God.

Give, to missionaries who want to be the hands and feet of Christ to other nations.

Go,  when called into all the world to preach the good news. 

Let us feed the sheep that God has given us to feed.  Because Wesley is right - Everyone needs to know God!

We should all love God with such a passion that, like a child, it makes us want to cry at his amazing love for us! 

How AWESOME that we get to be part of that work here on earth! 

Miles of Smiles

This event is hosted and paid for yearly by a local dentist.  The kids love, love, loved it!  They got to see all kinds of costumed characters.   Lucy was in awe of a huge Dora.  Wesley was excited by Spiderman and Irina just stared at all the princesses!

The huge flag at Wylie Park

On our way to Miles of Smiles - when the kids saw all fun rides they were so excited

Lucy gazing at Dora!

So excited to stand next to Dora

A Character Congo line

Wesley meeting Sponge Bob

A gigantic Elmo!

Princesses!  No worries she didn't turn into a frog!

Feeling like royalty!

More princesses!

Lots of blow up rides and slides

Horse riding races

The kids had a lot of fun.

Lemonade and the third annual Pig Out!

Since we had a music festival going on across the street we decided to set up the Lemonade Stand.  Wesley had a lot of help from Dad on this one.  In fact Tony ran it more than Wesley.  Since we also had the Miles of Smile even the same weekend.  

Our apartment - we live on the first floor! And how the sign looked from across the street!

Lemonade!

Wesley helping out.  Drinking lots of lemonade!

Our sign got rained on the first night and ended up tie dyed.  We filled in the colors again.

Lemonade, Lemonade for Sale!

In May, Wesley kept asking me if he could have a Lemonade stand and sell Lemonade to raise money for our plane tickets - since he can’t wait to go on a plane ride again.  He loves, loves, loves plane rides.  I put him off , since it was so wet in May.  

In June he was distracted by the Discovery Theater he participated in.  Then on a “boring” day last Thursday he decided it was now time.  We had things to discuss.  I had bought the lemonade and the cups but we still needed some signs.  We also were still discussing the price that should be charged for a cup of lemonade.  He wanted to charge $5 a glass since that would earn our tickets faster.  Irina wanted to sell a glass for $0.10.  We settled on 50 cents for a glass of lemonade. 

With the sign made, Wesley, headed out to begin his lemonade sales.   For a good hour - you could hear -  “Lemonade, LEMONADE for sale!”  - an hour!  He did loose a little steam that day.  Now each day he heads out - dragging the table out, setting up the chairs and bringing the cups and lemonade outside.  He needs some help pouring so we don’t end up with lemonade all over the table. 

He continues to sell the lemonade - though he is loosing a little bit of steam.  Yesterday was HOT! and he got tired.  He told me. “I just want 1000 cars to line up so I can give them lemonade and so we can get to Moldova.

We have explained a little about the cost of plane rides for a family of five, while not killing his enthusiasm for helping us raise the support.  He has given us all his piggy bank money once already to help with the plane tickets.  He had a story done on him by  KELOLAND news titled:  Lemonade With A Mission.

Summer Activities - June

The month of June was full of activities for the kids:

Irina was in Discovery Ballet Camp, she got to spend a week taking a four hour Ballet Camp that included learning Ballet steps, learning a short dance and doing some art work related to the dance they were doing. She had so much fun.

Wesley spent two weeks  in Discovery Theater through Parks and Rec. he was able to learn all about acting on a stage and take part in a drama put on at the Storybook land Castle theater.  He was a one of the enchanted vines that covered Sleeping Beauties castle in the Play "Mother Goose Gets Eaten By Werewolves."

Lucy was very disappointed to not be able to be a "La, La." with Irina but she enjoyed watching both of their performances and spending some alone time just with mommy.  She got evaluated by the birth to three program and was given flying colors on all of her development.  I was just a little worried that her speech wasn't progressing as fast as I would like.  If I had waited two more weeks I probably would have not even had her seen because she has started to talk up a storm!  Lucy loves going to Storybook Land - train rides, parks and pools!  Watery! Watery!

Fort Sisseton Historical Festival

There are times during parenting when you realize you have moved into another "era" in the journey of parenting.  We past another one of those mile marker in our parenting by letting our children bring friends to Fort Sisseton Historical Festival.

The Kids had a lot of fun!  Here are are just a small sampling of the photos we took that day -

Just Arriving

Learning about different Musical instruments of the past.

Trying on some of the clothing worn long ago.  

Learning to crack a whip.

Learning how to lasso some cattle!

ARTistic Pursuits: Lesson 3

Lessons don't always go as we would like.

This lesson didn't go as well for us.  The kids were to go out and draw what they see in nature.  We talked about what was outside and what they could see outside.  But the day ended up being windy and so when they went outside to do the drawing part of the lesson the paper kept whipping up on them.  Wesley tried to draw a tree and he didn't like how it looked and got frustrated.  I made the mistake of suggesting how he could fix it.  I should have said nothing and told him it looked fantastic - because it was a drawing of how he sees a tree not how I see one.  It is a big lesson to me that as a parent we forget that it takes time to learn to see things for yourself.  I don't want my children to see the world through my eyes.  I want them to see it through their own.  Art is one of the ways a child can express how they see the world.   I forgot to take photos of this lesson since they weren't excited about it I let it drop.  There is part of me that would like to have them do it again but I think we will skip it and go on to lesson 4.    Sorry no photos for this one.

Butterfly Garden: Caterpillars Fast Forward

FLYING FREE!

The butterfly garden was a great hit.   The caterpillars went into their chrysalises and then emerged as beautiful Painted Lady Butterflies.   The kids had so much fun growing them.  We enjoyed them for about three days and then let them go.  I highly recommend it as a great family experiment!  We are still reading through the butterfly book:  The Life Cycles of Butterflies: From Egg to Maturity, a Visual Guide to 23 Common Garden Butterflies

photo: above - They keep getting bigger

          below -  They shed their last skin for their crystallize

The Painted Lady Butterflies started to emerged while we were in Mound, MN visiting my parents but the kids loved coming home to the butterflies!

They loved oranges!

Lucy loved the butterflies - she will flap her arms to show what butterflies do.  "FLY!"

If you love them let them go!  It was quite thrilling to see them fly free!

Try your own Butterfly garden!

Insect Lore Live Butterfly Garden

Memorial Day weekend - VISITING FAMILY

Before the summer activities began we decided to go visit family in MN.  Just me and the kids went.  The car ride went well with the four of us and we had a great time visiting my parents - Grandma and Grandpa, as well as visiting with both my brother and sister.

Wesley loved the new lake home that my sister's family has just moved into and Irina loved the walking trail for her scooter practice.

Wesley and Irina spent most of their time at my sister's house.  It was different for me to let them stay there for two nights and only have Lucy to put to bed.  I missed them.

Wesley loved the kayak and got pretty good at it, but not enough to let this momma let him take it further out too many boats out for the Holiday weekend.

I helped pull weeds out of the water and swam almost out to the dingy.  It reminded me how much I love to swim.

It was a good time with family and a great visit!

ARTistic Pursuits: Lesson 2

Using your imagination

I'll start by saying that using the water color crayons was an experience that everyone should have!  The colors are so vibrant and real - this lesson really showed me why we don't just want to buy cheap watercolor paints.  I'll agree with the website - they say that sometimes children feel that they are not artistic when really they are using materials that are substandard.

First photo is - Irina's watercolor in progress of a pretty girl.




Wesley riding his scooter.








Wesley's flower







My butterfly - this was so fun to make with the watercolor crayons and then using the brush with the water to blend it in.  I am looking forward to our next lesson with watercolors it was fun to be creative!

Lucy - mixed the watercolor crayons with the water a bit too much but she had a lot of fun!

Butterfly Garden: Caterpillars Growing up

INCH BY INCH!

The Caterpillars have grown a lot.  The kids love to stop and look at them.  I do have to watch to make sure they don't do silly things.  One day I caught Wesley breathing into the holes on the top of the cup and he said, "I am giving them more air."  We was concerned they wouldn't have enough air in there.  I explained how air would have no problem going through those air holes and that he was not helping them but could actually hurt them with the germs in his mouth.  He didn't really get it but he stopped.  The kids are excited for the chrysalis stage.  Irina and I are about half way through all the different butterflies found in the United States.  Then we get into Butterfly Habitat Gardening.  I am excited about that chapter, but she wants to read the book from front to back and doesn't want me to jump ahead.  It is going to be fun seeing butterflies now and trying to figure out which one it is.

The Life Cycles of Butterflies: From Egg to Maturity, a Visual Guide to 23 Common Garden ButterfliesInsect Lore Live Butterfly Garden