A little of this, that and the other thing.

 I sometimes think that time passes so quickly and yet slowly at the same time. Andrew and I marvel that we are parents to a four year old. Really is she 4? She is starting to look like a little lady and has these very mature moments when we can glimpse the character that she will have someday. Then she'll bounce back into her little kid mode of running through the house and making faces in the mirror.

Preschool has been good for her and she is learning to open up a little bit more to others. Daraby still needs me but has unfurled her wings just a little. Dakota is our independent little girl. She is going to be left handed and is writing and drawing all the time. She just started to paint too. It is fun to watch your children start to bud. By that I mean- it is neat to see glimpses of their passions and interests. For so long they are needy and dependent and then wham off they go with ideas and plans. "Mom we are going to do this---- today." I'm really enjoying the personalities of our children.



Here are the cousins together. These girls really like to spend time together. They plan out what they are going to do and then inform us parents. "We are going to the Y today?" hahah

After church the cousins like to get out the scooters, pillows and the "tug of war" rope. They take turns pulling each other around the gym and dirty up their dresses. There are lots of screams and laughter in the process. Meanwhile we as parents get some much needed adult conversation time so we let them have at it and soak the dresses later.

Andrew has been desperately trying to get our lawn to grow. We tore out 5 lilac bushes last spring and we have a large bare spot in our yard that Andrew has been babying to no avail. No sprout - no. nothing. green. but scraggly weeds. He has planted it at least twice. Andrew likes to involve the girls in his endeavors. In this photo they are raking the dirt yet again. The girls love the skid steer and tractor. I often drive the skid steer and Andrew has the tractor.

Dakota will be driving soon. No joke. She's almost figured out how to start the car and put it in gear. She just watches me and does what I do. I am amazed at her natural mechanical skills.  

Daraby loves being pretty. If you tell her that she is pretty it will make her day.

The girls only wear dresses. Seriously. I do declare some days to be pants and shirt days- usually Mondays. There are big tears on those mornings.  

On this Sunday we took a beautiful walk through the woods that are down by the river. There are not many trees in SD but this area made Andrew feel like he was in MI. That is very hard to do. To bad this area it is only about 20 acres or so. Last year this whole area was flooded so we are glad to enjoy it this year.

This is our fall foliage.

Since we don't have a lot of trees the grass does most of the color changing. I do love the fall colors here and the sound of dried grass sounds like the waves on Lake MI or the ocean. The sounds of the dried corn cobs has a very soothing sound too.

What an exciting few days we had with Little Bear. Daraby was able to bring him home from preschool. We did many fun things with him and wrote all about it in his diary. I am glad he came and I'm glad he went back for some other kid to love on. The girls were so worried about him. "Did we brush his teeth? Did he get enough to eat? Is he cold? He needs a nap Mom. You need to be quiet Mom." So long Little Bear! Travel on, Travel on!

I love and hate department stores. Let me explain: We had to run to the store for a few items the other day and as we walked in the double doors there were lots of Christmas trees and decor. "MOM! It is Christmas!" Try to explain that it isn't to a 4 year old. Adding to her excitement were the glimmering pink Christmas trees. The girls saw lots of pictures of baby Jesus through the Christmas section. If you need to see Jesus in Christmas you just need to borrow my kids for a day. It is like the Jesus version of "Where is Waldo?" Jesus may only be an inch big in some small snow globe and they are bound to find him and cause me to have some small heart attack as they wave the glass globes around.

"Girls, that is pretty and I'm glad you found Jesus but no touching. Put it back it is $20 a piece and I don't have 40 bucks for baby Jesus. You already got Him in your heart." I think I'm becoming cheap because I hear my kids say things like, "Hey Mom, is this cereal on sale? Can we buy this when it is on sale? Don't worry Kota, when it goes on sale Mom will buy it for us." Bahhahahhahah!

Anyway since we saw "Christmas" at the department store our home has become Christmas central. Don't you know Christmas is coming tomorrow? In Daraby's mind it is. We've built barns, stables, caves and towns with Jesus and all the animals etc... I admit it is really cute.

Daraby is so proud of her manger scene.

The little black birds are traveling in mass hoards lately and frequently darken the sky. I think it is beautiful. With all the driving I do, I am constantly seeing them cluster up and fly in these amazing swoops and dives. They'll settle in the corn cobs where I can't see them and then all of a sudden they fly straight up and glide over us. It is spectacular!

From far away they look like smoke.

Dakota is very mechanical and likes to build and build and build. This is her town -with baby Jesus. Dakota is always busy doing something like: coloring the leather seating in our car, scribbling all over the things in my purse, coloring books which are not actual coloring books, tearing apart pop-up books, sticking stickers to the floor in the kitchen or to any other hard surface, along with cutting or gluing anything that might be valuable. At least she is busy and keeps herself occupied. She is never in want of things to do since she has a "to do" list that I can't keep up with. Although it drives me nuts, I know that her mind is sharp and I want to grow that. She is a do-er. She is a get it done girl.

So life has been busy but very good! By taking a minute to look back at photos I am able to connect and relive those precious moments. It is going so fast and yet so slow. We are anxious for another child to come into our family through adoption. We did have a birth family seriously consider us last week and in the end they chose another family instead. What a roller coaster! I'm so glad for them to choose adoption but I wish it was with us. This waiting is so incredibly hard and I naively thought I/we would be fine with waiting. Pray that we wouldn't doubt God's goodness and perfect will. We are so hoping for another one in time for Christmas. Time will tell! Until then we will be praying for the life that will join our family and we'll be listening to Christmas music! "Away in a manger...." xoxo

Mid-Term Update

Hello friends and family!  It has been a while since we have had the gumption to produce a blog post.  We just started the second quarter of school, so I guess it's time to report some happenings!  Darcy is traveling back from Pierre tonight with the girl's from AWANA.  They happen to have the camera with them so there is not many new pictures to show.  The girls love dressing up and they are showing their true colors in the above photo!

Daraby is growing into a fine young lady.  She is holding a bunny at the state fair in the above picture.  It astounds us at how articulate she can be in her thoughts and feelings.  Preschool has been a challenging, yet rewarding experience for her.  She is making some friends and was able to bring Abby to school for show and tell for the letter "d".  I don't think it will work to bring our horses in for the letter "h" this week-maybe a picture of her riding will do.
Dakota has joined Daraby in going to AWANA this year and both girls have been growing in their knowledge of the Bible.  Darcy has been helping with the 3 year old class of which Dakota is a part of.  Deuteronomy 6 talks about the importance of impressing scripture in all areas of life to our children.  Children are a lot smarter than we give them credit for and they are able express their love for God in a variety of ways.
I was recently challenged by Wes Stafford, the president of Compassion International, at a conference that I attended.  His testimony is gripping, convicting and inspiring.  He makes the case in his latest book (I think the title is the Power of a Minute or something to that affect) of the impact an encounter with a child can have either positively or negatively in their life.  This has been a challenge to me both in our family life and in my professional life.  I would encourage you to get his book and learn more about Compassion International.
Darcy is busy with a variety of projects including some fundraising things for our upcoming school auction.  She has also been making custom purses/bags.  I got my CDL a couple weeks ago and so Darcy and I took a group of juniors and seniors on the bus to Pierre for a college fair.  She is a huge help in these endeavors and ended up having to take a student who got serverly ill to the doctor and dealing with seniors who were flying paper airplanes out the bus window.  Yep, she's a trooper!
I had better wrap up so I can help put the girls down to bed when Darcy gets here.  Thanks for tuning in!
 

School is in for the YEAR!

Summer is over. Well the weather is still hot but our schedule sure has changed. School has been underway since around the middle of August. Life's pace has picked up in the measure of speeds and our calender is full. I miss the summer but I'm happy for the school year to be going. There are so many wonderful things happening on campus and I'm excited about this year. Andrew is really good at his job and has a great staff and superintendent. I don't think most of you know how unique and diverse his job really is. I see him passionately work with teenagers and school staff everyday. He is in charge of residential aspect at school and takes care of some of the principal duties as well. It is a big job. I am in awe and I'm very proud of him. He has a lot of responsibility but he doesn't complain and is very patient. You have to admire a man like him. I like to hear him speak to the student body. He has great quotes and occasionally I use them on him. "Do you know that attitudes are contagious? Make yours worth catching!"

A picture I took out in CO and added our marriage date.

Daraby turned 4 over the summer. Our little girl is growing up. Nuts!

This is at her birthday party. No picture is complete without Cinderella.

The girls love their cousins and it is fun to see our girls blossom when they are with kids they trust. They act crazy and love each other. I love it.

Are they related? No! Can you believe it? This is Zoe. She is the daughter of Andrew's high school best friend. We saw them in MI this summer and ate some wonderful pizza in a great A/C building. It was amazingly hot outside.

We've spent a ton of time on the beach this summer. Our children finally love the water and I like laying on the beach. Andrew came back from sea dooing with a great afro. The girls like to ride on the sea doo much to their mom's surprise.

Our summer has been full of this as well. We bought a wonderful horse this spring and we've been putting some miles on him. I'm so glad for the girls to experience the fun of riding a safe horse. The feed him and lead him around as well. Andrew and I's first conversation was about horses. I'm glad this will be an integral part of our family life.

I've had a lot of time during the summer to work on some of my own projects- painting, sewing, making cards and re-doing furniture. The picture above and below is a sample of the baby blankets I've been making over the summer. They are a wonderful weight and texture. They do take a lot of time but I feel handmade gifts are a labor of love and are completely worth it. Every time I make one of these I am so excited for the family to receive it. I hope this will be a blanket to treasure for many years. I pray the entire time I make it. I pray for the special baby who will be wrapped up in it. I pray that the child will know and love the Lord who created her/him.

I made my own pattern and messed around with it until I got a bag/purse that I really like. I like pleats and ruffled fabric. I am happy with it.

This was another summer project that I'm incredibly happy about! I found this solid wood vintage desk online and went to town right away to pick up. My gracious husband only grumbled a little bit about another project to collect. He did well and he was thrilled with the turnout as well. It took me just a little bit to decide to paint only  the top and add one of my favorite quotes. I wrote the quote out and then painted it by hand and added a solid poly. The top is butter smooth and so pretty. The bottom I left the natural wood color and added a poly coat as well. This desk went to another vintage lovers home and I'm so happy for them to use it. Another success!

There was a lot of changed on our campus this summer. They tore down two buildings and a garage. On of the buildings was a duplex and the other was the elementary/middle school building. We were able to watch them being torn down and I ran the loader one day. I had a lot of fun. It feels so good to connect with my construction roots. Our kids kept asking when our home was going to be torn down. They were fascinated and worried at the same time.

It looks so good to see the campus cleaned up and the new building coming together. The new multi-purpose building- gym/classrooms etc- is coming along. The elementary kids have classes in there now along with the band/choir room, and weight room. We are waiting to finish the gym as the funds come it. I hope they get finances this year so we'll have some games in their this winter. This will be a huge asset to the campus and kids here.

This is an aerial shot of the campus. Last week I went up in a beautiful 4 seater plane. Kendra the pilot and owner of the plane graduated from SBA and flew Tammy and me over the campus. I love to fly and we took some great photos. Our home is on the RHS in the middle of those trees. It's hard to point out.

The three brothers all have birthdays in August and we were able to celebrate by going out for pizza in CO. Andrew and Joel's birthdays are exactly 10 years apart. Joel is 20 this year and that means Andrew is 30. Oh yeah Andrew, we are becoming those people.

We taught Daraby about Coldstone. "Mommy used to work here and Daddy waited for Mommy to get off work so he could eat leftover ice cream." Daraby loved it and ate the whole thing. WOW! 

We were able to see Susan and Michael. The girls are super excited about Susan's baby belly. They asked her everyday about the baby. They continue to ask me if Susan had her baby yet. We told her that having a baby takes time and then it is painful to have. She replied, "Mom I'm not going to have a baby in my belly when I get old. I am going to adopt like you and I want a girl." My sweets!

A good photo of Mom and Dad Boersma out in CO.

  

 I've always wanted to ride on a gondola and that dream came true in Breckenridge, even though I'm scared of heights. Those things wiggle and sway but I was so excited. This is my kind of climbing. Take me to the top baby. The girls loved it and had no worries. Huh?

Good friends are essential in life and we are so blessed. Over the summer we spent some time at Grace Adventures with our good friends Scott and Alicia and their three children. We love them and really love connecting and relaxing. There are those people in life that you can connect with instantly and start off right where you left off. It is a summer thing. We are so thankful to connect but wish we lived next door. Just not like we did in college- in teepee's and tents. We all worked at the camp together. Who says camp counselors don't date. 

 Another special friendship is with Aaron and Jess who just had their first baby, Lauren. The girls were so enamored by baby Lauren. Jess was so good and loves our kids so it is easy to connect and hang out with Jess and Aaron. We are thankful for their relationship. We are excited for them! They are great parents.

This summer we stopped by Nick and Delores' home on the lake. The girls enjoyed swimming and we had some great laughs. I couldn't have imagined our college years without them. They are like a set of grandparents for me and really influenced Andrew's and I relationship. We spent many hours at their home playing games, staying up late and eating food. They are so joyful and I'm so glad for their love. I can't tell you how many times I would worry over something and Delores in her sweet way would say, "Well let's just pray about it." She would grab my hands and say a sincere but short prayer. She taught me a lot about living out my faith. It is great to share them with our children.



Over the summer we also took the long one lane road to our (former) home in the Nebraska sand hills. My heart still aches over not living there but I am content with where God has brought us. The beauty there is amazing! I really feel like that I was born there in my heart. My souls was so full every day. I'm so glad that we lived there even though it was so short. I grew so much in those years. Someday I hope we'll return- only if God says yes. In the meantime, I will be patient and enjoy my summer trips.

Of course we stopped in at Alice's home and enjoyed playing with all her pets and chatting it up. Dakota was named in honor of my home state, my Mom and Alice. I'm so glad to have photos of Dakota with Alice. Dakota is accurately named: Dakota Joy Alice: Dakota means friend and she is friendly, Joy and she is very joyful and Alice- strong and tough. Names have meanings and I'm glad she fits hers.

Some friends of ours took us out in their boat to do a bit of fishing this summer. Andrew didn't catch a fish but our friends' little guy did and that was fun to watch. This was Andrew's face as he watched little Spencer reel in his big fish. This is the heart of the man I married. He is excited for kids to accomplish things. This is the face I see him have at work. 



It is true our year, as as a family, will be a bit different. Daraby started preschool this year and this is a picture of the girls in the car right before we got to school. They are having a hard time being apart for 2.5 hours -three days a week.

Dara was so excited about school but clams up as soon as she gets there. She is very shy at school. She is having a hard time adjusting but wants to go every time. I know she will blossom throughout the year. She is learning her letters and tells me about everyday she comes home.

This last weekend we went to the state fair and Daraby's highlight was holding the bunny. My daughter has a gift with animals. I believe she got it from her parents.

She also loves all dolls/babies. We are dressing and re-dressing dolls a lot around here. I've never played with dolls so much in my life. They are set up in cradles, pack-n-plays and wrapped in blankets. I am constantly being told to, "Be quiet Mom. My babies are sleeping!"

It is time for me to be quiet and go since I just spent their entire nap time writing this blog. You see if I blog I don't get to nap and naps are critical for my line of work. Now you know that I do care enough to skip my nap to write this blog for you! Hope you enjoy!

Summer Come and Gone!

 Well, I guess the summer is over already.  I noticed that our last post was from the end of May and we've sure had a lot happen since then.  We visited MI at the end of June for almost 2 weeks.  While there, we enjoyed a lot of time with family including a memoriable fishing trip with Joel where I caught an 11 pound salmon.  It was taller than Dakota!  We also had a wonderful experience at Grace Adventures family camp over the 4th of July.  It was a time of spiritual refreshment for us as a family and also an awesome opportunity to connect with some of our close friends. 

 The girls actually spent close to a month in MI with mom and dad.  They spent a lot of time on the beach and are loving the water and sand.  We are grateful for the opportunities they have had and they are at an enjoyable time in life to do family vacations.

 We wrapped our summer break with a trip out to CO with the Boersma family.  We stayed at a beautiful place outside of Breckenridge.  We spent quite a bit of time hiking and hanging out together as a family.  I think we are one of the only families to almost complete the seemingly impossible task of sinking a pontoon boat (there is a good story here that needs to be told in person). 
Anyway, on the way back from CO we were able to stop in NE and see many of our friends and former co-workers.  We dearly miss the sandhills and it was a huge encouragement to visit and pick up relationships right where we left off.  They are in a severe drought and constantly on the lookout for wildfires.  There was a fire on the ranch we used to work at that burned over 15,000 acres. 
In the above picture, Daraby is holding a kitten from Alice Cotton's place.  Many of you who visited us in NE know Alice and have seen her "diversified" ranch (she has many different types of animals).  The girls also loved riding some of her goats and catching them.  Dakota led one young goat around by his horns and wouldn't let him go. 

 The hiking and scenery in CO was beautiful and the girls were good troopers!

 Here's a picture of this year's residence life team at SBA.  They have been a wonderful crew to work with so far.  We picked up two new staff from Grace Adventures (where we went to family camp-Darcy says that I had alterior motives) and they have jumped in with both feet.  They are getting accustomed to life out in SD and we spent an evening playing games on horseback.

Darcy had the chance to go flying last week and she took some great photos of the campus.  The big building with the brown roof is the new multi-purpose building that has new classrooms up and running for this school year.  We praise the Lord for his faithfulness and pray that he would provide the remaining funds to finish the gym part. 

Speaking of God's faithfulness, we rejoice in sharing that we have recieved 2 adoption grants totaling $7500 to go towards our adoption!  These letters have brought tears of joy as we marvel at how God provides in his way in his time.  There is not any new news as far as a potential child, however, we feel like we are making small steps while "waiting".  We have Daraby sleeping in the top bunk of her bed and will soon be moving Dakota to the bottom bunk to free up the other bedroom.

Another big milestone is that Daraby is starting preschool tomorrow.  She is very excited.  We'll see how mom and dad do tomorrow as we take her to her first day.

This is a very short recap of the last 3 months and we are so glad that we were able to see many of you over the summer.  Pray for us as we enter the busy school year and if the school year goes as fast as the summer break has gone, we will soon be writing about next summers adventures!  Thanks for staying tuned into our lives even when we only update every quarter!

Granola Bar Cookies

This week I've been baking and hanging out with the kids. As school wrapped up last week it has been great to hang out more as a family. Andrew comes home for lunch and we all eat together. He is also home at night and we are loving all the time! What to do with ourselves? It is nice and chilly here today but this is a change from the continual rain we've had.

We live in gumbo country where the mud sticks to you. I push the buggy (double stroller) and the wheels just get more and more mud. Last year Andrew and I put in drain tile and used shovels in this terrible mud. That was an intense work out. I had to push the mud off the shovel with my foot and then the mud just stuck to my shoes. I felt like I was weighted down. I found with shoes it is best to let it dry and then beat it. Anyway enough of my mud woes.

With Andrew coming home for lunch I've been trying to cook and bake more. If any of you know me well know that I don't really care for either. I can do them well when I do since my mom was a great teacher. She is an incredible cook/baker. I know how much don't really like to do it. I would much rather be sewing or making cards. But everyone has to eat so I push myself to do it. Most times our meals are very low key. I eat gluten free. A lot of what we eat is gluten free. Andrew and the girls still eat some gluten but not nearly as much as we used to. We eat rice pasta and I make a homemade sauce. In the last three years we've switched to all natural cleaning and personal care products. I make most everything we use. I've learned a lot along the way! I am happy with where we are with all that and am so much more comfortable knowing that it is gentle, fragrance free and no toxins. Now I am starting to tackle the food issue. We are moving away from processed foods and trying to eat real foods.

Most of you know that I hate getting up in the morning. I hate getting out of my nice warm soft bed. Ironically God gave me a very early morning rising daughter. She thinks the world is most alive at 6 AM. Really? Nuts! After 3.5 years I'm getting used to it. It has made me a better morning person and I get up and make a homemade breakfast nearly every morning. This is something I said I would never do. My kids love breakfast. Eggs are a great! We run out of eggs all the time and so we walk over in the morning to the school's cooler (in our PJs) to buy eggs.

Slowly we are moving toward foods with less sugar and more natural carbs. However I do still make some snacks. Andrew couldn't live without snacks. He eats more food than anyone I've ever met. This man can eat and eat and eat. I wish I had his metabolism! Out of his need/desire for snacks I found this recipe and he loves it! He says that it is more like a cookie. I will continue to take out the carbs as I continue to make it but for now here it is. I don't remember where I got it from.

Peanut Butter Granola Bars

1 cup old fashioned rolled oats

1 cup rice crispy cereal

1 cup crushed salted pretzels

1/4 cup ground or whole flax seed

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup chopped nuts - we used almonds

In a large bowl stir the above ingredients together.

1 cup peanut butter

   Add the peanut butter to the dry ingredients. Break up the peanut butter with your spoon and continue to mix, mix and mix until you get it all mixed. Takes a while.

4 tbsp butter (melted) or coconut oil (melted)

2 tsp vanilla extract

      Add melted butter and vanilla to the mixture and stir some more.

1/3 cup honey + 1tbsp honey

     Add the honey and mix some more!

1 cup Chocolate chips

    Add the chocolate and fold them in.

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 inch pan and pour in the granola mixture. Pat down. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Top will be golden brown- be careful not to over bake. Honey will burn quick. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack. Cut bars once the are cool. May crumble some- perfect for putting on ice cream or eating with milk. You may put them in the refrigerator to chill further before trying to cut.

Our pup loves water! So much so that she leaps in the tub with the girls at night. The girls think it is great and pour water all over her. Audi loves the attention. Audi likes to stick her entire face in the water and little bubbles come floating up from her nose. I always think she will take on a lot of water but she doesn't. I've never see a dog swim or play in the water like her. So many dogs like water but I think Audi could be part fish. She dives in the pond out back and at home I find her standing in her water dish-splashing water all over the floor. Good thing there are 2 ponds on the property. She swims until I call her out. She is a dog that could kill herself running or swimming. She doesn't quit. I wish I could bottle her energy!

I don't remember if I ever shared this but I found this chair in the dump out back. A great metal chair with peeling paint. It needed some help but I fixed that. It took me some time that was for sure but I'm really happy with how it turned out! I did put vinyl on the seat - which I don't love- but it keeps it clean from messy hands. I love the blue color I painted it. I found the vintage fabric at a thrift store. The pillow is also one of my creations from a while back. Very eclectic and very me!