Snow Forts and Fun

Sometimes I feel bad that our younger kids don't have grandparents that can spend time with them like our older kids did. Or that they don't have aunts and uncles who are interested in being with them. But then I am reminded that they have a "Grand Dad" who lives in Oklahoma who tries to come up here once a year, pulls his RV, and stays right here on the farm with us, taking them fishing, shopping, and out to eat at Burger King (yuk!) where Mom hates to eat! He never turns them away no matter how many times they come out to his camper.

They have a "Great Aunt" who likes to talk to them and have them at her house. She gives them cards and presents and makes them feel special, lets them eat candy, and watch cartoons on her tv.

And they have older siblings that most children their age don't have. Older siblings who are strong and good looking and have nice sporty cars, who play with them, throw them in the air, and wrestle, who listen to them read, take them sledding, and snowmobiling, who have provided them with a nice brother-in-law who plays games with them and makes lego trucks, and who love them like only brothers and a sister can.

Then I realize how blessed they really are.

This weekend our son Brandon, 20, came home for the weekend. He lives and works in Fargo but comes home as weather permits. We love having him here as we miss him. On Sunday he fired up the old snowmobile and took Daniel and Whitney, who had stopped in, for a ride pulling them on the toboggan. It looked like fun but my back is too bad to enjoy that fun anymore. That's one time having older sibs comes in handy.

Brandon always did enjoy the snow. He started digging out a "fort" in one of the snow piles. I laughed as I watched Daniel standing on top of the pile throwing down snowballs and then hiding on the other side. Occasionally Brandon would take a break and throw some balls at Daniel. He scooped out a big cave that Daniel can stand inside. As he got to the point where he could fit inside he would pile the snow at the entry and Daniel would scoop it outside of the cave. It was good to see them working together. Not all children have someone with the energy to do this for them. Daniel and Leah have been playing in here all week.



Then Daniel dug out a smaller cave for Leah to play inside on the right of the bigger cave. He says, "She just loves it!" It's neat that he is learning from the example of his older brother to do something nice for his younger sister.


Daniel made a "window" in his cave.

Last week in our African study we learned they eat sweet potatoes and yams. For a science project we were to try to grow a sweet potato in a container. It said to get some rocks, wash them, and put them on the bottom of a container without holes. I thought, "Where am I going to get rocks this time of the year? They are all buried and frozen under the snow!" Then I remembered Walmart sold them. I thought it was worth $3 to just buy them. The potato is supposed to grow some nice vines. I hope it does.

Look how tall the potato plant grew in just a few days! Each day it would grow about 2-3 inches. Now the growth has leveled off. It doesn't look nice and bushy like a plant would that is growing outside. But it has been fun to see that it can grow inside.

This week in art the children made some nice boxes. I haven't taken pictures of them, yet, but will get to it soon.

Yesterday we went to town. I had a chiropractic appointment and got my back adjusted. It was nice to have Whitney ride along with us. Before we left town we ate at Pizza Ranch. It was a nice treat.

Tomorrow Whitney and Ryan leave for a week in Hawaii!!!! I'm so excited for them. When they got married last year they didn't have time to take a long honeymoon as calving was approaching. So they just went to Minneapolis for a few days. Ryan said they would take a real honeymoon after the fall harvest and before the new season of busy work. It's nice to see him be a "promise keeper!"

We have tickets to the Monster Jam in Fargo Saturday night. Brandon and his friend, Riley, will go with us. I hope I can stand the noise. I bought some ear plugs and stuck them in my purse. I'm sure that Leah and I will need them! I just know that Daniel, Brandon, and Tim will enjoy seeing those big trucks and all the tricks they will do. It should be a fun evening.