Apple Picking and Cider Pressing

Now, we do live in the apple state, after all. The past two years we have gone to this orchard with some dear friends from church. This year we thought it would be the perfect place to meet with some favorite cousins- the Dertings. The Dertings are actually my aunt and uncle and their kids are my cousins, however they have adopted three additional kids that are the age of my own kids. Anna is from Madagascar, she's 8 and Kassie is a foster adoption, she's 7 and Jayson is a foster adoption and he's 3, like Lindy. These cousins live in Clarkston- 2 and 1/2 hours south of us. Bishop's Orchard is somewhere in the middle, so with the Mosers (Ella's family) and my parents, we made the trek down. After a few hiccups in the plan that morning, we were off with creamy tomato soup and cucumber goat cheese sandwiches to go. And yes, Corbin was with us, but he is elusive. And, I didn't take pictures- these are Jill's. (Thanks Jill, and thanks Grandma for the cute baskets!) We would like this to be an annual tradition- fall fun for the whole family! Even Kent and my dad enjoyed the day.

"Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without"

A clever quote I found on a blog I frequent, The Frugal Girl. I highly recommend this blog to all homemakers. She posts tips all the time on random things like converting old furniture, making yogurt and line-drying your laundry. But, her norm is posting her weekly menu and then a picture of the food waste that she throws away each week. It is quite remarkable! Very inspiring and good to see why menu planning makes such a difference in the grocery budget.

Teaching-

I love, love, love teaching these childbirth classes! Why did I not do this years earlier? I have been putting off midwifery studies for years, saying that I did not want to neglect my family, but also finances have had a lot to do with that as well. But, teaching is SO fun- I get to talk about birth, give advice, share stories, and hopefully, help families have more positive birthing experiences. All of this, without the stress on my family of having to be on call and actually go to the birth. This is a way for me to stay connected and involved in the birthing community while at the same time avoiding the on-call lifestyle that is so tough with young children.
So, I am researching the different organizations to certify under. And, there are many: Bradley, ICEA, Lamaze, ALACE, Birthworks, Birthing From Within, many more. Any recommendations? If so, you must say why you like this or that organization, please. Thanks for your thoughts!!

Teddy Roosevelt-

(An attempt to keep my mind off of current politics for a few moments):
Theodore Roosevelt I declared to be my favorite president when I was a kid. I think that was for two reasons: 1.) I learned a few great stories about him while visiting historical places in South Dakota, and 2.) because I collected teddy bears. Probably mostly the latter reason.
On the note of the former, I came across this great story here. Enjoy!

A few more random photos-

I'm trying to show here how much bigger Niko has gotten, however he's being such a spaz (puppies!) that it's hard to tell.
The dress that Lindy is wearing is a dress that me and my sisters wore 25 years ago. Cute, huh? Also, Lindy is wearing her new Skirty that I won from the Amoretti Fortnightly Purse!!! I really did- so, post a comment on her blog and you may win too!!! See how modest Lindy is with her Skirty on? ;-)

And a couple more birthday pics-

We had a fabulous party with 3 friends out at Papa's place. The theme was camping- check out the cake. Party favors included glowsticks, bags of gorp, beef sticks, a whistle/compass/magnifying glass and an emergency poncho. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows around the fire on the beach. The boys ran all over the place, made pod racers out of some of Corbin's new legos, and promptly fell asleep in a pile of sleeping bags in the bunk house. Cousin Justin and Papa made a delish breakfast the next morning of waffles and sausage. Life is good! Praise the Lord for eight whole years of Corbin's life. We are so blessed by him!!

Early Birthday Pics-

We celebrated Corbin and Papa's birthdays early because Nana will be at a conference all weekend. Here are a couple of pics: and yes, he already received the much-coveted StarWars legos. Thank you Nana and Papa! And very cool shirt- Brenda and Dave!

Do you have triplets?

This is what an old friend I found on Facebook the other day asked of me. I asked why and she noted all the pictures of the three girls. They are just so darn cute together, who can resist? They wore yellow dresses here for Gracie's 4th birthday party. (Note Lindy trying to be modest by pulling her dress over her knees. This was before I won her a Skirty!) Gracie is the oldest, Ella will be 4 in December, Lindy next April. (For those of you who don't know- Ella and Gracie are my two cousins' daughters- they are cousins to each other. Get it? Ah, doesn't matter- that's what we tell Lindy anyways.) So, they span out 8 months, but they should all three be in the same school year. Fun times!!!!!!

Quote I've Heard a Few Times Lately-

Spend less time listening to yourself, and more time talking to yourself.

In other words: control your thoughts/emotions, don't let them control you.

Lots of Classes-

Well, October has filled up quite fast for our family. We are all enrolled in a dog training course with Niko. I need to post new pictures of him, as he is (in true runt fashion of course) gi-normous now. :)
But, even more exciting for me are the other classes in October-
1. I am teaching a Childbirth Preparation class for the first time. I am really thrilled to be doing this- in fact Lindy and I watched birth videos all morning in preparation. My group is comprised of three young couples from my church expecting their first babies. They are allowing me to practice teaching, and receiving a semi-private class for free. Win-win!
2. Margaret and I are doing a two-weekend workshop to train Midwives' Assistants. This will be a great opportunity to impact our local birth community by further educating and inspiring women about the midwifery model of care, and also provide a marketable skill set to our trainees.
I/we are hoping to really organize and streamline these classes so that they may be offered repeatedly. Eventually our reputation will become known in the community and the classes will become a regular option available to women and families seeking knowledge in these areas.
So, don't pass the word on for me yet- I'll let you all know. Just prayers for now, that all will go smoothly for our family throughout this month and we can remember to serve one another and die to ourselves, despite our stress and weariness. (Corbin's 8th birthday coming up too!) Thank you!

One Late Summer Picture-

I have a few less Corbin posts than Lindy posts, so here's one to try to catch up.
This was a day Corbin went with Nana, and obviously with several other families as well. Another day we had a lot of fun at Silverwood (that I did not seem to photo document), is the day we brought our friend Finan with us. So many of our friends and relatives have younger-than-Corbin girls, so it was great to spend the day with a 10-year-old boy. Ah, so long summer.