September

Labor Day Weekend
Dorian and Levi each took a friend with us to the cabin on Friday night!  They had fun playing board games, eating snacks, and staying up late!

Saturday's breakfast was a breakfast sandwich cooked over the fire!

It wasn't a sunny morning, but they all ended up playing in the water!

Mason spotted a turtle in the water and Jacob grabbed it!  Nice team work!  I think its name was Painter and he stayed in a bucket on the dock most of the day.  :)

Brady and Jacob's families joined us for the afternoon/evening!  They also have many fun water toys.  Mason enjoyed playing on the Aqua Lily Pad.

They had skis for the kids to try out skiing!  And it actually worked to pull the kids behind our little fishing boat!

After supper, Matt took out his fishing boat and Paul took the rest of us tubing behind their boat.  What a fun filled day with great friends!

For the rest of the weekend, we watched the boys catch fish, frogs and turtles.  We took them tubing.  The Boogerd's left us their training skis for the weekend and Dorian was determined to learn how to ski!

A baby turtle!

Levi

Mason

Dorian attempting to ski!

Wow, nice work boys!  That's a lot of fish!

Woohoo!!!  Dorian's determination paid off and after many attempts, he skied over the whole lake many times!  I had fun driving him!  What a fun way to end the holiday weekend!

First Day
Mason was excited for his first day of 4 year old preschool at Stepping Stones Preschool!  He goes Monday through Thursday from 8:30 to 11:30.  He looked adorable!

After I dropped him off, I stopped at Dordt to bring Ashley a Chai Tea Latte from the Fruited Plain.  It was also a treat for me because I got one too.  :)  Other preschool mornings this month, I've been catching up and trying to keep up with things at home.  I've done countless loads of dishes and laundry which I enjoy doing.  I've been enjoying going to appointments without having to get a sitter.  I spent a few different mornings with my friend Janey.  I'm taking advantage of more flexibility and taking time to talk with the people God has put in my life.  I'm getting back into running after dropping off over the summer.  I've enjoyed keeping the lawn mowed and weeds pulled.  And I'm always ready and excited to pick Mason back up at 11:30!

This was one of his first papers that he took home from preschool!  Love the way he writes his name!

Field Trip
Levi went with his class to Heritage Village and learned a little more about what life was like many years ago.

Playing outside!
We have some flowers outside that were completely covered with butterflies and Mason could frequently be found with his net trying to catch them.  I was impressed when he came in the house to show me that he not only caught one, but also got it in his bug jar!  Nice work!

I love it when all 3 boys are outside playing together!

Mason had some stunts to show me on the trampoline!

Sunday
It was so fun to have Ashley come for Sunday dinner and stay to play with the boys!  They were very amused by her Instagram apps.  :)

M is for Mason
I loved finding this in the hallway when I went to pick up Mason.  :)

Canoe Trip
Nathan, Dorian and Levi went on an overnight canoe trip with some friends!  Levi and Jacob were pretending to be old men on their hike.  :)

Dorian enjoyed being the oldest boy on the trip and taking the back seat of the canoe with Alex.

Afternoons with Mason
Many days this past month while Dorian and Levi are still in school, Mason and I have eaten lunch outside on our deck!  Mason discovered that he can bike to Children's Park so we've made multiple trips there too!

On the first official day of Fall we made Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies together...even though it was over 90 degrees that day!

Disney Pops Concert
I took the boys to Ashley's concert at Dordt where they played Disney themed music and dressed up.  It was a perfect concert for the boys to go to and they enjoyed every minute of it.  Well, Mason enjoyed it too but slept through the last half.

Lists for the cabin
We've had a list of little projects to do at the cabin since we bought it and have been working our way through it this summer.  There were a few things that Nathan wanted to get done before the weather gets too cold so we asked Dad and Mom to join us on Saturday.  Mom was mostly recruited to fish with the boys.  :)  Dorian was certain that she'd love fishing!  And she caught her first fish!!!

It was a team effort to get the attic insulated!  Nathan was in the attic spraying the insulation in.  I was holding the light so he could see what he was doing.  Dad was feeding the insulation into the machine.  Levi was bringing him bags--- 30 of them!  Dorian was helping break up the insulation that was getting put into the machine.  Mom was reading books with Mason.  It was going well, until the stir stick hit dad in the forehead and we decided that he better get that checked out at the doctor.  :(  We're praying that the glue they put on his cut will help it to fully heal and thankful that it wasn't any worse.

Nathan's conclusion was that if there was a next time, we'd hire this project out.

We made time for a boat ride and Nathan filleted the fish that everyone caught to have for supper!  It was a busy day, and it ended on a good note!

Present over Perfect
The title intrigued me when I saw that a friend had read it so I decided to make the time to read it myself!  I was giddy the morning after I dropped Mason at preschool and I sat down with my coffee and a blanket to read!

Friends
I was happy to have Brady, Addy and Levi Boogerd over to our house a few days after school while Janey was travelling.  The boys tend to play longer without fighting when they have friends to play with!  :)

Park
Mason spotted a park that he wanted to have lunch and play at, so that's what we did!  Love it when it works to be spontaneous.

Crazy Hair Day
Levi couldn't wait for Crazy Hair Day!  The spike and red and blue hair color was his design!

He looked good making hash browns with his wild hair!

After school he had a new friend come over to play!

After reflecting on this past month, my prayer is that God is using each one of us, Nathan, Dorian, Levi, Mason and myself to bless others and be everything that He wants us to be.  We have day to day struggles with knowing how to parent and discipline.  We have day to day struggles with maintaining a healthy marriage.  We are blessed with so many good things.  Give us clear eyes to see your will for each one of us through it all.