A New Bike

Eli and Sadie got a new "tag-along" bike for our family bike riding pleasure. It was getting to be a little challenging for Dennis to pull both kids in the trailer not to mention that they both barely fit in it anymore. Eli loves pedaling along with me. Sadie is still just a few inches too short but she likes to take rides in the driveway.
Note: we always wear our bike helmets (and shoes) when we go on rides that go beyond our driveway. These pictures were taken just so we could show them on the blog. The kids did a great job taking pictures!

Sadie's Last Day of School

This year Sadie attended a one day a week pre-school class. Parents come and play with their children for part of the time, then the parents leave for discussion group (ahem, coffee drinking) while the kids stay with their teachers for a little activity and snack time. LeAnn and Carol are absolutely awesome and we were so lucky to have them for Sadie's first teachers.

Have I Mentioned?

After much debate and hemming and hawing and hair pulling and second-guessing and touring and visiting and question asking, we have decided to send Eli to kindergarten next year. This was a difficult decision for us as we had decided that since Eli has a late August birthday that it would be better for Eli to wait a year for lots of reasons: he's small, he's shy, kids grow up too fast, etc. But, we really wanted to send Eli to Schoolcraft a charter school housed at the Concordia Language Village. They only have one section of each grade and only allow 18 students each year, giving priority to siblings. There is an application process and new students are selected by lottery. Because of siblings, this year their were only 2 slots available. We put Eli's name on the list, just in case and we were notified that Eli was selected! After visiting with the teacher, touring the campus, and talking with other Schoolcraft parents we decided that Eli has been given an opportunity that we just can't pass up (considering that there are 43 kids on the waiting list!). We are all so excited. Schoolcraft is truly a magical and awesome place to learn. I can't even begin to describe the sense of community I felt when I was there. The kids we met were so kind and compassionate and they all LOVED school. They were so engaged in their learning and truly learning in a way that Dennis and I have always wanted to teach. Here are some highlights of the school:

• French lessons everyday


• Every kinder and first grade student receives piano lessons


• homemade lunches


• Expeditionary and Outward Bound School philosophy


• PE includes: swimming, cross country skiing and sled dog racing


• Peacemakers conflict management (which we've heard is nothing but outstanding!)

The picture above is from the Concordia Language Village website. Click here to view pictures of the French Village Campus, where Schoolcraft leases space. Plus, check out all of the other programs that CLV offers. It is an awesome place!

A Lesson on Wood Ticks

It's wood tick season here in Northern Minnesota. For the record, I hate wood ticks. They make my skin crawl. In fact, just the thought of wood ticks makes me feel like I have them crawling all over. You are probably scratching your head and rubbing your legs right now thinking that you have them crawling on you just because I brought it up. Sorry.

We've all had them on us multiple times. Once Sadie and Dennis came back from a walk so covered in them that they both had to strip down to their undies just to find them all and to pick them all off of their clothes. Sadie, in particular, has has multiple in her hair embedded in her scalp. So, now it's nightly tick checks before bed!

I did learn an interesting little tidbit about wood ticks that I thought I'd share with you. This is a method for determining if a wood tick is a girl or a boy (not that it matters, they're still gross and they both suck your blood), but the kids enjoy figuring it out.

This wood tick is a male:

Can you see the white stripes going down it's back? Those are his suspenders.


This wood tick is a female:

The white ring around her neck is her necklace.

Cool little factoid I thought you'd all just love to know!!

In the Woods

April was the most beautiful springy month. I don't think it rained a day the whole month. We spent so much time outside enjoying the swingset, hammock and park that I almost forgot that we lived in Minnesota. Then, May arrived. It's been hovering in the low 50s and I'm pretty sure it has rained every single day so far. I can feel the spring duldrums setting in and I'm not even sure that there is such a thing. I guess now I know what it's like to live in Seattle or London. All I can say is that I'm glad I purchased me some new rainboots because those babies have gotten wet!

Yesterday afternoon, the rain let up and the sun even peeked it's lovely face out for a minute or two. We decided to go for a little tromp in the woods. The kids were enjoying the wild flowers and lovely leaf buds that are showing their face. Plus, they found deer bones thrown around including the skull, backbone, ribs and we managed to find all four legs (gosh, what lives in the woods behind our house? Maybe I should be worried...)Here is Sadie's lovely flower collection. BTW, if you are wondering how to achive that wonderful artsy sort of '70s blur in your photo, just take your finger and place it over the lens. Then remove. What is left is called a fingerprint and it will make all of your pictures look like this:

We also found our first black morel. The first rule in mushroom hunting is that you never share where you found your treasures. We cooked it up and ate it. It was divine. Now I'm on a mission to find more. I'll keep you posted.Fishing opener is this weekend and it's a big deal around these parts. It's supposed to be an awesome opener because of the early thaw. I don't know why, something about spawning and fish being hungry... Luckily, the weather channel is telling us it's going to be 70 and sunny. It'll be a good day for the fishermen and a good day for me if it's true!

Soccer Stars

Eli has been waiting and waiting and waiting for soccer to start. Finally the day came and Eli couldn't wait to get to the soccer field. Well, wouldn't you know, it was pouring rain. We went anyways and true to Eli fashion, he refused to go out on the field and play. We hadn't signed Sadie up figuring she wouldn't be that interested, but she was out playing before Eli was. It was a good thing I brought the checkbook, because we ended up signing her up too. Eli came around and by the end was having fun with the rest of the kids.

Eli's Hair Creations