New Kittens

New little pets have brought a lot of pleasure in the last few weeks.

Little Look Alike

Here my little girl looks like my cousin "Colleen" at that age:



Our littles had so-o-o-o much fun weeding the orchard making a green carpet.

It was so cool and soft to walk on ... until the sun dried it all to a crisp!

Dream Dog

A boy's best friend is his dog, right? And every boy dreams of hooking his dog up to a wagon ... or a sleigh, right?

Our boys did! They have a dream dog!

Misty, willingly pulls firewood through the snow on the sleigh. She makes the job faster & funner!

After practice with the wood, Misty was "trained" and now gives 2 year old (tomorrow is her B-day)"Taya" fun, fast rides too... Faith Mattaya knows how to hang on really tight. She loves it!! It's one of the joys of living in a house full of boys!

It's a Happy Day, Happy Day!

Those are the exact words I heard from three little men.

I've said it before, now I can show you ... cardboard boxes make wonderful toys! In this case, the bigger the better. And this box is HUGE as far as boxes go. I expect we'll have a permanent fixture in our basement ... at least for the winter.


Today is like Christmas at our house...and December 25 is still 5 days away!


A big new freezer arrived in a huge cardboard box. One look and there were six excited young men planning a playhouse for little sister. They had just as fun making it as she's having playing in it.

Sweet Treat

Most candy dishes are filled to overflowing this time of year. Goodie bags are frequently handed out to children at schools, at Church programs and at Grandma's.

There is entirely too much of a not-so-good thing around.

How is a parent to keep their children healthy and happy through it all ... especially if one of the children is diabetic?

We've struggled with that for more than ten years now. Candy is deemed a reward, a good thing when in reality it is not. Especially to a diabetic, but just as certainly to every child.

The truth is sugar is deadly for everyone ... in the long run.

We can't always say "No" to a child when candy is in question. Oftentimes it also hurts them to be singled out as "different" & given their own "special" candy. To them it isn't special, they just want to be normal & get the same junk everyone else gets without limits like everyone else ... BUT diabetics CAN'T.

Sometimes it would be nice to change the world ... yet in reality? Life doesn't work that way.



So, what do you do to treat you children?



We have found a few things that compensate: one is gum & candies made with the sweetener called xylitol. "Spry" is the brand we've come to enjoy ... it was first recommended to us by our dentist. The bonus? Xylitol inhibits cavities and though it does have a carbohydrate count it does not cause a spike in the blood sugar. Win/win!

We have tried the Spry gum in four flavors: cinnamon, spearmint, peppermint, and fruit flavored - they have a new green tea flavor out now.

The Spry mints/candies are in four great flavors: lemon, berry, peppermint, spearmint and a new raspberry that we haven't tried yet, but the rest are yummy!

More candy ideas here.

At our house, gummy vitamins and flavored vitamin C work as "treats" also. Yay for Mom, cause I like 2 for 1's!!!! Acidophilus rates right up there with candy among my littles too. Of course, we limit these to the rating on each bottle.

There are other treats of course, inedible ones like floss pics, erasers, etc, but I'm always looking for more ideas.

Do you have any ideas, favorite treats? Let me know in the comments below. Thanks so much for sharing.


Disclaimer: Check with your physician before using these suggestions. This post is not meant to be taken as medical advice.

Hours & Hours

We are so-o-o blessed to have a hill right on our yard, just outside the door. Our littles, and company, have spent hours & hours of fun out there ... on that hill, using it to one advantage or another.

In winter, it is great for sledding:


In summer, it hosts a great water slide - yep, using the water tank FULL of water in one day.

Dandelion Delights

Dandelions are a seasonal thing. They bloom for a couple weeks and then they are done for the most part. I refuse to chemicalize my yard to get rid of them for in doing such I also put the health of my children at risk. Instead, they delight in picking flowers for Mommy -- and I put them in crystal vases to brighten our home.

Did you know that dandelions are also VERY healthy? Add the tender greens leaves to salads, the powdered root cleanses the blood and even the bright yellow flowers can be use to make Dandelion jelly -- a local entrepreneur that we've met at Farmer's Market & homeschool functions is known worldwide for her "Dandelion Jelly".

Dandelions can also be FUN. Brayden's brilliant idea blossomed:


Then our littles spent delightful hours in the dandelion patch -- enjoying the sunshine, the flowers and being creative.

... making dandelion shields with the tennis racket reminded them of the fun at Grandma's house too. They've spent hours playing SnaPics at Grandma's house (SnaPics were a toy made by Tupperware in days long ago).


It never ceases to amaze me ... the things little minds can come up with.



... and as usual, the cheapest things make the best toys!

Mystery Marks

Can you guess what kind of creature made these tracks?

Farm Fun

There is no end to fun on the farm ...



Like usual, if you click on the image you can get a close-up view of the boys having fun.

Growing Things

We grow things @ Klasse Woods Natural Farm. It's what we do.

The other day this is what we saw ...



... our little guys were busy planting ice cicles - upside down. Do you think they'll grow?

Snow Fun

Tunnel Fort






Tower Fort





At Christmas, the older brothers "gifted' their younger siblings with the promise of building snow forts with them -- they've made good on their promise. The result? Hours of fun and bonding!

Peek!

A Special Day

Happy Birthday, Carsyn!

May this year be your best yet. Love you, young man!


Finishing off the day playing Rook with the rest of guys.

What to Do On a Cold Winter Day

What to do when you're stormed in ... ?

Some of the winter fun our family has been enjoying:
Puzzling, singing harmony, playing instruments, sledding, Legos, flip-track, playing Rook, read a book ... and more.







- storm or no storm, life goes on as normal here!

Steady Progress

... on Carsyn's violin!

My Favorite Doll

Wonderful Warm Weather

Good for sledding...



Going for a walk with Daddy ... and checking all the animals!



And the older guys were working in the woodlot!

Above zero temps in mid-January following last weeks frigid temps sure is a treat!

That's One Way

The older brothers gifted their younger brothers with a promise to build a big snow fort with them -- practical fun!

They made good on their promise within hours. Of course, it helped that we had a good dump of fresh snow -- add to that the fact that we had to stay home due to that inclement weather, and uh-hum, shall we say inclement health = flu bug, which we didn't wish to share with all the family & extended family.

So far ... they've made a pentagon with five sheets of plywood, filled that with snow using the snow blower, packed it down by stomping on it and letting that harden for a few days before starting to add brick walls to make the fort higher. They've dug a tunnel from the outside to the center where they use a ladder to climb up onto the floor of their fort. I guess you can try and make anything work with snow -- it is working to give them all some fun in the snow, lol!

Nativity Collection

My collection keeps growing.

A "mommy gift" came with a baby gift already way back in January -- from the thoughtful friend who got me started on this collection. Thanks, Margaret!















A couple little ones bought throughout the year:











A couple new ones crafted in woods that are currently works-in-progress (watch for those in a later post).

And a little nativity creativity with Legos -- designed and created by boys, as a surprise for Mommy. Isn't that sweet?:

Color Our World

Our twins enjoy coloring. They have since very young. Their walls, our walls and now their door are often covered with their artwork. Cutting and pasting rate right up their also in the FUN category.

Their school workbooks are often splashed with color also. Their attention span at this delightful passtime is nothing short of amazing: