August Fields

Photo Recap of the end of 2017.

As a way to do a quick ‘catch up’, I am posting several pictures of our happenings during the last months of 2017.  I often hide moments in my heart and head and try to forever imprint them there….but they do fade.  So here is a recap:

A trip to the Children’s Museum.  Reading in the car, holding his lovey or ‘ZooZoo’ (his grey and white zebra lovey).

     

 

Thanksgiving tablescape and shelf decor.  We dipped leaves into a small crockpot that now permanently houses beeswax.  Those leaves were scattered down the middle of the table with a wooden cake stand, brass candlesticks and eucalyptus.  White mums, cabbage and kale filled the front urns.

     

We bought a golf cart, which I promptly name Gloria.  We took Gloria rides everyday until the snow fell. Riding around the property got me outside and further from the house more than ever and allowed me to see the sunset from various perspectives.

Our school routine has changed drastically this year.  I had started pulling back, scaling down and doing less outside activities beginning in the spring of 2017.  So this year we are having a very rich Morning/Bible time all together most days. We read aloud (so far we’ve finished Trumpet of the Swan, Across Five April and are concluding Five Little Peppers). The yellow poster board is a running plot, character, event chart to help us all remember what is happening to who and where during our read alouds. This particular picture is our 5 year old, Abe, reciting the poem My Shadow by Robert Louis Stevenson.

Birthdays.  Our 3 oldest boys have birthdays within a month of each other so we are in birthday mode up until Thanksgiving!  I am completely smitten with balloon arches.  You’ll see them at every party from now on.  You need:  Two different sizes of balloons, clear fishing line and a needle.  Blow the balloons up.  Tie them off.  Thread the fishing line into the “tail” of each balloon!  We set up an assembly line and whip these babies out in under an hour.                                                         

The Christmas season includes heading to our local farmer’s market in the Township Center and watching the ‘Tree Lighting’ ceremony. You do see that my son, who turned 13 that day, is now taller than me?!

 

Family Pictures by the amazing Kelly Braman

We decorated our tree at home.  I watched a few youtube videos on ribbon toppers and went full tilt on the ribbon tree toppers this year!

I also decorated our office for our first Christmas in the new building.  Yes, more ribbon toppers, ribbon and picks. 

Holiday Parties at home, and in the city.

On Christmas morning, I go downstairs, make coffee, put 2 quiches in the oven and light the fireplace. My husband and I wait downstairs until all the kids are on the steps together…THEN we take a picture THEN they can come down :).  Tradition.

Jammies this year were from Old Navy (older 3) and Primary (younger 4).

2017 had one big inside building project.  Bookshelves!  These were walls that had built ins on the original building plans in 2009 but we took out for budget reasons.  Well this was the year!  I sketched out what I wanted and here you see the first part being installed.  They turned out beautifully and will post an update. We are avid readers and the consumption of books only continuous to increase as the children grow older.  I love it! Having baskets and shelves of books readily available to young and old is a gift.

Some indoor winter school day happenings. Block towers and play doh. Lots and lots of play doh.

     

 

Christmas Baking Dutch Banket

For the past several years two of my friends, Holli and Tara, come over for a morning of baking. We also have a small “favorite things” gift exchange. 
We bake my Grandma Marie’s Dutch Banket. (Bon-ket). My Grandma passed into Glory in 1996. She was only 66 years old. Grandma Marie was born in the Netherlands. She was an amazing cook and baker, loved the word ‘beautiful’ and laughed a lot. Occasionally she would get and give the giggles during prayer for whatever reason..You know when you start to laugh over nothing, but because it’s the one time you can’t then it gets worse?! We would be holding back full outright laughter (of joy!) by the time ‘amen’ came….grandpa did not think it was funny. Oh boy…lots of winks then we’d just start passing the food around the table!
We baked 40 sticks of Banket! Banket is a flaky Dutch pastry with an almond filling.
Grandma Marie’s Dutch Banket Recipe. I’d love to know if you make this! 
Please tag #augustfieldsbanket on Instagram.

You can watch a bit of our joyful baking day here:

brothers

hank and chichi playing with the manger scene.  i love how often the kids play with this each year.  

i

i really treasure the relationships my children have with each other.  over the years i have seen them grow closer together because we are home together all day.  i am so glad the big kids are around to see their younger siblings grow up…..

we have most of our “to do” stuff for Christmas finished and I am so looking forward to these last few days of a bit more peace and quietness.  continuing to prepare our hearts for the celebration of our Savior’s birth.

christmas 2012.

first things first.  this little man is 4 months old already.  he just started picking things up with his hands, he laughs out loud, and has started talking in church.  not crying just talking….  i still have not cut his hair and have to answer to mr. daddy at least twice a week as to when this will happen.  but he knows that i just crave this baby stage and really is good with it.  its more of an ongoing joke/tease.  
here are little A’s past pictures:  1 month,  2 months,  3 months

christmas eve.  we spent the day at my parents house then came home that evening and the kids exchanged their gifts to each other.  the kids did this last year too, but honestly it was a long process as we had to go to different stores, talk through practical choices etc.

so this year i set up some guidelines.  actually just one.  the gift had to come from walgreens.  isn’t that funny??   but it worked!  it wasn’t out of my way, so if i was running errands i would take a couple kiddos with me.  and since there is a walgreens every 5 miles, we just picked one and stayed on course for the rest of the errands.

they used their own money and i guided the decisions.  they have a ball with it.

dancy had little dubs name.  she bought him a little dog that walks with an attached remote.  he. loves. it. he named it ‘doggy’.

i love this picture!  he jumped on his sister and hugged her so hard….we were just all so happy for him.  his happiness is contagious.

the kiddos also open one gift from us.  the traditional gift of pajamas.

they all rushed upstairs and put on their christmas jams.

then, the girls surprised me with a special gift they had made.  a coffee mug cozy (that deanie made all by herself) and an awesome table mat.  they cut and sewed all of this!  my mother in law guided and quilted it.  they also wrote me a special note.

that gets me every time.  i treasure their written notes of admiration, encouragement and love.  blessed.  i am so so so blessed.

christmas morning!!!!  dancy asked me repeatedly the night before, ‘what time are we getting up?’, ‘when can we go downstairs?’ etc. etc.

i really needed to be showered and ready first so we said 8:00am we can go down.  this was at 8:01am.

strained necks all around from smiling so hard!

so to disguise who’s gift was who’s this year i came up with something super fun for the kids!  i gave them each a character from narnia.  they didn’t know who they were though.

so presents started to appear under the tree for susan, peter, the professor, lucy, mr. tumnus and edmund.  they were not allowed to touch the presents so it was hilarious to listen to them trying to sort out the logic behind who was who.

they didn’t know before hand but i did not include little A in the gift exchange and instead included mr. daddy.

so this picture is the kids picking up a present that they thought was theirs.

this bundle of cuteness just soaked it all in.

and finally this is the fun that settled in as the sun came up.

you can see our christmas pasts here.  2011,  2010

merry christmas. you are loved.

From my family to yours.

what a wonderful year it has been.  so much to be thankful for.  so much to look forward to.

God continues to show Himself through good times and hard times.  i look back on this past year and honestly, if i didn’t have a relationship with Jesus and assurance that I am HIS, certain “bumps” in the road would have been waaay less manageable.

a few of the things in my life that i will choose to be thankful for and dwell on:

saving grace.  my hardworking husband.  growing family.  my children.  health.  parents and inlaws. the Bible.  sisters and sisters in law.  praise and worship music.  church and our smallgroup. air conditioning during my pregnancy.  laughter.  forgiveness.  date nights.  homeschooling.  hugs.

God’s love and the fact that He has never moved away from me…  when i feel unloved it is always me shutting Him out.  being stubborn.  thinking my way is better.  but it always leaves me feeling blah.  when i embrace prayer, worship, the word and HIM its like i went on an amazing run and feel energized and LOVED!!  (some will even say i’m more lovable!)  He never moves.  He is always there with His arms waiting to embrace me and my messiness, my repentance, and my sin.  That is the saving grace that I’m talking about!  I’m a better wife, mom, daughter, sister and friend when I believe I am loved.  and I am.  I am very very loved.  and so are you. God loves you dearly…will you love Him?

MERRY CHRISTMAS