Days With the Duerksens

Have you heard this song by Tom Chapin?  It's pretty funny - especially if you are used to a houseful during  the holidays.  Here's the link to the song in case you have time and want a little laugh:   The Cousins Are Coming Our cousins (and their parents) came and went in a blur - we said hello to them last Tuesday and today, one week later, they are heading back to California.  There was a little bit of everything last week:  lots of food, football, very cold weather, very warm weather, Lego-building, board games, enlightening conversation, Thanksgiving on Wed., Christmas on Thursday, K-State football, and yes, even some sickness.  What's a family gathering without sick germs lurking? Thankfully, the sickness bookended the week and didn't cause havoc in the midst of other exciting activities. We are so thankful that we can see Treg and Candace and their sweet boys at least once a year.  It does cause tears near the end of our visits, particu...

This piece needs a good washing I reintroduced the kids to the creek this week.  They always need a bit of a push to go down there, but there's so much to explore!  Little did we know we would stumble upon something exciting - well, at least as exciting as geology can get! Caiden started breaking away bits of the limestone wall, and he started noticing something shiny.  He dug a little more, and pieces of a clear glass-like material began appearing.  He started throwing them over for us to inspect, and pretty soon they all had a little bag full.  And then I noticed a thin ribbon of it running through the rock - a whole layer! Cambry took some pieces to school the next day and Caiden did some research at school.  His findings led him to believe that we found some clear quartz.  We don't know this for sure, but that's what makes sense right now.  We'll do a little more research! And for the first time in my parenting life, I said the words...

Happy Halloween from our "Runaway," "Fairy Princess," and "Laura Ingalls!" Cambry's class The Runaways + 1 KU Fan Delaney with "Elsa" Delaney is sandwiched between the Cat in the Hat and Wonder Woman!

Our family had not made it to a pumpkin patch this fall, so I was happy to accompany Delaney on her pre-school field trip to Papa's Pumpkin Patch.  We are so fortunate to have a great family-run pumpkin patch right outside of Goessel!  In fact, one of Delaney's favorite friend lives at the patch! This is definitely one of the perks of staying home - joining my kids on their field trips! snack time with Quinli! Such attentive pre-schoolers! On the hunt Delaney and her friend, Lydia. Last weekend while our beautiful tree was losing ALL of its lovely leaves, I tried out the fast action setting on my camera.  The kids sure enjoyed that experiment!