Fall Fun!!

I think this is precious - she set this all up herself. A tea party with her dollies!!! Too cute!
Last Spring, Will started karate. He took the summer off due to our busy schedule but he resumed in September and recently earned his yellow belt! It was very exciting!!
Apple picking!! One of my favorite fall things to do! Speaking of fall, I love fall. Not just "I really enjoy this season" but I may just be obsessed. Like other times of the year, I decorate my house for fall. But as I hauled up 6 boxes of fall decorations from the basement this year, I realize I may have an issue. I can't even walk into Michaels this time of year because I don't need any more fall things but I just can't resist. I love the colors so much - they are so relaxing to me. And the smells - cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, etc put me into a heavenly blissful state of mind. I love apples, pumpkins and scarecrows. If I could keep mums alive I would love them too. I love my fall dishes and the acorn shaped salt and pepper shaker. I know - I have a problem!! I love Canadian Thanksgiving and American Thanksgiving (can you have too much turkey? I don't think so), I love celebrating Reformation and all things German. I still detest Halloween but I do like (not love) jackolanterns (pumpkin faces). I love nature walks - the fond memories of my family's growing up and the new memories my family now makes. I love taking the extra time to thank Jesus for all our many blessings and recognizing everything comes from Him!!Happy Fall!!

Halldorson Happenings

When I was growing up it was a tradition during the summer months that each of us kids would have one night that we would pick a menu we wanted and make it (with Mom's help), set the table and put out any decorations we wanted. Then we'd get our picture taken before everyone dug in. So that's what Will did - he chose to make bean and cheese enchiladas, salad and apple slices. He had a great time and we will do this again for sure!
Will's first day of grade 3. Normally we've done our work at in the kitchen but this year we are starting our day upstairs in the playroom. We do our Bible lesson first followed by spelling and handwriting. Then we go downstairs and do the rest - math, history, science, etc at the kitchen table and my favorite - read aloud snuggling on the family sofa.
We took our 3rd annual (maybe 4, I can't remember) trip to Upper Canada Village with the Homeschool group. It was a beautiful day and I brought a picnic lunch to eat before we headed home.

Fun Pictures

Here is Zanna's version of potty training.
This was taken on our morning at Valleyview Animal Farm. The kids enjoyed riding the train through the corn, playing in the sand and petting the animals.

Zanna enjoys her corn on the cob!

End of summer - Labour Day

Our summer ended as it has for the third year now - at the WELS North Atlantic Districts Labour Day Retreat in the Berkshire Mountains of Mass. The weather was perfect and we were able to do a lot of things out of doors this year. Will had a friend from our church along this year and the two of them had a blast playing tennis, swimming in the outdoor heated pool, beach volleyball and the children's Sunday school classes they offered. Will slept in the cabin with his friend, friend's mom and one other gal from church. It was weird not having him with us. We saw him every now and then to make sure he was OK. It's funny how independent he's getting!
Zanna and I had fun in the swimming pool and she was getting brave enough to jump off the side of the pool into my arms and to be fully dunked under water. The rest of us have no natural ability to survive in the water so she may have a fighting chance. Ha!

The weekend was spent catching up with friends from around the district, attending the different Bible studies offered to choose from and just getting out of town!! We stayed an extra night on the way back in Syracuse and did some back to school shopping, etc. Then we hit the ground running!

With as relaxing and fun as the first half of our summer was, the last half was the opposite. It's been an unusually stressful time for our family and I'm not altogether sure why - just one of those seasons of life I suppose - and I keep waiting for things to return to "normal" but normal is a bit different now. First of all, Wayne has a vicar for the year (very last minute!) and while this helps him get way more done in less time, it's also more work. Will started grade 3 and his work load (also mine as his teacher!) is heavier. We switched curriculums and it takes some time to get used to it and plan for the proper amount of time to get things accomplished. Our activities start over the next few weeks so this is good in that it will give us some time to work out our mornings before the afternoons kick in with activities.

As for the update on Zanna's pottytraining - boy, oh boy, is she a smart cookie. She's realized that if she goes on the potty, she gets M&M's. So.......................she'll tinkle a little into the potty and demand her candy. After she receives her reward she goes back and tinkles a bit more and demands more candy. This has gone up to 6 times before! This does not mean, unfortunately, that she's trained and we're done. She only does this when she feels like it. Or, if she didn't eat very well for a meal and still wanted dessert but didn't get it. So then she falls back on the "Then I'll just go potty a few times and get dessert anyway".

That's about all for now!!!!