Days With the Duerksens

The kids earned enough tickets for a field trip a few weeks ago, but it just never worked out until yesterday. We went to the falls in Chase County - kind of a hidden gem!  I wish I could take credit for coming up with this idea, but the credit must go to my cousin, Tina, once again.  Her family had been there a couple of weeks previous, and I thought it looked like a great place for exploring! After Sunday School, we headed out - Chelan came along with us this time!  We made a stop for lunch at the Emma Chase Cafe in Cottonwood Falls for a good old-fashioned chicken dinner.  Did you know that they have jam sessions on Friday nights and by the end of the evening there's a diner full of musicians and an audience?  Chelan and I were there on our 2nd anniversary - lots of fun!  I think it's actually on the "8 Wonders of Kansas Customs" list. Anyway . . . the falls!  Beautiful, running, gushing water coming off the nearby fishing lake.  We had to walk a little ways

This weekend we changed things up a bit.  Down went the old, old, summer kitchen/garden shed and up went the fort!  Chelan cut the fort down a bit and we moved it to a location closer to the house.  We ended up moving the swings and the sandbox along with it.  I guess it was just time for a change!  And this way, Chelan and Caiden can work on building a treehouse together where the old fort used to be!  It's been quite a project, but the kids are loving their "new" playhouse! Just making faces on one of many bush hog rides during the move All set up on its new foundation Giving Shammi some love while we work - did you know she's expecting puppies any day now?

It finally stopped raining long enough to allow some hay to be cut and baled.  Chelan took this opportunity to teach Caiden how to haul bales on the tractor - yikes!  Chelan was amazed at how quickly Caiden caught on to everything.  I think he looked pretty comfortable up there - with Dad along for the ride! Looking for a bale . . . Backing up . . . Pointing out the next one!

The last week before school brought out the creativity in our older two children - they created a chalk city on the slab in front of the shop.  They enjoyed playing out there in short stints.  Every time I went out there, new stores and buildings were drawn in.  It was fun to see them enjoying something TOGETHER! Apparently, Cambry owns Petco Cambry's house with a colorful garage Helicopter landing at the hospital Cambry must own Wal-Mart too! Car Dealership I guess I own the hospital! The park Police Stateion - Caiden was in charge of this, naturally!

I sent them off this morning for a new school year!  Caiden is a 4th grader already and Cambry, as you can tell, is a 2nd grader.  Our motto this year is:  Be grateful, and kind, and brave!  We're hopeful for a good year.  I'm looking forward to hearing all the first day news when they get home!   Delaney's first day of school won't happen until after Christmas.  She'll begin pre-school in January.  Until then, Delaney will be missing the older two!  She really enjoyed playing with them this summer - particularly Cambry.  However, she told me this morning, "Mom, I'm your friend when Caiden is at school and Cambry is at school and Dad is at work!"  I think she and I will get along just fine here at home!  

We had one of those "ah-ha" moments at supper the other night.  We looked down at our plates and realized everything on it was grown by us - cucumbers, cantaloupe, veggies, and steak!  I feel like a pioneer! These 2 do most of the kabob work - for some reason, I don't enjoy all the prep. work.  Or maybe it's just that I don't have the time for it!

This summer, I've been reading the Ramona books out loud to Caiden and Cambry (usually just Cambry because Caiden tends to read ahead).  When I saw a poster advertising the play, "Henry and Ramona" I thought it would be fun to take the kids.  Cambry was the only one who wanted to go, however, so we made it into a Mother/Daughter date! We had a great time, and Cambry told me that the play was "Amazing!"  She also told me that school shopping afterwards was "Amazing," the purple and pink shoes she picked out were "Amazing" and that Freddy's for supper was "Amazing!"  All in all it was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon - just me and my oldest girl! We never miss a stop at Freddy's when we are in Hutchinson! We generally don't have a huge back-to-school shopping trip, but I figured out that Cambry had no shoes that fit her - in the tubs and tubs of shoes that we have, there were none in her size.  She

There is no doubt about it - Delaney was definitely looking forward to her birthday this year!  She told all kinds of people about all kinds of things that she wanted!  She was excited for her "party" and kept double-checking who was going to be there (just family, of course) and telling everyone about her butterfly cake.  True to form, she was a hoot that evening! We're so thankful for the joy and delight she has brought to our family these past 3 years.  We love you, Delaney! We had a lot of pink things in the house - including these "Naked Ladies" of "Surprise Lilies" as my mom calls them. New dress-up clothes! New goggles from Grandpa! What have we gotten ourselves into with a microphone?  As if she isn't loud enough on her own! Pink butterfly cake Addi and Cale rigged up this tire swing - what fun that has been ever since! And here is an example of our entertainment from the evening - Delaney is belting out some Mumf

Along with all of her projects this week, Cambry also had her very first piano lesson with Cynthia.  We're hopeful that she enjoys it and sticks with it for a while.  After the first lesson, she said, "That was amazing!  I can't wait to go back!"  We'll see how long the enthusiasm sticks!