Catching Up...2018 October

October 2018

October always starts with Allison's Birthday.

Autumn in Michigan is my favorite season! The colors changing and the smell of the leaves, Mmmm, I love it! 

    A good friend of Emily's brother passed away this month. So young and very sad. I took Ben and Emily to the funeral and then we were able to spend some time together in Cadillac. Death often reminds us how quickly time goes by and that we need to make the most of each moment. It made me appreciate the time I have with my children and want to enjoy them and days like this as much as possible.

Another great joy of Autumn is fresh Apples!!!

My Birthday is in the middle of October and then a week before Halloween, we celebrate Jesse's Birthday. This boy was such a surprise to Tim and I! He is such a blessing to our family though. God knew how much we needed him. Crazy that there is a 16 year age difference between he and Allison, but it is what it is. So happy with our little Jesse Bear. We love him SOOO much!

 

Catching Up...2018 June

 Mmmmm, in June the wild strawberries can be gathered. They are tiny, but so flavorful.

In June we celebrated Father's Day. I'm not sure why I only got pictures of Emily and Jesse with Tim and not the other kids.

Here is a Mama spider and her babies. I think it's pretty neat to see.

A cool caterpillar

In 2018 Jesse got to play T-Ball. He loved it!

North Country Trail

 Today Allison, Jesse, Scout, and I hiked a tiny bit on the North Country Trail in Baldwin, MI. This is the first time we have been there. The trail actually covers 4700 miles and crosses through 8 states from North Dakota to Vermont! So of course we only saw a very tiny bit of it. I'm looking forward to exploring there some more in the Spring and Summer. 

North Country Trail

A little bridge to cross. It was completely dry underneath. I wonder if certain times there may be water under there?

Cocoon

Wintergreen plant. I have eaten this since I was a kid, well usually just chew them up and then spit out the pulp. I just recently learned that the pretty red berries they get can also be eating. I hoped to find some berries to try, but no luck today.

Isn't this a perfectly adorable little acorn?

My youngest child Jesse, My oldest child Allison, and my Grandpuppy Scout

Snow Flees! These are so teeny tiny. They look like black pepper specks on the snow, but...They jump!

I don't know what this is, but it looks pretty and neat.

I like pretty tangled things.

A pretty little cocoon

Another cocoon

One of my favorite plants, milkweed. It's a favorite because it is the only food source for one of my favorite creatures, Monarch Caterpillars. 

This log was not very high off the ground, but Jesse was scared to climb onto it. I was very proud of him when he did, all by himself!

A pea pod sort of thing, my guess is that it's from a wild sweet pea.