My son Paul was invited to spend the night at his friend Isaiah’s house. As we were getting out of the car, Paul asked everyone to get out and see a nest of baby birds they had discovered the day before in Isaish’s backyard. The mother had made a nest on a precarious branch in the lower part of a small blue spruce tree.
We went to the back and found that the baby birds and nest had fallen from the tree and were scattered in the backyard. Paul gently picked up the birds, put them back in their nest, and tucked them safely in the tree.
Paul and the baby sparrows
I noticed that Clark’s eyes were glued to the lake. Something out there had his full attention.
‘Mom, look at that TIki boat – it’s stuck and there are people on it. We should go help!’
Immediately, George, Clark, and their friend Landon, grabbed life jackets, put the canoe in the water, and paddled out.
They arrived at the Tiki Boat and discovered four ladies and the boat driver completely stuck in a bog.
They used their oars, strength and ingenuity to get the boat free … only for it to lodge itself deeper 10 yards away. This time it was REALLY stuck.
Two by two, Clark brought the ladies onto shore. George and Landon stayed on the Tiki boat until everyone was safe. They’d be the last ones to come back in.
George and Landon waiting on the Tiki Boat
Clark bringing in the ladies, two by two
Paul and his friend Isaiah, brought the boat driver safely to shore.
Two EIGHT YEAR OLDS saving the 20-something year old boat driver.
Once the women were safely on land, they couldn’t stop praising the brave young men who rescued them. These women were shocked when they saw the boys rowing toward them. They were THRILLED that help had arrived. You see, there are no motor boats on this lake. The Tiki Boat is the only boat with a motor on the entire lake. There was no one coming to help. They were sure they’d have to wade through the muck and mud, holding their Tory Burch shoes and Loius Vitton purses overhead.
The brave young men who saved the Damsels in Distress and the Tiki Boat Driver.
I gave the ladies a ride back to their restaurant. They looked happy to be off the boat – but I’m sure they had a night they’ll never forget.
The ladies gave the older boys a tip. George and Clark say they don’t want to spend the money. They want to save it for the memory. They are also on the lookout for any other damsels in distress.
Update: The Tiki Boat did eventually get free when a homeowner on the lake used a long rope and a four wheeler to pull the boat from the muck, allowing it to motor back to it’s home base – The Charthouse Restaurant.
Clark had asked me last month if he could get a ride on that Tiki boat, but you have to be 18 to ride. It’s pretty ironic that they are too young to ride, but not too young to rescue the passengers aboard!
I’m a small town, Indiana girl – and though I was happy to leave my little town just after graduating from high school, I love going home to visit.
The best time to go back home is around the 4thof July. Boats are in the water, friends and family are gathered, and sweet corn is served at every meal.
Family love
The boys are blessed with cousins who live on a lake and share all their lake toys with them, and grandparents who live next door who share all their land toys with them – and lots of family nearby to share all their love with them!
George driving a boat
Luke learning to drive the Boston Whaler
Papa’s four wheeler
Papa’s Ranger
Highlights for the kids:
Tubing
Smores
Swimming and gathering treasures from the bottom of the lake.
They found a glove on the bottom of the lake that Kate had lost when ice skating over the winter!
She takes them to get the world’s best donuts at Rise and Roll, to get candy, ride the Carousel, and a Soft pretzel at Davis Mercantile
Riding the wave runner
My nephew Jack asked me to take him out. I let him drive, not realizing that he is a CRAZY fast driver. Within minutes, he threw me off the back – I thought I was going to lose my arm, but thankfully I only lost my sunglasses. After the ride with Jack – I’m retiring from the wave runner.
I bought replacements sunglasses for $1. And George asked for some too!
Highlights for me:
Annual Date Night on the lake with Ted, my sister, and brother-in-law.
We do a “progressive dinner” on the boat – stopping at one restaurant for an appetizer, then another for dinner … watching the sunset in between.
Sisters
Time with family and friends
Cousins, grandparents, aunts, uncle
Look at Luke’s smile (Jon is holding him in the back). Luke was so excited to see Jon. The last time he saw him was on The Voice. Luke said: You’re my cousin and you’re real?!?
Review: This is such a wonderful, powerful book. I listened to it on my free Hoopla app, but now want to buy my own copy. This book is full of good truths about the enormous love God has for each one of us – just as we are. This book would make a great gift. Thanks to my sister Krista, for the recommendation!
Review: This is the story of the life of a black male (Kiese Laymon) growing up in the south. I appreciated how the author opened the curtain of his life. Kiese was raised by a single mom in a dysfunctional home – filled with abuse and poverty. The book’s title “HEAVY” – has a couple of different meanings. First – the author is large for his age and his weight is a theme throughout the book. Second, the story itself is “heavy” with a lot of struggle and very little redemption.
Review: I read a few pages out of this book most mornings for the last few months. It’s a book you’ll want to read slowly and absorb. I took pages and pages of notes. The book gives lots of inspiration and truth into how to move past insecurity and weakness and make a positive difference in the world. If you have goals and dreams for your life that you are waiting to see fulfilled, this book would be great for you!
Ted took George and Clark to help clean up our city.
I participated in my first ‘peace walk’ – “Moms March for Peace.”
I was invited by my friend Lourdmy – both of us are moms raising four sons. She is black, I am white. She asked if I wanted to join her for this peace march. I was happy to walk with her, to listen and to learn. It was an emotional and beautiful event.
Lots of time outside …
On the water and in the water
Fishing – I watched Luke catch a fish for the first time!
Hiking and Picnicking
Swimming, Sprinklers, and Slip in Slides
Luke
Paul
Paul, Luke and their friend
Luke and a friend
The boys fishing with neighbors
Paul and a friend canoeing
Can you spot me and Clark on the paddle boat?
Luke loves his new tank from Target
Swimming at Orchard Lake
It’s been HOT in Minnesota. You’d think that since we have such COLD winters, we should be rewarded with not so hot summers. Nope. Not this June. It’s been HOT and HUMID with endless amounts of mosquitoes.
However, everything is BLOOMING and BEAUTIFUL! There is NEW life everywhere – flowers, baby ducks, toads and turtles.
Thank you Minnesota, for recognizing that June 10 is my birthday, and choosing to open all gyms, restaurants and pools. I’m honored!!
My day started at the gym. (Exercise prevents cake-eating guilt.) Next, I stopped by Starbucks for my favorite FREE birthday drink – Iced Cloud Caramel Macchiato.
Then I stopped by Caribou for my FREE birthday breakfast sandwich.
I came home and the boys were up and gave me hugs and wished me happy birthday.
I made them banana bread and we did a puzzle together.
Ted went to Target and I asked him what he was getting.
Ted: Well, I was buying you flowers. It was supposed to be a surprise, but since you’re asking – what kind would you like?
Me: I’d prefer a plant over a bouquet, it lasts longer.
George: Dad, just get her seeds – those last the longest!
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Ted brought home a cake, and after lunch the boys sang to me, and we had CAKE! I opened a couple of cards I’d received in the mail, plus a gift from my mom and mother-in-law. The boys gave me handmade cards. The card from Clark was the start of a scavenger hunt. He gave me one clue, that led to another clue, that led me all over the house. The last clue was to “go to the room where you sleep.” I opened my bedroom door and all the boys jumped out and yelled:
Surprise!! Happy Birthday!!
Oh … so …. sweet. The best gifts are the ones you can’t buy.
After lunch, Ted offered to let me sneak away to get a pedicure.
That evening, a super kind friend came to watch our boys so that Ted and I could go to dinner – our first time inside a restaurant in MONTHS!
We had a delicious dinner at COV – a beautiful restaurant right on Lake Minnetonka. We shared the best CRAB CAKE I’ve ever eaten… also salmon, sushi, brussel sprouts and then more CAKE! YUM!
After dinner, I took a walk with my boys and ended the night watching a few minutes of The Greatest Showman (we love this movie).
Thanks for birthday wishes. I felt LOVED and extravagantly blessed.
‘In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count, it’s the life in your years.’
Abraham Lincoln
Here are some birthday freebies I received and you can get them too:
Review: This book is a warm blanket and a gentle push in the right direction. It brought joy-filled tears to my eyes as I read each page.
The author is someone I worked with at New Life Church. He’s a great leader, pastor, and friend. I knew I’d like his book, I didn’t know how MUCH I’d like it.
This book answers the questions:
How do we become the kind of people who know how to handle whatever life throws at them?
Review: I cannot recommend the Biographies by Benge’s highly enough. They are so well written and always about the most fascinating people from history.
I watched the new movie “Harriet,” and wanted to know more about her life. I listened to this book on my Hoopla app and it was EXCELLENT. The book shares hard and fascinating stories about Harriet. I can’t believe one woman did so much in her life. She was a phenomenal woman!
Let me share one story from the book:
Harriet had freed many slaves, but had not been able to free her parents. Her parents were old, had lived hard lives as slaves, and could not “runaway” to freedom. Harriet had a dream that her father was in trouble, and she knew it was time to help. Harriet needed $20 to get them transfered safely North. She went to the Abolition office to ask for help. They had no money to give her. She went to the waiting room and decided she would not eat or drink until she had the money to free her parents. She fell asleep in the chair, and when she woke up, money was tucked inside her shawl. The lady at the front desk told her that people kept coming in, and when they saw Harriet, they gave whatever they could. The amount totaled $60! When Harriet arrived at her father’s shack, she discovered he would be arrested the next day and sent to jail. He was being falsely accused of a crime he did not commit. Often, slave owners would accuse their elderly slaves of a false crime, so the slave would be send to prison and the owner no longer had to house or feed them when they were too old to work. Harriet got both of her parents to freedom, and they lived in her home for the rest of their lives.
When I finished the book, I took a moment to thank God for how far we’ve come. Days later, George Floyd was killed and I realized we still have a long way to go. I’m incredibly grateful for women like Harriet Tubman and think we all need to hear her story!
Review: This is a memoir of a Patti Smith – who shares what life was like in New York City during the 70s as an artist. The writing was excellent, but the content is gritty.
Review: Another great book by the Benges. George Muller was a simple man who housed and fed HUNDREDS of orphans. He didn’t have much, but always prayed and trusted God to provide. Let me tell you a story from the book:
One morning, the cook let George know that there was not going to be enough breakfast to feed several hundred orphans. He calmly replied: God will provide. Tell the children to come and eat. As soon as the children prayed and sat down, a local baker knocked on the door and said: I couldn’t sleep last night. I had this feeling you all would need bread today, so I baked all night for you. A few minutes later, a local milk delivery man knocked on the door. He shared that his truck got stuck right outside the orphanage. He asked if they would please take all the milk he had, so that his truck would be light enough to get out of the hole.
That’s just one morning in the life of George Muller – the book is full of incredible stories like this as you follow his life through the book. This would be a great story to read or listen to (on the free Hoopla App) with kids ages 8 and up.
Review: I started reading this several months ago and finally finished. This is a book I would hear people mention, so I finally read it. It tells the story of a family growing up in Brooklyn, NY. The characters are well developed and believable. It’s a novel that loosely follows the life of the author.
Review: I’ve been reading a couple pages out of this book most mornings since January. It’s a Bible Study filled with practical wisdom and inspiration for moms of all ages.
Here’s an idea for you: Take your kids to the backyard and play a GAME together.
Playing with your kids lowers your stress level and strengthens the bond with your kids!
Here are 3 games to play:
Select one person to be Mr. or Mrs. Fox. This person will stand with his or her back to the rest of the players.
All other players line up on the other side of the yard/field. The players take turns asking Mr. Fox what time it is. The fox will then respond with a time, such as 3 o’clock. The players must then take the same number of steps forward (in this case, 3 steps). These steps may be as large or small as the players wish, no matter how close they get to the fox.
Whenever the fox decides, she or he may yell in response to the question, “It’s LUNCHTIME!” When this happens, the fox will turn around and begin chasing the players with the intent of tagging one.
The players should run back to the starting line where they are safe. Once the fox tags someone, that person becomes Mr. or Mrs. Fox.
Optional Twist: Similar to Sharks and Minnows, after each round, the person who gets tagged JOINS the first Mr. Fox. The number of foxes chasing players increases until there are no longer any players. Then it’s time to start the game with a new fox!
The first team agrees to call one player from the opposite team, and chants, “Red Rover, Red Rover, send (player’s name) on over!”
The person called runs to the other line and attempts to break the chain (formed by the linking of hands).
If the person called fails to break the chain, this player joins the team that called Red Rover. But, if the player successfully breaks the chain, he may capture either of the two players whose link was broken by the dash, and bring them back to his original team.
Teams take turns calling out Red Rover and challenging a player on the opposing team.
Alternately – if they break the chain, they join hands with that line. We played this version in the video below.
“It” holds the ball and all the other players circle around him.
“It” then throws the ball straight up in the air while calling out a name.
While the player is catching the ball, all other players scatter and get as far away as they can from the person catching the ball.
The player whose name was called must catch the ball and yell “SPUD!”
The players who are running away must then stop in their tracks when they hear the word SPUD.
The player with the ball takes 3 steps in the direction of any person, then tries to throw the ball and hit one of the other players.
If the player hits someone, then that player he hits becomes “It,” if he misses, he is “It.”
Variations:
If a player who’s name was called catches the ball without letting it bounce, they can then throw the ball in the air and call another name. Then that player must run back and try and catch the ball.
If the person takes 3 steps and misses someone, they can take 4 more steps and try and hit another player.
Here’s a video of all three games. Stay tunes for some silly scenes at the end!
The day started as usual … oh, you know, four, I mean, FIVE boys – hungry and asking for bacon.
The boys completed their homeschool (aka distance learning) – as fast as possible because they had ‘important’ things to do.
George and Clark wanted to make a “What’s in the Box?” video for their youtube channel. The idea behind this video is that each boy has to take turns being blindfolded, then reaching their hand into a box, and “guessing” what’s in the box.
George and Clark both wanted to surprise each other with something ALiVE in the box! They commissioned Paul (the animal whisperer) to catch some live animals for them.
First, Paul caught some frogs that were attached to each other. He brought it to our backyard and taught our 6-year-old, as well as the neighbor girl, that these frogs are “mating” and this is how baby frogs are born. (Let’s call this homeschool science) I told Paul that mating frogs like to be left alone and to go put them back where he found them.
Next, Paul found a “non-mating” frog for George. George put the frog in an ENCLOSED container, and hid it in his room until he was ready for the ‘what’s in the box’ video.
Clark asked Paul to find a turtle for him and then hid it in his room – in a SHALLOW dish, with NO COVER.
When he went to get the turtle for the video…
…the TURTLE was GONE!
I was in the kitchen and overheard Clark saying:
Oh no, Oh no!!
Paul…I need your help!
I need some help in here!
– #clarkwayne
I came to check on Clark and he let me know the turtle was GONE and he couldn’t find it.
He showed me the shallow dish. No lid. No turtle.
We started looking around the room and COULD not find it.
We got Paul – Paul can catch any animal. Paul COULD NOT find it.
Ted came and looked – Ted COULD NOT find the turtle.
The door to Clark’s room was open when the turtle escaped. I started looking around the house. I could not find the turtle.
About 90 minutes later, Clark FINALLY found him…under a toy, under his bed.
Thank God it just a turtle this time.
Once the turtle was found, the boys were able to finish their video. Then, they took the animals immediately back to the pond.
Next, the boys had a water gun fight.
When it was time to come in for dinner, Luke said, “Mom, I’m not going to need a bath tonight, I had a water gun fight with my brothers.” (He DID take a bath)
This was just a regular Tuesday. A glimpse in the life of a #boymom! Never boring, always fun. Usually messy. Wouldn’t trade it.
For the record, this turtle was the 3rd creature that my boys have found, and then lost, and then found. Luke once brought a frog home, and accidentally dropped it in my kitchen. The frog jumped under the stove and it took us a LONG time to get him out. The first incident though, was when Clark lost a SNAKE in my car – to read about that adventure: Click HERE.
While raising four energetic boys, I’ve spent countless hours searching for ways to keep them engaged. We’ve endured many LONG, COLD winters cooped up indoors together.
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Pictures from one very long, extremely cold winter. Every day felt like Groundhog Day!
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Through experience (and a few hard lessons), I’ve discovered that when little ones get bored—or are left unsupervised even briefly—they have an uncanny talent for finding trouble and creating chaos!
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I left him un-attended for a few minutes, and he created “SNOW” with packing peanuts
I’ve searched the internet, and gathered my favorite ideas for keeping your toddlers busy!
Each link I’ve included is an affiliate link, so that means if you click on it and decide to purchase the item, I will earn a small profit. Thanks for your support!
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1. Stacking cereal
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Stack fruit loops or Cherries on Spaghetti noodles stuck in play dough!
Set out one item of each color, have your child search the house for items of the same color. (Bonus: see if they can put the items back where they found them.)
My oldest son received the Plasma Car for his first birthday – and each of my boys have been riding it ever since. This “bike” is almost 12 years old, and still one of their favorite toys. If you have an unfinished basement, or scratch resistant floors – this bike is a life-saver!
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Luke, just after his first birthday1 year old Luke loving his Plasma Car!
Step it up a notch with the Balloon Rockets. Kids enjoy watching balloons soar around the room! We purchased our Balloon Rocket set many years ago and my boys still have fun with this! I recently bought replacement balloons to keep them entertained during quarantine.
Spray it on a pan and let them draw or put shaving cream in a large baggie with some food coloring. Let your child “squish it” or practice writing letters on it with their finger.
18. Create sounds with Pots/Pans and Wooden Spoons
Let your kids bang away. (Put in earbuds to keep it from driving you crazy!)
Or:
Give your toddler pots and pans to bang on is a classic parent move, but here is a less noisy idea. Sit your toddler down with a pumpkin, melon, or squash and let them pound the vegetable to their heart’s content with a toy hammer. Most toddlers aren’t strong enough to do real harm with their hammer, so you can still make soup with your butternut squash once they’ve had their fun. She also says this works if you swap the hammer for stickers.
Singing to and with your child builds a unique bond with them. And just like reading to your child, singing songs with them helps to boost their vocabulary and language skills.
This bag has brought hours of entertainment for my kiddos!
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37. Have fun with ice!
Make ice in different colors with food coloring and add to their drinks.
Freeze their toys and allow them to ‘excavate’ with a toy hammer.
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38. Memorize a verse together
It’s the SWEETEST thing to hear your little ones quoting Scripture!
The first verses my mom had me learn were Psalm 91:1 and Ephesians 6:. The first verse I had my kids learn was 1 Timothy 4:12.
Scripture memory is something that will benefit your children throughout their ENTIRE lives!
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39. Clean together
Smaller things kids can do – wiping baseboards, lower cabinets, all door handles, pulling weeds, folding and putting away laundry, bathroom, bedroom, their closet, putting toys away and unloading dishwasher.
I offered my kids a quarter to whoever could wipe down the baseboards and bring me back the dirtiest wet wipe.
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