All In A Day's Work

This past Sunday, (which was glorious by the way) we spent eight hours splitting, hauling and stacking wood. Many would cringe at the thought, but we seriously had a good time. Mom and Dad and I agreed that there is something so satisfying about seeing all those chunks of wood turn into chopped pieces, all put neatly away. You see one pile go down, while the other goes up.

Dad and I operated the wood splitter. Charlotte was our loader and hauler. Just look at those muscles!!! She was totally AWESOME!!! She never complained once. Maybe Gramma's offer of $2.00 an hour was a good incentive. She earned it for sure!



Or, perhaps she is growing up and knows how important her help is to the family. We just finished reading "The Birchbark House" and Charlotte was amazed at what Omakayas, an eight year old Ojibway girl had to do to contribute to the survival of her family. She was chopping the wood. Hmmm. I think she is taking her part to heart.




Mom was the stacker of wood. She filled our entire wood shed with all the chopped wood.



Once the shed was finished, mom and Charlotte came up to the road and stacked more wood! We now have more than we need. Mission accomplished.



Piper is clearly tired. And hungry. She wants Finn to come back from a birthday party so we can go to Hugo's for Pizza.





All in a day's work.

The Trees Are Glowing

What a perfect weekend it has turned out to be. My mom and dad are visiting us while Jamie is on a trip with students in the Boundary Waters with his school. I love having visitors when he is gone. It makes the days go by a little faster.




It's the perfect time to come up to Northern Wisconsin. The leaves are at their peak this weekend. My mom and I were talking about their drive up Friday night. She said just as they were making their way down highway 13 along Lake Superior, the sun began to set, and the trees began to "glow." It's true. We have a beautiful view of this each night as dusk falls. The trees begin to glow.


Today, the kids, Strider and I took gramma and grampa on a nice hike to a beautiful waterfall called Lost Creek Falls.






We found out about the falls from some neighbors a couple of years ago. It's tricky to find. You need good directions to the trailhead, and you need to know where to turn off of the main trail to get down to the falls. When the ground is covered with leaves, it's a hard little trail to find. But once you get there... Oohhh la la....







We were there for only a few minutes when a couple with two dogs and a camera arrived. Minutes later, three more people with a camera and tripod also showed up. It was a popular photography site today. So, while the professionals clicked away, the kids played on the rocks and logs below the falls. They were really patient.












OK. Enough is enough now. We need a waterfall picture.



And a boy and his dog.



And just a beautiful boy.



Oh, and the mushroom he found in a hollow stump. He took this photo...





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Soccer Joy

What a memorable summer of soccer it was. It was a turning point for both Charlotte and Finn, as they both moved up in their age divisions, which means growth all around. This is Finn's second year. Because of his birthday, he had to wait until last year to play when he turned 5, whereas most of his teammates were starting at age 4. Fast forward to this year. His teammates are as young as 4 and he is now turning 6 during this soccer season. Finn was at least a whole head taller than almost all of his teammates. He was dominating the field which is not really what the game of soccer is about. So, we asked to move him up to the next age category during the last three weeks of soccer. The coaches on both teams were agreeable to this and really wanted the best for Finn. WOW. What a difference that made! Some solid skills were being taught and he was picking them up fast. He had an opportunity to put his skills to the test and played a game against Bayfield which he was thrilled about. Here he is in action...

Charlotte was really apprehensive about joining soccer again this year. Part of the reason is that she is homeschooled, and all the other kids (with the exception of one other teammate) go to school together in Washburn. Also, it was getting a little, well, boring for her. I could tell she needed a challenge. Last year, she was on U-8, and the kids learned a little bit of skill, but they were still playing games like "Sharks and Minows." Nothing wrong with that game. Really. But she was ready to learn some hard skills, and we knew this. We knew she would get some really good coaching, as she would be preparing to play games against neighboring teams. So, we had that talk. "Just give it one more try. Come on... we think you'll really like it this year. Please?" So, she dragged her feet a little... until she got to the first practice... and her coach was totally cool... and two girls from the high school were the assistant coaches... Oh, and she got a new red jersey that is hers now ~ number 21. Yeah, she was convinced. She was ready. So, throughout the season, the coach did a great job of teaching the girls about all the different positions on the field. He rotated them during all of the games. Charlotte discovered that she was not afraid to get out in front of the net to stop a ball. She really enjoyed being the goalie. She was pretty good at it.


Tonight was Charlotte's last night of practice. Their team ended the season with their only win being against the parents tonight, 3-2. I gotta say, that was just a total blast to play the girls. I found out I am way out of shape and was completely winded during the first two minutes of play. Oh, and I took one in the gut. Charlotte was so proud of her new nickname. The coach dubbed her Charlotte "The Wall" Steckart. She was also awarded Most Improved Player along with her friend Sophia.


~Sigh~ I'm one proud mama. I can't wait for next year when I'll have three kids playing at one time. Yes, Piper will finally get her turn to play too.

Belated Birthday Wishes

Ugh. I feel like a bad mommy. I really should have posted this one sooner, but better late than never, right? My middle child turned six years old on September 10th which was like two weeks ago. So, here is the birthday post.

Every year, I decorate a birthday cake. I do my best to fill all requests. Some time I'll do a cake post just to show you all the cakes I have done in the past. This year, Finn wanted a cake with our dog, Strider on it. Not being so confident in being able to pull off a convincing dog body, I asked him if I could do Strider swimming in Lake Superior. That way, the cake would have some color on it. Dog head, I thought I could pull that one off. He was delighted with that. So, here he is with his sixth birthday cake. He is wearing the Big Feather Hat that Jamie normally wears for our birthday parties.






Gramma and Grampa Steckart came for the day. We had a wonderful lunch with them, some cake and of course, gifts!!! Finn has had his eye on a big horse to play with, ever since Charlotte got one from Gramma for her birthday. Gramma bought his months ago. Already, Charlotte and Finn have spent hours together playing with their horses.





Of course, having a Star Wars Geek for a dad has it's perks when you are a six year old Star Wars lover yourself. Hmmm. now how did that happen? And who will have more fun with all the Star Wars stuff here?









Finn assembled this one all by himself. Just look at that "Starry Eyed" grin.



Happy Birthday big boy!