Third day of Christmas 2014

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First Day of #Christmas 2014 & Last Day of #School 2014...#2015 here we come!

Christmas pencils for school and a personalized ornaments for the first day!

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Hope you are all having a great holiday season!

School Christmas Appreciation Gifts

Here Abi and Nate are helping me make the Melted Snowman Cookies for the gifts. We added Homemade Hot Chocolate Mix and a little note that said "Oh no! The Hot chocolate melted your snowman!"

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It was fun to make and we hope everyone enjoys a little treat! Merry Christmas from the Schlatters!

Christmas is here!

I think I finally have all my decorations done for this year! 

Here are all our Christmas trees. 

And here is our snowman display:

We've actually added a few more since this picture and we put all the snowman ornaments on too!

I don't have a picture of the lights out front but maybe I'll get those taken yet!  Now I'm working on Christmas Program Videos from the school and practices for the church!

School Christmas Programs 2014

I'm going to try to post each of the kids' school program videos in one post.  They will all be YouTube videos so hopefully you will be able to watch them all in one post.  I will warn you, some of them are long.  I recorded the whole thing to the best of my capabilities with only a few blimps excluded due to technical difficulties,  So, feel free to skip through if you want or enjoy the whole thing.

We will start with Jonny's part of the program on December 1st.  His class had a few individual parts before the 'skit' with the 3rd Graders.

Next is the joint skit of K-3.  This is where Nathan had a speaking part.

Next is Abigail's vocal program on the 4th.  Her class, like Jonny's, had a few individual songs, and then the whole 4-6 joint skit.  I think I put all of them into one video so this one is really long...like 40 minutes!

Finally we have Abi's band concert.  This was the entire school band program, but in this one I only kept the portions with Abi's participation.

I hope you enjoy all the videos.  Due to the length of time it takes to upload and create the videos you'll need to come back and check for the various links.  But I wanted to at least get the base post up and going.


Copyright © 2014 All Rights Reserved MMFarmlife - Melanie Schlatter

Girl Time

Abi and I were invited to attend a Secret Keeper Girl Conference in Kearney. We were able to go with our friends the Halls and the Rorhchilds.

The theme was crazy hair and we had no idea how crazy it would be. Girls had everything from balloons to lights to chenille sticks in their hair! The set was very cool too:

They played games, sang songs, had a fashion show and told a story about a peacock raised with the chickens. 

It was very fun!

Of course they also talked about modesty and how being 'normal' is overrated. Here is a pic of the girls afterward. 

Abi and I stayed over night and continued our girls night out the next day with bowling and getting our nails done. We were excited to have cousin Kim and Aunt Roxanne join us! (Sorry I failed to get pics as my phone battery gave out. 🙉)

Old Settler's Day Parade 2014

Here are some pictures from this year's Old Settler's Day Parade. The Farmer was in the field so he didn't get to join us, but we still had a great day!

The Herredsbergs and Decotes sat next to us and the kids saw several of their friends from school. 

I'd have to say the biggest surprise was the float of boys who after seeing Abi threw lots of candy and cheered her name! She blushed terribly and we all (including her) laughed. Apparently my daughter is already popular with the boys of her grade. And so it begins. 😉

Nathan's 9th Birthday Cake

Nathan picked the theme of Monster Trucks for this year. After looking at several trucks, we decided to do Blue Thunder. Here is a coloring page of what he looks like: 

I started out making a simple chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. Then I covered the coloring page with wax paper and started filling in the page. The one thing I forgot to do was print the page in mirror image. So the words were backwards and we had to 'erase' them and redo, but I was able to salvage enough. Here is what it looked like before the details:

Then I tried to put in some of the details with a fine tip. When I was all done this is what we have:

I asked Nathan what he thought and his answer was 'It will do!'

Tomorrow I will do the cupcakes he wants to take to school.  I'll update and include themat the bottom here:

Abi is trying volleyball!

The community offers a short 5 week introduction to volleyball for girls grades 3-6. After some consideration, Abi decided she would try it. Here are a few pictures of her first night:

For it being completely new to her, she did great and said she enjoyed it. Three weeks left to go. 

A Lesson Learned

So Nathan is responsible for this bulletin board at school. The theme is 'all about me'. Each kid in his class will take a turn decorating the bulletin board. I've not seen this bulletin board! But I'm thinking "Oh, that won't be hard", and I put it on the back burner of things to do. 

Fast forward to the night before the items are due:

Our schedule is booked. We've got activities lined up from 4:30 to 7:00 plus homework. Kids are tired, cranky, and causing problems, and I'm like "Crap, I don't have everything I need or Nathan wants!"

So, we stop by Grandma's on the way home and get a picture from her and I text my niece at 9:30 on a school night. And I stay up until 11:00 putting it all together! 

And what do we have????? Something like this:

For the record, I'm not complaining. I'm laughing! THIS is being a school mom. 

In Memory of our Precious Sarah

Today is Sarah's second birthday! 

Last year we sent off balloons with little notes from us. This year we will lay flowers out in memory. I was able to get carnations in each of the kids' colors as well as red from Mommy & Daddy. The florist didn't have roses so I picked daisies painted yellow for Sarah. 

Even after 2 years, the loss of her life is deeply felt and mourned amongst us. 

Tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes...

Today was a garden working day. The Farmer and the kids picked the majority of the tomatoes and so today I worked up the ones ready. 

We ended up with 34 quarts! Not a bad first batch. I think there is at least one more big day coming but then the tomatoes will be done for the year. 

I did try the new reusable lids I got from Lehmanns. I'll have to let you know how they work out. 

Just off the Bus!

Video of the kids right after they got off the bus their first day!

It looks like the kids will be getting on the bus between 7:30-7:40 each morning and will be getting home around 4:05 in the afternoon.

Copyright © 2014 All Rights Reserved MMFarmlife - Melanie Schlatter

First Day of School 2014

Well, the kids are off to their first day of public school. I have to say the Farmer was a bit more emotional than I was and I was surprised at how well I did!

There was quite a bit of stress regarding the bus, but it all worked out! 

Here's to a great year with lots of growth for us all!

Dating Anniversary

I woke up to find these waiting for me! The Farmer loves to celebrate our Dating Anniversary! 13 years.

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Scary Vacation Mishap

I am thanking the Good Lord this morning for His protection!

Last night was a typical night in the hotel. We got jammies on, read a story, and settled everyone in on their sleeping bags. Then, the Farmer and I turned in too! Everyone was more tired than usual from the very long hike at Agate Fossile Beds, but other than that, a normal night.

Though I was very tired, I wasn't sleeping very soundly when I thought I heard a door click. I laid there for a minute thinking one of the kids had gone to the bathroom when I realized the light in the room hadn't changed-which would have happened had someone gone to the bathroom!  So I got up to check the room: JONNY WAS GONE!

I rechecked the bathroom to make sure, but he wasn't in the room! Seeing as it was some time between 11 pm and 3 am, it took my brain a minute to put it all together. When I did, I opened the outside door which wasn't locked and looked out!

Way down at the opposite end of the hall, there was Jonny looking around like nothing was wrong and he was enjoying the scenery. Not caring that I was in my pjs, I quickly walked down to him and with a little persuasion coaxed him back to the room. Once inside, he laid down and was completely out!  Apparently he was sleep walking.

This morning when I asked him if he remembered any of it, he said he didn't remember anything but he did have a dream about going through a door and down this really cool road!  

All I can say for sure is that I didn't sleep much the rest of the night and the next time we stay in a hotel, I will be putting something in front of the door so it doesn't happen again! Thank God I woke up and nothing dreadful happened!

Agate Fossil Beds

Grandpa Dan took us in his mobile home to the Agate Fossil Beds north of Mitchell. The kids had a great time looking at the various things inside the visitors center and then hiking the 2+ mile trail!

We also got a good view of E's two sides:

The ornery side and the angelic side!

Thanks grandpa for a wonderful day away!

Vacation Truth

We are on our trip to Scottsbluff for a visit and last bit of vacation before school starts. As is typical, the Farmer decided to take an alternate route without a lot of pre-planning which brings a bit of stress to the drive.

So, he asks me for directions and I load my navigation app on my new iPhone. Amazingly, he thinks that is pretty cool as long as he can go where he wants but when he goes against its advice and has to turn around he asks for the "real" map!

I, of course, tell him it is not fair to blame the app which he has dubbed 'Siri' though it is not actually "her". Anyway, we get it figured out after a few tense moments.

Fast forward a few hours and the Farmer again decides to take a detour and asks, "Will she get mad it I go see the dam."  I tell him I'll just pause the directions and we'll be fine. 

As we are getting back on track I turn navigation on again and the Farmer comments how polite 'Siri' always is in giving her directions - insinuating others could learn from her! This is when Abi pipes up with "Dad, you should call her 'Deary' instead because you seem to like her instructions better than mom's"!

Out of the mouth of babes! 😊

Last Days of Summer

Took the kids on one last trip to the pool and then out to a movie to celebrate the last days of Summer 2014. 

2014 School Enrollment

Well, it's done! All three older kids are set to go to Smith Cente Public school in 11 days!

This will be a big adjustment for us all, but I have an amazing peace. I pray for each of my children and I hope this new stage will be a huge blessing and time of enormous growth for them!

Pool Fun

After missing out for a week, the kids are having a blast in the pool!

Church Picnic 2014

The kids had a lot of fun! There were many activities but here is just a few quick snippets from pic stitch!

New Do - Mommy

So, with our back to school prep going on, I decided I was wanting a change too. Here is my before pic:

And then here is my after:

I now have curls and layers and style to do all kids of fun things. Here is one new style I had a few days ago:

Abi helped take a pic while I was driving to VBS that morning! 

Kansas' Biggest Rodeo & the Kats Cousin Reunion

This weekend was Rodeo weekend in Phillipsburg and the Kats family reunion. The Kats family is the Farmer' mother's family. They get together every four years I think. This year each family was distinguished with a colored bandana: our family line was blue: 

After sharing a meal, we most of us went to the rodeo parade: 

One of the Farmer's cousins was in this car!

After the parade, we had the privilege of going to the old homestead to visit with the Veltkamp family and allow the kids to take naps. Then it was off to the rodeo.

It was decided that Ethan would put his name into the hat for a chance to mutton bust! He was drawn third:

But when it came time to climb onto the sheep, he just could not do it! 

Despite this and the rain that came, we still had a great time and the kids enjoyed their first rodeo experience!

Abi's Birthday 2014

In celebration of Abi's 10th birthday we went to the waterpark in Beloit!

I didn't get many pictures but the kids enjoyed the slides and lazy river! After a few hours of play, we ant to Dairy Queen for an ice cream cake and dinner!

We were very happy to have our friends the Haresnapes meet us at the waterpark and really enjoyed our day.

HAPPY BIRHDAY SWEET GIRL!!!!

Fun at the Pool

Fun at the Pool: