Does Anybody Read This Stuff?

(I am totally stealing this idea from my friend Emily, who keeps a blog about her life with her husband and three kids in China. Thanks for the idea Em.)

I started this blog shortly after Lewis was born, mainly to post photos for the grandparents, so they could easily keep up with our growing family. Three and a half years later, it has become a bit of an addiction. I love to write, and I love to take pics of my kids, so I find blogging to be super-duper fun.

So, here's the deal. I'd like to know who reads this thing. I would keep doing it, even if it was just my mom and dad and my best friend Marti ;) But, I'm curious if other people are keeping up with the Harms family through our blog.

Here's what I would like you to do. Leave a comment about your favorite Christmastime traditions, and I will take all the comments and randomly draw someone's name to win a lovely set of Thank You notecards.

Let the commenting begin :)

The Thanksgiving Tree

We recently started having the boys thank God for more than just our meal when they pray before supper. I have been sadly surprised that it sometimes takes them a while to come up with something. Seriously, we have a gazillion things to be thankful for, and so much we take for granted! So, in an effort to make thankfulness a priority during this Thanksgiving month, Lewis and I made a Thanksgiving tree this morning. Each night at supper, we will write down a new thing to be thankful for, and then hang it on the tree. I hope that by the time Thanksgiving rolls around, being thankful will come a little easier.

Mario, Superman and Luigi

It's pretty handy to have a seamstress for a mother because my boys always get the coolest costumes! I'm a little sad that Lewis actually fits into the old Superman costume. It doesn't seem like that long ago that the other boys were flying around the house in it. You can tell by the big boys costumes that video games have become a big deal in our house. They went as their favorite game characters, Mario and Luigi.

As usual, we came home from trick-or-treating with insane amounts of candy; though I need to train Lewis on which candy items to pick. He came home with a couple bags of pretzels. Chocolate! You gotta grab the chocolate!!

Bye-Bye Leaves

In the past, the wind has blown all of our leaves out of our backyard. We have never had much raking to do. This year, the wind decided to blow all of the leaves into our backyard. Thankfully, our boys are old enough to work, and Corey and I didn't have to lift a finger. We offered them a little money, and they cleared out the backyard. Owen was the most motivated, and did the majority of the work (he even has some callouses on his fingers from the rake), but Carter and Lewis pitched in too. They all had fun jumping in the pile when they were finished.

The Catalyst

I have a feeling that your response to the above photo is quite different than mine. You probably see a mountain of colorful rubberbands that come in just about every shape imaginable. You possibly question my restraint as a parent, and wonder why in the world I would let one of my children have so many. You likely think they are a terrible waste of money. (You may have no clue what they are; if so, ask any elementary school aged child).

What I see when I look at these silly bands is hours (literally hours) of sitting on the couch listening to my son read. This is my son who HATES reading. This is my son to whom reading (so far) hasn't come super-easily. This is my son wants to quit trying after struggling with a couple words. This is my son who preferred to do almost anything besides read.

These bands are his reading rewards. They are the catalyst that changed him from "non-reader" to the one who asks, "When are you going to go get new books from the library?"

You may think it's tacky when you see kids with arms full of these, but I don't mind one bit when he wears them proudly from his wrist to his elbow. To most they are just a crazy passing fad. To me they are golden.

Wisconsin Dells 2010

We really owe Corey's boss a big thank-you for allowing us to use a free 2-night trip the company had earned several years ago. We spent those nights at the Dells, and loved it so much we have made the trip 6 times in the past 4 years! We started going on these trips when Owen was Lewis' age, which seems so funny to me. We have increased our ventures to three nights at a time, have switched to a different resort, and have added my folks and my brother, his wife and son; and we have a ball every time! We all love the waterparks; and it's such a nice treat to go swimming in the fall. I'm looking forward to next year already.

That's Carter's head in the middle of the picture in the wave pool.

My brother and my favorite toddler.

"Ah, mom. Not another picture."

Will he look at these pictures someday and ask me why I ever let him grow his hair this long?

Carter at the wave pool.

Corey and Owen in the lazy river.

Thankfully, we still have one child who doesn't realize these games take money. He is happy to just sit and play.

The ducks outside the resort ate bread right out of the boys' hands. They thought that was pretty cool.

We played 3D blacklight mini-golf. The course had several aquariums with eels and puffer fish and even sharks. Put your 3D glasses on to get the full effect of this photo.

ISU Football Game

Corey took the boys to their first Cyclone football game Saturday night. Not only was it their first Cylcone game, it was their first ever football game, and they had pretty close seats on the 45-yard line (thanks to Kate from Corey's office for giving these to us!!!) They had a great time, but that is a lot to live up to. I fear their first high school game may be a bit of a downer.