One Year Anniversary Photos

My youngest brother and sister-in-law will soon be celebrating their one-year anniversary.  We took photos at Kristin's aunt and uncle's farm.  I'd really like to pose an American Gothic-style photo with them in front of the old farm house they fixed up last year (overalls, pitch fork, serious expressions).  We'll see if we can pull that off.  They also have a blog, so you might find more photos there a little later!

Happy one-year anniversary!

Lovely Little Lady

I have to admit that I'm enjoying taking pictures of my friends' kids.  Alexa is six months old, and so we took pictures on her grandma's yard. 

I first met Alexa's mom, Jana, when I was 5 or 6.  I got to go to play at my friends' house, and Jana was the little sister.  I vaguely remember avoiding the little sister by running away from her, and locking her out of the room, but Amy would have to back me up on that one. I normally wouldn't remember too many details from that age, except that this was one of the first times I got to go to a friends house, which happened to be in town and more importantly, I got to play with girls.  Having three older brothers at the time, this didn't happen too often, so when it did it was special. 

I enjoy capturing details  in a pictures that speak more than words.  Alexa's eyes speak so many words, even though she isn't old enough to say what she is thinking. 

Deep Rock Family Photo

 Deep Rock is an old gas station in our small Iowa town on the square.  It has nice vintage charm that makes you love being a part of small-town Iowa.  It is now maintained by a gardening club, who keeps up a beautiful garden behind it with lots of recycled funky items, like doors, tea sets, and rusty tricycles stuck in corners of gardens. 

This weekend I took a few pictures of a family that also make you proud of being a part of a small Iowa town.  And, grateful for families who also have three small children.

The lighting was dull this weekend, so I admit that I was a little challenged by that.  I compensated by setting White Balance for the cloudy conditions, but still found it hard to use a lower Aperature (which is nice for portraits) without getting blur from fast moving kids.  Looking back, I forgot to adjust my ISO (which makes the camera more sensitive to light). 

Crockpot Apple Oatmeal

I made this recipe for breakfast, and it was a big hit in our house. Zachary, our one year old, was the biggest fan. The recipe came from the dietitian at the Newton HyVee last fall, and I didn't get around to trying it until this week.  With a three, two, and one year old to feed, cold cereal doesn't cut it, so we end up eating a lot of eggs.  It was wonderful to have something hot and ready when getting out of bed on a cold morning.

I did do a little research yesterday before throwing in the crock pot last night.  Recipes online for overnight oatmeal insisted that Steel Cut Oats be used.  Quick oats or Rolled oats would overcook an turn into porridge - looking mess.  So I bought Steel Cut Oats, opened them, and felt they looked like something you might feed your horse on a cold morning, and not your kids...

When I was little I would pick apart the head of oat plant in the field, unwrapping the grain from the dried leaf it was wrapped in, leaving what looked like a rolled up grain of rice.  These Steel Cut Oats looked just like that, but chopped once or twice.  I felt a little Laura Ingalls Wilder-ish using such an unprocessed looking grain.  But she wouldn't have had a crock pot, or non stick cooking spray. 

I have a few pictures of my younger brother Karl harvesting oats in 2006 I took when we were visiting Iowa from Grand Rapids the summer after Brian and I graduated from seminary.  Steel Cut Oats don't look much different than the ones in the back of his combine hopper.

This recipe is one we are going to be making a lot.  It will be fun to let the boys add raisins, sprinkles, or chocolate chips.

I also added water to the HyVee recipe, since I was using steel cut oats, and had an in inkling they would use more water than regular oats.  I'm glad I did.  The consistency was wonderfully creamy.  I was surprised that the oatmeal stayed creamy all morning.  Zach had seconds at ten in the morning before his nap, and they were still creamy.  Quick oats or instant oatmeal would be pasty, which is one problem I have with making instant oatmeal for my kids.  It has to be eaten in a certain time frame before it turns into pasty-crusty mess that no amount of maple syrup or milk can fix. 

This recipe had apples and pecans, which softened nicely so that the kids could eat.  I'm sure that you could make your own substitutes of different nuts or fruits.  In the picture, you can see I added some mixed fruits and nuts to mine.  I also added a little half n half while I was adding it to my coffee.

HyVee Crockpot Apple Oatmeal

3 C water
1/2 C brown sugar
1 T butter
1/4 t salt
1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 t vanilla
1 C Steel Cut Oats
1 C finely chopped apple
1/4 C chopped pecans

Spray inside of 3-4 quart slow cooker with non stick spray.  Combine all ingredients in slow cooker and mix well.  Cover and turn on low.  Cook over night or 8-9 hours.  Stir well before serving.

September Get-A-Way

This past weekend I met a close friend from Michigan just outside of Chicago for a get-a-way that involved staying at a hotel, eating Chipoltle burritos, shopping at an outlet mall and a Target trip.

I left my children at home, which was wonderful. I took a nap at the hotel. I read a book. I could use a public restroom without worry of where to set a kid. I could travel and drink coffee without turning around while driving. I could eat and I didn't have to share. I was able to pack in one bag in about 10 minutes. To be honest, I was nervous to drive to Chicago by myself. The last time I drove by myself any significant distance was pre-kids, probably five years ago. I survived just fine. I borrowed my mom's car, which saved a lot on gas mileage and as a bonus included a radar detector. Along with my GPS I was set. I bet your mom's car doesn't have a radar detector.

No kids + GPS + radar detector + Rachel from Michigan = a fabulous weekend trip to Chicago.

Funny we forgot to take a photo of us two, but we remembered to take pictures of my friend's 6 month old, Luke. We took a few in the hotel room, and a few on the front lawn of the hotel.

Going to School

This will be our family's last fall that none of our children will be attending school. Next year, Ezra will be nearly five, and will likely go to preschool. Though I admit I'm not up on what age is best, and if it is best for a child to attend preschool, and all that. I'm assuming because he will be five next fall, but will not be old enough to go to kindergarden because of the date of his birthday, he will be old enough to go to preschool.

But, today Ezra and Elliot went with Brian to the school's opening activities, which involves a chapel service. Even though we don't have children in school, we enjoy participating in our local Christian schools activities, programs, and graduations. Our love of the Christian learning community comes from the influence it had on our lives, and was deepened this summer after watching the casket of an 18 year old daughter of our church be carried by young men from her 8th grade graduating class of the Christian school they attended.

At the same time, we enjoy the camaraderie of the athletic events of our local public school.  It was fun to take the three boys to watch the homecoming parade last fall, and I'm looking forward to seeing all the classes on trucks and wagons, decorated in their school colors again this fall.  I also enjoy seeing the lights from the public school football field, just across the street (and don't mind the loud, obnoxious souped-up trucks that speed away after the game is over).  There is something really special about the small-town Iowa community supporting the local school, and the kids learning in a community there.

So these photos are premature, but will be fun to compare to the day that, Lord willing, Ezra and Elliot are both in school, and attending their first chapel services..  And you could have guessed, when they got in the truck to go with Brian, Zach threw a fit, because he wasn't going too.  I'm sure that will be repeated in a few years.

Here they are making shadows in the morning sun, while waiting on Brian.  Ezra started it, Elliot follow suit, which is how it usually happens.

Family Trip to Northwest Iowa

Last week Sunday night, after finishing the evening worship service, we packed up for a much needed trip to Northwest Iowa.  This was the first trip we've taken there since moving back to Iowa 18 months ago.  We were thankful to have an Aunt and Uncle's camper to borrow, which made the trip extra exciting for the three boys, who helped make their beds in the camper before leaving.  The only downside was that the trip took 5 hours, instead of 4, because pulling a trailer required driving a little slower.

A picture of our outfit at the Five and Dime gas station (Iowa's Best Burgers Cafe) before getting on I-80.

Brian had some errands to run for my in-laws, so I took the opportunity to enjoy taking some photos on their yard.

We helped Brian's mom and dad with some landscaping projects, which turned out really nice.  I forgot to take an after picture of the sidewalk.  They finished it right after dark.  The boys loved playing in the dirt and sand, and riding in the skid loader.  I enjoyed a good work out from hauling bricks to lay the sidewalks.

We hung some Christmas lights on the camper for fun.  The weather couldn't have been more beautiful for camping - 80s in the day and 60s at night.  The full moon was beautiful over the cornfields of Northwest Iowa, along with the Union Pacific train that runs a mile east of their home.  I would have loved to have gotten pictures of the full moon and train, but we stayed busy with projects and playing with grandpa and grandma.  Swimming with the cousins at the Sioux Center Pool, and taking home Pizza Ranch pizza was probably the highlight of our trip for the boys. 

My favorite part was leaving the boys with grandpa and grandma and getting coffee with Brian and watching the Dordt football team practice near Dordt College's campus.

I wish I could have had time to take the boys to Brian's dad's shop, to see his current stained glass projects and take pictures, and also missed picking up a few Almond Patties from the local bakery, but there is always next time!

Senior Pictures at the Fair

The end of the summer is approaching, and things like cool fall days and pumpkin bread is starting to sound good.  But before then, the Iowa State Fair makes a last summer fling before school begins.

This morning I got to take pictures of Taylor at the Iowa State Fair grounds, where the food stands and campers are pulling in and setting up.  I've never taken senior pictures before, but Taylor couldn't have made it much easier for me.  In a few weeks she'll start seeing friends daily, and be cheering at football games, but today, she, I and her younger sister had a lot of fun.  (I'm sure you can imagine the conversations about pork chops on a stick, milking the cow at the dairy barn, and showing horses, of course!)

Ah, Summer

"Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it."

Kiss-Me-Over-the-Garden-Gate, heirloom flower

Thank you!

Our Family has been blessed with amazing support. We have Families that step in to watch our three boys when things get busy, or grab them to go swimming, or just bring us ice cream for a bed time snack. We are so grateful.

I'm sure there are things that we should be thankful for that we don't even know about. Like friends who make sure our kids stay corralled at church, stop little toys from rolling under the church benches in the nick of time, or graciously fail to mention if they are missing a dish from their kitchen from bringing us a meal (this one bothers me), and not doubt other things.

My parents used to make me write thank you notes to those who accompanied me when I sang at an event, or to the person who bought my 4H hog. I remember thinking seriously, if I spend my time writing a thank you note to every person that's helped me, I'll never catch up. And then the writing it, "Thank you for buying my 4H hog, it helped me pay my bills." How do you know what to say?

I spend a lot of my time thinking up creative ways to say thank you. It is quite humbling, to have to say thank you to people. It's difficult to be arrogant when people are helping you out all the time.

One way that I've thought of saying thank you is by offering to take family photos for those that help us out by taking care of our children. I love the way that through photography I can highlight beautiful things, or people that I care about, things that at first glance seem ordinary, but are really quite extraordinary. And I don't have to try to figure out how to write that out. Although I guess i just did, just in a blog, and not a thank you note.

It's funny, I used to thank people for buying my 4H hog, and now this week I have to write one to somebody who gave me a hog. A whole hog. It is in my deep freeze.

And to those who have been supportive, but I missed, Thank You!

To see the Thank You pictures, click the photos below.

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