Pumpkin Patch with Friends

We stopped at the pumpkin patch near our house with our Stuckey friends. Everyone found some unique pumpkins and gourds. We enjoyed to beautiful fall weather.

Nate's Visit to Utah

We have many Simplx customers still out in Utah who often will patiently wait for the opportunity when Nate is able to fly out himself and service their alarm systems.  Many of these people were Simplx's very first customers and have been loyal friends and customers for 15 years, ever since the beginning.  Nate had a lot of fun servicing their alarms, but also catching up with these old friends.  

Alan Cooper

Bill & Deborah Reed

Tom Zaelit

Katy & Brandon Callor

Alona Holm

Carolyn & Jan Dickson

Rick & Paula Jensen

Mona & Cary Barrett

James & Jackie Sorensen

Dennis & Judy Tiberius

Elaine (Terri) Barr

Wanda Akers

Laura Nickel

Oak Farm School Pictures

The teachers at Oak Farm are so good at sending me photos of my kids throughout the day.  It is so much fun to see them in action.  Sometimes it feels like I am a fly on the wall and get to see them in their environment.  Here are some fun photos of the kids during these first 6 weeks of school so far. 

Owen is in Primary 2 with teachers Ashley & Yova.  He has enjoyed the level up from the Toddler classroom, but has frequently asked to go back there to see Nefy & Brittany.  As I remind him that he is big now and does not even need diapers, but that the toddlers do need diapers still, he decides that the primary classroom is for him.  

Nathan is in Primary 1 with teachers Tia & Devon.  He is a kindergartener this year and has thrived in reading, writing cursive and math work even after 6 weeks of school.  He is proud and excited for his accomplishments and the work he brings home.  It is so fun to watch him grow. 

Dawson is in Lower Elementary as a 2nd grader with Michal & Maria.  He is in his second year doing a partial Spanish Immersion program in mostly math lessons.  He has loved school and is thriving there.  He loves to work hard and is very good at staying focused in his work.

Kaylee is in Upper Elementary as a 4th grader in April & Liz' class.  She also is loving her move to Upper.  Her class has about 15 girls and 4 boys.  The girls have so much fun in there and coerce those boys into playing "wedding" and "theater."  It's pretty funny to hear the stories she brings home about giving the boys certain roles to play in their girly games.  

Cooper is a 7th grader in Middle School and has had a rough beginning.  The workload, homework and due dates were overwhelming to him at first.  But he has tackled it headstrong and prefers to get ahead rather than fall behind.  He will do a whole semester's worth of work in just a couple nights so he can be ahead and not have to worry.  He is enjoying it a lot. 

Jaxton is an 8th grader in the Middle School.  He has come back this year as a confident, social, outgoing leader.  His leadership skills allow others to follow his lead, whether he leads positively or negatively. :-)  He has to work extra hard at his schedule, due dates and organizational skills, but he has so much knowledge and academic skill inside him that shines. 

We are so grateful for Oak Farm and the environment that the school provides!

Sunflower Fields at Solomon Farm

We visited Salomon Farm Park today to see the sunflower fields that are in full bloom. We spent our Sunday morning family meeting at the park with donuts, sharing complements and learning about love languages between siblings. With lots of Energy, we headed to the sunflower fields where the kids immediately started a game of hide and seek. As we were walking towards the fields they yelled “not it“, “not it“, while touching their noses. I hardly knew this was a thing! But all six kids participated in this “not it“ method to decide Who was going to be it. It was too funny! They ran through the fields raising my anxiety when I could not see all of them because they were all spread out down the rows of sunflowers. They really had a great time. Kaylee got stung by a bee so her time was not as enjoyable. We’ve visited some of the animals and the old buildings and walked through the wooded trail. As we were leaving Owen requested to come back again and again. So we plan to go back to play some more in the woods and through the sunflower fields. It was a special family Sunday.

Kids Vs. Parents

We whipped out an old game from forever ago called Kids Versus Parents. You put in these weird dental contraptions to open your lips up really white and then you have to say freezes and have the teams guess what you are saying. The contraption does not allow you to say continents like B, P, S, or M. It was so hilarious that we had to take some photos. Fun times!

Climbing Trees

We spent a beautiful autumn Friday afternoon at the Leo purple park. Perfect weather, and the end to a long week, we enjoy your time together as a family. Nate brought Taco Bell to eat at the park. We played together and sometimes being outdoors somehow cuts the fighting to a minimum. Best favorite item at the park today were the giant evergreen trees. The inside of the trees were like ladders with straight branches creating plenty of steps to safely get up very high. The kids enjoyed us a lot!

Simplx Cares

Our September Symplex cares event involves the Fort Wayne great American cleanup. The great American cleanup is a national effort to put time and volunteer work to beautify America as a whole. Fort Wayne held their annual cleanup day on Saturday and we joined as a Symplex cares group. We were assigned the Shoaff Park Trail, A beautifully paved trail along the river. We all chipped in and picked up the trash and litter that we could find in the bushes and along the trail. Jaxton’s favorite piece of trash he found was a perfectly functioning white Mary Poppins umbrella.   It was a great effort and we were so glad to have so many of our staff join us for the event. We helped to beautify our very own city of Fort Wayne today!

Dawson’s Birthday Party

We celebrated Dustin’s birthday party at our house on a Friday after school. We invited families from his classroom to join us for a beautiful crisp fall evening outside. We roasted hotdogs and s’more‘s over the fire. We built a Lego piñata and filled it with crayons and candy. The kids enjoyed that piñata! We had corn hole and a donut string and the swing set and beach sand to play in. Kaylee used the lemonade stand she built with grandpa in Utah at the party and it was certainly a hit!   Our families had a great time. Dustin enjoyed helping make the cupcakes with Lego candies on top. He got Legos from all of his friends. He invited Alena Nivens family, Mary Bell and Annie’s family, Jude’s family, Corbin’s family, Tripp’s family, and grandma and grandpa.  I think he had a great time!  Happy birthday Dawson!!!!

Happy Birthday Dawson

Dawson turned eight today! I can’t believe he’s that old. For his birthday he received some fun items. A waffle maker from grandma and grandpa in Utah, lots of Legos, a new backpack, and his new favorite game, clue. Here are some fun things about Dawson at eight years old.

1. Dawson loves to cook. He especially loves to make breakfast food. He likes to cook eggs and bacon, pancakes, waffles, and recently, omelets. He wants to own a restaurant someday and has name that Fast Cookers.

2. Dawson’s closest friends these days are Liam, Elaina, Jude, Kevin, and Maribel.

3. This is Dawson’s second year in a modified Spanish immersion program. He is learning all of his Math Lessons in the Spanish language. Everything is done in Spanish from the teachers lesson To the worksheets and the writing assignments. Some of his language work is done in Spanish but mostly math. The Spanish lessons are given by his teacher Maria who is wonderful.

4. Dawson is a wolf scout at the Leo Cub Scout troop. He is enjoying his time with the troop and looks forward to going each Monday.

5. Dawson is very orderly and clean. He puts the most effort into his Saturday chores and enjoys cleaning with a passion. He takes pride in his work and if he finishes early he wants more jobs to do. He is likely the most clean and orderly child in our home. What a great skill to have.

Happy Birthday Dawson!

Keplingers Visit

Andrea and Dennis Keplinger are some of our favorite people. Andrea was a part-time nanny for our kids about six years ago. I was expecting a new baby, Nathan, and was trying to work from home and also handle four older kids. I was overwhelmed and Nate and I were not sure how to handle the load. We were trying to think of somebody who could help us out but to no avail. The Keplinger‘s had lived in Fort Wayne a few years prior and then had moved away. One day Nate learned that they were returning to Fort Wayne for a job switch. He did not think anything of it, but immediately I knew that Andrea was the answer to our prayers. We reached out to her and she came over to meet the kids and it was a perfect match. She kept the kids upstairs and played with them and loved them while I worked downstairs in the basement office. I would hear my newborn baby crying and know that it was probably about time for him to nurse, and she would bring him down to nurse while I continued to work payroll and paperwork. When he was finished eating, I would send him back up to Andrea and she would continue to love my kids so I could support Simplx.  Andrea and I had many moments of connection and I look up to her very much. She had six kids as well and learned to get through hard times with her family. She is an example to me and I love her very much. Dennis reminds me of Dennis the Menace. He is so happy and energetic and the kids adore him. They are like family to us and Andrea treated me like a second mom. I am grateful that they could come visit from Oklahoma.