Chahinkapa Zoo in Whapeton ND

A family outing to the Zoo a few hrs south.  They have big cat's and buffalo, zebra's and monkeys.  A mini farm and a big brown bear. Which was taking a bath when we passed by. :)  It was a great trip, warm weather and our little people had a good time. 

 Part of the Odder exhibit.  I'm not sure why we didn't take more, but the pool is above ground and you can watch them swim.  I'm pretty sure this girl in the picture could of stayed and watched for a long time.

 Kangaroo's and tortoises, where you could go in their pen and get up close.  

 One set of big cats, along with Siberian tigers (one white, one orange). 

There was big horn sheep, llama's with new babies, buffalo, and lot's of birds! 

A few more 1st pictures

Jim was in charge of pictures this year since he was getting Ms. C on the bus.  I told him I was not going through that torture. :-0   The bus riding went fine and so did the pictures!  And now that I got them off the phone, they are here to view. Simple and sweet! 

Adventures at the Red River Zoo!

It just so happens that our electric coop offers a free day at our local zoo.  We have not taken them up on their offer before but this time we decided to drive back to town for a very nice, but windy few hours.  Why not go? It is partly due to how simple the zoo really is (simple animals, small, but it really is great for kids) but since we had not visited for 2 years, we decided to see what was new. And there were many new improvements, changes of animals, new landscaping, and added animals. 

Here's a few pictures to show you some of the kids' fun!

These are gigantic colored pencils, if you didn't look close enough.  They are incredibly awesome and are a great way to make a privacy fence fun! 

 And carousel rides, can't pass up rides on a musical-go-round riding a horse! 

'she Seams nice' - a new sewing adventure

I have sewn, for many years (16 to be exact), and have always enjoyed it. Here's the kicker, I really like to give away my sewing gifts and I need a bit of something extra to help with this. :-0 Because once a gift giver, always a gift giver! I am starting 'she Seams nice'.  And here's where I really was encouraged.

The latest and greatest fabric store to open, has encouraged me to offer my sewing services to their customers. To get a business card or 20 out on the table, they are sure they can fill my cup with orders. While all that sounds wonderful, I do hope I will get some custom orders, but not to many. You know, I am a mom of three, one in school, one whom I should be prepping for kindergarten a bit more and my sweet little boy, who's 16 mos.  Let alone all the laundry, food prep and serving, fun, tickle sessions, cleaning, devotions, and ministry I am involved in. Um, yes... it's daily life, that I try to keep simple. SIMPLE.
With all of that, I MAKE time to sew, it's my road to sanity, my alone time, a quite time, a time of focus, success in another form, creative juices flowing, and relaxation. When I am sewing the hubs picks up the other end, I am thankful for this.

Since I have started my Facebook page (because the hubs recommended it since I am not writing a blog) and made it public, I have had quite a few friends ask to use me. It's all of a sudden a time of new projects or in the near future! It's exciting, to be creating for others, to help their home become more welcoming and how they would like it to be.  I am certainly working on the 'do I want to do this project, yes or no?'.  'Is it worth my time?' Which is all necessary when I have a life on the other side of the sewing machine to accommodate too.  


she Seams nice  
your mom would approve... 

This name comes from my husband, over a two week span he was mumbling words to me, I'd write them down. Then the 'ah -ha' moment came, in he comes from working on his car. 'Here's the name Lexie'. It is catchy, people will smile after they read it, and with the stigma of sewing as such a boring and non-exciting task, I think it will get people thinking in a whole new way.  Sewing is coming back, even though expensive, custom or not, it's the way you get what you want. 

Business cards came in, now I just need to get them to a few stores and I am set. 

Here's to a new adventure! 

News from School

 Claire started school on the 20th of August.  The first three days were a little rough, as in not enough energy. But she felt comfortable enough to sleep on the bus, I am thankful for this.  

She enjoys her teacher I believe, she is one of those kids, that can see the nice in almost anyone. I know the only reason I didn't like a teacher was when they were to stern about something and they really didn't need to be. Talking normal would of gotten the job done. 

I ask her, what was one interesting event of the day?  Something that happened good or bad.  It helps with getting her to share about her day instead of her 'I don't know' response.

Here is one, "Did you know Mrs. Braundenberg is not there?" "And do you know Mr. Bastin and now there is a Mrs. Bastin!"  "She's our new music teacher."  "We got chairs instead of carpet."  "Those two are probably married, she had two pictures on he desk. One of her and her little girl and one with her husband" Did you follow all of that?  One music teacher is gone, and the new music teacher is Mrs. Bastin, and she is married to Mr. Bastin. 

"Miles and Tyler (name change) are still in Kindergarten, but that is okay. They have a new teacher too". 
Claire is so sweet, easily understands that it's okay they are not in first grade. 

She is also sad, one of her friends and classmates from last year moved away.  "Mom, she's going to a different school, I asked Sandy". That explains why they never returned calls from the summer, they weren't even here. 

I will have to post some pictures at a later date. The husband took the pictures and i have not been able to email them to me. 

More news on school later! Cheers!