The Intentional Life

So, a few months back I mentioned something about needing to challenge myself to try tough stuff. So, from a non-spiritual direction, I tried my hand at some handsewing. I found this craft book that had patterns for making stuffed animals. One pattern was for an elephant I decided to try my hand at. For the material I used old baby clothes of Hannah's that she had ruined with all her puking. I couldn't just throw them away so i cut up the less stained parts and used them to piece together the elephant. Here is the finished product, minus a few details that I need my mom's help instructing (french knots? blanket stitch? yikes!) Owen wants a monkey so that is next on my list. And the elephant's name? Mommy. Thanks, Hannah :)

Ever since our camping experience over Labor Day, Owen and Hannah have camping in their blood. Thankfully, a Steffen campout was quickly put together and Owen and Hannah got to enjoy another night in the pop-up camping with Grandpa and Grandma. We've also attempted a few campfires in our firepit. We had one great evening, roasting marshmallows and collecting sticks. Another night we got rained out so the kids and Paul built a "tent" in the living room with blankets and kid furniture. Maddie loved everyone crawling around on the floor with her. She could hardly contain herself :) We did smores in the oven instead of the fire (it seemed to work out alright!) And just yesterday we pulled out a tee pee Owen received as a birthday gift. Owen and Hannah played outside with it during the day. Then when we brought it in at night, Paul read them some books in it before bed. Looking back over my pictures I took in the month of September, almost all of them are of camping/cam

This past Labor Day weekend we took 4 days off and headed to Illinois to camp with some friends. The place we stayed at was down by the Mackinaw River, surrounded by conservation land. The weather was perfect and the area was gorgeous. There were paths to walk around on and the river was ankle deep so the kids were able to play in it. The kids took Jeep rides, horseback rides, and long walks on the paths. I think their favorite part was throwing rocks in the river and sleeping in the camper. We had great food and company. And did i mention this was all in someone's backyard? Pretty amazing. I hope to go next year :)