Fall and Stuff...

I have been struggling to find time to blog...with two in school, it seems like things have gotten 20 times crazier around here...instead of just twice as crazy!  We are not so busy that we are never together, and I don't feel like any of us are incredibly overloaded, but there are just a lot of things that need to happen each day, and I have trouble finding lots of free time to blog.  I still take lots of pictures of the kids doing the things they do, and to decompress at the end of the day (or in the middle during Mama's "time-out") I love to look at Pinterest and Instagram.  So...all that to say...I still love and plan to blog, but sometimes there are just not enough quiet moments in the day to get it done.  We made it through Neewollah, Kansas's largest festival, that's held right here in our town, and we made it through Halloween, so now we are just enjoying the beautiful autumn colors and cooler. quieter days leading up to Thanksgiving...love this time of year.  It's just my favorite. The hustle and bustle of Christmas isn't quite here, but the warm feelings, sounds, smells, and excitement have begun, and I just love it!

Coming out of my late summer hibernation...

Whew...I thought that summer was never going to end!  August is my least favorite month, weather-wise.  I would choose a -30 degree any day over 100+ temperatures!  We had a really mild summer, so the weather spoiled me and when that heat wave hit...oh my!  We have been going outside so much more since it's been cooler!  I wanted to share a few pictures of our latest outings.  Claire is finally getting big enough to hike along with us, so we have taken short hikes at both Elk City Reservoir and Big Hill Lake.  We have had so much fun just being outside together! 

 

 

 

 

First day of school!

Katie started high school today....oh...this mama is struggling with this! But she did great!  She really enjoyed it!  She said that she likes all of her classes, except PE, and is excited to be with her friends again!  She looked so beautiful on her way out the door!  She picked the outfit out by herself...complete with her Converse...of course!  Her friend Orianna came to walk to school with her, and they were both just bubbling with anticipation!  They didn't seem nervous at all! 

 

And my Asher boy started 1st grade!  Seems impossible as well!  He was so excited to wear one of his new Star Wars t-shirts, and to take his new backpack...he was pretty nervous though, and there were a couple of times I thought he might change his mind and just stay home with Mama!  He did great though, and walked right in to sit in his line!  Claire decided she would like to sit in his line with him, and I almost had to wrestle her to get her to leave Asher...she loves her brother so much!

 

 

 



So now there is just Claire and I on the days that Daddy works, and we are going to be ok...we miss them so much already, but I am sure we will find some things to do. :) 

Getting a little anxious for fall to arrive and a yummy new recipe!

I haven't started decorating and feathering our nest/home for fall yet, but I had to do SOMETHING to remind me of the hope and promise of autumn being on it's way...so I decorated the blog instead, with some photos from last year's beauty!  I love opening my blog and seeing all this prettiness!

We are gearing up for school that starts next week!  Most of the school supplies have been rounded up, and Katie is going shopping for school clothes tomorrow with my friend Melisa (because she is much cooler and lots more fun to shop with than mom!) It will be fun to see what she picks out!  She has been saving her money from summer work to add to her clothes budget, so hopefully she will get some things she really likes and will feel cute and comfortable in!  We found some great deals on her favorite shoes...Converse All Stars, and she was able to get three pair for less than the full price of one pair...super score!

As of this moment, Claire and I will be staying home again this year, with the possibility of me substitute teaching on Kris's days off and on days when my friend Emmalee has openings in her daycare.  I am also trying to decide whether to send her to 3 year old pre-school or not.  She is so very smart, and I know she would love it, so we will probably send her.  It's only 2 mornings a week, so surely she (and Mama) will survive that little bit of separation!

I wanted to share a new recipe that I tried this morning.  We had sautéed some veggies (onions, peppers, mushrooms, and grape tomatoes) the other night to serve over our steaks, and we had lots of leftovers.  I decided to try and make a breakfast frittata/crustless quiche with them this morning.  It was so easy and really yummy!  I also had a few strips of bacon leftover from BLT's, so I chopped that up, cooked it in the iron skillet, drained it just a little, then added the leftover veggies and sautéed a little longer.  I scooped those into a pie plate, and poured beaten eggs (mixed with a tiny bit of milk and salt and pepper) over it and baked at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, then another 10 minutes at 350 degrees.  Yummy!

 

 

This morning the weather was so nice, the kids and I sat outside for a long time just listening to the birds wake up and the wind blowing through the trees.  I just felt overwhelmed with blessings.  I feel so fortunate to have this life...to have Kris, and the kids...alone those would be more than I ever dreamed of, but God also gave me a great little home, the means to be a stay at home mama (at least for a while), and countless other blessings.  I want to remember these "blessing" moments so that on the days when I am feeling down, or stressed, or depression creeps in I can read these posts and KNOW that God is sovereign and loves me. 

 

I wanted to add...I am so sad about the death of Robin Williams.  It made me think about others I know who struggle with depression.  I want to make sure that I try to do something, anything, to encourage people who are hurting.  If for some crazy reason you are reading this...and you don't know the hope of knowing Jesus as your savior, or if you are struggling with depression or anything that you just don't think you can handle alone...just say a little prayer...leave a comment...I would love to pray for you too.  I have been to some dark places of depression...and I know that the pain is more intense than anyone can imagine...but please know that there is a God in heaven who loves you more than you could ever, ever imagine!

 



More summertime ramblings...

Just wanted to update with some pictures of things we have been up to!  It's been a pretty good summer!  We have been keeping busy, just enjoying the simple things.  Our garden keeps growing, and the kids just love seeing what is new each day.  I even learned to can jalapeños!  So excited about that!  We have cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, big tomatoes, jalapeños, banana peppers, and bell peppers just growing, growing, growing!  Gardening has been so much fun this year!

 

 

 

We visited the 4-H fair, here in our town, and the kids LOVED it!  Just Asher, Memory (our new sweet kiddo that we've been watching this summer) and I went, because Claire was especially cranky that day.  They loved the animals!

 

 

We also visited the park one day, but it was 101 million degrees, so we didn't stay too long!  Asher found the biggest shade tree of all time...and that is where he wanted to stay!  I think it might have been the hottest day of the summer!  We have actually had a really cool summer, with some days being in the 70's and low 80's...it has been wonderful!  Yesterday the high was 73...in southern Kansas!  Crazy but wonderful!

 

 

Katie started her orthodontic treatments this summer, so take a good look at this smile, because next week it will be covered with tinsel!  She gets her braces on next Tuesday.  She is super excited! I think she is already beautiful, so I can't even imagine what a couple of years of maturing and braces will do! 

 

Lots and lots of people I know (ahem...including myself) turned the big 4-0 this summer, and this week we had a little coffee party for my friend Charisse, who turned 40 on Tuesday.  I looked and looked on Pinterest for party decorations that she might like, and didn't find anything that fit, so I made some!  She loves chickens, so I just went with that!  I just searched for a chicken silhouette, pasted it into a document, printed out cupcake toppers and a little sign, and added some ribbon.  I was excited about how it turned out!

 

 

 

We visited Meme and Papa at the lake, and had lots of fun at the splash park, and Asher and Katie discovered the amazing wonder of mobility on the golf cart!  They drove everywhere along the shore of Grand lake, and had such a neat time together!

 

 

 

It has been a pretty good summer, and it's hard to believe that school starts in just 3 weeks!  Katie will be a freshman in high school...just impossible for this mama to comprehend, and Asher will be a big first grader!  I am excited to see what God has in store for us for this new school year!

 





 



Sweet, sweet summertime!

We have had a really nice summer so far!  The kids last day of school was just two weeks ago, and we've already checked fishing, swimming, visiting Silver Dollar City, eating popsicles, and visiting the Miller's off our "Summer Bucket List" that's hanging on the fridge! 

We kicked off the summer with a visit to my sister's house, and the kids had so much fun splashing in their little pool and just being with their cousins!

This past weekend, Katie, Asher and I left right after church and took my friend Charisse and her two youngest, Meagan and Evan to Silver Dollar City.  It was their first visit, so it was exciting!  We had a great pool at our hotel all to ourselves, and we even got a little shopping in at the outlet mall!  It was a quick, but really nice trip! 

We have also been enjoying God's amazing miracles this summer!  We have tomatoes and peppers growing in our garden, and the kids and I just love going out to check on them every morning to see how much they have grown! We are also watching a little family of bluebirds grow, and seeing these eggs turn into tiny sweet birds has just been really neat!  The mama bird stays close by when we peek in to see her babies, so we haven't checked on them too often, but just enough to witness this amazing miracle!

 

I also finished the project that I mentioned a couple of posts ago!  I repainted these chairs and table, and recovered the cushions with some cute duck cloth for a sweet addition to our front porch!  I also painted my poor chair that has been spray painted at least 22 times a pretty pale blue for this year! My flowers are all blooming like crazy, and I am just so thankful for the beauty all around me! 

Best Buds...

Asher and Claire just seem to become closer each day!  They love playing together, and don't fight (too often!)  They have started running and hugging each other when they have been apart, and I just love seeing them happy to see each other! I love watching them grow up together!  I took these pictures of them on the miniature train at our park the other day!  The funny thing was that neither one fought over who was going to sit with me, they just automatically hopped into the last car together!  They are sweet, sweet, double, double, trouble, trouble!

 

The front porch is starting to bloom!

I have been working a bunch on my flowers this year.  Last spring we were in Rose Hill, and I planted just a few things, and didn't have a front porch or patio to decorate...so this year I am just going crazy with it...just for fun!  A friend of my husband's who works for Bonnie plants blessed us with a bunch of tomato and pepper plants, and some pretty petunias and rose moss!  My hostas have came back, and we are going to try and get a garden going soon!  I can't wait to have fresh veggies this summer! I hope they all survive!

And I have big plans for these sunny things!  Kris bought 4 patio table chairs for me last year at a garage sale for $1 each, and they just need a new coat of paint and some new seat covers and they will be so stinking cute with the table that I already have!  I can't wait for the temperature to get over 60 so I can paint, paint, paint!