Enjoying HOME

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Ever since Blake and I returned home from Florida at the beginning of April, I sure have been enjoying HOME.

You all must know by now that I am a homebody – I love to be home, taking care of our home, and taking care of the blessings that the Lord has trusted into our care!

The day to day things here at home are some of my favorite memories.

Like school days with my trio – the things we learn together, their enthusiasm, the cute things they say, and even the cute ways they sit!


Or like library day – we have been going weekly again because one is open for browsing!

We love to read!!


We have mandatory outside time here – which I only have to enforce sometimes, ha, ha!

When we get new books each week is one of those times I have to enforce it.

At least he obeyed and went outside, right?


Blake and I made an intention to get outside more with the kiddos in the evenings and on the weekends.

Everyone gets home from work so late – the evenings go fast!

But we are making a point to spend some time outside anyway!


We also set intentions to have more purposeful time when everyone is at home.

We hade a homemade pizza, game and movie night one Friday night and it was fantastic!!


My trio and I still play games in the afternoons after school too!


Of course there is always kitchen work.

I have the BEST helpers though!

And I am training two cute nine year olds how to do dishes from start to finish!

They have always helped with dishes, but have never been “in charge” of them – and they seriously are so excited about this new responsibility.

Makes me smile!

I love these kiddos enthusiasm!


I may be watching Joanna Gaines’s new cooking show called Magnolia Table.

It may make me want to cook all new things and take fun photos as I do…

I LOVE to try new things though!

I had fun making new toppings for a taco spread one Saturday morning.


Joanna Gaines made chocolate mousse on her show, so I found an egg free recipe and made some too!


The salad box is still going strong as well!


Blake and I also made some plans (while sitting by the pool in Florida) to fix some things and finish some things in our home.

First up was our ice maker!

It broke when this fridge was about six months old and we never did anything about it – I mean, besides train some children how to fill ice trays to make ice ourselves.

When we got home from Florida, Blake ordered the new parts and had it fixed in 40 minutes.

It broke three years ago.

I know, I know.

I’m slapping my forehead too!

Don’t know why we waited so long.


We also made a plan to always have hot water.

RIGHT?

This small house that was being built for one person means a small water heater.

Then eight people move into the small house with the small water heater and never have enough hot water, EVER.

Blake spent over twelve hours putting a water booster on that small water heater (it was the cheapest way to fix it!), and now we have hot water ALL THE TIME!

I cried.

It’s the little things, folks!


Another plan we made was to finally put some photos from our farm days on the wall.

This means SO much to me!

We bought a gallery kit and my fearless guys hung them for me.

Please notice the cinder block underneath the one leg of that ladder, ahem.

Didn’t it turn out so pretty?!

It was hard to choose just nine photos from the thousands of them we have of our farm days!


Since it is spring, I have been spring cleaning.

So needed, even in this little nest – and I enjoy doing it!


Of course I love the time we get to be with Kay’s crew!!

They have been adding to their farm!

Ducks, sheep, and a NEW PUPPY!!

Meet Juniper.

Juni for short.

She’s adorable and so loved already!


We still love our pups too, and even had the privilege of taking Ruby Jane to the vet while Addie Mae was at work.


We had our second hymn sing and have scheduled them for once a month this whole year!

Such an encouraging, life-giving thing to do with your friends!


One day a box of hymnals showed up at our door step.

They were a gift, and this touched our hearts SO, so much!

What a wonderful gift and we will always think of the friends who sent them every time we use them.


I also took my crew to town to finish some spring clothes shopping.

There were needs for some growing children.

We also came home with a new art toy – not needed, but very fun!

They have played endlessly with it!


I ordered Eliza a swim suit on line when we could not find one we wanted in town.

It is SO cute on her!

And comfortable too!


We are gearing up for swim season for sure!

Blake and I ordered a new ladder for our pool while we were sitting by the pool in Florida!

Lane put it together for us.

It is much more sturdy than our old one, and a lot safer too.


There has been a lot of this going on for me too –

Some health challenges.

I am certainly not a stranger to health challenges!

But there are new ones right now.

I’ve spent a lot of time on hold trying to get appointments and insurance approvals and such.

I also spent two hours on a telemed (video) consultation appointment for surgery I need.

I need to have a carpal tunnel release on my right hand/wrist.

We are hoping that will happen soon!

I am just waiting for a test that is needed first, and am on a cancellation list because they did not have any openings until May 18th.

I’ve been on that cancellation list since the beginning of April, so it doesn’t look promising!

I also am having an autoimmune flare that is showing itself on my skin.

It could be lupus related, but we are hopeful, and researching, and praying for wisdom in how to handle this in the most non-invasive, natural way.

I am beyond grateful that it is not anything worse.

And thankful for my crew who gives me plenty of opportunity to rest when I need to.


Date night lately has been going after grocery, because I am physically unable to do it with my hand/wrist hurting so badly.

We have coffee though!

And are together!

I love Blake’s help at the grocery store.


To finish off this long post, here are some photos of Lane’s birthday present – a fishing trip to the dam.

They had a BLAST!

This is what a fisherman looks like in church the next morning.


And this is what a fisherman who made it through church looks like after lunch.


They make me smile!!

April was good, don’t you agree?

May is looking good too – minus that surgery and all.

I cannot believe summer is upon us!!

What a wonderful whirlwind this life is!

I think I need a nap, ha, ha!

Hope you all had a wonderful whirlwind of an April too.

Here’s to SUMMER!!

Celebrating Easter and TWO birthdays!!

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Blake and I returned from Florida the Saturday evening before Easter Sunday.

We then stayed up until midnight that night getting ready for our celebrations that were scheduled to happen the next day after church!

Thankfully I had planned ahead – we just had to put the plan into action!

Besides celebrating Easter, we also celebrated Lane and Kayla’s birthdays.

It was a fantastic day!

And the weather was SO nice!

Lane turned THIRTEEN!!

Can you believe it?

Me neither!


Our meal was fantastic.

Blake had gotten ham for our Easter dinner and it was super yummy!


Addie was in charge of birthday desserts!

At the birthday people’s requests!

I guess I do not need to say how amazing they were!

Chocolate cake for Lane and dairy-free cheesecake for Kayla.


After our meal Lane and Kayla opened gifts.

I do not have a photo, but Lane’s main gift was a fishing rod!


We sang Happy Birthday and enjoyed those desserts next.

How I loved celebrating these kiddos of ours!!

We are SO, so thankful they were born!!


Kayla planned an Easter egg hunt for the kiddos.

They loved it!

It was so cute to see them run all over the yard looking for eggs!


What a very special day!

Our church service that morning was incredible – our church can SING!

I don’t mean in the talented kind of way, I mean in the everyone is singing from their heart kind of way – and it FILLS our sanctuary with the most beautiful sound!!

Our hearts were so full.

Celebrating Lane and Kayla made them even fuller!

My heart just about bursts seeing how much these children enjoy blessing someone on their birthday!

Being the giver is way more special to each of them than being the one having the birthday – and that is just so super sweet.

Lane Stevan and Kayla Lauren, WE LOVE YOU!!!!

Happy, happy birthday to you both!!!

Kombucha

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Do you all like fizzy fermented pro-biotic filled drinks?

We do!!

Kayla has been making her own kombucha for a long time now.

She had an extra scoby (the starter) and so I decided to start making some too!

Kombucha is basically brewed black tea and sugar added to the scoby and left in a warm spot to ferment.

After that first time fermenting, you move the kombucha to tightly sealed glass bottles, and add flavor to them, before putting them in a dark cool spot for a second fermentation time.


We had started making kombucha one other time a couple of years ago, but did not keep up with it for very long.

This time I ordered the glass jars I needed (that have a good tight seal on them), and also ordered organic decaf tea bags because I wanted our kombucha to be decaf.

I have been enjoying the process of keeping our kombucha flowing!

Blake has been a huge helper in the process too even though he does not drink the kombucha.

Thanks, honey!


Of course any time I am doing something in the kitchen, Tate is right at my side!

He helps me pick the flavors to try and fills the bottles with those flavors for there second brew.

The first one we tried was ginger/lime. It is a favorite!

We have also made cranberry and peach/pineapple.

Also favorites!


Here is the cranberry flavor!


These jars are full of kombucha ready to go in the fridge to be enjoyed!


Tate also helps brew the tea and dissolve the sugar in the brewed tea for the first brew, which brews on top of our fridge in gallon jars.

We have started a second gallon to keep up with everyone who is wanting to have a glass of kombucha daily!


Tate and Eliza like kombucha, but Addie, Chad and I love it!

We are the only ones drinking it, because the other guys don’t like it at all.


Kombucha is good for your gut!

I can tell a huge difference as I drink it – I think all those good pro-biotics are helping me a lot.

It is also fun to have something creative to work on in the kitchen!

Do you think you would like kombucha?

It is bubbly, refreshing, and delicious!!

Give it a try sometime!!

Our Anniversary Trip

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When Blake and I talked about what we should do for our anniversary trip this year, we originally decided Blake would surprise me – but I did tell him I would not get on a plane!

Time went on as we waited for the right time to schedule our trip…and somehow I changed my mind about getting on a plane.

Then we made a last minute decision to go to Naples, Florida – just like we did last time we went there!

If you wait close enough to your travels to see what the weather is going to be like, it can be a real blessing!

If you wait real close to your travels to book your flights and such, the prices drop way back down!

They are trying to fill the plane at that point, I think.

We booked our trip on a Wednesday, and left the following Monday, just five days later.

We said our “see you soons” to the kiddos on Monday morning as we left to drive to Minneapolis to catch our flight.

As we drove away, Addie took a video of the kiddos waving to us and Tate was yelling “We are free, We are free!”

Ha, ha!


It was a beautiful day for a drive!


We arrived at the airport in plenty of time, and Blake dropped me at the terminal so I would not have to walk so far from the parking deck with all of our stuff.


Our flight was direct, smooth, and relaxing!

We had downloaded a movie to watch on my phone and it passed the time quickly.


We arrived in Naples just in time to get our car (a jeep) and head for some groceries before checking into our suite.

Our first sunset in Naples did not disappoint!!


We made a late dinner and enjoyed some wonderful fresh produce as well!


The next morning I woke up, opened the curtains, and took this photo.

We weren’t in Wisconsin anymore!


We had some purposeful conversations on our way to Florida about what we hoped this trip would be for us – and one thing that we both mentioned a lot was that we needed to RELAX.

Not usually my way, I know! But SO, so needed.

Our first day was all about that – enjoying the sun, the pool, good food, fun treats, and then going out to dinner at our favorite place in Naples.


After dinner we headed to the beach to watch the sunset!

It was windy!

And got cold quick!

We did not make it until the sun actually set, but it was beautiful all the same.


The second day we started out with a very long walk.

It was SO blue and clear and just perfect!


We treated ourselves to smoothies everyday!

We also cooked some yummy meals!


One of the best parts of our trip was how much time we had to just talk – and talk we did!

About EVERYTHING.

We did a lot of planning, decision making, and even dreaming.

Pool side planning meetings were my favorite!


Our third day we took our morning walk again, but in the afternoon we found a trail to hike on.

There was a sign that there was a river ahead, so we thought why not?

Once we finally got to the river we realized we had to go all the way back!!

It was over 90 degrees and we were so hot and sweaty and did not even think to bring water!

But we made it.


We loved this sign that was posted everywhere and joked that we need to post one at home for the certain kiddos who own dogs, ahem!


After that long hike we needed smoothies, of course!


We headed to tin city that evening, and then back to the beach.

It was SO windy!

But we stayed to watch the sunset anyway.

Gorgeous.

Our last day was chilly, for Florida anyway!

But it was the sunniest day by far and we stayed outside the entire day.

First, for our morning walk, and then by the pool – talking and talking the whole time!


We ate at our favorite spot again that evening, sitting outside and listening to a band while we did.

It was a perfect way to end our trip.

It was SO hard to go inside that evening!

But we did, and packed up to be ready to head to the airport the next morning.

Our suite was one that we had stayed at one other time.

It was clean and cozy and we loved it!


We took one last photo before we headed to the airport the next morning, and then got in that jeep and got on our way.


Our flight went well again – although I did have a moment where I was talking myself off a cliff because I was starting to panic with that mask on for so long!

I prayed and then tried to distract myself by really paying attention to the movie we were watching, and all was good.

It was so neat to see the Mississippi River out of the plane window – it just went on and on!


Once we landed in Minneapolis we found some food quick and then started the three hour drive home.

I could not wait to hug the kiddos!

They had a great week while we were gone, by the way!!


What can I even say to close this post!?

I have tears in my eyes just looking at these photos and thinking back on our wonderful trip!

Our life here is so very good, yes….but we too have stress and little things and bigger things – which make it hard sometimes.

Blake and I have a very hard time connecting throughout the days here at Twin Oaks – we have a very busy home, a small home, and no privacy at all.

As with any family most of the time the urgent over rides the important.

There is a lot of urgent with so many children all in different stages of life here.

I cannot say enough about how thankful I am for my husband who agrees with the importance of constantly working on our marriage – and that is what this trip was all about.

Our marriage is far from perfect, but we see the vision we have for it and for our family – and then we work backwards from there to try, with the Lord’s help, to achieve those goals!

It takes intention, work, time and purpose!

Our trip to Florida this year was our best one yet!!

Our batteries are recharged and our relationship is rekindled!

We came home sun kissed and ready to jump back into this extremely busy life with all we’ve got!

I’m excited to see what the Lord will have for this year – our 33rd year of marriage!

Mr. Blake Moschel, you are my love, my best friend, my person, and I love you with all I am.

Thank you, honey, for talking me into getting on a plane!

I would follow you anywhere anyways!

Happy anniversary to you, babe!

I’m so privileged to be your wife and I will never, ever take that for granted.

Here’s to 32 more years!!

And more trips to sunny places!!

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