A Birthday Celebration!!

by // // Comments off

The end of August brings two birthdays!

Grant Evan and Addison Mae!

I love this photo of them!

Grant still covered in dirt from being at work.

They were born 364 days apart and have shared a celebration ever since.

They planned what meal they would like to have, and Addie chose the dessert!

A burger bar with homemade fries, salad, and fruit – and ice cream tacos for dessert.

Kay’s came over to join us and the celebrating began!

While Blake grilled the burgers, we all played outside.

It was such a beautiful evening!!

Dinner was YUMMY!

The burger bar was a fantastic idea!

We had all the regular condiments, sauteed mushrooms, sauteed onions and bacon on those burgers.

See why it was yummy?

We played some more and then it was time for dessert!

Check out these ice cream tacos!

Another great idea, for sure!

Of course we had to sing to these two!

And then, like every single year, Grant blew out Addie’s candle before she got a chance to.

You would think she would remember to guard her candle!

It was a wonderful evening.

Filled my cup to overflowing!!

These kiddos and grands always do that for me.

It also was a JOY to celebrate Grant and Addie.

We are SO happy they were born!!

Happy, Happy Birthday G and Ads!!

WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!

School Days

by // // Comments off

School started a couple of weeks ago for Lane, Tate, and Eliza!

We have had a good start.

It takes very little to impress these three, and they are enthusiastic!

Makes my role as their teacher pretty easy and very fun.

We start our days with chores and Bible time!

We do a Bible time all together too.

I call out our verse for that day (we are going through a devotional), and they race to look it up!

We call this game “swords!”

The Word of God is our sword and shield!!

We did a backyard habitat search for Science one day.

These guys found all kinds of cool things out there!

Eliza found this American Dagger Caterpillar.

Don’t worry, we did not touch it!

It was fascinating!

We are going through a book called Bible Study for All Ages.

It is GOOD!

And it is for ALL ages!

I am learning right along with them!

This is what concentration looks like.

This is what “guys look here at Mom” looks like!

We (even me!) do an illustration with narration after our lesson each day, and this was Eliza’s illustration about John the Baptist.

SO cute!

And almost accurate!

On this particular day, Tate was trying to write his math answers with his eyes closed.

He thought it would make math more fun, of course.

I am getting in the swing of this library book order-and-pick-up-thing.

We have not browsed the shelves of a library since March!

WAH!

You always can tell when the Mama of this nest has picked up the library books.

It gets really quiet in here!

When our Focus on the Family Club House magazine arrives they speed through their math so they can read it!

Speaking of math, I just signed this 12 year old up for pre-algebra.

Send help.

Thanks.

Our afternoons are full of all kinds of things!

We get outside to soak up these beautiful days!

We also find things to do inside too!

Tate and I like to read recipes and then bake.

School is off to a great start, don’t you think?!

I do too!!

I am excited for this year ahead!

We have lots to learn!

Chad will be joining us soon and I am looking forward to that too!

If you had told me when I was 21 and wanting babies so bad that I would be teaching my youngest ones still in my 50’s I never would have believed it!!

I love doing life with these children!

They are such a GIFT!

SO glad God writes the BEST stories!!

Projects

by // // Comments off

I have made quite a few projects around Twin Oaks to keep us busy and productive while we are home so much.

Some of them are MUCH needed!

Others are things that just get done in our daily routine.

I really enjoy a good project.

So do our children!

Chad has been building hunting blinds to sell.

I know nothing about building, or about hunting, or about hunting blinds…but I think the first one is turning out amazing!

Lane has helped out here and there.

We are proud of Chad for conquering his fear of that saw!

I tackled the storage room one morning a while back!

With my trio, of course.

We have SO MUCH STUFF.

WHY.

I gave away a lot, organized the rest, and made some new space down there!

I also tackled the garage one morning.

Also with Lane, Tate and Eliza helping!

We got half way around.

I need to finish it!

Especially now that I look at this next photo – Blake and Chad were tackling another project that night – car repair and replacing head lights!

But look in the background…better yet, don’t look!

That is the side of the garage I need to finish.

I might have looked like this after the first half of the garage project, just saying.

It was a lot of work!!

The kitchen island paint needs touched up.

The white is pretty, but SO dirty all the time.

I am contemplating colors…time will tell!

I bought a duck egg blue to sample, but it looks rather gray to me, which I’m not sure I will like.

There is always the project of putting up produce for the winter months.

Our freezer is full of shredded zucchini, green beans and basil.

Thanks to my girl Addie Mae!!

Addie has also been making tomato sauce.

All that zucchini will keep us in zucchini bread, which is a favorite here!

I like to hide zucchini in meatloaf and spaghetti sauce too.

We also like craft projects.

I don’t even have to set it up!

I like to be creative too, so when I start something they usually join me!

I have a few projects swirling in my head for this winter.

One of them has to do with my recipes.

It is a messy situation!

I really enjoy organizing though.

Taking care of our home is my JOY!

Being a wife and mom is all I dreamed about in High School.

Look how the Lord blessed the desires of my heart!!

SO grateful!

Looking forward to more projects in the months ahead with my trio, Lord willing!

They are a fun bunch of helpers!

A Trip to Iowa

by // // Comments off

A week and a half ago we took a day trip to Iowa for a beautiful wedding!

The weather was PERFECT for the four hour drive.

Earlier that week a land hurricane had been through parts of Iowa.

It was a storm with extremely high straight line winds.

The damage was horrible!

We saw so much destruction as we drove through the Cedar Rapids area.

Thankfully it was the perfect day for a wedding with an outdoor reception venue!

The park outside the church was such a wonderful spot for a reception!

We loved having our favorite people with us, and getting to hold them during the ceremony!

It was such a treat to see some very special and dear to us friends!

Spending time together at the reception was fantastic!!

The wedding ceremony was beautiful, meaningful, and full of joy and love!

It was such a privilege to witness our sweet friend Allison marry the man of her dreams!

WE COULDN’T BE HAPPIER FOR ALLISON AND JEREMIAH!!

Congratulations to the bride and groom and may the Lord guide you and grow you as you start your life together as one!!

« Older posts
Newer posts »