Lightening Fast. .

That's what our summer felt like. . 

Lightening Fast!! 

It was a good one!! 

But. .

SO LONG SUMMER. . 

It's time to start our new schedule. .

One that includes a bedtime. .

And some stability!! 

The oldest. .

Can't even BELIEVE. .

That it is the LAST first day of school he will endure around this place!

The look on his face this morning when he surfaced from his room was utter disbelief!! 

Devin will start his first day in junior high as a 6th grader today. .

Cami is no longer at the bottom of the food chain. .

She moves up to FIRST grade!!

Grant. .

His first day as an upperclassman. .a junior. 

This guy was happy for the first day of school too.

Although it means a loooonnnnngggg lonely day in his shop without his hired man to banter and bicker with!! 

The school calendar has been highlighted. .

Senior pictures have been scheduled. .

Mama has had a quiet coffee break and her first good workout in 2 weeks. .

Let's DO this thing!!

Happy Monday people!!

It Really Happened!!

With my last two children. .

I got to enjoy about 4 months of 1/2 day per week all to myself!!

Then another baby showed up. .

And consumed my time again.

But today!!

TODAY. .

Marks the first of MANY. .

FULL days. .

ALL. TO. MYSELF!! 

This girl. .

Was so nervous yesterday. .

That her tummy hurt!!

AND. .

Saturday evening. .

She was bit on the forehead by something. .

I think a spider. 

This morning her eye is nearly swollen shut!!

I THOUGHT we were going to have a MAJOR meltdown about how "ugly" it was. .

And I didn't DARE laugh at her crazy antics of pulling the eye open with her fingers, or getting as wide eyed as possible while examining herself in the mirror!

I told her that if she was a pretty girl on the inside. .

That no one would care that her eye looked crazy!

It must have worked. .

Cause as she followed me out of her room. .

She said in a pouty voice. .

"When I smile, I look like an Oaf"!

And then, she stated in a more positive tone. .

"But at least I can wink now"!!

And all was good!

Of course. .

Par for our course. .

I was only able to get one decent shot of the kids. .

Without someone pulling something silly!! 

So. .

We have. .

Junior. .

Sophomore. .

5th grade. .

And Kindergarten (full day) 

And. .

After everyone left the house by 7:30. .

I had enjoyed several cups of coffee. .

Took photos in my garden. .

Went for a 3 mile walk/jog. .

Enjoyed my husbands company for a few minutes in the shop. .

Pulled 2 weeds. .

And uploaded my photos to keep you all current with our happenings!!

 

You can tell by the car lot. .

That some people will have to work hard today. .

But THIS girl??

Let's see!!

I could refer to the growing list in my mind. .

of ALL the projects that I want/need to complete in my spare time??

Nah. .

But I better decide fast. .

Because school is out by 1 today!

I'll have a plan by my NEXT full day without kids in 2 weeks!!

Come back soon. .

I have some fun photos from our weekend. .

A flower show for you. .

And I STILL haven't showed you my favorite vacation shots. .

Not shown anywhere before!!

Happy Monday Friends!!

The LAST Door Makeover. .and Some Other Stuff!

By now, you may be wondering if we are about out of doors that needed painting. .

the answer is a good, solid YES!!

This door that goes out onto our west deck. .was the last one.

Jeremy decided that it would be easiest to paint this one ON the frame. .since the inside didn't really need paint. .Boy was I glad. .since my job is to tape up all the windows. .and that requires doing the same procedure on BOTH sides of the door.

Cami stole my camera and snapped some intriguing photos of her dad spraying on the primer. .

It's been a month in the making! The new light fixtures that I bought wouldn't hang where the old light fixtures were. .and Jeremy R-E-F-U-S-E-D to take the aluminum siding off so we could hang them where I wanted them to hang. .He refused because he would have had to start at the top taking one row of siding off at a time until he got down to the door. All I could say was. .that I couldn't blame him. One 1 X 10 board painted green solved that problem. .and I love the lights!! I should have snapped a closer view!

In other news. .

School started yesterday for three kids. .

and PRESCHOOL started today for small girl!

The older boys had football practice at 5:45 A.M!! So, yours truly ALSO has to be functioning by then to make sure they are ready! Blech! It sounded like they both had a good day at high school, though it was a short one. Today is a full schedule. Along with the usual math and science classes they have some electives like food and nutrition, wood science and art. .they are encouraged that they will like the mix. Devin had a good day too. .his class was split in half this year and so he will have a much smaller class. .but since they all hook up at recess and lunch, he was good with that!

And because my daycare provider ROCKS. .

and with the help of modern technology. .

I got to see my excited girl get on that bus, just minutes after she actually did!! Thanks Becky!! Becky's message told me that Cami's last words to her were questions regarding WHAT Becky was going to do with Cami gone and WHAT were the daycare kids eating for snack this afternoon. .that's MY girl!! She will get to ride the bus home with Devin after school. .so hopefully they can keep each other entertained and stay out of their dad's hair. .that is, if he had any hair to stay out of!

I know that I haven't posted any pictures of what is going on in the garden lately. .mostly because the answer is NOT MUCH!! Though it has cooled down to the 90's this week, with promises of a few days in the 80's. .plants are just rebelling!! The four oclocks got HUGE while we were gone. .and a few sphinx moths have been hanging around sipping on them. We have spotted a ruby throated hummingbird at the feeder lately. .Surely she has tried the flowers out too!

If you have been around my blog for any length of time, you may recall that I usually have some vines planted in my garden by God. The vine in my memory garden this summer. .

. .has little tiny watermelons on it. .which is good, because the melon vines in the garden aren't looking too great!

These miniature hollyhocks were transplanted several years ago from my mom's garden. They have continued to grow and spread from where I originally put them. .Some of them spreading into what used to be the lawn (before the drought and heat). One evening when it was about 108, I decided that I should move some of those into gardens where they wouldn't just get mowed off. They never missed a beat, and have continued to bloom since. Just now they are starting to grow upright instead of along the ground. They should fill in a nice section of purple into the memory garden!

The red salvia has been blooming their little heads off. If I can beat the seed to the ground, I think I will sow this into another garden too. .It's such a vibrant little plant!

The yellow native snapdragon has put out a new flush of color. the maple tree barely visible to the right side of the photo is being killed by a mole. Thankfully, when my MIL was caring for my plants while I was on vacation, she recognized it. I thought it was being stressed from the heat. She dug out grass at the base of the tree and noted the mole tunnels. Turns out, that on several other struggling specimens, mole tunnels are present at each one too. We've been trying to drown it. .and I used a mole bomb (which was fun-but didn't seem to work) and last night finally googled for a solution. .coming up with not much. I may try to apply nematodes to the bases of the trees/shrubs affected. .since the other viable option of trapping him, has proved difficult for us in the past! Anyone have any good advice? So now, in addition to dragging hoses, I am routinely trying to stomp tunnels down to protect the roots!

The cabbage in my ornamental bed are making heads. Something is nibbling on them too. .but at this point. .I don't care! The gardens have been hot and dry and windy and nearly fruitless. .I'm afraid my humor is about shot with it too! Bah humbug!! I'm starting to feel like the gardening grinch!!

I did start some seeds the night we got home from vacation to go in the greenhouse this winter. .maybe I'll have better luck with that!

Fall will be here soon. .

Enjoy your "back to school" days!!

Back to School and Other Crazy Occurrences

Well, it's crazy to think that the kids have survived two days of school already! But they have! A little sadness to find I only had 2 kids available to take the annual "back to school" photo! They were all ready to go. Dev has been asking for weeks when it would start. Funny thing. .I found that shirt he's wearing all cleaned and folded up with our camping towels in the big tub last week. I set it aside and forgot about it. Scavenger that he is, he promptly sniffed it out and wore it. I didn't think it to be the best shirt to wear for the FIRST day of third grade, with his new teacher and all. .you may not be able to read it well. .It says. ."TROUBLE is my middle name". .really!

I had to work Monday too, so their dad caught the picture getting on the bus while I was in the shower. .Grant started 8th grade and football on the same day.  It will be another year of hopping activities for him. If you are wondering where Tristan was Monday morning to miss out on the photo op. .He had his first high school football practice at 5:45 AM. .

We have required the kids to put a certain portion of their "earnings" whether allowance, or money made from helping their dad in the shop into their saving account. We had also decided that we would help to pay half of their first vehicle. This little car came available a month or so ago. .so Tristan wrote the check for the car, and Jeremy agreed to put new tires on it and do a little work to it for him; making it an equal deal. One HAPPY boy!! (and one happy mom. .since he earned his farmer's permit a couple weeks ago. .I don't have to get him to practice at 6 am and picked up at 6:30. .he can take himself!!)

Our supper table has been a buzz of conversation for the last two nights. .as everyone has information to contribute from the days!! The younger boys are enjoying things; Tristan, on the other hand, is feeling pretty overwhelmed!! Today was the last early morning practice. .so that may help. As I highlighted my calendar a couple weeks ago, I got a little nauseated with the reality of just HOW busy we will be. For much of the year, there will be 3 games a week between both older kids. .plus music programs, Wednesday night church activities, and 4-H. But you know what?? I'll bet we'll live to tell about it later! It'll be a wild ride!

This is my new motto. .

Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, pina colada in the other, body thoroughly used, totally worn out and screaming -- "WOO HOO, what a ride!"

Speaking about "body worn out and screaming. .

I think I've mentioned before the way my husband collects old junk autos like other people collect stray cats. .or was that about me and my gardening obsession (which is another post later this week)?

Never the matter.

Check out what showed up at my house the day after Tristan's new car.

This old guy (1929 to be exact) has been sitting in my FIL's barn for MANY years.

My husband laughs and calls it his inheritance.

I love the sculpture to it. .the nice curvy running boards. .

Look at these wheels. .are they not ADORABLE. .and I don't even LIKE cars!!

This was Jeremy's great grandfathers feed wagon. .he used it to carry the straw bales for his cattle. And drove it till the end of it's days. .or the end of his days. .I can't remember which it was. But it was. .A LONG TIME!!

The plan. .to fix it up. There goes my winter weekend helper again. And Grant was a little miffed because he wanted his truck to be next in the refinishing line (which I believe it still is). They worked to clean out a spot in the back of JEREMY'S shop for this little guy. The boys were all interested to know whose THIS car's owner would be.  The surprising answer??

MINE!! HA!  (surprising even to me)

Now, normal people get his and her bathrooms or his and her recliners. .

We have his and her Model A's! How 'bout that!

Ya might be a redneck!

He says I won't need air conditioning. .

And I'm not sure that my dress pants will survive the seats. .

But I do get to pick out the color. . .

All by myself!!

How do you think I'd look in HOT PINK??

. .or not!!

Enjoy your week. .it's half over

Checking Things Off the List

Track is finished. .

Check!

Seems like this time of year is when we start checking things off of our proverbial list.  That started this week! School physicals, track meets, youth group, spring music programs. .those are some of the things being checked off.  The boys have had a good year in track.  They enjoy the competition. .and social aspects of the sport.  Tonight was the last meet of the season.  Tristan sprained his quad muscle in his leg during his first relay today and had to scratch out of his last two events.  Grant is learning how to hurdle (or turtle has Cami calls them. ."they are jumpin' over the turtles!!") and he is more frustrated than anything. .he is a little bit of a perfectionist. .I think he has done well for only running them a few times. 

See, Tristan's track clothes fit me perfectly!!

We were in the schools this week doing free sports physicals for next year. That is always dramatic/traumatic for the younger kids, and maybe the adults doing a hundred of them in short order!! And also presented the dreaded STD lecture to the freshman class.

I have signed half a dozen permission slips for field trips. .and those will start next week!! Tristan only has one week left of junior high!! Notes are coming home to advise us of all of the graduation information.  The big boys are taking a tractor safety class this Saturday. .missing out on the school carnival that Devin and Cami still get to go to. 

Then there are birthday parties, school dances, 4-H activities, and a youth group party. 

These two little guys just follow along. .and make entertainment for themselves where ever they might find themselves!!  Devin's class went to the plant store this afternoon to pick out flowers for their moms. .I know this. .because I was in there when they showed up. .luckily I was just finishing up with the plants I needed to pot into my front containers. .Devin was pretty sure that I had NO idea what they were up to!! I LOVE innocence!!

I survived my first afternoon with patients and a computerized record system.  It was quite stressful. .but I think I will be much better tomorrow as I muddle through day two!! My carpenter and my husband were both sick yesterday with fever and body ache nasties. .so the house is still a bit of a frustrating wreck! Tristan came in from youth group last night and lysol-ed everything that he THOUGHT they may have touched!! A boy after my own heart. .he did the toilet handles, door knobs. .and EVEN the refrigerator handle. .just like his OCD mother would have done! Yes!! Those two men were teasing me horribly. .and causing me gray hairs. .So I threatened them several times that they had better be careful when eating my cooking. .as I may slip them something they wouldn't like!! Now they are CONVINCED that I poisoned them. .and I am sure that Kelsey will never eat another meal here again!! (though they mentioned being impressed that I was able to ONLY cause illness to them. .and not to anyone else) That'll teach them to mess with the cook!! I am amused that the bathroom plans change subtly as he begins to lay things out.  It's not the way we initially thought it would go. .but I must say. .I am getting excited for the way it turning out!! It will be great!

And, to top off the week. .Tuesday night I got a phone call from my sis-in-law that my very young mother had fallen and had to have an ambulance come retrieve her from the driveway. As it turns out, she broke her left hip. .which she had surgically repaired late yesterday.  So what a crappy mother's day present for her!! I am anxious to finish some things up here and head up there this weekend to help get her home from the hospital. .and teach my dad how to do his own laundry!!

When it rains. .it pours!!

But, I guess God was feeling my crunch. .because He miraculously cured the ailments of my dishwasher. .and yes. .it seriously did have issues!! But for whatever reason. .I am REALLY glad that it works. .I just couldn't have handled one more thing this week!

Please keep my family in your prayers. .and wishing everyone a safe and wonderful weekend!

Thanks for checkin' in on us!