This post does not contain any celebration news!
You are shocked, I know!
March held A LOT of normal but crazy busy days – and just looking back on the photos as I loaded them to this little blog of mine made me smile SO much about all the good memories we make here!
You have to know that there is much planning going on.
Addie is a skilled, organized, joyful bride-to-be who is doing an AMAZING job getting us all ready for the BIG day!
We have planning meetings sometimes, but usually whenever we see each other in the evenings we update each other on all that needs told!
Especially now that packages arrive here daily!
Planning a wedding through the internet instead of running all over the place is actually very nice!
At the beginning of March I had the pleasure of being a third wheel on one of Scottie and Addie’s date nights!!
I happened to be at home alone (thanks to a robotics event), and so they took me along to work on their registry and to shop for their new home!
I HAD THE BEST TIME!!
I am sure you can imagine how we feel about not only Addie leaving us, but the fact that she is taking Ruby with her.
It is very bittersweet!
Because we are SO HAPPY for Addie and Scottie but we are going to miss them both SO much!
We spend so much time with Ruby everyday because Addie is at work and we are at home.
Here is Lane getting ready for that Robotics event I mentioned above.
He still loves this SO much!!
And he is VERY good at it!
Throughout March, as I had a little free time here and there, I continued to work on my purging and organization of our home project!
I had a list in my phone, you all, of the things that still needed done!
To pat myself on the back here a bit – I will add that I condensed five HUGE Christmas decoration totes into three much much smaller totes.
Those needed gone through SO badly!
I never take time to do it during the holidays when we have them out anyway.
I also needed one little container a while back to hold some essential oil rollers that were making an oily mess in a bathroom drawer.
I found what I wanted, but had to buy a pack of three.
They were only $2 for three of them – so pretty soon this happened!
If you know, you know.
That drawer was a MESS before!
It wasn’t too long after that that I went back for more of those cute bins to work on another messy drawer!
Of course I did.
How long do you think all of this organizing will last???
While I was going through things, I was also deep cleaning things.
Areas I am sure I have never cleaned, based on their appearance, good grief.
Like under one of the sinks in the bathroom that holds cleaning supplies and a haircut kit.
I am sure there were several health code violations under that sink – just saying – it was so gross!
We mostly use Thieves household cleaner to clean, but I love making our other cleaning products.
They work great and do not have any harsh chemicals.
Ok, moving on!!
You know we ate in March!
And you know we love food!
And you know how big of a job it is here!
Let’s take a look at all the goodness that came from the kitchen, shall we?
Did you even look at all of those, ha, ha??
This kitchen of ours takes a beating every single day, but it truly is my absolute favorite place to be!!
It really is the perfect size and layout!!
I literally live in my apron most days!!
The best work uniform!!
Kayla and I are still doing our bulk monthly shopping.
We are actually heading to Costco today!!
Here is my March Azure order.
I pick up my Azure orders about five minutes up the road in Cashton.
It is SO handy and their products are wonderful!!
I love my good helpers!
I am teaching my way out of some jobs – teaching Tate and Eliza to make bread!
They LOVE to help and feel like an important part of this team!
Letting your children own important jobs in their childhood builds confidence like no other.
Speaking of my helpers – how will I possibly keep up with everything when they are grown and gone???
I haven’t told the youngest two they are never allowed to leave – but they aren’t!!!
My trio are the ones who care for our Lil Red Barn and our animals, help keep up with that crazy kitchen, and keep up with our home and land.
See why I love their help?!
Let’s talk for a minute about my waffle maker.
My waffle maker belonged to my Grandma Stambaugh and was gifted to me by my Mom shortly after I was diagnosed with celiac.
It was OLD, but still worked SO great!
The cast iron plates were my favorite part!
I could no longer change the heat setting on it, and I had to use a fork to pry it open with an oven mitt on my other hand because the handle was missing, but I LOVED that waffle maker.
Unfortunately, it started to feel dangerous.
The cord especially.
I just kept imagining that hissing sound soon turning into a fire!!
So I was time to let my beloved waffle maker go.
I have made literally thousands of waffles in that thing.
Even Chad couldn’t believe I was letting it go!!
It was emotional for me for sure.
Blake gave me the green light to order a new one.
So I did.
It is AMAZING.
I do not even have to set a timer on my phone while the waffles cook because it has one!!!
School marched on in March!
We currently are VERY close to being finished with our school year!!
Eliza and Tate are technically finished and Lane has a few Math Lessons and one Module of Biology to complete yet.
The goal was to be free of school work in time for the first WEDDING!!!
And we did it!!
The weather continues to be wacky!!
But we get outside all the time anyway!
The children have really been enjoying biking ever since Eliza got her new bike.
I love watching them and hearing them outside!
We still enjoy everyone getting together on Sundays!
It fills my cup for the week ahead!
We had some fun outings too!!
I had the immense last minute privilege of meeting up with a best friend on a Friday morning – and she even took me out for lunch!!
I left with my heart so full!
We have a lot more weddings this year than our own two!
It has been and will be super fun!!
Got to sit with some wonderful friends at a reception of a very, very sweet wedding!
Blake and I also took our newest giant on a date night one Friday night.
This kiddo of ours gets lost in the shuffle sometimes – so it was SO good to spend time with him!!
He needed new clothes because he is growing an inch every night while he sleeps – trying to catch his older brother, I think!
We shopped and then had ice cream by the fire in the new Hyvee.
It was such a fun evening!!
Lane makes me laugh so much!!
Addie and I are also still on our Women’s Ministry Committee at church and part of the planning and hosting a Women 2 Women gathering each month.
It is truly a highlight of the month for me!
We have our last one for this “year” (we follow the school year) next week!
We also had a beautiful Good Friday service at church.
Our church can SING.
Like really SING!!!
And we do.
It was so so beautiful!
I read some good books last month!
Some more enjoyable than others, if you know what I mean!
That gut book was a doozy!!
But I learned a lot!
Speaking of books, I sent my beloved Bible (my best friend!!) away to be recovered.
I am not kidding when I say that it took a lot for me to be able to do that.
I could not imagine one day without my Bible!
I cannot wait to get it back and it will be so nice that it is not falling apart anymore!
Last, but not least, this happened sometime in the middle of March.
That last text was followed by an instant phone call from my hubby – I think we were both trying to gauge if the other was serious or not!!
Well – stay tuned for the next post to see what happened after that!!!
The suspense shouldn’t be too bad since you know we are creatures of habit who do the same things all the time, ha, ha!!
And here are some sky photos just so you know it is really me!!
I LOVE THE SKY.
It has been so beautiful lately.
That last photo was taken at a retirement party that Blake and I went to.
It was really fun, and I had a delicious meal!!
They are so kind to care for me that way!
I also got to bring home one of the centerpieces.
Ok, March, that’s a wrap!!
I hope you all had a wonderful month full of wonderful things!
Until next time…..
