Another Week and a Wonderful Road Trip!

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I just had a look back at last week as I edited all of my photos – and wow, was it full!

Do you all ever look back at things and say “Did we really do all that?”

We say that often around here!

How thankful I am for the Lord’s strength, grace and mercy!!

Even when sometimes I feel like Ruby here!

Monday morning started out with our school rhythm, even as I prepared for our Women to Women meeting at church that night.

It was our last Women to Women gathering for this school year!

And we finished with a bang!!

It was SO, so, so good – as we heard from our pastor and his wife about how to share the gospel with others!

We continued on with our school rhythm on Tuesday, but little did I know at the time, that ended up being our last day of the ‘school year’ for us!

We will be doing some school like things all summer long, as usual, but remembering that experiences in life are the BEST school days!

You know, I’m sure, that I will have to keep reading aloud to Tate and Eliza because we love it so much!

I just picture summer read aloud outside on the deck or on the patio swing!!

Tuesday evening Grant had asked Blake and I if we could meet at Menards to help him make some purchases for his new home.

Guess how we answered?!

You all are so smart!

I might have had the most fun helping Grant choose cabinet pulls for his kitchen, ceiling lights and fans for his bedrooms, dining room, and living room, and even a new toilet seat because that is just what you do when you actually get to own your own toilet!!

Addie asked if my trio and I would give her some of our time on Wednesday morning to help her clean and organize the church kitchen.

Guess how I answered?!

You guys are good at this game!!

Of course we loved helping her and are so glad she is in charge of the church kitchen and all that she does there to serve our church family!!

Wednesday afternoon we headed to the library to get some books for a road trip we were headed on the next day.

We also stopped where Addie works to pick out some flowers to take on that road trip as gifts!

I might not have wanted to leave that beautiful greenhouse, just saying.

The weather here has been less than lovely, but standing in that greenhouse was LOVELY!!

Of course there was food prep all week long as well.

I plan menus week by week.

When I could not come up with some great meal ideas I asked Lane, Tate, and Eliza to give me a meal to write on the menu plan.

There are perks to being the only ones home with me all day!

It was a brilliant idea that I might use over and over again.

Lane picked chili soup, Eliza picked Thai peanut soup, and Tate picked Chinese lemon chicken over rice.

They are good at choosing meals, don’t you think?

Thursday we started packing for our trip, as we were leaving as soon as Blake got home from work on Thursday evening.

Lane also had a dentist appointment to have two extractions done.

It ended up being a lot more than we thought it would, but he was a TROUPER and did so well!

(This is the start of orthodontic work for him. The extractions were due to some ectopic permanent teeth he has.)

I prepped meals for our trip for myself on Thursday afternoon after we got home and got Lane settled.

I also had to fill all of the bellies before we hopped in the van to leave, and baked yam bar did the trick!

I love making baked yams in the instant pot!

Lane, however, had a smoothie for dinner and his mama made him some extra to have later!

Blake ran in the door and we were on the road by 7 p.m.

It was just Tate and Eliza with us this time and we were headed to Illinois and Indianapolis to see our parents!!

We arrived in Peoria at midnight and headed to our hotel to get to bed.

Tate and Eliza slept quite a bit in the van!

When the flash went off as I took this first photo, Eliza peeked at me!

We were up bright and early the next morning excited to go and see Grandpa Ross and Grandma Lilli!

We spent the day at their home and enjoyed a wonderful lunch and time with them.

It is always much too fast.

Tate and Eliza had each made watercolor pictures to take to each of their grandparents.

SO, so sweet and all on their own accord!

I just LOVE Eliza’s painting.

It made me smile SO much!!

Please make note of the exactness of our heights and hair colors (and of the size of her mama’s hips, ha, ha)!

We met up with Grandma Barb in the early evening on Friday at our all time favorite coffee shop in Morton – Four30 Scones!

It was yummy and a wonderful visit!

Pretty soon we were off to head to Indy so we could lay our heads down for a few hours before the next morning arrived!

There is a time change that is not to our advantage when we arrive in Indianapolis.

We were still up and at ’em early on Saturday morning and so very excited to head to my Mom and brother’s place!

I always love how Tate finds a way…so I had to include this first photo of him getting ready at the hotel!

Not only did we enjoy being with my Mom and brother, but we enjoyed planting the flowers on my Mom’s deck that we had brought.

We also enjoyed seeing and loving on my brother’s dog, Milo!

It was warm in Indy – YAY!!

It ended up being a great day for a walk and to spend endless time on the deck!!

Sunday morning came way too fast.

We got ready and loaded up the van, but not until Tate made his bed.

He can’t not make the beds at the hotels, and that is a memory I want to keep!!

We had breakfast at my Mom’s Sunday morning.

It was chilly, but there might have been a crazy lady who was determined to stay outside before getting in the van for the long eight plus hour drive back home!

We said so long to Indy, my mom, my brother, and even Milo around 10:30 that morning.

There were tears.

Maybe even sobs from the co-pilot sitting next to her husband in that van as he drove it away.

I leave a bigger piece of my heart in each of these places every time we go – and it was VERY hard to drive away this time.

Our trip home was super duper windy, but uneventful.

So thankful the Lord answered YES to our prayers for safety and protection as we traveled!

Once home on Sunday we jumped in to get ready for another full week, just like that!

It’s warming up here, starting today, and we might even see SPRING this week!!

Can you believe it??

Is it spring where you are?

I talked to one of my besties down south yesterday and it is already summer there!

I made sure to be happy for them instead of jealous!!

I hope you all had a great week and spent some time counting your blessings and thanking the Lord for them!!

Until next time!!

Home Sweet Home

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It was fantastic to take a vacation, but it is always more fantastic to come back home!!

You all know I am a home body – I really enjoy being home.

The Friday that we got home was like a marathon.

I am old enough and wise enough to know that vacations come with a cost – there is always much work involved and a lot to catch up on once back home!!

Somehow Blake and I stayed awake long enough on Friday to get grocery on Friday night – it was a two cart night.

Super good to be stocked back up though!

Saturday morning was the day I started “filling all the bellies” again – even though I did that while in Florida too!

It was also a BIG kitchen day as we tried to get ready for the week ahead and also get ready for our Easter celebration.

I had very tan great helpers though!!

I put this next photo on Instagram, and then immediately posted the second photo after it.

This IS the reality of social media, is it not?

The perfect photo of your perfect grain-free waffles…but not showing that half of them stuck to the waffle maker and were much less than perfect?

Don’t be fooled by those little squares on Instagram!!

By the way, I kept the ones that were a mess too – they reheated just fine and tasted just like the other ones!

I had planned our menus for the week after we returned home from Florida before we left on vacation.

I guess I thought it would be warmer by then – so a summer grilled meal for Saturday it was!

Even though it was 30 some degrees!

It tasted delicious!!

After Blake and Lane had went to La Crosse for parts on Saturday morning, Blake fixed our van.

It was a BIG job.

It took him 12 hours.

But it saved us hundreds of dollars!!

When he finished at midnight that night, something was still wrong.

Thankfully on Sunday evening when he pulled it all apart again, he found what was wrong and it was an easy fix!

It has been running great ever since!

Thank you, babe, for all your hard work for us!!

Before we left for Florida I had asked Kayla if she would host Easter dinner this year.

She was glad to!!

It was wonderful to head over to the farm after a beautiful church service on Sunday!

Kayla and I had planned the meal and both made parts of it – it turned out great!!!

Kayla had planned an egg hunt for the kiddos and of course they loved it!

Thankfully it was a little bit warmer on Sunday!

Believe it or not, Monday morning we were back to our full routine!

I had planned school before we left for Florida too, knowing there was no way I would have time to do it before Monday once we returned back home.

All three of my trio told me on Sunday night that they were SO excited for school the next day!

How sweet is that?

We had a great week back in our rhythm, which included getting back to piano lessons, read aloud and art class.

I was super happy to be back in the kitchen and enjoyed making yummy food this past week too!!!

The weather this week is NOTHING like Florida – think cold, windy, rainy, snowy, cold, cold, cold.

Winter will you ever end??

This week ahead doesn’t look like it’s going to be any better.

We were creative with our time inside!

Friday afternoon also became a time of serious rest – the pace of last week was crazy!!

This Saturday was another big kitchen day – or so I thought – but these two cuties are getting so efficient and good at working in the kitchen that by 9:30 they were headed outside because we were done!!

I still needed to make dinner and dessert for Hymn Sing Saturday night, but that was all!

Good job, you two!!

I made an abundance of chocolate chip cookies for Hymn Sing Saturday night.

Hymn Sing is a FAVORITE!!!

We had the best time!!!

Here’s another shout out for my amazing trio of helpers – they are the BEST at putting away grocery each week.

We have a system I’m telling ya!!

I also asked my hubby to pick up a case of bananas, because I am believing in spring and smoothie season.

It has to arrive eventually, right?

Another very fast, but GREAT week in the books!!

It is so good to be HOME!

Are you a home body like me?

I don’t take it for granted that the Lord has filled my heart with a love for keeping our home and homeschooling our children!!

It is a gift!

Thank you, Jesus!

Did you all have a great week too?

Here’s hoping you did!!

Until next time!

A New Home Owner!!

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Our Grant has been looking to buy a house for awhile now.

He had put offers in on several homes (four? or five?)…but this market is C.R.A.Z.Y!!

Finally he found a home that was a great fit for him, and his offer was ACCEPTED!!

That was back at the very beginning of March.

Grant closed on his new home this past Monday!

We could not wait to see the inside of it!!

The four kiddos (who were home on Monday) and I headed there right after an early lunch to check it out.

Thankfully his new place is only about 12 minutes away!!

Grant’s home was built in 1910 and has had only two other owners.

It is FULL of character and old home beauty!

If only it could tell its story!!

We are very excited to help Grant make his house a home!!

Since Chad does remodeling for a living, his input was SO valuable on what Grant could do to spruce the place up!

Right away we realized there were the original hardwood floors under ALL the floating floors, tile and carpet that had been placed on top of them – LET DEMO BEGIN!!

We all helped out on Monday with hauling out all the old flooring, cleaning, and pulling wallpaper off the one bedroom’s walls.

Many hands made light work and we got a lot done!

We even had some cute visitors while we worked!

Friday night Blake and I headed back down with Grant to finish prepping things for a big weekend of work.

We devoted this weekend to getting those beautiful floors sanded!

They are going to be MORE BEAUTIFUL!!

I especially couldn’t wait to see how the floors with the glue on them would turn out!

The living room had a floating floor over it, but the dining room and entry way had floors that were glued down.

They had a lot of residue on them.

Grant rented some sanders and he and Blake worked on the floors most of Saturday and then again on Sunday afternoon.

The rest of us stayed away because of the noise and the dust!

We did visit though, and I took the guys food!

Watching the progress was exciting!!

Look how wonderfully they sanded down!

Not any of that carpet glue left at all!

It is just the sanding dust that you see in these first two photos.

Aren’t they turning out SO pretty??

Because Grant has a place here at Twin Oaks to lay his head, he is going to work as he can on his new home to get it ready to live in.

It needs some tender loving care for sure!

Lots more planned to do there, and we are all excited to be able to help Grant!

It’s FUN to work together – especially with a vision that is a wonderful goal!

HAPPY NEW HOUSE, GRANT EVAN!!

WE ARE SO HAPPY FOR YOU!!

A Trip of a Lifetime Part 3

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Tuesday was another beautiful and warmer day for us in Florida.

We spent most of the day hanging out by the pool enjoying that sunshine!

We made breakfast for dinner that evening (do you all do that?) and knew it would finally be the PERFECT evening to watch the sunset on the pier without freezing to death or being blown away by the wind!

We headed there after dinner.

We were right – it was a gorgeous evening!!

So different than just a few nights before!!

Standing at the end of the pier to watch the sun go down is a favorite thing of mine!!

We knew those clouds would give the sky SO much color as the sun started to dip down!

Then the big ball of sunshine peeked out below the clouds right before it went completely below the horizon – make sure you look carefully at the last photo in these next ones!

Isn’t that so, so pretty?!!!

Wednesday was our last full day in our home away from home.

My hubby had made a BIG plan for us as our FINALE to our trip of a lifetime!!

He had booked us a boat ride – just the six of us and the captain and his son.

Not only was it super fun to just ride on the boat, but we got to watch dolphins swim, see some eagles and beautiful properties – and we got dropped off at a private beach called “the secret spot” to play and find shells!!

We got to stay there for almost two hours.

It was BEAUTIFUL.

UNBELIEVABLY BEAUTIFUL!!

And the shells were everywhere – I have never seen so many!!

You could not even walk barefoot by the shore line because all of the shells hurt your feet!

We couldn’t even choose there were SO many perfect shells!!

I took mostly video of the children looking for shells and also of what they found.

Tate found the shell of a crab in one piece and Lane found a sand dollar!!

Isn’t that sand dollar so neat?!

Can you see all the beautiful shells in his bucket?!

They had a blast on that beach.

The houses around the area where we were boating were beautiful, but ridiculous!

This first home sold for 35 million dollars.

I will never get that – but it is pretty to look at!

After our grand finale outing, we headed back to the pool to cool off and stay outside as long as we could!

We cleaned out the fridge for dinner and managed to fill all the bellies on a bunch of random stuff!

Blake and I had some errands to run after dinner, but we brought back ice cream for our last evening in Florida!

Thursday morning came.

We were all ready in different ways to get back home, but also not ready to leave the warm weather and sunshine.

We knew what the weather had been like and was going to be like upon our arrival back home – it was still winter!

We spent a little bit of time at the pool Thursday morning before heading in to shower and pack up.

One last photo of the pool and the palm trees with the sky in the background!

We got ready quickly and then took our luggage downstairs to be locked in the conference room since our flight was not until 9 p.m. (but we had to be out of our room by noon).

We headed out to fill the rest of the day with lunch, some window shopping, and some gift shopping for our favorite peeps back home!

Pretty soon we were out of ideas of what to do with ourselves, so we headed back to the hotel to change into warmer clothes and get our luggage.

We decided to just head to the airport, check-in, get through security, and then hang out sipping coffee and reading books until it was time for our flight.

Finally it was time to board and head home!!

We landed in Minneapolis after midnight.

It was SNOWING.

And somewhere around 15 degrees.

We weren’t in Florida anymore!!

Blake did a great job getting us home from the airport safely, only stopping one time to jog around the van in the cold air to make sure he would stay awake!!

I stayed awake the whole time too, don’t worry, as a good co-pilot would.

We arrived home at 4 a.m.!!

Blake, Chad and I slept till 7 a.m. and then had to get up and start the day – the guys needed to head to work, and I needed to get after laundry, grocery, and the three other million things I did that day!!

Life has been full speed ahead ever since I woke last Friday, but I am loving it.

Loving being back in our kitchen.

Loving teaching Math, and reading aloud to my trio.

Loving spending time with ALL of our crew, especially on Sunday for Easter!

Florida, you definitely were a trip of a lifetime!

Time will tell if we ever get to do anything like that again – but I am not taking these memories for granted!

Thank you, Blake, the most wonderful husband and father, for planning this trip and making it happen!!

It was BEYOND wonderful and I am so thankful we got to be there with the kids like we always talked about when we have been there in the past!

OK, Wisconsin – get the memo!!

It’s April and we are ready for SPRING!!

Definitely missing the weather we enjoyed last week!!

Hope you all had a good week last week where ever you were!!

And I hope you had a good Easter too!!

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