Tate is TEN!!

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Can you believe that??

It seems like yesterday that I held Tate in my arms for the first time and we celebrated his 4th birthday.

Our children are growing up so fast!

In Moschel style, we had a birthday bash for Tate!

They usually happen on a Sunday after church, as that is when all our favorite people are available.

Even though it was August 1st, Tate chose Creamy Halibut Potato Soup, Creamy Potato Leek Soup, a salad, rolls, and watermelon for his meal.

It was FABULOUS!

After that delicious spread for lunch, there were gifts.

Tate was SO excited and he said the cutest things!!

Please look closely at his expression in this first photo, ha, ha!

Tate had lots of willing helpers and these photos will be a favorite of mine for years to come!

Tate’s all time favorite thing is Culver’s French fries.

Kayla took him there one time and got him hooked!

I loved this gift he got from our friends so much – it cracked us all up!

I’m sorry….what’s that you said???

Where is the cute baby??

Why, here you go, here she is!!!

And here’s another one!!

And here’s one more!

You are welcome!!

Tate asked Addie Mae for a chocolate cake with chocolate icing.

That’s all.

Just a cake – chocolate on chocolate.

And she made THIS.

I know!!

I did not want them to eat that beautiful thing!

But that kind of defeated it’s purpose, I was told.

STUNNING, isn’t it??

So we sang a terribly off key version of Happy Birthday to Tate, and then Addie ruined that beautiful cake to give everyone some, ha, ha!

Here are some chocolate smiles to make your day.

No adults with chocolate smiles were photographed, just saying.

After all that chocolate was devoured, the kids played, we visited, sipped coffee, lounged around just BEING TOGETHER –

It was the BEST day!

It was so nice outside that in the evening we went for a long walk and to also give Tate a chance to fly his new kite that he got from his big sis Kayla.

It was one of those cool, bug free, slightly breezy, perfectly blue sky evenings – my heart was SO FULL!!

This photo gets me.

Uncle and Nephew.

Ten years old and five years old.

Best of friends.

SO, so sweet!

What a wonderful celebration of our Tater Tot!

Good food, great fellowship, a beautiful and delicious cake, a gorgeous day….

it really was so good.

Mr. Tate, we cannot believe you are TEN!

There is so much we love about you, buddy!

You are so kind, helpful, compassionate, loving, and such a people person!

We know the Lord can use you greatly!!

It is such a privilege to be Tate’s Mama.

Something I will never ever take lightly.

You are my sunshine, Tate Owen!!

Happy, happy Birthday!!!

WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!

July Stuff

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I am always so glad for an opportunity to look back on a month that has passed.

It is funny how even looking at our own photos can spur me on.

In a “I should do that again!” kind of way!

Of course July holds a lot of summer memories!

Swimming is ALWAYS better when a big sister or a big brother is home and swims with their younger siblings!

We did swim lessons in July.

It was fantastic!

We had a sweet friend come to our home and teach Tate, Eliza and our neighbors two children.

It was perfect!

When the weather cooperated!

Gardening has been a family project – thankful for my crew and their help!

We have had quite the bounty from our little garden space!

We ate in July.

Lots of eating going on here!

They still love to eat!

Which meant grocery shopping and lots of good food!!

It sure is nice when they help us grocery shop.

It makes the two carts full easier to push!

I enjoy the kitchen with my helpers!

Lane likes to help too, I just don’t have a photo of him!

I wonder what I will do when the day comes that I do not need a case of bananas at a time?

Or 48 waffles made every Saturday to last through the week?

I am not looking forward to those days!

I am enjoying our lower level family room more these days.

It helps that we have new comfortable furniture!

I have been adding some touches to that room, using a gift card I received for Mother’s Day!

I am hopeful my builders will build the wall of built in shelves down there this winter.

Hand therapy was still happening in July and is still happening now.

I am making progress!

Healing has been super slow, but I am thankful for how much I can do with my hand now!

We had so many days of hazy, thick air in our area from the fires in Canada.

It was a great reminder to pray for those where the fires were.

We had some storms in our area, and also some very heavy rain and flooding.

On this morning we headed to the basement after my hubby texted me and said “get to the basement!”

It was the strangest color outside and the wind was fierce!

Saturdays are our mowing day when the weather cooperates.

Lane has been such a diligent mower!

We have two push mowers to mow this huge yard, and it takes some time to push mow it all.

The older boys are home on Saturdays and help Lane out!

One Saturday after the kiddos’s work was done, Blake handed them our old walkie talkies with new batteries in them.

They had such a fun day with those things!

Tate was standing here talking to Lane who was outside and half way up a tree, ha, ha!

We always love watching the hay come down.

Won’t be long now and the corn will come down!

July brought another wedding!!

We have had so many weddings this summer and it has been fun!

Of course there is date night.

I love date night.

I think you all know that already though!

We don’t have a date every week these days, but we do as often as we can.

I bought an adorable Asian boy this card game on Amazon.

With hopes that it would be a fun way to help him memorize his times tables, of course!

He is getting them down!

July was really just all about days with my trio.

I love the dynamics of days with my trio!!

They are a fun, enthusiastic bunch of kiddos!

It’s hard to believe summer is almost over!

How is that possible?

July was a good month for us here at Twin Oaks.

How about for you all?

Was your summer good?

I sure hope so!!

I love the start of each brand new day – another chance – another blessed day given to us by God!!

Time is a GIFT!!

Hope you all are enjoying that gift too!!!

A Road Trip

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We took a little road trip, leaving Wisconsin late in the afternoon on Thursday, July 22nd!

This time our passengers were Addie, Lane, Tate and Eliza!

It was fun to have more kiddos with us this time!!

Our first stop was Peoria, Illinois, where we headed straight to a hotel and straight to bed, because is was almost midnight!

The next morning we got an early start so we could head to see the kiddos grandparents.

We packed our own breakfast food to make breakfast quick and easy!

We had such a nice visit with Blake’s Dad and Lilli.

It is always so good to be with them.

We love being there so much!

Next we headed to Morton, Illinois, where we used to live before moving to Wisconsin 19 years ago.

We met Blake’s Mom at our favorite new coffee shop – Four 30 Scones.

They have gluten-free vegan scones and they are delicious!

We spent quite a bit of money there, ha, ha!!

Before we left Morton we drove around and showed the kids where we lived when we were there.

We had lived in three different homes during our years in Morton.

This is the home that Grant came home to – a beautiful spot we had outside of town in the country.

We also had to make a quick stop for someone to buy some new clothes because she left the clothes she brought with her in the hotel closet!

It wasn’t me, just saying!!

Late Friday afternoon we headed down the road to Indianapolis.

It was a beautiful day!

Guess who is asleep under that blanket?

You got it – Tater Tot.

Funny boy!

Saturday morning came quick!

There is a one hour time change when we head to Indy and it is not in our favor!

This is what you look like when you are not a morning person and you are now living in a time zone that is one hour earlier –

Sweet girl!

We were so excited to head over to my Mom’s place and see my brother and Mom!

We spent the rest of the weekend hanging out with them, watching the Olympics, doing fun crafts, eating good food, playing with water guns, taking walks, and enjoying being together!!

My brother had just completed a new photo wall in my Mom’s kitchen and I love it so much!

There are so many great photos and memories on that wall!

We left Indianapolis Sunday afternoon to head all the way back to Wisconsin – but we did make a stop in Peoria to pick up Addie Mae’s clothes at that hotel!

So….here’s the thing.

It might be my age, or these times we are living in, or both – but I really don’t want to be driving so far to “visit” our family for a few hours or a few days.

I never have liked living so far apart, but it is harder now than ever before.

I want to be doing life with our extended family.

Everyday.

All the time.

I just feel like we are all missing out on so much because we are not together!

This is what it is though, so we will keep driving to Illinois and Indianapolis to be able to see our precious family.

We are planning to go back one more time before the snow flies, Lord willing!

Until then, I am so happy that we have these photos!!

They are so sweet to look back on, and will be treasured for sure!

Memories made and memories kept!!

Can’t wait until next time!!

Second Annual Boat Vacation Day!!

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Sunday, July 18th, was our second annual boat vacation day!!

My wonderful hubby rented a boat, and we ALL spent the entire day together on the Mighty Mississippi!

IT WAS FABULOUS.

Before we headed to the marina to get the boat, we stopped at the new little coffee shop that is just up the road from Twin Oaks!

I LOVE that cute place.

It was a beautiful, beautiful day and the perfect temperature!

Not too hot and not too cool!

When we arrived at the Marina I got tears in my eyes just knowing how much we were going to enjoy all being together to play hard all day!

The eight of us loaded up the boat with our cooler, towels, and stuff and headed out!

We were picking up Kayla’s down the river at a better spot for them to park their car.

I grabbed some photos and we even tubed some before it was time to pick up Kay’s!

We grabbed our grandbabies and their parents about a half hour after being on the water.

JOY, JOY, JOY!!

We decided to head to a beach and let the kids RUN and PLAY!

It was super fun!

These kiddos know how to play hard and enjoy life!

Not one of them had any fear of the water – not even Aspen!

We had some lunch from our coolers and then started tubing again.

River Salem was SO excited to go tubing!

That little man has a serious need for speed.

Kiddos just slept whenever they were tired wherever they were.

It’s what happens to you when you play so hard!

We stopped at a second sand bar to play some more before the sun set.

Pretty soon it was time to head back to the marina to drop Kayla’s off and then to drop the boat off.

The sunset on the river was AMAZING – so peaceful, so beautiful!

Our hearts were SO FULL and we were so exhausted!!

That ride back to the marina was the perfect end to the day.

We actually had our first boat vacation day back in 2012.

We were growing 3 acres of squash on the farm that year, and needed some time away but knew we could not travel.

We loved our boat day then!

Chad was 8 years old and Lane was 4 years old!

Last year we did it again and decided to make it an annual thing!

Lord willing, time will tell!!

But I heard talk of expanding the plan to a house boat, sleeping on the river, and jet skis!

Hoping those kiddos with the big plans can see them come to fruition!!

Cause that would be SO FUN!!

Forever grateful for my amazing husband as he makes these things happen for us.

Vacation Day 2021, you did not disappoint!

CAN’T WAIT TILL NEXT YEAR!!!

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