A Trip to Iowa

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!!

The First Day of School

Our first day of school was Monday, August 10th!

We started the day with our first day of school traditions – a special breakfast, opening up gifts of new school supplies, and a first day photo in front of the pie safe in our school room!

Breakfast was yummy!

We had chocolate chip pancakes, bacon, and freshly squeezed orange juice!

The kiddos were excited, but sleepy!

It will take them a week or two to get used to our new schedule!

I love taking their first day of school photos!

It is so neat to look back and see how much they have grown!

Here’s our line up this year!

Eliza Claire, 8 years old, 3rd grade.

Tate Owen, just turned 9 years old, 3rd grade.

Lane Stevan, 12 years old, 7th grade.

Yes, those are really his feet, as huge as they are!

Chad will be joining our school days in September and starting his junior year!

We had an amazing first week last week.

The mama and teacher of this crew has learned over the years to lower her expectations of the first day/week of school!

Expectations ALWAYS bite!

We enjoy our rhythm, each other, and learning together at our own chosen pace!

Here we are reviewing times tables!

Five minutes each day and they master them quick!

The kiddos filled out a “passport application” and a “check” to pay for it – because we are taking a trip around the world this year and studying many countries and their cultures!

Read aloud time is a FAVORITE.

This a a great book, by the way!

Someone asked Tate over the weekend what his favorite part of school is.

He told them Read and Think (which is reading comprehension).

You wouldn’t think that would be his answer based on this photo!

This is what concentration looks like!!

Can I just shout a praise to the Lord for how this precious boy has mastered a second language, writing, and reading – all at his “supposed-to-be” grade level in the few years he has been home?!

This is not lost on us!!

I believe we have always started our school year the second week of August except for one year.

We are ready by mid-August to get back to our routine and structure!

More than ever, I think, this year!

Blake and I are excited to see the growth in these kiddos this year – spiritually, physically and eductionally!

School year 2020-2021, here we go!!

IT’S A….

GIRL!!!

The look on Kayla’s face says it all – she was shocked!!

Kay had been calling the baby “him” for weeks now!

What a wonderful gender reveal party it was!

Rejoice with us!!

David and Kayla are having a precious little girl!!

Our third grand daughter!!

WE ARE SO EXCITED!!

We can’t wait to meet you, precious little baby girl!

We love you SO much already!!

July Stuff

Time is weird, isn’t it?

As I look back, July feels like it flew by, but most days it felt like it was creeping at a snail’s pace!

Our days are sweet, though, and still full of so many “normals” for us!

Besides the big appointments we had in July for Tate and Eliza, we had a lot of other appointments too, which I am hoping never becomes something I call normal!

The youngest three were along for the ride a lot!

Sometimes, like at the orthodontist, we were not allowed inside with Chad.

We always enjoy our normal of worship, Bible time, and prayer in the mornings!

You know, it was just a few years ago that a very good friend encouraged me to sing daily with my children!

I laughed at her and said “I CANNOT sing!”

She told me it didn’t matter – and you know what?

She was right!

We enjoy singing together!

I also am enjoying my normal of having a time with the Lord before the children wake each morning!

I have been reading chronologically through the Bible this year – my first time to make it this far!

Eliza is not a morning person!

I wonder if that will always be her normal?

Also, Ruby Jane is the sweetest pup ever.

I spent a big chunk of time preparing for school to start!

I LOVE TO PLAN THESE KIDDOS DAYS!!

We are purposing some of the budget into getting stocked back up on oils and other favorites from Young Living!

I am thankful for those oils to reach for when we need them!!

I even found a cute little shelf on Amazon to store them.

I finally got Eliza an appointment to straighten up the haircut I gave her during quarantine!

We washed her hair at home before we went, and I dropped the boys off to hang out with Addie at work, which is just down the street from the salon!

Her hair looks SO much better!

I was eating my breakfast by the sliding glass door one morning listening to these two.

I could not pull myself away!!

Tate asked Eliza, “Eliza, do you want a big family, or a medium one?”

Eliza answered, “I think I heard a dog bark.”

Sums these two up PERFECTLY!

Our deep thinker, and the another one always in her own little world!

This photo is to remind me to always have dogs from here on out that don’t shed.

This was one of three swiffer clothes I used downstairs to sweep the floors.

Three swiffers full of dog hair could make a new dog!

Speaking of that bald brown haired pup – I could not resist taking this photo, even though it was dark!

She always sneaks into someone’s bed at night!

I found this candy bar in the freezer in between some tortilla wraps.

I knew it did not belong there, and someone was missing it – but I still thought about eating it!

Glad I didn’t eat it, because later I found out Chad had purchased it for his big sister.

He is SO sweet!

Kayla and I left all the kiddos in very capable hands one day back in July and drove two hours to go to Costco and stock up on grocery!

In this photo we are in the check out lane and Kay had already emptied her cart.

Let’s just say it was a good thing we did not have any passengers in the van – it was FULL.

Definitely worth the drive!

For those of you who have been here awhile, you probably remember the plague infestation of flies we had in 2018.

Well, the daily manure spreading around Twin Oaks is back here in 2020!

The flies make me a crazy lady!

Just kidding – I have actually been praised by my boys at my fly swatting and killing skills!

I bought the kiddos a new book that I could not resist.

I read it cover to cover too and it was SO interesting!

They love to read and I am so glad to find good things for them to read!

I know I just told you I bought a book, but now I am going to tell you I am selling books!

I have been for months now.

It slowed way down with COVID, but selling has picked back up and I am selling books like crazy!

I have been getting rid mostly of homeschool books we no longer need.

SUCH a blessing!

I very normal thing here at Twin Oaks is being outside.

Daily!

All day!

The pull of the summer weather is hard to resist!!

And the Lord’s handiwork in the sky still takes my breath away!

I was SO happy when our cucumbers started appearing in our garden!

They have RUINED me!

I am now a cucumber snob!

I like them crisp, with no seeds, and without the skin being chewy.

These cucumbers are the best ones we have ever grown!

The green beans have been fabulous too.

As I type this the tomatoes have started to ripen!

My trio likes to play games.

The game of choice right now is chess.

They play it several times a day!

We are still eating – it’s very normal!

I don’t have many food photos this time!

I still have a big kitchen day most Saturdays too – to make all that food!

Thankful I love to cook and bake!

We had a women’s meeting at church one Monday evening.

It was a project night – to paint pots, plant succulents, and make cards for nursing home residents.

We had so much fun!!

The plants turned out beautiful!!

We had close to 50 of them when we were done!

We still like to listen to audio books and radio shows to pass some time on the rainy days!

A few more normal things to end this lloooonnnggg post!

Working out.

It saves my back from constant troubles!

Naps.

They are just needed sometimes!

Retail therapy, ha, ha!

We actually did not need another tumbler, but I wanted to support the folks that were selling it, so I bought it!

Cuties.

I am so glad they are part of our normal!

WOW.

July, you were awesome!!

I just want to do it all again!

Hanging on tight!

Summer is almost over!!

Hoping to squeeze in our traditional camp out yet.

And some more swimming!

And some more s’mores!

July, your memories are sweet!

Thankful to have them here!