Life is Such a Privilege

This morning when I opened the devotional book I am using for my quiet time I saw today’s date.

I really could not believe that the end of October is upon us!

There is so much fullness to life these days, and we are enjoying it all.

Fall has been beautiful this year!

Why, yes, of course I have photos!

Thanks for asking!


It has been rather rainy sometimes.

The rain came in day long down pours it seems, which continued to wash out an area of our land over and over again.

On a Saturday back at the end of September the guys got after the project of filling in that area once and for all!

They drove back and forth to David and Kay’s place to get the rock that they used to fill in the huge hole.

It rained on and off all day that day – a misty kind of rain – but they just kept working as they were determined to get it done.

Here are my photos from the dry front porch, ha, ha!

Good job, guys!!


While they were out there working, I spent a big part of that day just BEING with Tate and Eliza.

So needed. For all three of us.

We worked on memory verses, played games, read books, and finally finished Eliza’s tie blanket!

Isn’t it cute?!


We do have a rule here at Twin Oaks that we must get outside every single day!

It’s good for everyone of us, even the Mama here, in so many ways.


Of course we love the rainy days too, but mostly because that means a certain favorite someone cannot work!

He usually shows up right at a meal time, smart guy!

He also likes to steal all of my children!


Someone may have gotten older at the end of September.

Of course her children made sure she was spoiled all day and also made sure she ate like a queen!

These two were responsible for that.

They did a great job because dinner was SO good!

Of course Addie Mae made all my dreams come true and made me a cheese cake too!


We are still very predictable in so many things – like Friday night date night!

You all – this is important stuff!

My love language is TIME, which happens to be the one thing we do not have much of.

It makes me thankful that Blake purposes this time for dates where we can talk, plan, be still, and actually look at each other!

We have been going to Viroqua for date night lately, which is only 15 minutes from Twin Oaks.

A couple of times we have enjoy the salad bar at the Co-op.

It was yummy!


Another predictable thing is that fact that we eat!

And cook! And bake! And grocery shop!


I did not have very many food photos this time!

Of course you know the predictability of broken things.

Thankful for a handy husband!


If you haven’t already noticed the predictability of where are two pups always are – let me share this photo!


Or this one!


They love me, just saying, ha, ha!

They actually love us all – and love to be NEAR.


Of course I have a feeewwwww photos of the grand babies.

I actually don’t take as many these days – but I still take some!!


We watched those grand babies for the weekend last weekend so David and Kayla could get away for their fifth anniversary!


Haircuts are predictable.

Every three weeks kind of predictable!

I cannot do haircuts anymore because I am having trouble with the grip of my right hand.

I have dropped those expensive clippers too many times and actually broke one of them and it had to be replaced – I guess that is one way to get out of doing haircuts!

Blake took over for me and is doing a great job!


Addie Mae got grocery for us one week and grabbed a special helper to go along with her!

I love how purposeful she is about pouring into relationships with her siblings!

This photo – BE STILL MY HEART!!


The kiddos are doing SO well right now – thriving!!!

And growing in their sleep!


We are getting into game season, even though we truly play games together all year round.

We had a new one we tried recently – QWIXX – and it was fun!


This young man wanted a new bike.

His current bike was way too small.

The kiddos ride their bikes on the land here at Twin Oaks and love to speed down the hills on them!

Our budget for a new bike was zero dollars.

So Lane rode with Blake to the dump to drop off our garbage every Saturday until he found a bike there that was his size and in good enough shape to fix!

It was pink, so he wrapped it in camouflage duct tape.

It had a broken inner tube, so we bought one for $4 at Wal-Mart.

He scrubbed the rust off with some steel wool.

Now he has a new bike!! And LOVES it!!


Let me end this post with a photo I certainly want to be in our little scrapbook here!

Snow on the deck.

On October 12th.

Taking that photo made me think of my Dad.

He and I liked to talk about the weather a lot!

Not in a boring “how’s the weather?” kind of way – but in a detailed kind of way.

I’ve been missing him a lot lately.


I really meant the words that I titled this post with.

We should not be allowed all that the Lord allows!

Friends – this is our TEMPORARY home.

And yet it is THIS good!!

I can’t even imagine what eternity will be like, but based on what life is like here, I know that it will be INCREDIBLE.

Without a shadow of a doubt.

INCREDIBLE.

Praise the Lord for this privilege called life!!

We Found Our Rhythm

Our school year this year had a haphazard kind of start to it!

Even though we got things rolling back in August, I did not have things planned well and our schedule was not completely working.

I spent a big chunk of time planning and working out all the kinks a couple of weeks ago, and now we have found our rhythm!

The kiddos are loving the tweaked schedule and added subjects.

The joy and diligence these children have is contagious!!

We always start our day with singing, Bible study, Bible memorization and prayer.


Everyone is enjoying math very much!


At the end of September I was sick and had lost my voice!

We kept up with school anyway, minus a lot of read aloud, that is!


I had a certain very cute seven year old begging me to start her in our spelling curriculum.

She is persuasive, this one!

I knew she was ready, but I wasn’t sure her side sick was ready.

Much to their delight, they both started spelling and they both were ready.


Most days school happens wherever we land!


We LOVE this book.

It has sparked SO many conversations long after the lesson ends each day, and we are all learning SO much!!

My sweet hubby might think I am making nutrition monsters out of our children, ha, ha!

They usually give him advice on how he fills his dinner plate these days!


On this day we tasted four kinds of water and learned about the water that is best for your health.

We are water snobs here, I will admit!

We have a reverse osmosis system in our kitchen.


Lane enjoys History and Science the most!

This day he was using butter and flour to show how lava hardens and changes the landscape that it runs over.


Chad is diligent in his own studies!

He has a bin that he sets all his finished work in and then I go through it all.

I thought this title page was sweet!

I am the adviser!!


Library day is still a thing!

We have a lot of books on hold there to pick up tomorrow.

Nothing better than children who love to read!


Thankful for the privilege of being the teacher of these wonderful children!!

You would think after all these years of home schooling I would be losing my love for it – but I’m not.

It is my favorite thing and my favorite kind of day!!

I do not take that for granted –

The joy of the Lord is my strength!!

Home school mamas – I hope you are enjoying the start of this school year too!!

Team Tate and Eliza

On Monday, October 7th, Blake and I headed to Madison with Tate and Eliza for all their check-ups with their specialists.

Yes, we can drive the two hours to Madison with our eyes closed now that we do it so much!

Can I just shout another praise, though, for the fact that we have SUCH amazing medical care just two hours from home?

So thankful!!

It was a cold and early 5 a.m. start for Team Tate and Eliza that day!

They are cheerful risers though!

We arrived at UW around 7:15 a.m., fed everyone breakfast from the cooler while sitting in the parking deck, got the littles dressed, and headed to the imaging department for our first appointments.

Tate and Eliza’s appointments get easier and easier and easier every time!

For their check-ups on this day they each had a renal ultrasound of their kidneys and bladder done, Tate saw two doctors, and Eliza saw one doctor.

I told ya!!

Easy!!

NO MRI’s!!

NO xrays!!

Only two doctors!!

It’s exciting, you all!

We had a bit of a wait after imaging was done, so we headed to get a snack.

I have so many photos of my kiddos smiling like this because I take a picture of them when they are eating.

Silly me.

They are so cute!!

Next up was Tate’s appointment with his neurosurgeon.

(Eliza was released from neurosurgery last year and will be seen on an as needed basis.)

This appointment for Tate went great and the doctor said “See you in a year!”

We walked across the building a bit and waited again for their urology appointments.

No worries, there is always fun stuff to do in a Children’s Hospital!

Their urology appointments went great too!

Tate does need a urological surgery sometime within the next three years – but even though it is needed, it is just exploratory.

We will cross that bridge when we get to it!

These thumbs up are for a GREAT morning of check-ups and knowing we do not need any appointments with these two specialists for ONE YEAR!

YAY!! That’s a first!!!

Of course no trip to Madison would be complete without a stop at Costco for some groceries!

I love that place because they have so many options that are safe for us!

No trip would be complete with a stop for coffee either!

Of course you know what the ride home looked like.

Some things don’t change!

And, yes, we took 53 stuffed animals on this trip because Tate and Eliza’s Mama said we could.

How’s that for a good report!!?

My heart just swells as I think back on this day!!

These two cherubs are healthy, thriving, learning, growing, and most importantly STABLE!

Thank you Jesus for ALL you have allowed.

May you receive all the praise and glory, Lord!!

WE ARE NOT WORTHY to call these precious children ours.

What gifts you are Tate and Eliza!!

WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!

A Beautiful Wedding

The last Saturday of September we had the immense privilege of attending a beautiful wedding of our sweet friends!

It was the most perfect weather that day!

The wedding was held at a vineyard and the scenery was stunning!

Having our favorite people there with us made the day even more special, of course, of course!

We are SO happy for Bekah and Jesse!!

The reception was a lot of fun!

There was a certain blondie that was snitching his NaiNai’s smoothie – but I am sure you can see why I could not say no to that!

Eliza took a little snooze and then was good as new!

The gluten-free dairy-free cup cakes were as yummy as they were beautiful.

Blake and I slow danced when they asked all the married couples to do so, and we were one of the four couples left on the dance floor for being married the longest!

What a beautiful, beautiful wedding!!

The sunset off of that ridge was beautiful too!

We felt honored to be included in such a special day and had the most wonderful time!

Congratulations to Rebekah and Jesse!!!!

WE LOVE YOU ALL!!!