Ok, you guys.

I know that time is FAST, but September seriously disappeared before my eyes.

How thankful I am that I get to sit down for a minute or two and look back over this month and all that it held!

The first Friday of September it was Blake and my turn for a date night!

Remember the date night swap idea I told you all about HERE?

I dropped off Tate and Eliza to Kayla late Friday afternoon so that I could meet Blake in town for our date!

IT WAS FABULOUS!!

I think the more effort we put into things like this make the things even better, am I right?

Of course Tate and Eliza were thrilled to be able to be at their big sissy’s house with their best friends!

Blake and I enjoyed dinner together, shopping, and even the sunset on the river.

Sigh. I can’t wait until next time!

The Monday morning after we arrived home from camp, we took the day off school and did ALL the things to get ready to be back to full-time life!

Like taking a proper shower in a large brightly lit space, ha, ha.

Does anybody else LOVE coming home even though you love being away too?

That’s me.

I did about 16 loads of laundry that day, we got the house in shape, enjoyed the fall like temperatures, took care of our animals (we missed them so much!), cleaned fridges and eggs and children and…..

Well, you get the idea!

I also ran to the local Co-op to get a few things to try to stretch our grocery until that Friday.

A few things that cost $100, ahem.

And we all rested in the afternoon!

Much needed, even for my two favorite pups, obviously!

I was so happy to be back in my kitchen that I made cookies that afternoon too.

Addie said “Oh good, Mom is making her famous amazing chocolate chip cookies!”

So I am blaming the fact that they did not turn out at all on her, ha, ha!

Tuesday morning after camp, I was ready to get back at it!

We started with our family breakfast and a new recipe of pumpkin spice waffles.

My husband basically said I could make those waffles for every meal from here on out – he loved them so much!

Tate did not eat his breakfast that morning, and it didn’t take long for me to stick my hand on his forehead wondering why he did not look so good.

Sure enough, he was running a fever and feeling yucky!

Poor guy!

I got out everything I could think of to help Tate get well and to also help the rest of us to stay healthy.

Wednesday morning Tate’s fever was hotter, and he said his throat was hurting so bad.

I looked in Tate’s throat and saw that it was very red and had blisters.

That gave Mr. Tate an appointment with our favorite doctor (we love Dr. Katie!!) to see if he had strep throat.

Long story short, Tate ended up on an antibiotic because of his throat and also because of how his lungs sounded.

He has never had an antibiotic since he has been home from China, and he reacted to it with hives.

We got a second one, and he reacted to it (on the seventh day!) with hives as well.

You are freaking your mama out, Tate Owen!

Thankfully he did not seem to need anymore help with antibiotics for now – but we will have to figure all of this out if he ever needs them again!

It took Tate awhile to feel better.

I would see him on his feet and think “Yay!”, but then pretty soon he would be wrapped up in a blanket again and sound asleep somewhere.

SO thankful he is better now!

Tate’s illness gave the rest of us a quieter week, and gave Eliza the opportunity to truly know that flexibility is the key to success!

She was unable to do much school that week because I teach Tate and Eliza together, but she was very diligent in finding good things to do with her time.

Lane continued on with school, of course, since he is mostly self-directed.

Blake helped while Tate was sick so I could still get Lane to his orthodontist appointment.

He is doing so great with his Invisalign!

We got to see a computer aided visual of how much Lane’s teeth have already moved so far.

It was so neat to see that!

I have always appreciated the positive atmosphere at our orthodontist – even their bathrooms reminding everyone to have a grateful heart.

I headed after the big grocery haul on Thursday night of that week, because that $100 bit of grocery I had bought to stretch everything did not work so well!

Blake met me there after he left work and got there just as I started checking out.

I was super glad for the help loading the van!!

Someday when I am just buying grocery for Blake and I, I am going to look back on these photos and wonder why in the world we needed so much food, ha, ha.

Blake left the next morning to head to Illinois for three days.

I was supposed to go along, but was not comfortable leaving Tate.

We got after life here at home while Blake was away, but missed him like crazy!

We had a huge storm that Saturday afternoon.

I am so glad I had the kiddos run down and shut the barn when I saw this sky!

It cleared off after that and was beautiful the next day too.

We stayed home from church on Sunday to keep any germs here, and watched the live stream from home.

Blake got home late that Sunday night, and Monday morning started off back to the races!

Our family breakfast is always a BRIGHT start to our days here during the week!

I had made this French toast bake on Sunday to bake on Monday morning and it was a HIT!

I do not sleep well when my hubby is away – and by do not sleep well, I mean I do not sleep hardly at all.

So, that’s fun!

Monday piano lessons looked like this for me – I thought I would just lay there and pay attention – but I am pretty sure I slept through the whole thing, good grief!

At least I had a cuddly pup who clearly doesn’t get enough sleep either, even though she sleeps all day and all night – everyday!

The kiddos are doing Spanish (Lane and Eliza) and French (Tate) lessons this year and are enjoying them very much!

After school on Monday, we headed outside.

We know these days are fleeting!!

We have lived in Wisconsin for 22 years now, and we know what is coming!

Sure enough, Tuesday was rainy and made me extra glad we get outside when we can.

That rain got me in a comfort foods mood, and I made soup, rolls, and sourdough cobbler for dinner that day.

My rolls all ran together!

But they still got rave reviews.

It cleared off by that evening and gave us some beautiful skies!

How I love a beautiful sky.

The kids know exactly what I am doing when I am running outside at sunset!

We all stood on the driveway that night looking at the stars.

Just look at them ALL!!

It was SO beautiful!!

Wednesday brought more school work, our art class, the assembly of something fun I bought for our long winters here, and a visit to our favorite people late in the afternoon!

The lattes are good at the farm (the baby is adorable!) and so are the excited squeals my grands make when they see us arrive there!

The colors on the way to Kayla’s that day were SPECTACULAR, but very hard to capture in the misty rain with just a cell phone.

I am so glad I had made dinner in the morning that day so we could stay at Kayla’s as long as possible!

The rain cleared off again that day too, and gave us another beautiful evening sky.

I am here to tell you, stopping to take in the daily beauty of the sky can fuel you!

Like nothing else can!

I will tell you about the second to last weekend of September in the next post – so stayed tuned for that!!

That following week though was more of the same!

We are very predictable people that way.

Keeping school running, the food flowing, and the house in good shape – not necessary always in that order – is MY THING.

Good thing I love my homemaker, wife, teacher, and Mom titles SO, so much!

We had some outings that week as well – like haircuts and library visits.

We always each take a book to read while the boys get their haircuts!

Pretty soon it was the last Friday of September.

You know what that means!

I think Fridays should be renamed “marathon day”.

Ha, ha, ha.

I will miss them some day!!!

At least this Friday we enjoyed Blake’s early arrival home – so we played some four square with the kids before heading to town for a little quick date just the two of us!

I grabbed a picture of the sunset as we headed to town that evening.

Daylight is also fleeting!

I started the day in town in the dark and ended that day in town in the dark.

SEE?? It is a marathon day.

I have a very vivid memory of the last day of September!

It was a Saturday.

It started early, as they all do, and after a big family breakfast, Lane and I headed to the library.

He was working that morning, and I was the parent volunteer.

Then I came home and worked in the kitchen the rest of the day on a delicious taco spread for dinner and food for meal day at church the next day.

After dinner we took advantage of the beautiful weather and headed outside for a camp fire.

The kiddos – even some adult ones – played a routy and very long game of The Wolf is Out, that went well into the dark hours of that night.

We sat by the fire WAY too late, but we just couldn’t not pull ourselves away and back inside!

It was SUCH a great day and evening that day!!

And the weather was so very perfect!!

I have a few food photos to sneak in here for good measure!

I really do enjoy looking back on this little scrapbook of ours, and the food photos always spur me on and inspire me!

I also have a couple of really good “finds” from September to share here.

I share these things on Instagram stories, and they always get lots of conversations going with gals who are interested in them.

Just like I was interested in them and purchased them when I found out about them!!

First is this bug bite relief tool.

We have used it for bee stings and for bug bites and IT WORKS SO GOOD.

You place the tip over the sting or bite and pull back on the handles which then sucks the stinger or bite venom out of the bite.

INSTANT relief!

When a child is stung it takes the tears away instantly too!

I got it on Amazon.

And then I bought eight more.

I have them everywhere and gave a bunch away too!

Next is this brand of hair products – Onesta.

They are super clean, work very well, and I have tried a lot of different clean options!

I even use the whipped wax on the boys hair.

This is the oil serum that I used after straightening my hair to keep it from getting frizzy again.

I really like their mousse and their curly hair products too.

I get all of these products on the Beauty Care Choices website.

I also wanted to share this – it has blessed Chad very much!

He found this lunch box on Amazon.

He drives a truck for a living – a BIG truck – with BIG equipment on a trailer behind that BIG truck.

Those facts are just so you know I pray safety over him (and all my truck guys!) every single day.

Ok – back to this lunch box.

Chad charges it on the counter overnight, puts his lunch in it in the morning, and sets it in his cooler.

Then when he is stopped at a job site and has a minute, he gets it out, turns it on, and it heats his food to very hot in just ten minutes.

It has allowed him to take leftovers for lunch – which is wonderful!

It holds more than it looks like it does.

We highly recommend this lunch box!

Did you all notice?

Are you catching on?

How I snuck quite a few sky photos all throughout that super long post??

You guys, I take a lot of photos of the sky!

My children will always remember this about me, so I guess I want you to remember that about me too!

I only have a few left for you – but they are my signature – and they let you know this super long post is almost over!!

Well, PHEW.

I have worked on this post FOUR times, all on different days, you all!

It has just been so very busy here!

Kayla and I were chatting over Marco polo last week about how I am living the life of a “thirty-something” still schooling these younger children and all that goes with that – and also the life of a “fifty-something” with adult children and grandchildren…..

Not feeling worthy of all that, in case you are wondering!

But so thankful for everything the Lord trusts me with every single day.

He is SO kind to let me live my DREAMS!!

I begged God for this life when Blake and I were young and we struggled to have children.

Thank you, Jesus, for hearing and answering my prayers!!

It IS as good as I thought it would be, and I am so thankful!!

I would say I am going to try to be better about keeping up here in our little space on the world wide web – but I am thinking I say that a lot and you all are not believing that anymore, ha, ha!

I do enjoy this space.

We ALL enjoy looking back at it.

So here’s to my next post about a very fun weekend in September!

Until next time!!