Back to school!

 This summer flew by. We started with a new chore chart, expected things like making beds and getting dressed, and then age appropriate stuff like Jeanie unloaded the silverware, August took out bathroom trash and collected eggs. Each week we had a memory verse and a new hymn we sang during breakfast. And we read lots of books and also spent time on workbooks. 

Jeanie finished this one

and this one

We read thru this book

August finished a 1st grade workbook, and had some fun little gems in there like this story.

Jeanie LOVED this scissor skills book and is cutting like a boss now

And we started school last week and celebrated with 1st day donuts!

It was a good summer, but also had lots of squabbles and I was ready for school to start again. We are doing a hybrid homeschool program again so they go to school 2x a week and we do the rest of the workload at home. I am nervous to balance 2 schoolers now and a very-strong-willed-threenager, but here we go!!

July goings on - and Grandpa's passing

 Little lady made herself a place to be cozy and watch tv from around the corner

Grew enough green beans for a family dinner's worth!

I got the soap in the background, but it smelled bad. And I'm all like "life is too short for bad smelling soap!" .... but then I'm yet too cheap to throw it out... :P

My cousin got married, so we did a quick weekend in Chicago. Got to see the Bean!

Speaking of beans...

One day I had a beautiful lush green flowering bean plant starting to climb up the trellis enterance into my garden, and then next morning...

Noooooo!!!!! I don't know if it was deer, almost every leaf was delicately devoured. I was so sad.

Last night Doug set up a "fence" of fishing line. The idea is the deer bump into the line, but since they can't see anything, they get nervous and go away. It has worked in the past. 

But this morning...

Several Zinnia heads and leaves were gone. Like 20 plants. So maybe still deer, or maybe rabbits. Who knows. But I was very very sad. 

Nothing has made it into my garden actually, but I had these flowers all around the perimeter for beauty and to attract pollinators, so it has been very frustrating to see all your hard work just chewed away overnight. 

The by far biggest sadness was the passing of my Grandpa Ken. He was my last Grandparent. I had the opportunity to live with him (and Grandma Marie) on/off/on about a decade while I was going to the University near their home. I had a busy social life at the time, and I'm sure part of it was just me being selfish, and I have a regret of not using more of my time to invest in actually spending quality time with them during that period. 

Over this last decade of being married and having kids we were able to spend time with him, probably every year, after he moved up North (after my Grandma's fall, and worsening dementia took them to live with my doctor uncle). And these photos and video clips are of that time. 

My grandpa was 103, my grandma has been gone for 6 years now, and I know he was feeling ready to go to heaven for a long time. Sometimes he would joke "your uncle won't let me die!" We are so blessed, as a family, to have had him around so long. It has been amazing to see the sacrificial love from my uncle and his wife for caring for them/him  for so long, And I am thankful he passed peacefully, knowing he was going "on his journey" to heaven, and at his last breath his son was there reading the passage where Mary Magdalene came to find the tomb empty. Who could ask for a better passing. I am thankful. But he was very loved, and will be very missed. 

I had the chance to facetime call him when I was at work last week. He couldn't hear me, but my uncle said "it's your granddaughter Anne Marie saying she loves you" and he answered out "and I love her!" and again I'm just so thankful that his last years have been happy and full of love and, for the most part, peace. When we were kids it seemed we were always in his way and he seemed grumpy, so it's been really wonderful to enjoy this other side of him as the lasting memory. 

Oh the peace that comes from knowing that someday I will see him again. 

Until then, Grandpa I love you.

so much to catch up on

 It feels like it's been a very busy season of life. No way to catch up on 2 months, so here's a bit of what's been going on:

MAY:

$6k for a new septic field. Pro- I now finally understand what a septic field is. Con- still planting grass seed and dealing with that mess

mother's day kisses!

August's first pet! A little caterpiller he named Frankie. (RIP Frankie)

Doug took down my old falling apart garden boxes and made me new ones from cedar

This boy finished 1st grade

Rollar skating end of the year party, so fun

Beautiful girl

My sis and I went on a women's exercise/Christian wife/mother retreat in NC. It was SOOO good to spend time together and fellowship with other women believers

Here we are with the woman who helped me get back into shape after pregnancy with her GlowbodyPT workouts. (we were totally fangirling!)

Had a date with this guy.

JUNE:

Grow garden grow!

Father's day

My brother and family was in town and we all went to Wisconsin for a family reunion. They sold the family (my grandparents 100 acre) farm last year so we all went one last time to say goodbye. It was bittersweet, so many memories in that barn. I miss my grandparents. 

We had a lot of fun with cousins at the waterpark resort we stayed at

Bummed my brother lives so far away, but always so fun to get together again

It was my first time at the Wisconsin Dells, this was a view from the Upper Dells boat tour

Later we hiked at Devil's Lake state park

this was after we hiked up to Balanced Rock (we got soaking wet with rain on the way down, but no one fell or was struck by lightening- WIN!)

Pretty girls by the flowers at our airbnb

We also went on a Wisconsin Duck boat tour, fun!

And toured a lavender farm

Then we went on to Minnesota to visit 2 other cousins (and get a picture for our US family travel map!)

It's been a busy couple months, but enjoying the summer.

long time no see

 

This is what seemed appropriate after googling "keeping my head above water". 

That's me, right down to the extra flubb. It's been a busy summer, but a lot of goodness. I did an 8 week summer nature curriculum with the kids to get us ready for homeschooling this fall. It was fun. 

Beaver dam cookies

window suncatchers

Ocean slime

Making blueberry pie. 

Painting constellations. 

It was really a wonderful program by this homeschooling mom I follow on Instagram.

We went on an out East road trip to VT and NH that was really a nice time.

stop at Niagara on the way home

We visited for 2 weeks when my brother and his family were in town

I turned 42 and we had a gender reveal party for my sister

Had a baby shower for my sister

These 3 are growing up

made lots of goodies with the kiddos

These 2 had a 3 day nature class at the nature center nearby

A Labor Day mini trip to Bois Blanc Island

This precious girl turned 2

And then last week, August started his Homeschool hybrid program, Jeanie started back to speech therapy, and my Bible study program started up again, all on the same day. 

And I just feel that I haven't had a moment to myself that isn't folding laundry, washing dishes, cleaning up someone's mess. Not to mention my garden and side yard are out of control, but I either 1) have no time, or 2) the mosquitos are OUT OF CONTROL all of a sudden. Oh and my car has been in the shop 3x in the last 3 weeks for the same exact thing. And I've been doing PT for my diastasis recti I've had for 2 years now since Lucy's birth so I have to add in an additional 20 minutes of exercises each day for that. My precious new niece was born, but is going on her 3rd week in the NICU. Our hospital merged with another one and they don't realize it takes people to take care of people, and have been firing people which makes everyone's jobs harder. I've gained 8lbs since I finished up breastfeeding in the spring. And I am just OVER IT all. 

Ok, breathe, breathe. 

I know in a month or so we will be in a groove and it will be ok. A lot of the stuff we are doing is fun stuff, like this weekend we are going to the apple orchard and zoo, and today we did a family swim at the kids' swim lessons. Its fun stuff. It just is always very busy. 

There've been many times where I've thought about blogging about something or other. But it just doesn't seem to happen. 

Part of it is this STUPID blogspot website. It always takes several times to log me in, and when I upload pics it usually puts them in chronological reverse for some reason so then when I try to drag it to the right spot it inexplicably deletes it. I really hate it. 

So anyway, that's what's going on. I'll pop in when I can, this blog was supposed to be enjoyable for me, and not just something to check off a list.