Pumpkins, Peaches, Pictures, Priceless Memories, Prayer

 Pumpkins

 Nellie loved the insides of the pumpkin!

Merit and Willem enjoyed the roasted seeds!

It isn't even October and we have already carved two pumpkins and roasted all of the seeds! :)

I have had peaches in the crockpot for the past 48 hours. Right now peach sauce is in the making. A sauce for pancakes, scones, angel food cake...
Last night was curriculum night at the boys' school. I really enjoyed learning about what they are studying and about the goals they are trying to reach. I love listening to Willem read. His decoding is improving each week. Also, his fluency is improving. Now, I need to hit my bookshelves for appropriate reading material for him. Merit still loves sports books and Sports Illustrated for Kids.
On Tuesday mornings, I am in a Bible Study where we are studying the moms of the Bible. This study is so great. I love digging deeper into the Bible and taking a close look at these women; their struggles, blessings and journeys. I also appreciate the time to pray with this group and for this group.
I feel like this past year has been such a year of growth.
I have also been praying over so many situations. Prayers of thanksgiving and prayers of healing. I have prayed a lot for my sister Natasha. I KNOW that worry and fear do not come from God. We need to trust and HOPE. I want to take the time to pray for friends and family.
I love some of the memories we are making right now. Hazel is a kick in the pants. We all giggle at her and with her. :) I LOVE to hear Willem talk about school! I love how Merit is growing and maturing.

The shop is coming together! It is fun to see Vance's anticipation and excitement regarding this. We are considering doing a little deck off of the loft. The kids already love to run around in there! Tonight Merit and I had a few card games in the shop. The concrete for the floor will be poured Friday.



Blessings!

Today I am counting my many blessings. Here are just a few of them.

This little girl LOVES playgrounds and she LOVES to swing!!

This big bro loves his little sis.

picking peaches in our backyard!!

It has been so much fun having so much fresh fruit!

Peaches from the tree down the hill, apples from Katie A. and from Katherine, pears from Katherine... my crock pot has been busy making lots of yummy sauces and things!

I am so thankful for this fresh fruit and friends who love to share. :)

 The darn neighbor goat! This old goat drives me cRaZy at times, but she does have sort of a fun personality. I am just tired of her eating the GOOD plants.

 shop in progress... it looks much different now, I need to take more pictures

Love this boys' heart!

love these boys!!!

Wednesday

I love these Autumn days. The weather is gorgeous. It is good soccer and football weather and these are great days for walks and bike rides. It is also fun to get some fall decorations out. I tried crackle painting this week. I was so inspired to crackle paint some decorative pumpkins. It was a flop!

Wish I knew what I was doing.

I am so proud of our boys and the students they are. Hazel and I spent 30 minutes in Willem's class yesterday and I am so excited about his learning!! Hazel loves visiting the school too, but then decided she was hungry and wanted to go grab some popcorn chicken. This girl knows what she wants.

She is growing up quickly. Today we got her hair cut, quite a bit cut off! I need to get a picture, it is very cute.

The shop... we enjoy seeing the progress each day.

Love this outdoorsman!

Moses Lake

I smiled today when I ran acrossed these pictures! Baby Hazel in her apple sleeper! I thought we would have a brown eyed, brown haired girl based on her coloring at birth, but we sure have a blondie!!

Soocer, good weekend!

Soccer Fun!! On these pics Merit is playing goalie. I love fall soccer!

Nellie loves walks to the creek. She jumps in the water, runs, splashes, goes wild! She is such a puppy. She is a good dog with a great personality, but she does like to chew... our backyard usually displays something she has found and chewed up!

I had more cute pics from the weekend that I was trying to upload... but our internet is super slow today. I will try again soon!

Our shop is coming along! It is fun to see the progress.

Thursday Morning Update

This is Willem's good friend Megan. These two are so cute together!

She came over to play a day last week and we loved having her here.

Hazey (oh I LOVE this girl!!) and mama

We have sort of a construction zone going on outside. We are having a big

shop built. It is funny to see how excited the kids are about this project.

We are planning to have a loft with a game room! Merit is already dreaming

of a pool table. :) Last night we sat and visited in the middle of the construction sight. Hazel ran around topless. On this shot she has her binkie, but is also running around with a bagel. She makes me giggle often.

I love the way the Autumn light streams into our home!

We have an athlete in the house, an outdoorsman and an imaginative princess. The man of the house likes to watch football and play catch with the athlete. Also, we all enjoy his soccer games! The outdoorsman is happy with a fishing pole in hand, mud under his feet or sitting in front of a campfire and the princess loves pretending. Once she enters the land of imagination I am often "Elbee" and she is "CeCe." I love seeing this come alive!! When Merit was Hazel's age I was often doing pit stops with his Nascar as he ran around in a Dale Jr or Jeff Gordon suit! I often wondered what the neighbors thought. With Willem, he was a baby lion and I was his keeper or we would play army.

Today my sis Natasha has been on my mind. To be honest most hours of every day she is on my mind. I am praying they find the right heart medication for her and the right dosage. I am also praying that the right medication will work without yucky side affects. Also, Lane had an accident at AWANA involving two front permanent teeth last week. Adding a series of dental appts to Natasha's already long list of appts feels overwhelming. We are praying that there is no nerve damage and that Lane's teeth tighten and heal wonderfully. Today Lesha is headed down to be with Natasha and the kids. I am so glad that she is able to go. Oh, what I wouldn't do to hop on that plane with her!! :) I LOVE sister time! I am reminded daily that so many need our prayers. I want to be a prayerful sister, wife, mother, friend... and the list goes on.

Enjoy your Thursday. I think it is going to be a great day!

Thursday evening post

School is in session. It is taking me a while to adjust to this, Merit too. Will, however, is really enjoying it. His personality is really funny. I love what he shares about his class and teacher and how he shares it. I am struggling to try to get him to eat something healthy in his school lunch. He is Picky with a capital P.  Today I packed him cereal and milk. He told me he forgot the milk was in his lunckpack so he ate the cereal dry, Shredded Wheat. His days are long, but he is going with it and his teacher says he is doing great. He has a small class (love that) and Merit has a huge class. I am thankful for their teachers and their learning. I hope Merit gets into the groove a little more. I hope I do too.
Our Labor Day weekend was wonderful. We went to Idaho for a little get away.
These are some of my favorite days... the season changing from summer to autumn with cooler mornings and evenings but warm temps in the middle of the day. Today, a sweet woman who I met through photography and church, shared pears and apples with us. Tomorrow I will get applesauce going in the crock pot. I long to be susie homemaker again. I have been susie messmaker all summer.
Life is so full of blessings and challenges. When I go to the boys' school I love to observe the kids. So many of them make me smile and some of them make my heart hurt a bit. I want to be there more. The teacher in me is wanting to come out, but oh how I love my days with Miss Hazel.
My heart hurts for my sis Natasha. Her life is very full right now. She is feeling more heart irregularities. Lots of doctors appts and now dentist appts for Lane who bonked two of his permanent teeth last night. I probably should wait to let her share that if she plans too... but some extra prayers would be so appreciated.
I want to give a shout out to her friends Kelly and Susan who are supporting her and providing childcare. Good friends are rich blessings.
Today I so badly want an evening out on my dad's patio with my four siblings and our families again... moments like that are really good for the attitude. The laughter is excellent medicine.

Our cabin has been a good little haven for us.

Our little cabin...

A FUN weekend get away!!

Coeur 'd Alene

 Vance and Willem even went parasailing! They loved it!!!

The weather was beautiful and we had a fun time.