first one up

This is what happens when Emma wakes up from her nap before Mason....

His football gets turned into an art project.

happy fall

We spent the last day of summer riding bikes and catching bugs.  Enjoying the small wonders of being outside.  

 

Then the kids went down for naps and my best friend and I headed off to a knitting retreat.  Two days of mind-boggling knitting techinques, chatting with new friends, and catching up on what's new in our worlds as only best friends can do. 

The house is cozy and smelling of fall as jars of applesauce boil in their water bath.  We're ready for a new season and all that comes with it.

wordless wednesday

september

Well, the month of August pretty much passed us by here on the blog.  We finally got a computer up and running again.  Our laptop was a goner, so we pieced together bits and pieces of other computers between Ryan's parents and a good friend of ours and so far we're back in business. 

 

School got off to an awesome start.  I have a wonderful class.  We have lots of new employees and families at our school and some great friendships are starting to form.  My student teacher, Lia, is amazing.  She sees things that need to be done and just does them, asks lots of intelligent questions (keeps me on my toes) and is building great relationships with the students.  I was a little nervous about having someone in my classroom all day, every day, but it's actually made my job more fun than ever, if that was even possible! 

 

Lots of progress has been made on the bunkhouse.  After church we spent the rest of the day on the property.  We had our first picnic on the front porch.  The door and windows (except two) are in.  We're dreaming of paint colors and cabinet options.  Small pockets of yellow aspen leaves were spotted.  The kids came home tired and covered in dirt.  A perfect day.  

 

The first four are from earlier in the summer.

 

 

I love this one.  Emma's learning all about using the tools from her big brother. 



This was one of those weekends where we were really only home to sleep.  Between doctor appointments and inservice at school, garage sales and football games, church and friends, the house is a little crazy, the laundry is piled up, and the kitchen floor may be a bit of a sticky mess. But we're all smiling and counting our blessings. 

broke

I have so much to blog about.  So much I want to remember about this time.  Unfortunately, our computer had a hard drive failure.  Won't even turn on.  So, our trip to Taos, work on the bunkhouse, and life with the kids will just have to wait.  We busted out our older computer and are getting a good laugh about how s-l-o-w it is.

This unplanned break from the computer has actually been really nice. We've been building forts, blowing bubbles, going on walks, and making fall art projects.  I have 30 meals in the freezer and my classroom is getting closer to being ready for school.  This is my last week at home before school begins.  It's bittersweet, but I love this time of year!

snapshots

A few snapshots showing what we've been up to.  

 I love this one of Mason using his nail gun just like Grandpa.  This same day he also told us he was "fixing Grandpa's mistakes."  Ha. 

More to come later!

wordless wednesday

friends

The kiddos and I got to spend a special morning with some of my best friends from high school. We now live in three different states, but it just so happened that we were able to meet up at one of our old stomping grounds.  Brunch at the park.  It was a beautiful morning, and a beautiful time together.  

We tried to get a picture of all 8 kids. Actually 7 of the kids since tiny Barrett was sleeping away.

Mason and Livvy had a blast chasing each other around the park, swinging, going down the slides, and spashing in the water left behind from the sprinklers. 

Even though it's been years since some of us have seen each other, nothing changes true friendship. 

bunkhouse

We spent the weekend with Ryan's parents working on what we've unofficially called "the bunkhouse."  Ryan's parents have owned this property for several years and we are finally putting up a small building of sorts.  Mostly to sleep in.  

We got a bit of a later start than planned on Saturday due to a broken axle on our trailer that was hauling the skidloader.  Luckliy, we were not more than a few miles from home.  We unloaded the skidloader and left it at a friend's house while we brought the broken trailer home, went into town and borrowed another trailer from some friends, and went back to pick up the skidloader.  Then it was off to work...hauling the skidloader on a little bit smaller trailer with no lights or brakes. On the way Ryan remembered that unfortunatly he and his dad left some of the materials they needed at Lowe's (over an hour away).  They loaded the concrete into the truck the night before, but forgot the tubing that they had already paid for (I'm sure they have a real name...but they looked like cardboard tubes to pour the concrete in).  So, his parents headed to our local Ace and they happened to have some in stock.  

Grammie and I took turns helping out with the work and playing with the kids.  I'm surprised at how well they did being outside all day for two whole days.  They kept themselves  entertained digging up rocks, building roads, going on walks, having picnics, studying flowers, moving logs and branches and "helping."  Mason's favorite part was riding in the skidloader with Grandpa.  Emma took a few naps in her carseat. 

We were commenting on how well she slept with all the white noise from the log splitter.  A few mintues later, Mason was playing with his yellow truck and he told Grammie "this one makes yellow noise."  We got a good laugh about that.

At the end of the weekend we cleared out a ton of wood and poured six concrete posts.   Next weekend should bring the floor and some framing! 

Before:

After: 

Mason keeps getting the bunkhouse confused with a bunkbed.  He walked around all weekend saying "where's the bunkhouse?  I'm going to sleep on top!" 

wordless wednesday

sweet summer

We're enjoying summer to the fullest here!  We just spent a wonderful weekend celebrating my sweet cousins's wedding.  Everything was so beautiful.  I must have left all the picture taking to the professionals because I didn't snap a single photo.  These are from one of my cousins:

It was so awesome to have all my family here to celebrate this awesome event.  Whenever I go to a wedding I am always overwhelmed with memories of my own wedding.  I am so excited for Marylin and Jeb as they start their life together. 

 

We've been busy riding new bikes, trying new recipes, going to swimming lessons for Mason, listening to thunder storms, and planning some projects with Ryan's parents. The next few weekends promise to be full of lots of dirt, mountain settings, and fun (with a little work mixed in!) After I get back from a couple days with my best friend that is. 

Also...the other day Mason said thank you when I gave him his water bottle.  I said thank you for using your manners.  He replied with "I was only using one manner mama.  I use them one at a time." 

make a joyful noise

There's been a lot of this going on at our house:

Usually initiated by Emma. She's a music lover.  Mason sometimes joins her on the piano.  Sometimes he finds a book to be his drum or some other toy to be his guitar.  Emma clicks her tongue or hums and bops her head up and down. Mason sings. I smile.