Real Life: Back to school routines.

We are back into the rythum of all things school!!!! The adjustments are going well! Wow, it's been awhile that the house has been so quiet. It feels so good to have the kids back in school and loving their new teachers and making new friends!!!! I am feeling so grateful this morning to have a Christian School to send the children to and have them learn academics, learn life skills, learn from others that share the same christian belief and values and interact with other children their age!!!!

Austin is enjoying his first days of Kindergarten. So far it's always been a half day for his class which means extra runs to school and back but I'm so glad he is enjoying it!

Hunter and Ashlyn are used to the school routine! They've done it often already!

Austin and Adrian are catching on the new routines too! We car pull with Matt and Lena and that makes it so nice for kids to have a friend to ride along to school with, plus it cuts back the amount of times I need to go to school to take and pick up the children. Every year, we apply for bussing but the times are just too early and too late. We only live a short drive away from school, so we car pull and it works well! Really well this year because I no longer have little ones to strap in and take with me. I'm home alone for a few days while Austin is in Kindergarten!

The first day home alone, I made a quick run into Costco. I guess that means I really wasn't home alone too much. ☺️. I bought these little, yummy grapes and divided them in small snack bags and put them in the freezer. Our children love frozen grapes and this makes for an easy lunchbox snack!

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The garden is still thriving! We've been having thunderstorms and rans that just turned the grass into a beautiful green once again and the garden foods are growing so nicely!!!! I planted some cooler weather crops last week. Lettuce, Kale, Spinach and more Cabbage.

One pack of Teddy Bear Pumpkins were planted months ago in one of our small raised beds and I hoped to keep them on the vine until we are ready to use them as decorations but the bugs are getting to them. I had Ashlyn cut them all from the vine and this is our pumpkin harvest for 2020!

We still have tomatoes, carrots, lots of green beans, new strawberry plants, many herbs, egg plant and flowers all growing beautifully in these boxes!!!! I love it!!!!

I love fall but I am always sad to see summer leave us. School just does it to me every time because once the children are back to school, we usually don't do pool days anymore (or very little) and it just feels like fall should soon begin. I do get ready to pull out those comfy long sleeves and snuggle with blankets as the air outside gets cooler! I love windows open! I enjoy the smells of my Mulled Cider candle that I have already been burning in my kitchen for a few weeks now!

My mom even dropped off a pumpkin pie the other night and we devoured it! It tasted so good and my taste buds enjoyed those cinnamon and pumpkin flavors so much!!!!!

The pie is gone. We are waiting for the next pie mom!!!! 😍

This is me leaving school kid free! It's the weirdest feeling! This didn't happen since Matthew was in Kindergarten and that barely counts because I forget how it was on those days when I was pregnant with Ashlyn and had from September - March with Hadassah and Matthew in school and me at home.

I was so happy to finally be able to buy Kirkland toilet paper again! We've been using other brands through COVID but I just like this brand the best! Thank you Costco!

As I was on my way back home, I swung by Dunkin for my first pumpkin latte for 2020!!!! I ordered it cold with Almond milk and it was just so yummy!!!!! I laughed out loud as I pulled in the driveway because I guess many others are ready for the next season of drinks too!!!! I considered going inside to order because I mean now I don't have any toddler to take along inside and it's just me but then decided to just enjoy the quiet and wait in the drive thru line.

I love anything pumpkin!!!!

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Campfires are so fun and on Saturday night we were babysitting my two nephews. Colson was excited to try out sparklers for the first time!

We've been having scorching hot weather all last week but the glow of campfires are just so heart warming!

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One of the neighboring Amish farms near our house makes the best homemade breads every weekend. They have a small road side stand where they sell the bread and when I stopped by the other week, I grabbed a small container of "Coffee Bites". They looked like fiber balls with coffee grounds and chia seeds in them! I thought that maybe Mike would like these and he does!!!! I went back the next weekend and grabbed two containers of these small balls of goodness. I've been searching Pinterest for a similar recipe so I could make them myself. The other day Ashlyn came home from school and said she wants to make something all by herself and I was not to look or help her. She grabbed one of Shine for Jesus Magainzes the Meg and Mel gave to her and I heard her start to mix and stir things together. When I was allowed to take a peek, this is what she made! I got all excited and asked to see the recipe! I then told her how I was looking for a recipe something like this! Wow, thanks God for the recipe and how sweet of Ashlyn to make us these treats!