Back to school.

 This is back to school week. I promised the kids that we would go get some school snacks when it's time to pack lunches.  On Monday we drove off to Sharp Shopper!  They each picked out snacks and helped me load up the cart!  On the way home, we swung by the flower road side stand in town to grab the biggest dahlias we could find!  For $8, it was so pretty!

I like this school prayer!

The kids helped pick out some snacks and we are off to tasty lunches!

Ashlyn had fun organizing the new snacks!

This is the week of volleyball practices too!!!!  Here we go!  The teams had a scrimmage and Gunnar went with Austin and I while Hadassah coached and Ashlyn played!

I asked Austin to take some photos as we watched!  We came home with 116 photos! 😂

Baby dear!

It's time for a nap!

Happy girls playing high school JV Volleyball!

Gunnar did so good!  

This was just a scrimmage so no score was taken!  

Grandma duties!

Tuesday .... I got hit by some kind of flu!!!!  It was AWEFUL!  I was in bed or on the couch all day long.  I did nothing but try to sleep.  Fever, throwing up, achy .... just awful!  I was so glad that the kids had their school backpacks ready to go because I not functioning the day before the new school started!  I went to bed that night just praying I feel better in the morning and that I was able to take them to school.

Well, I slept terrible but I was on the mend.  My head still hurt but I was up!  The kids did good with getting up and going!  I'm back to driving them to school in the morning because of early bus times.  This can be a good time for us to chat before the school day begins!  If I were a kid again, I would have loved if my mom would have drove us to school!  However, nothing beats bus pick up!!!!!  I do love that and will always put our names in for pick up but if it's early, I'll drive them!

The kids were dropped off and I came right back home to lay on the couch!  I thought I felt better but not by much!  I slept till it was time to go back for Austin at school!  I wasn't sure I was gonna make it when I got to the pick up line.  I was not feeling well.  Back home to rest and get well!!!!

Welcome to fifth grade dude!!!!

Oldest grade in elementary school and youngest grade in high school!  The kids are growing up!!!!!

She's a freshman!

Hadassah dropped off Gunnar early and went to clean an office.  She was back just as we were leaving for school.  He slept the entire time.  He's so sweet!

Trying to get better .... hot tea, Motrin, toast with hot milk and salt.  I did fell much better by that night so I walked to the garden and picked our green beans!  I finally fell much better!

Our back yard is surrounded by cornfields!  The corn stalks are so high!  Over 11 feet tall!!!!!

The kids were ready for the weekend but they had a great start to the school year!  Austin already had a field trip on Lancaster Park and swimming with his school friends!  Ashlyn had more volleyball practice.  We swam with cousins on Saturday and say around their camp fire that night because the nights are cooling down fast!!!!!  Church, naps and an evening at home!  We were happy the Phillies won and enjoyed the back porch with Loopys and then we finished off the night with some art!  I love art hub for kids and it relaxing and a fun way to unwind!

I'm so happy to be back to good health!  The kids are back to school.  Our routines and schedules are adjusting!  It feels right.  The windows are wide open and the air is warm but not hot!  It's perfect weather to me!!!!  

My favorite season is approaching us!  I'm ready for layers and hot cider and cozy nights!  

August is already winding down.  It's crazy how time goes by so fast!

Before school begins ....

This is August and I always tell the kids that we won't think about school until August begins.  So now we have some appointments to go to!  Dentist and hair cuts.  He's such a cool kid!  Austin and I both had to get a cavity filled.  Not at all a highlight of our week but that's now finished and I'll always be thankful for a good dentist.

I sat down with some coffee and my calendar and jotted down the volleyball games.  We are now going to high school volleyball games once again and our calendar is all marked up!  The kids like sports and we love to go and watch and cheer them on!!!!

I said that once Ginger is not with us anymore, I am getting in professional carpet cleaners!  They arrived and the carpets look like new!!!!!

We took the opportunity to enjoy one more pool day before school beings!!!!  The food is so good at LCC and the sun felt amazing!  We love this place and soak up the sun!

We came home to this!  Clean carpets and clean furniture!!!!!

Hadassah wanted to go to Salvation Army and the kids and I hopped along.  Then we went to Oregon Dairy's Sunflower Festival just to peek at the flowers!  We found us some yummy sticky buns!  It was a hot afternoon, so we kept moving!  That night, we went out to our little town for Rolled Cold Ice Cream and the line was long!  People were out enjoying our small town!  I love it!!!!!

I did not buy this but I thought it was funny!  Salvation Army has this Weekend Warrior!!!!

Our church had a baptism that was so beautiful!  Hearing Jesus stories and watching young and old go down into the water and come up clean, is so powerful!  Glory to Jesus!!!!!

We only have a few more days until school begins.  The kids have their backpacks ready.  We are still waiting to hear our busing times and hoping they are decent!  This summer flew by for us!  Fall is on it's way.

August ...

 This is what August looks like!  Dahlias are in bloom!  The dill is in seeds.

We have figs ripening and baby caterpillars on the carrot leaves! 

We are still picking tomatoes, peppers and peaches!

Sunflowers are smiling high in the sky!

Butterflies are loving the zinnias!  The kids have sidewalk chalk on the driveway!

I roasted some tomatoes and served them with a side of pasta! 

Walking out the garden for fresh flowers is wonderful!  So many colors happening out there!

I took the kids school shopping and they had to FaceTime Hadassah to ask her opinion on shoes.  I was sure we would be at Dicks for hours but they finally decided and we went for school supplies!

It was a fun afternoon!

Apparently we see how many balls we can store in the living room!

My friend Dave ... he's in a home after needing surgery.  He was diagnosed with cancer and I swung by a road side stand for some flowers and a quick visit with him.  I hope this brightens his day!  Get well Dave!!!!

We appreciate our employees so much and a fun day at the park was wonderful!

Ashlyn finished up volleyball at LBC and is ready to begin high school practices soon!

We had leftover steak from employees day and Austin had this for supper three nights in a row!  He loves it!!!!

We also bought the best Italian ice after a stop at Fashion Cents!  I love their products and prices!

I had ice cream on my mind and the kids loved the ice!!!!  Both were delicious!

We are still strolling the park for morning walks when the summer plans allow us to!!!  It's such a pretty place to start the day!

Growing some big tomatoes!!!!!

The smoke alarm went off after some butter dropped on the bottom of my oven.  I tried to remember the code and call off the engines but I wasn't fast enough.  The firetruck came roaring to our house only to have me apologize and send them back to the station!  I'm so glad it wasn't serious!  I'm also happy to know our fire alarm indeed does work if ever we would actually have a fire.

Another fresh arrangement!

And another happy visit with Mommy D!!!!!

I grabbed some fall seeds and plants and got them in the garden!

And this happy boy is gonna spend a lot of time here at our house as volleyball coaching begins for his momma!  He's so sweet!!!!!

It won't be long before school begins and our schedules got back to setting alarm clocks and waking up earlier!  We are gonna enjoy these last summer days as long as we can!