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!

Here's the recipe in case you want to make them for your family!

NO BAKE CHOCOLATE PB BALLS

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup honey

2 Tb. instant coffee

1 cup oatmeal

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Mix all ingredients and chill for thirty minutes before rolling in balls.

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The skies today are telling me that September is near because there are no clouds and the sky is so blue and the air is finally cooler this morning!

Have a great week!

First Day of School - 2020/2021

 We are officially back to school.  

We are back in classrooms with real live teachers!!!!  

These three got up the second I woke them!  It didn't take long to get dressed, eat breakfast and then head to school.

Matthew worked hard at the shop since coronavirus hit the world.  He is one of Mike's best shed roofers and he absolutely loved his job!!!!  Going back to school will be a change for him and I'm praying he will dig deep into some good books and study well!

Ashlyn and Austin are each others best friends!  Sometimes they forget that fact but it's true.  They played day after day ever since Ashlyn was home from school in March.  Finishing third grade was challenging at times for her because Austin was all about the play time.  Now, the day has come that they are both off to school.  I just can hardly believe it.  My baby is now starting school.  Maybe it's time to pray about finding a day job???

I just love this kid SO MUCH!!!!

We are blessed to have a great school where the teachers love to teach and are excited to make learning fun!  I thought that this time I would be ready to have school begin and get the children back into books.  But I'm just never ready for that day, until it arrives.  We bought school supplies weeks ago but mostly because the younger ones were begging to go!  When school begins that usually means that summer is about to come to a close.  The lazy sleeping in mornings get exchanged to now setting alarm clocks.  The bedtime routines are much earlier and on schedule.  Like I mentioned, I'm not ever ready for this to begin but once we get into the groove, I'm all about it!  The house is suddenly quieter and as much as I did love having the children at home from school since March, it really is time to get them back into books, learning and teachers!

For once I thought that I would be really ready to have the children to be back into school but we've adjusted to life at home together for months upend and I loved it!  Did the house get messy?  Yes, often.  Were there spats and moments when I wished school would be in session instead of at home?  Yep.  But the day has come that three out of four of the children are now in school.

And we are off!  Matthew is riding to school with Tyler Zook because Upper School begins before the elementary campus.

Hadassah graduated from high school in the spring but now our youngest is in kindergarten.  How can this be?  Austin was both excited and nervous about his first day but mostly excited.  Mrs. Matherly is Austin's teacher and I got to spend the entire first day with him at school.  Kindergarten had orientation day.  I drove the children to school and then helped Austin find his backpack hook, mailbox, bathroom and desk. We took a bus ride together with the entire class and then finished with a story in the classroom.  Austin was able to go back home with me at 10 AM.  It was such a great start to his first day of school.

Ashlyn goes down this hall now for her classroom.

Getting to know each other and Mrs. Matherly.

Austin was to write his name and draw a picture of himself.

He is so lucky to have three cousins in his first year of school.  Two of them are boys and they are both his best friends!!!!

Here's the third cousin in his class!  Olivia is just adorable and will keep all three boys straight!

Time to color a picture.  He worked hard and his tongue proves his concentration.  It wasn't more than a few minutes though when he wanted to stop and be finished.  School work is going to be changeling for him at first because he's barely held a pencil in his hand.  He's all about characters and sports and not so much about the whole school theme!  I'm excited to watch him learn!

Watching these two be excited for school is the best start!!!!

And the four of these family members from four different families = cousins!  They all found each other the minute they walked into the kindergarten room!  What a blast!

My photos don't download in order and I don't know why not???  But here are the first steps Austin took into school being now a scholar!!!!

Thinking my mom is going to be busy on Grandparents day!!!!  :)))

Finding his backpack hook!  Funny fact ... I actually went to kindergarten in this very same room!  Very possible that these are the same hooks!!!!

Then the class went on a bus ride.

Right before we left for home, we grabbed a picture of Austin and Adrian.  It will be fun to see them in school together.

As we walked out we met Ashlyn's class in the hallway and they waved to each other.

Meanwhile, Ashlyn walked to the other side of the school now for fourth grade.  She is really loving being in Miss Kreiders class and says it's so much fun!  I know that learning will be a great experience for her this year and I can't wait to watch her thrive!

Matthew is in the Upper Campus and in tenth grade.  School has never been super fun for him but last year the amount of friends grew in leaps and bounds at school.  I was excited to see this for Matthew because so many times during his elementary years, his best friends would leave for missions or move to another state or change schools.  Matthew rolls with the punches and never said a bad word about it but I knew he was disappointed to see friends attend elsewhere!  The amount of boys doubled in his class last year and this year looks like a year of much learning, many friends and more sports!

School is back in session in school and without too many COVID restrictions!  We are just so blessed!