What We Have Been Up To

Since I last posted summer has finished up.  It flew by this year I swear!!  I have some photos to upload of some of the things we did this summer, I am going to share the start of our school year instead.  I have brought the kids back home for the beginning of this year.  I had thought I would homeschool them all year long, but after some more thought on the matter I am only keeping them home until the start of the new year. 

 Why go to that trouble you may wonder?  Because I am going to my hometown for an extended stay during the holidays.  My kids would have needed to miss 7 weeks of school, which if you have kids in the school system you know doesn't fly.  So besides using this opportunity to help my girl get some math facts mastered and letting my boys be boys we are just enjoying this little break.  

Tripp (K)

Keegan(3)

Avery(5)

I love the idea of homeschooling.  I KNOW it works.  In my head it is awesome.  In my reality it just really doesn't fit.  My husband has a job that requires him to work away, a lot. I am left to hold down the fort.  Some can do it with ease it seems but when I try I feel like I lose a little of myself.  Then I spend sleepless nights beating myself up over my lack of abilities.  Which I know are lies, but things my brain tells itself none the less.  

So here's to hoping the next 4 months go by with ease and as little complications as necessary!

Back to PA

We are currently back in PA. We are busy doing a lot of nothing. Which I find perfect. However some of us are turning into butterfly hunters.

He is super serious and does it for hours.

We are meeting new cousins.  This is my new nephew Owen.  I got to meet him a few minutes after he was born.  But we left the next morning for home.  So this is the first quality time we have spent with him.

My girl is in heaven!!!!

I am minus a kid cause he is off on a traditional bow festival adventure with his Pappy.  I envision him running through the northern mountains of Pennsylvania with mud streaks on his face and bare chested.

Christmas Card

I am dabbling more and more into photography. I love taking pictures. I have since I can remember. I have a nice camera, a very nice camera, thanks to my Mr. I have started taking workshops and doing online tutorials. I am starting to shoot in manual. I am still learning.

Today after the kids got home from school we set out to take our Christmas card photos. We loaded up and went down the road about a mile. These are some out takes from the shoot. My kids don't always want to cooperate with me.....

My Old Bike

Since I gave an entire post to the new bike, that should be arriving in about 10 days (seriously can't they move any faster?? Patients is not my strong suit), I thought I should at least give a shout out and quick photo post of my always faithful beach cruiser. I call her my mango dream. I special ordered it 11 years ago after seeing it in an add in a magazine. I had to have that orange bike, what is truly strange about it though is that my favorite color is pink, not orange/mango! Something about it in the sunset picture just called my name. So I searched out a local dealer that could get it in.

Recently in my search for a european bike I came across some dutch bike accessories that I just LOVED!!! One of them was the handlebar flowers. Loved the idea was not going to pay the price plus shipping to get one. So I set out to make my own. And this is what I came up with. It is actually for my new dutch bike, but I gave it a go on my beach cruiser for now to get an idea of what it was going to look like. I love it!! I love the peony and all its creamy goodness!!!

And of course I had to do something for my girl too. I hate the stage she is at in her bike owning. My poor girl is a bit like her mom and on the "petite", ok or some just say flat out "short" side. So our options for bikes are very limited. We did get her a beach cruiser that she used for about 2 years and this is a pass over bike from our good neighbors. I would love to get her something cool too, but I either have to pay an arm and a leg or they just don't have it in her frame size (which is around 20" or maybe a little less)....So for now we are dressing up the one that was gifted at a good price (free) until she has some vertical growth and we can get her a reasonably priced one from good old Wally World. I think she is soon in need of a bigger basket.....

8 years ago

.......today this little girl made me a Mommy. She amazed me then and continues to now. I have been blessed by my kids, I remind myself this often.