apple harvest

The apple tree on our property line had a banner year!

The weather has been so incredibly fantastic; we have been spending time outside as much as possible.  Marcus and I took an evening walk and I thought, "Why do we never pick these apples?"  So we marched down to the barn and grabbed the ladder.  Of course, all the kids followed.

The apples are delicious (maybe literally Delicious, I don't know) and we plan on making a pie on Saturday.

Photo journal - first half of September 2018

I'm back, blogging 2 days in a row (a new record!).

Marcus is at Trail Life with James, and I just put the kids to bed, so I have a free moment.

Here is a photo journal of a few September happenings.  My iPhone photos are not automatically uploading (need to work on that...) so these are all from Marcus' phone, which DOES upload automatically.  One of these days I'll get my own photos on the computer.

Anyway, enjoy!

On last day of August, Marcus and I took Bunny
and Mariposa to our horse lessons teacher's wedding.
It was BEAUTIFUL!  So simple and sweet.  The
food was delicious.  

James has a little business going.  He sells custom-requested
drawings to his cousins.  This one is in progress.

Babers got a Decadent Creations treat after braving
THREE shots at her doctor's appointment.

This is what it looks like at Seddy's speech
class.  There is a one-way mirror where Celeste
and I can watch him.  Mostly she just plays.

Marcus had a hankering for chicken fried steak
one night.  He made a ton!!  (it was great!)

Our sweet little artist.  How can we be mad
at her when her drawing is so cute?

Cousin Emmett's birthday party.  My kids LOVE getting together
with their cousins!  It was the highlight of their week.

Marcus took these two (and Gemma) grocery shopping one
afternoon.  I was at a funeral with the 3 older ones, who
were altar servers at the funeral. 

We go to the market when we can.  This time,
we saw cousin Aidan!!

Proof that Marcus does sometimes help
with the homeschooling.  Is there anything
this man doesn't do??  :o)

Oregon State Fair 2018

 A good friend gently reminded me about my blog recently.  (sheepish face)

Where does the time go?  Well, I can tell you...I am pleasantly busy as of late, just keeping up with daily activities and, now that fall is here, keeping up with schooling 5 kids.

My mornings start at 6:15am start when I enjoy a few moments of quiet before the youngest kids come downstairs promptly at 7am.  Then the day starts off with a bang--full-on kid-care all day, every day.  :o)  On school days I am in the school room from about 8:10am-noon, then for a few minutes before Mrs. N leaves at 1pm.  Then kids to nap and more school, or appointments if needed.  My lovely husband makes dinner so I do chores in the late afternoon while shuttling kids to dance etc.  (We have 7 family members taking dance classes this year!)  Then the bed-time routine.  I am upstairs at 8:30pm (not tonight, oops!) to have some quiet time with Marcus before bedtime.  Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

As you probably know, we like having little adventures in our family, and we like making those adventures into traditions.  We always go to the Oregon State Fair on a certain day, at a certain time, and we always follow the same route.  :o) We all love it!

livestock barn
I am probably telling kids about showing sheep.

I hear ya, momma pig.

dairy barn

Bunny's favorite barn

making name tags at the State Parks exhibit

Next we saw the 4-H exhibits then had a packed dinner of picnic food while listening to live music.  My pics weren't great so I will spare you.

Something new!  Bunny and James tried their hand at Oregon
trivia! (They didn't do so well...we don't learn much in our
homeschool about Oregon History.  Maybe next year....)

We always need to find our friend's quilts. :o)

Next, the rides!  The little kids first.

Then the big kids.  I took the littles to "Jesus Land" (the Christian
evangelical booth) where Sedric proceeded to tell the storyteller
all about God/creation/etc.  #thatsmyboy

Sedric, Celeste, and I met up with everyone else at the giant Ferris Wheel.  They saved just enough tickets for all of us to ride.  What a nice ending to our day.

Have to get the giant "Mammoth" Ear every
year!!  (with a side of fries this year...)

Definitely a summer highlight--a great way to end a great summer.  We had lots of small adventures this summer but still a lot of down time as well.  I am hoping to post more pics soon, but we'll see how it goes.  My days really are packed, and if I take out 30 minutes to make a post, something suffers....  :o(  But maybe it's worth it!!  I miss blogging!!  :o) :o)