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)

Zoo Lights 2017

We had so much fun at Zoo Lights this past December, I just HAD to share some more photos!

This year we went to dinner with the whole family.  Then we filled up the van with grammae and as many cousins as we could fit (3) and we drove into Portland.

When we arrived at the zoo at 7pm, we were expecting the parking lot to be clearing out (this was our luck in previous years).  But this year...it was still full, and closed off!  Oh no!  So Marcus dropped us off at the entrance and by the time we did that, the lot opened and Marcus got a good spot.  He met us just inside the gates.

It was a beautiful, chilly night.  No rain!  It was still very crowded for the first half of our visit, but it definitely thinned out for the 2nd half.  We caught the last zoo train with NO lines!  It was a very late night but we couldn't say no to a stop to Sesame Donuts on the way home.

December 2017 catch-up -- festive holiday fun

All sorts of Christmas activities!!!  Here is a view into our December:

Zoo Lights with cousins this year!!!
We ate at our traditional place: Noodles & Co.

Always a fun time at Zoo Lights

Winter dance recital at the Dance Hall (Gemma in white scarf)

James and Posa

Bunny--I think she is on the left??  :o)

Fun with Papa's train at the annual "Reason
for the Season" soup dinner

Christmas Fun Day 2017 (Red Lobster)

still had school to do, but that's OK...we will be done by May!

All the kids love our Sunday trips to Mindy's
(Decadent Creations Bakery)

Family trip to a Blazers game--I stayed home with the littles,
and took Gemma to urgent care...where she was diagnosed
with the flu.  As in The Flu.  Lots of fun.

Somehow through all this I still had time to run the St. Matthew
Christmas Play.  I had a GREAT group of kid, so it was easy!!

Christmas Eve at grammae and papa's

Cellie got her first American Girl doll!

Christmas Morning--James was happy

so was Gemma!!

Dinner at Amelia's, just for fun