The new school year has brought a new adventure to our family. We're doing a homeschooling/public schooling blend. Nate and I put a lot of thought and prayer into it and decided that we wanted more than anything to take the guesswork out of school this year. I didn't feel like I could handle the stress of remote public schooling for all the kids again. And homeschooling allows us to keep things as consistent for our family as possible. We won't have to worry about the runaround of the schools shutting down and then reopening, which honestly may or may not happen multiple times over the course of the year. Addison, oboe in tow, is our only public schooler this year. He's in his first year of junior high. He gets up early, masks up, and goes to school twice a week, and learns remotely the other three days. I like it, because that means he gets to do the homeschool thing with us, at least somewhat, on those days. We get him sometimes for science and history, depending on h...

Life has really been coming at us quickly this summer. We've gone a lot of places, lots of people have come to us, and Emmeline has turned from a baby into a toddler. The days are full, and so are the evenings, and so are the nights. And Nate and I are so tired. One day we're hoping this baby will learn to sleep through the night. I just wanted to take a second and make a note of how much I appreciate Nate. He had the crazy idea for us to sign up for a trail half marathon several months ago. Somehow he got me to go along with it, even though I could hardly run down the block at that point. Since then, we have run and run and run. We both trained hard and consistently and gotten stronger. I've remembered that even though I have given birth to five kids and I have the body to show for it, I can still do hard things. I can get up early. I can get sweaty. I can set goals that I can keep. Nate has been so encouraging. More than anything, running has given us a chance to...

That's what I am. Today is three days overdue. The baby clothes are all washed and folded, diapers are neatly stacked, the carseat is assembled and ready, Grandma and Grandpa are here. We're just missing one thing: a baby! So to pass the time, I'll give you a couple of the best comments I've gotten on the pregnancy. 1. Are you sure  you're not having twins? 2. Wow, you really are huge ! And my personal favorite: 3. I can't believe you can even walk! Nice, really nice. I have grown to love my doctor's nurse. She's so hilarious and just totally gets it. The last couple times I've been to my ob appointments she's seen the crazed look in my eye, recognized it for what it was, and gone searching for chocolate. Last time it was peanut butter m&m's in one of those cups that you leave a urine sample in. One of the things I am looking forward to most about having this fifth baby here is feeling like I have control ov...

This year has been a lean one as far as available time and money go for our little family. Moving is the main culprit, in my opinion, for several reasons. I think Nate and I have grown as a result. We've attempted to stretch every penny and every minute as far as they could possibly go. It has been excruciating, in all honesty. But I think the effort has been well-spent, and will pay off in the long run. Having a garden was one of those things we didn't really have the time or the money to do this year, but we both felt strongly that a garden was worth investing in. So we worked really hard and got a couple raised beds put in and filled them with soil that turned out to be pretty crummy, and a modest crop of little plants. I feel like there was so little time available to spend on the garden this time around. Asa and I were the main caretakers, as a result. I remember spending what seemed like forever out there trying to get the plants well-watered every couple of days. It wa...

First off, I must say that the timing was impeccable. That very day I'd turned to mighty prayer as my last hope of ever having the baby. I begged that if it wouldn't mess up the grand scheme of things somewhere down the road, just please, please  let the baby come. And that very morning, there were noticeable and somewhat consistent contractions. Also, it is crazy that Nate's mom got here when she did. Of all the days and hours and minutes she could've arrived, she picked the perfect moment. Nate and I were able to head out the door like 30 minutes after she got here. After simultaneously being in labor and caring for all the kids all day, I needed that. Really bad. And I was strep B positive, so had to have penicillin at the hospital. The ideal timing for it is to get the penicillin, have it in your system for four hours, and then have the baby. And it was just about right. He came about four and a half hours after the i.v. And it was on his due date. Seriously...

Remember that time when our kitchen flooded? Well we officially have it all back together again! Finally! We only lack one cute little decoration I'm working on (also, I need to mop) and then we'll post pictures like crazy. I wanted to take a second before we did that to document a few creative breakthroughs we had during the process. Call them white trash, call them genius, here they are, in no particular order. Patents pending. Backyard Soaking Step 1: Burn dinner Step 2: Take pots outside Step 3: Fill with hose water Step 4: Wait (Overnight for best results) Step 5: Scrub and dump dirty water in the grass Step 6: Throw away the middle pot because really there's just no hope for that kind of charrage. Breakfast in Bed. Step 1: Grow way, way too much zucchini and have no place to put it. Step 2: Be addicted to (and experiencing withdrawals from) baked goods.     Step 3: Put down a towel on the bedroom floor and put yourself (and n...

Is what you know you've got when your little one is chowing down on a cinnamon roll that your husband made, because you didn't feel like making them, but really wanted to eat one.

Father's Day pretty much rocked around here, because Nate is the greatest. I think we all had a great time. To sum it up, there was lots of yummy food and a ridiculously long nap for Nate and a few presents. One of my faves was from Addison that his teachers helped him make in church on Sunday. He dictated and they took it down. My favorite part is the "My dad doesn't like to" section. You must be doing something right, Nate. Happy Father's Day!