I'm another month behind....

 I don't know how time flies so quickly. But it does. I've been especially busy this past month so I guess that's my excuse. Now to go back in time and pray I remember the reason I took these pictures! 

October, October.... what happened during you? 

The month started off with a visit from the Allen family! They were on their way moving to their new home in Indiana. They stopped by mom and dads for a few days then came here for a few days. And since I'm the designated "middle man" (which I LOVE) we will be seeing a lot more of them, I'm sure! Adeline celebrated her 11th birthday while they were here as well. I'm sure it wasn't as fun as celebrating in her own home, but I hope it was fun at least. I kept our kids home from school that day and they all played and played and played. 

The kids crowded around our kitchen table while the adults went outside to eat. 

Abe and Tyler rolled down our "hill." Which made me laugh because while it looks like a slight hill in the picture, in reality there is barely any hill. So they just rolled to roll. 

Adeline organized the boys bookshelf. Bless this child! I need her around more often! 

Abe ran naked all around. I sent pics to his father saying this was "his" child. 

The upstairs was perfect as we had the Allen's sleep up there. And during the day we cold banish all the little ones up there while Anna and I sat in the living room in peace. All the hard work was worth it! 

Will and Grayson cracked me up sleeping on Grandma's chairs. I have no idea why they chose that spot, but they did. 

Happy 11th Birthday Adeline! 

We celebrated with a waffle bar for breakfast. 

Amy and Adeline spent many hours painting in the garage. Yes, that's the state of the garage. Geesh! 

Amy always heard tale of how grandma wanted a daisy painted on her tree stump. So Amy painted one on her own. 

The big candle I found burst confetti! It was awesome. 

This pack of boys. They are cute, aren't they. And so funny running around together. 

Finally it was time to say goodbye. Stratton was waiting in Indiana and they needed to move on. I laughed at all the stuff packed into their van. 

We'll see you guys again soon!! 

One of the Young Women at church celebrated her quinceanera and invited Amy and myself. They had a little dance party in their backyard and it was fun seeing Amy dance up a storm. Love these kids. 

Mom and Dad came for another visit. The last power-through carpentry one to get us to the inspection. Mom said hanging wood out the window was "old news" in her book and we laughed all the way down the highway. There was more painting, hanging all the door trim, hanging shelves and a few other odds and ends. We passed inspection that next week. The guy said it was "perfect." With Bill Nagel involved, did you think it would be anything but? :) 

Dad put the boys to work carrying down wood. I have no idea why Will had the ear things on. I think Dad was using the tablesaw or something. 

Tyler was holding wood for Dad to cut. I thought it was funny. 

Dad always rewards their hardwork with a trip to Nachos! The boys love it. 

I got to go with Jette Halliday from church to pickup some food from the store house and deliver it to a local organization. It was a lot of fun to spend so much time with her. She's awesome and I loved learning about her life! The store house told us it was ton of boxes so I removed our back seats to have room. Turned out, while yes, it was a lot of food, it wasn't so much that the seats needed to be removed. Oh well.  

I hope Aunt Donna never reads this, but when I went to get the kids, I had forgotten to put the seats back in! So the boys had to ride, illegally, in the van on the way home. I even had them lay down so no one would notice in the pickup lines. hahahaha. We arrived safely and I put the seats back in right away! 

Marty does not like small pillows or stuffed animals. He shreds them to pieces. I can't remember what he destroyed this time. But he also got into my lemon tree one day and I was not happy about that. 

Marty loves sitting outside in the sun. he really is a good dog, he just has his quirks. Like any child. :) 

The boys had a Hop on Pop morning. 

Alright.... that's half of the month. I'll continue in the next post..... 

September

 This was our September..... 

Tomato products remained scarce. 

My fall monarchs started hatching. We got 9 males and 8 females this time around. 

I think this was Tyler's breakfast one day. Yes, I said breakfast. I'm past the point of caring. At least he ate. 

My hiking friends (Talana Know, Trista Grissom and Kristen West) and I had a girls night where we descended on Kristen's house to help her put together a massive wooden rolling cart. Talana and Kristen hung curtains (yuck) while Trista and I did the manual work. It took us until midnight.

Amy and I took a girls weekend trip to GA. Anytime Amy and I go out for a girls days we get Papa John's cheese sticks and icees from the gas station. So of course we had to eat that on the way. Tradition!  

She's 'casually' laying on Meme's couch.

Meme's 2020 potato harvest 

Couch shopping for me... we didn't find anything.... 

At Ikea. It wore them out! 

The drive home. She's a very chatty travel companion (rolls eyes.) 

I have no idea what Will was crying about.... 

More monarchs.... 

Amy is IN LOVE with her dog. They play and wrestle all the time. 

I think one of the boys had Lee 'hiding.' I think Lee liked the excuse to take a nap. 

Will set up a stand in the hallway. I think he sold dog treats for $.50 and cookies for $1. Any way to make a buck! 

Tyler is LOVING the piano. He may be the most excited child about it. He plays all the time. 

For a youth service project we went to a food bank and separated food from big boxes into smaller ones. Everyone laughed at Amy who got tired of leaning over and just climbed in. She has no fear. 

The lemons on my tree are coming along nicely!

One of our kids had a cough, so Lee wore a mask around the house. 

Another day, another van full of wood.... 

And object lesson about being in uncomfortable places but being able to be supported by Christ. 

Aside from Amy, Marty LOVES Lee. He frequently curls up in his lap and falls asleep. He thinks he's a lap dog. 

Volunteering with some Master Gardeners 

The guest bed looks mighty cozy!! 

Who knows- Will must have been making funny faces!