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! 

Monarchs and Back in School

 These pictures uploaded out of order. Oh well.
Will being silly in the pickup line. He was listening to songs on the radio and then telling us what they mean. It was hysterical. He's a pretty funny kid when he's in a good mood.

Tyler came down with a runny nose and cough the first weekend after school started. For a moment we were afraid it was COVID-19, but it's not. Our doctor confirmed it was just a sinus/allergy type thing. But Lee wasn't taking any chances since his classes start this week, so he wore a mask around the house. 

My Monarchs. (heart) I have about 23 chrysalids right now. It's pretty fun. And the most I've ever had!

I love watching the kids get interested and check on them all the time.

I laughed outloud when I saw this meme. Oh 2020. You have been a year.

I finally hung up my hammock swing and I sat there for hours one Saturday. Like hours and hours. I read a book, took a nap, it was just perfection. And of course I could overlook the monarchs. haha.

Oh Amy. On her 2nd to last day of distance learning, I realized I hadn't heard from her in awhile. She usually came out of her room between classes but I hadn't seen her. So I went to go check... well, she missed those classes! ha! Luckily her video wasn't on, and they had to complete assignments to be counted there, so it didn't really matter.

For a youth activity we held a drive thru root beer float thing and asked for donations for our local Veterans hospital. We got so many donations. It was so awesome.

I got my official Monarch Waystation sign! Woohoo!

Will sometimes writes music. It will be interesting to see if this progresses!

And Will... oh Will..... he has been listening to the staff at school say if you feel sick, have a runny nose, have a fever, etc you cannot come to school. Well, he didn't want to go to school, so he decided he had a runny nose. He wasn't sick at all, of course. He tried to get out of it at home but we told him he was going. Well, an hour into school the nurse called. She said, "I know he isn't really sick, but we have a zero tolerance policy this year and he's been sniffing, so you will have to come get him." I was livid. Not with the school, I understand their policy. But with him. So when I picked him up, and would hardly speak for fear I would say something I would regret, he decided he better say a quick prayer for his safety. I made him work hard all day at home and let me tell you, he will NOT be pulling that shenanigan's again. Good grief. This day and age he cold have created an entire school shut down! I laugh about it now, but I was not laughing about it that day.

Now the kids are all back in school. Amy had her first full day and had a great time. Kids adapt really well and don't seem to care about wearing a mask. Who knows if school will get shut down again. It probably will. But until then, I'm going to enjoy my solitude at home. :) After 5 months, I think I deserve it. ha!

School Starts and a Family Fun day

Uncle Stratton gave us a huge tv and after we hung it up, the boys used the box to create their "own" tv and video gaming set. It was pretty funny. Ah, cardboard boxes just never get old. 

Just some of the celery I grew this year. I had no idea it would do so well! But it did excellent!

Will in his new glasses. He hasn't gotten into the habit of wearing them all the time yet. The boys got to sleep upstairs before school started. So they brought their drawing books and stayed up late doing who knows what. 

Tyler started piano lessons! Our teacher doesn't like to start until they are 8, and since he turned 8 back in April, well, it was time to start. He's loving it. 

The start of school was a little different this year....  

The boys started like normal. (the pictures below.) At Amy's school, they had a few staff members test positive for the coronavirus so her school went online for the first week and a half. I got photos of the boys but Amy didn't want these to be her "first day" pics because she wasn't gussied up. But oh well. At this point it's all I've got. 

Amy is starting the EIGHTH grade. (How is that possible?? Next year is HIGH school) 
Will is in 5th grade. 

Tyler is in 3rd grade. 

They actually think wearing a mask is fun.

This sums up how Amy's first day went.....

Marty LOVES the car. We couldn't get him out after a little ride. 

I helped the Master Gardeners prune the grape vines in my new garden hat :) 

We had a family fun day one Saturday. It was rough figuring out where to go when so many things are closed down and it was so dang hot out. We finally settled for a place about an hour away that had a waterfall (that you really couldn't see because of the tree overgrowth.) 

But we got ice cream, so that's all that matters, right?