20 hour getaway

We spent a night away in Eureka Springs. It was quick but wonderful to have conversations, eat our food while it was still warm, and just have a reason to use mascara and wear real pants 😂

We loved the pretty drive and listened to Nickel Creek bluegrass along the way. We popped into Thorncrown Chapel, walked down Main Street in Eureka, ate a wood fired dinner next to a natural underground spring  at the Grotto, and then we stayed up like kids eating a half gallon of ice cream straight out of the carton and watching hallmark movies. We loved every blessed minute! We stayed in a really cool treehouse. We loved the architecture in this funky little town! 

Fireman Bedroom

This room is still a “work in progress”, but some big changes (a big boy bed!) and requests for a “fireman room” were too cute to pass up. I love the zip up bedding, the fire truck lamp, and the fire salvaged A that was blackened from soot, so I repainted red to match the hat (that belongs to my dad!). I still need to paint the dressers, add hardware and hang artwork and bulkhead lighting, and paint the little mirror and bookshelf that were salvaged from the discard pile (yes, I dumpster dived at my own house), and recover the glider. It was saved by the restoration company but the cushions are in rough shape after going through the industrial washers. But even in its incomplete state, this bedroom makes a little boy VERY happy! He loves his room and he loves reading all of the fireman books on his shelf every single day. 

And the most important part of the room: the mini trampoline. 

Soren’s Halloween Decor

Soren and Corbin LOVE all of the Halloween  decorations going up on the lane. I still have not replaced all of the fun spookies we had before the fire, and own exactly 2 felt pumpkins and some orange plaid throw pillows as my pathetic autumn decor. Soren made these adorable decorations for his bedroom. They made the boys so happy, I bought a new plastic skeleton today for them to pose in the yard. 

Where the hours go

Hours and hours of training to renew our Foster Parent License. Continuing education is great! I wish I had more time to do it...currently, my day time hours are spent gaining a very real life first hand education about early childhood trauma 😂. 

Working so hard to learn how to read and recognize numerals.





(Shown: Dean, Rachel, Soren, and Sloane made habitats at the park and asked Jill and I to rank them on comfort, mobility, color, and design) 






Washing the van was like a circus act. We attracted a crowd abd the neighbor boys all wanted to help, too! 




Finding the right balance of structured and independent learning.  

Back in the Studio

 Quincy’s wonderful cello instructor is back in the studio for lessons. Corbin began private lessons last week, as well.  It felt so normal to sit outside the lesson room and hear the takka-takka-stop-stop “stop and go twinkles” and Boccherini’s Minuet floating through the air.  Corbin is learning to hold his bow and my Quincy girl is working hard to advance out of Suzuki book 3. She mastered Scherzo by Webster (my favorite! I hope she keeps it polished as a performance piece) over the summer and still has Minuet to go.  Sizing up in instruments is always a little challenge and she is very sensitive to make sure she always plays in tune. I think that even though this desire for perfectionism has “slowed” her book advancement, it is what dedicated musicians are made of.  All the work she is putting into precise fingering of scales on her bigger instrument will serve her in the long run. As the parent, I know she’s itching to move along through her books even faster, but I’m quite grateful for her lively sound. It is so easy on the ears to listen to a cellist who plays in tune.  Quincy, some day you will read this as a  much more advanced Suzuki student.  Know that today, I could listen to you play that cello all day long, because even though you are tired of the pieces from book 3, you sound very good. 

(Notice the crocs on all of us. Our feet are all so happy, we don’t even care anymore. Our real shoes think we died. Whatever. Our real shoes should have been nicer to our feet.) 

Egg Races

The race is on! We have been charting the weeks of our chickens’ ages and have marked the earliest each breed typically begins to lay eggs. So far, Blue and Raquelle our blue and black Americaunas are 1 week “overdue”. Pizza, our cream legbar could lay in a week. It’s chicken neck and chicken neck between Steve, the barred rock, and Bellatrix, the Australorp. Both breeds are known to lay as early as 16 weeks, but typically begin production at 20 weeks...which is this Thursday. Who of the 5 will lay the first egg?  Sunny, our buff Orpington probably still has about a month to go. And Ginger, our fancy feather footed french wheaten Marans won’t warm her keep until almost thanksgiving.  Considering we had a 6 week setback starting over with a new flock, we are SO ready to see the fruits of our labors! 

Metfield Pool and Kingsdale pool

Many summer days have been spent splashing, sliding, and swimming at metfield and kingsdale pools. 

Tonight we went to kingsdale as a family. It was freezing but the littles didn’t care a bit. 

I picked up subway for dinner and we ate outside. The weather has been perfect lately and we are soaking it in.

Butterfly success

One of our monarch caterpillars disappeared from its little habitat on our countertop, over night about 12 days ago. 

We found the chrysalis under a dining table chair a few days later! We were sure it would survive as we tried and failed to keep the chair undisturbed.  Below are pics from last night. This morning, and this afternoon! Success!  We moved the chair to the back deck so our butterfly can dry it’s wings out and go find some nectar in the garden.