Hi! Did you miss me? Life has been a little crazy, and I sort of didn't get to write, or shower regularly and I forgot to eat a few times. Don't worry, I'll catch you up!
Grab a coffee (Is it pumpkin?) and take a seat. Here comes three weeks of Seven Quick Takes all rolled into one! That probably makes it more like 21 takes, but I promise to keep it brief.
1. Two birthdays, one party, and a girls only shopping trip.
Emma and Anna both have September birthdays. They also just so happen to fall two days apart. So that means this non birthday party planning Mama has to actually try a little bit. We tossed together a small joint party for the girls. Emma also requested a girls only lunch and shopping trip with her sister Addison. Emma chose Olive Garden. She didn't realize that her free birthday dessert would come with a group of waiters and waitresses singing, Happy birthday. She was just slightly embarrassed.
We also crammed in some winter clothes shopping for everyone. It was a good weekend.
2. Canning applesauce and a small kitchen fire.
It's fall. That means it's apple time! We already canned one bushel of apples with one more sitting in the kitchen. This batch will probably be part apple butter.With one more bushel on the way. That one will be apple pie filling.
I did accidentally catch a towel on fire in the process of making this batch of applesauce.
I saw the flames and started yelling 'Fire' while simultaneously putting it out. The children found this exceedingly funny. Emma sliced her finger while peeling apples. Anna put them in her stroller and scattered them all through the house. We ended up doing an apple hunt to find them all. Nothing has started to smell. I'm assuming we found them all. Alex avoided the whole process in true preteen boy fashion and Addison was around. More on her later.
The applesauce is really good. I can't seem to keep the kids out of it. We're calling it a success!
3. Camping next to the bathrooms and roasting zombie flesh over the fire.
We went camping with some friends. Four adults, 7 kids and an entire city's worth of tents. It was fun, exhausting and totally worth all the work. Google maps failed us just a bit with this trip. We went to a place neither family had camped before. Google maps claimed we would be 15-20 yards from a bathroom. Nope. It was 15 feet! It will forever go down in history as the time we camped next to the bathroom and the waste water dump. Lol
I really wasn't kidding. There is the bathroom right behind Alex!
We fished, swam, built sandcastles, sang songs around the fire(Alex and the boys put on a small church service Sunday morning.), went out for ice cream, went star tipping, rode bikes, played cards, ate delicious food, chased the toddler and drank lots of coffee. The playground near the campsite had a zip line. That went over well!
The parents enjoyed it as well. But we all know we only really do it for the kids.
We decided to cook bacon over the fire our last morning before loading everything up. The fire wasn't wanting to take, the griddle area wasn't cooking the bacon and everyone was hungry. So we improvised. We put the bacon, accordion style, on the marshmallow sticks and roasted it over the flames. We accomplished our task, but the bacon turned grey and black from the smoke. One of the Dad's commented that it looked like zombie flesh..and the kids just went with it.
Roasted zombie flesh = Good
4. She's got skills!
Anna is two now. It's been interesting watching her turn into the person she is going to be. She is talking so much. She thinks goldfish crackers are the only food group and her favorite things are playing Mommy, cooking with her play food (She received three new sets for her birthday!), shutting all the doors in the house and coloring...on the walls.
Here's a small recap of the life of Anna the last couple weeks.
Remember the busy boxes? Yeah, she found them when my head was turned. They will never be the same again.
I did not get a chance to sort and organize her toys after her birthday. In all honesty, I still haven't done it. Life has been a bit crazy the last few weeks. This is a prime example of why we limit the access to the toys in our tiny house. Because it looks like this. She is always so proud when she dumps it all out like this.
Call me crazy but I think all two yr olds should have a baby and a stroller. My kids have always loved them. We have worn out at least four of them over the years.
This has made me laugh so many times recently. Anna despises all things with straps that can restrain her. Her car seat, stroller, high chair etc. However, we can't keep her out of this baby stroller. She buckles herself in and sits there for a while. Then she starts yelling for someone to "Buckle!" and free her from her self imposed prison. I'll never understand it, but I will forever find it entertaining.
5. Remember when the kids got to be Doughoys?
We received a copy of the Historical Society's newsletter last week. We were surprised to see that the kids and their friends made the front cover!
6. A few random things.
-Business has been going good at the new shop. Dustin had a fire engine to work in two weeks ago. The shouts from the back of the van were almost deafening when I pulled onto the lot that day.
-Sometimes you have to take the entire body off of a vehicle to get to the engine. I've seen it quite few times over the years. But people find it cool. So here you go, a little bit of awesome from the tiny house family's business. ;)
-While camping, our friends introduced me to this little beauty. It is a Chemex coffee maker. It is amazing. It is my new best friend! It makes the most delicious, and strong coffee. Amazing!
- It is occurring to me that this guy hasn't showed up too much in the blog lately. So, you get a picture of my handsome young man. I had to take him to the Dr this week for a stomach bug. He was 5'5"! He can slow down now. He said his ultimate goal is to be taller then his Dad. I don't think it will be long. It is a good thing the boy loves basketball.
- I little about me... Dustin bought me some more of my favorite shirts. They have fun/encouraging sayings. I love them. I also found some shoes with a supportive arch that I absolutely love. I realize I have crossed over into the old lady/mom shoes/fashion. I'm a lot more ok with it than I thought I would be. There has been a lot going on around here lately. Stuff that reminds me of when Emma was really sick. I have to say that I'm not a fan and so, so ready for all of this to hopefully be resolved soon and for life to be a bit more normal. I'm doing my best to keep everyone held together. They are all still here and accounted for, so that's a good thing. This Mama is wearing down fast. Im super thankful for our support system, my husband and our God. God is good. There is a plan, there is a reason much bigger than all of us.
- Emma is still doing cross country. Her mile is under 9 minutes now! She is so proud of herself.
- Dustin got a new toy. He got one of those outdoor cookers. He made us this amazingly delicious seafood steam pot dinner. We all enjoyed it so much.
Do you remember when I commented about Addison having a rough summer?
If you do not, then you can catch up on the link provided above. She has had some really odd things going on this summer. We though it was just a few little things that were just that...little things. Turns out that isn't the case. All of those little things were just symptoms of one big thing. I can't give out too many details just yet. However, I can tell you that she has went un-diagnosed for almost six months, despite us taking her to the Dr. multiple times.
We are still sorting things out and waiting for test results.She is scheduled for surgery Monday morning, to have at least one lymph node removed and biopsied in her neck. Then we will be waiting for even more test results. Then we will know what direction we will be heading after that.
We are trusting in God, praying a lot and keeping her calm. She is not ok with the idea of having stitches and a scar. She doesn't exactly know what is going on. She is six. However she is one smart cookie and understands more than we probably realize. Her main fear at the moment is the stitches and the scar.
Please keep Addison in your prayers.
Thank to any and all who stop by and read our blog. Our lives are crazy, blessed and a bit of a mess. We will get through this and move forward. God is good all the time.
~Lyndsay
God bless you! Praying for you all.
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