Together Again in Heaven: September

Sweet September seems so far away as I type this on the first day of November. We had a busy and fun September, and the highlight was a visit from my brother and niece from Florida. Here we are below, apple and flower picking with my family - it was great to have all of the cousins together after almost a year apart!

We loved watching Opal and my niece interact together, and hope that as they grow older they form a lasting bond since they are only three months apart.

Another highlight was meeting our neighbor's newest little one, and getting to have all the newborn snuggles. Sadly, our first meeting was also a goodbye, as they have since moved out of state and we aren't sure when we will see them again. Thank goodness for FaceTime and videos for keeping the love alive and well with both my niece and our old neighbors!

We also visited the local art museum with a friend of mine in September, and my favorite part was watching my kids use their own digital cameras to capture their favorite pieces of art as well as at the end of our trip when we got to make our own watercolor postcards.

Opal wasn't as much of a handful as I thought she would be, but she still sapped a large amount of Will's and my energy. She does not want to be restrained in a stroller but instead wants to explore on her own two feet and run the opposite way we are trying to go.

Lucy and Emma have really developed a love for reading this past summer, and are finding new ways to fit it in now that school has started back up. Here Emma is below, reading her book and exercising at the same time. Violet is feeling a bit lonely, since she cannot read on her own yet and her two best playmates are constantly answering her requests to play with her by saying "after I finish this chapter." My heart hurts to see Violet left behind on this new milestone, however I am trying to remind myself that for every new challenge or phase, there is also a silver lining. Sweet Violet is still trying to figure out what that might be, and in the meantime, I am wishing that Opal was a tad older and could play with Violet more. Opal does love to play with Violet, but it usually ends with her getting hurt, or the two of them fighting. I am proud of Violet for being the only family member who does not give in to Opal's demands, however it doesn't make for very harmonious play.

The center photo above shows a praying mantis that Will found on his car one afternoon after work. Will worked super hard this past month, not only with all of the stress that comes with back to school, but also with landscaping our backyard when he was home from work. He worked so hard, and so efficiently - and saved us about $8,000 with his own manual labor and finding a wholesale source for the trees. He planted about 26 arborvitaes and 2 white pine trees, to give our backyard a more private, up north feel.

Living on a corner, our backyard is not very private. Lately, it seems like the cars going down our side road are speeding at 100 miles an hour, and it really does make our backyard feel more like a front yard. I hope that these trees will help promote a more peaceful feel, and I think as they grow bigger that they will. I only wish that we had planted them ten years ago when we first moved in, but the truth of the matter is we were broke back then!

Next up on our landscape goals is to convert the strip of land along our driveway into a native meadow. Again, trying to bring the up north feel that we love so much to our own property. The first step was cleaning out the plants that were already there and the second step was putting down a roll of landscape tarp to smother the grass and weeds without using chemicals. In the spring, our hope is that the soil will be ready for planting our meadow!

As if the outside home improvements weren't enough, we also tackled some things in our bedroom that I have been wanting to do for a long time. I bought a refinished desk this past summer and finally made a space for it in our bedroom. I am calling it my happy place and I love it so much. I also found a cute little shelf on Etsy and added a fabric backing to it and a coat of fresh mint colored paint to hang by my new-to-me desk as well. While Will was helping me hang some other items in our room, and touch up some paint on our walls, Opal quietly tackled her own project of finding a wet paint brush and painting our bathroom counter. And thus goes home improvement projects with toddlers...one step forward and another step or two back. Fortunately, most of the paint came off of the counter and her hands.

The kids are motivated to continue the four day school week that we started last year, and so we work extra hard to have an extra day off. It works well, because there is always something that comes up during the week that makes it difficult to do school at home that day. This flex day has helped us to stay motivated on the four days we do school, and to not let us fall behind when life happens since we have it built into our schedule. In the below photos, clockwise from top left: the three oldest doing school in their rooms right when they wake up (that was September, and now at the start of November they are no longer doing this! Ha!) Violet overjoyed to have her friend and neighbor in her dance class this year, a drawing Lucy did that makes me so happy every time I see it, and finally, Violet on her first day of dance class for the year.

Here we all are at the dentist, one morning this past month. Homeschooling gives us great flexibility for doctor appointments since we don't have to wait until after school when everyone else is trying to get in.

Lucy has really upped her baking game this past month, and we are going through butter faster than I thought possible (and that is crazy, because I use a lot of butter). She made a fancy brownie cupcake for her first solo attempt at baking and they looked picture perfect. One bite though almost choked me, and after spitting it out, we determined that she mixed up the salt and sugar proportions in the recipe. Will made the comment that you could die from too much salt as he too started choking on his first bite, and I realized that the mistake was only in the fancy coconut topping and that by scraping off the tops, we could still eat the brownie below. She was so bummed though, and redid the recipe a few days later, at which point we all declared them a yummy, baking success! Below in clockwise order from top left: Lucy's first attempt at brownie cupcakes, her well-received second attempt, a buttermilk pie that she made from a recipe in a book she read, and some oatmeal apple rhubarb bars that she made. The center photos are of my first attempt at chicken and dumplings which was a huge hit with everyone except Emma and Violet, and finally, some beautiful eggs from our chickens.

With all of the baked treats we've been having, you would think the kids would be immune to the song of the ice cream truck. Yet another reason why we are looking forward to our more private yard. I swear that truck drives by extra slow by our yard because of all of the kid toys strewn about. The top photo below is of all four kids, looking sadly and longingly as the ice cream truck drove torturously slow by them. The bottom photo below is of the one time I did let them get a treat from the ice cream truck. Even Charlie hung around to see if there would be any treats for him too.

Below are photos of fun times this past month, found in just ordinary days. From top left in clockwise order: Emma reading a Berenstain Bear book to Violet, Violet tying scarves and handkerchiefs on her and her dolls heads to all match, all four girls playing with Opal, Lucy paying me some money that she owed me, but doing it in a creative and beautifully tied handkerchief, and finally, mealtime. My favorite meals are when everyone likes the food we've made, and Will is home. This doesn't happen nearly as much as I would like, but when it does, I am happy.

This photo below made my heart happy. The kids realized they were all together on the couch and so ran to get "Luke's teddy bear" so he could be there with them too. The teddy bear was given to us at Luke's baby shower by Will's grandma. Who knew that it would become so very loved by everyone but Luke, but that when the kids hug and hold this teddy bear, they feel that Luke is near.

The above photo is of our first cold of the season. September seemed way too early to already be sick, but with Opal in the house, she is for sure the germ carrier. I know this not only because she is always putting her hands in her mouth when we are out and about, but because she is always the first one sick. And since the rest of us can't resist kissing her or eating the leftovers on her plate, it is just a matter of time before the rest of us have whatever contagious thing she has.

Here I am below with my girls. Opal fell on the driveway this past month, and had a swollen upper lip. When we realized that she couldn't smile in our selfie, we decided to all make "duck lips" so that she "matched".