Phone Sharing

Someone got ahold of my phone...

 Guess Who!!!

Mummies and Jobs

Tonight I'm getting educated on mummies, this includes the embalming process, wrapping process and entombing.  Why a 6th grader needs to write a 5 page research paper on ancient Egyptians is baffling to me.  I'm hopeful this assignment will help her down the road navigate real world problems, practice life skills and and live her best life.  

Is it obvious I'm annoyed?

Speaking of life skills- which happens to be my specialty- Maisie and Molly have been been offered jobs.  Maisie oversees all the laundry and Molly maintains all meals and dishes.  This is a paid position and so far, has been worth every cent.

My babies aren't babies anymore.

And I'm kinda lovin' it.

Faith

I tried to capture a photo of Mike and me together on my birthday with the sexy meat and cheese tray he brought home, but the thick sweater I was wearing made me look like a dweeb, so it's not worth the data.  

My 41st birthday was as good as it could be and either way,  and I'm 41 regardless.

 I spent my Saturday afternoon with these 2 silly hearts who crack me up like a raw egg.
I'm pretty sure I know their hearts like only a mama could.

Maisie was hungry and Molly suggested Banana Splits.  

Banana Splits?

Is that even 'a thing' anymore?

Culvers Concrete Shakes worked just fine.

Luck was surely on my side the day these two spirits came into my life. 

Sugar Plum has been losing teeth left and right.  

She now has what she calls, "A Fry Slot on her left"

Meanwhile, my youngest won’t change out of his pajamas without a reminder (yet his heart is made of pure bright gold), my oldest has made friends with a kid who has more in common with him than I could have ever asked for, and my firstborn bio is pushing me to the end of my patience.

But I walked through the dark woods with my husband tonight.  

We shared our hopes and fears as we passed over the damp, cold leaves, gravel and mud in our boots.

In the end, I really couldn't ask for more.

And it leaves me feeling SO grateful for our faith.

Amen.

Prom Dresses, Mack, Basketball and 4-H

Apparently I blinked and Maisie fit into my prom dress.  

"The days are long but the years are short" couldn't be more accurate.

Tomorrow, the 11th, Mack legally becomes 17.

He and I have been spending more time together and while shopping he almost talked me into buying hi-top converse shoes for myself.

I ended up with low-tops instead. 

But it was close.

This kid dresses to the nines and has a style only Mack Boyd, can pull off.

He's so likable, so normal, so smart, so social- 

I still don't understand how God chose US for HIM 3 years ago.

He participated in the Iron Man Volleyball Fundraiser Friday night.  Apparently, he was the designated 'setter', cause he was kinda the best.

Mack with his sophomore class friends.

Maisie is going out her her first sport ever this season, middle school basketball.  

And Mack is dong JV basketball.  Sounds like the racist coach won't be coaching this year.  

I sing a Hallelujah.

Jayson is a Lucky Clover in Winterset.  Tonight was his first official 4-H meeting.  There was a lesson on manners and etiquette, followed by DIY catapults!  The meetings are in the church Molly was baptized if the scenery rings a bell.  

Ross will have his cast removed Friday and we'll move onto whatever is next.

He assures me he'll be doing 3 wrestling meets in January.  

Over my dead body.

Meanwhile, this guy and I keep on truckin'.

Fall Fun!

These girls of mine are just what the doctor ordered these days.  

Last weekend was cheer night at the game and both girls were 'feeling the school spirit."  

They remind me so much of myself at this age.  

Weird, awkward, self conscious, and goofy.  Maisie even has a different voice at school than she does in real life now.  

She claims she can't make it stop.

Meanwhile, I'm working to help ServeSafe students understand they CANNOT wear long acrylic nails in a food establishment.  

Clearly, I'm not getting through to them.

And because Maisie is in a 'trying-to-be-funny' stage, she dressed as her math teacher for a friend Halloween gathering.  

I think she looks a little more like Velma from Scooby Doo- but, whatever.

And in the midst of it all, Ross re-broke his leg.  

Not a proud moment for any of us who were involved with the second break, hearing the orthopedic surgeons' disappointment of the break, or having to purchase 2 sets of crutches within 3 months.

Yet, it is what it is, and we make our own beds.

Then the snow fell and the roads froze up overnight.

I texted Mack at 7:51 to drive carefully to school as the roads were slick.  

I got the call at 8:08.

He had spun out across the highway and landed in the ditch.

Then there's this little bottle of sunshine who can't get enough farm chores.

Where did she come from?

I can't get enough of her right now.

In the meantime, I'm taking the girls trick-or-treating for Halloween.  

Molly isn't dressing up, just going as a 'girl', Jay has zero interest in trick-or-treating and will probably program some sort of device instead, Ross will be with friends (making smart choices) and Maisie is going as a box.  

However I can't stop from thinking about one of my favorite sayings - 'whenever you start wondering where God is, remember the teacher is always quiet during a test'

Girls Goats, Critter Burials and Casseroles

Life on the goat-stead is going.  We're down one goat as our first, Willow is being bred.  

Sick thought, I know.  Let's just say dropping her off as the male chased her around with his tongue dangling from above his beard and making 'mounting attempts' while she tried to run away was hard.   Poor thing will probably be so sore...

After speaking with 'goat friends' at parent-teacher conferences, one can tell females are fertile when they try to 'ride' each other and get crusty discharge under their tails.

Seems all our goat girls are on the same cycle!

After I took this photo, Molly suggested our goats might be "lesbian"

 Goose chased some sort of chipmunk animal out of our firewood stack last weekend and left it on the driveway for our applause. 

Molly named the dead animal, "Critter" and gave it a proper burial last weekend.  

She dug the hole in fake Birkenstocks, we said a prayer for peace, buried it and walked away.  

All in mornings work.

Afterwards, we had a lesson on making Tater-Tot Casserole.  

Ironically,Tater-Tot casserole was on the hot-lunch menu this week at school. 

We have a new student who grew up in California and was exposed to this creation for the very first time on Tuesday.  

Poor kid.  

He thought he was being served dog food and wondered how us 'midwesterners' digest it.  

Welcome to Iowa Buddy - Just wait for Biscuit and Gravy Day!

Anticipation

My white boys is out of his cast. 

He's using his drivers permit to haul the family to school each day in the big white van with two feet and a pillow.  I've noticed how many local kids wait and wave at our van each morning along our route and have decided to buy candy to throw out the window each morning from here on out.  Why not make the van a candyvan?

Life's all about modifiyng the ideal to fit your needs.  The crutches weren't working.  The stoppers on the bottom wore out leading him to slip and fall in the halls.

  No Bueno.  

He's going without his cruches and seems to be a lot safer.  He did call me from the band room this afternoon during a tornado warning taking place during a volleyball game after school, but that's another story.  

In about 6 weeks his pins will come out and we'll begin physical therapy.

Speaking of therapy, Jays speech therapy is going well and he recently learned about the word, anticipate. 

 In fact, he has come to anticipate McDonalds each Monday after therapy.

His brothers and sisters don't seem to mind...

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