Papa's Playdate

 Sunday the grands at church asked Michael if they could have a Grandpa Playdate at their house this week. He suggested they come to our house Friday afternoon. I had plans to run errands and let them have time alone...but in the end they had been asking if Grandma would be around too - and it was fun to be a part of their grand day.  It was a blast to see Michael set aside his to do list and simply play with the kids. 

Note I made the cookies for papas playdate!

Brothers!

Annie checking for eggs

Jojo dancing to Papa's piano

Papa built a gate to our orchard today. Annie helped sweep the area with the magnet on a stick for spare nails, screws etc. 

These two loved riding down the drive. Annie started down the hill, heading for the gravel pile, Michael grabbed her off the bike in good time to save her from her impending crash. She had no clue how to break but if the big kids could do it, she was certainly going to try. They spent time learning how to break. 

Gideon and Bella 

Trudy

Papa's tired out - they decided to watch clouds

And how did my second day of the girls' college career go?  I enjoyed some quiet moments on the deck. 

mug shot 

I deep cleaned the common area downstairs and did more laundry. I researched a couple of Bible studies, spent some time journaling, praying and studying. There was nothing left to do but - BAKE.  I have found baking is a good way to think. 

I made cookies for Papa's playdate.  GG came out of his room and said, "I smell you're baking. I bet they're all sugar free."  Um...the ones on the right are keto - sugar free cookies. 

This is a cross between an apple pie and a cobbler. Not sure what to call it. LOL 

I made 5 dozen deviled eggs. That ought to keep this group for a bit of time? 

I planned to bake a cheesecake, but in the end decided the opportunity to sit and visit with Bre while Michael played with the kids was too great to pass up. I have no regrets. 

Allie and Stacia went to the fair after finishing up at the college. ABC gave all the Freshman free tickets. They are having a blast. They've finished all the entrance tests, all the sessions provided to incoming students, fees are paid, books and tuition paid...they are fully oriented.  They are getting a clearer picture of how in person vs/ online college compare. There are pros and cons for each option. They met many professors. They liked their fellow students. Stacia reports she didn't even hit a 1 on the anxiety scale we use around here. We have been very impressed with all the staff and professors we've met. 

Stacia raced to her laptop for her Japanese class when she got home. Allie took me into town to buy a few things for tomorrow and to pick up a pizza. We wanted to be together, I could have done it alone. I decided to unashamedly buy a cheesecake instead of making one. I was going to pass one off as my chocolate Andes cheesecake, but Bre said they'd know. LOL 

The kids went home. We had pizza. We spent the evening watching comfort movies...like Family Affair and the original Parent Trap.  It was a relaxing evening at the end of a busy week...going into a busier weekend. 

Jared and Larissa sent another couple of darling shots from Juneau. They're on their way back home. 

Such joy!

All By Myself?

A flurry of last-minute comments and activity and the girls were out the door for their first day of in person college. I forgot to take a picture. I teased them about first day photos with the white board. I realized my error immediately and grabbed this one. 

They're off on a grand adventure

They took separate cars as Stacia wanted to be able to come home as soon as possible. 

It quickly became apparent life has changed, and we are going to have to catch up with it. Michael had an appointment at 2:15. I had an appointment at 3:00 and we were both to meet at the church around 4 p.m. for another meeting. I thought it would all work as I thought the girls' last session began at 2...it began at 3 p.m. Arielle and the boys agreed to come to our rescue!

I found myself strangely "at odds and ends." Stacia turned 18 yesterday and her and Allie going to college orientation today put an exclamation mark on the fact homeschooling is over, and our babies are grown. I did what I do when transitions, like deployments, goodbyes, new pastors, moves and children moving, occur. I cleaned.... I dusted high and low, swept, dust mopped, put pork loin in the instant pot, folded Dad's laundry, started a load of our laundry, got Dad's breakfast, cleaned two bathrooms...in other words...I'd done all I could do...and it was 10:00. LOL I sat down with some tea, a scone and cozy mystery. 

Time for a self-care break 

I began to feel a bit lonely. I may have begun humming a rousing verse of "All by Myself," when Millie went crazy. Krista dropped in unexpectedly. She sat down and had a scone and tea with me. PERFECT timing. 

This gal has IMPECCABLE timing.

Michael joined us for a bit of conversation and then Krista and I ran errands. We got home and Arielle and the boys dropped by. I am thankful I am not all by myself at all today. We visited for a bit before I had to leave.  

Danny, Benny & Charles

The turbo 2 year olds

"Had to leave?"  My 3 pm appointment was an emergency pedi. My nail had split and hurt, and I decided a pedi was a better option than a doctor. LOL Turns out it was in-grown too.... but this gal is a wonder worker. They had a cancellation while I was there and asked me if I knew someone who wanted a pedi. I called Krista. LOL I laughed as she fielded office calls during the pedi. 

Last time I had a pedi - in June - I asked them to cut them short. They told me they couldn't cut them too short or I'd get ingrown toenails. Today she told me if you leave them too long or cut them too short you can develop ingrown toenails. Now this is far over my pay grade to know where the perfect point is. Right? The only solution is a monthly pedi. LOL In any event the pain nearly always goes away after a pedi...we talked about taking Dad in.  I'm not sure he'll want to, but it seems like a good idea to me. 

All better

Michael and I met up at the church for our meeting and came home a bit after 6:30 p.m. I arrived home with a raging migraine. THAT FAST. I have no clue what set it off this time.  I had not had tyramine and wasn't near scents. I just don't know. I took a handful of pills, discussed the girls first day of orientation with them, and promptly fell asleep. The girls pulled together dinner and I don't remember the rest of the evening at all. That is not a simple catch phrase. I honestly do not remember what happened the rest of the night. 

This is the point where I should say something profound. I am still processing the new season. It has been more than our baby simply turning 18 or completing our homeschooling journey. We've also said goodbye to good friends and ministry partners, and said hello to new friends and ministry partners, change is in the air in so many ways. I am not alarmed. I am not anxious. I am curious. What will I do next?  How does God plan to fill my hours? Or is it time to simply have more glorious margin? 

I have been a "stay at home" mom through my 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s. I have homeschooled since I was 24. I'm 59. I still feel like I'm 30 or 40 - that's a post for another day. snort:: I COULD do a lot of things and I've discussed and thought about this upcoming season for quite a few years. I've watched so many friends hit this point - while I still had 7 or 8 to raise.  I feel like I've given it my all, left it all on the field, stayed engaged through the graduation of the last child... Now that it's here I do NOT want to go back to college. After all this time I'd have to start all over and by the time I got a masters and was "fully qualified" for my career I'd be 67 years old. ::gasp:: 

I see how much of what I planned to "school" to do - God has given me to do and I've been doing it for years. Few would deny I have had a teaching career. ::snort:: I've also had a full ministry. Ministry continues. Parenting continues. The parenting role has been shifting for quite some time. It grows and shifts with our children. I'm in more of a balcony cheering role at this point, than a hands-on dress, bathe and feed them role. There are wonderful perks to this season. Sure, I DO miss those days with a gloriously, chaotic crowd at home. However, I LOVE the adults these children have become...and when they bring the grandblessings around??? !!!!

Life is good. 

Very good, indeed. 

Our Baby Turned 18 Today!

 Our baby turned 18 today. It sort of snuck up on us. Stacia used to begin counting down the days until her birthday on Day 200.  This year we mentioned it on Day 18 and again on Day 7...and suddenly it is here! She got up at 0700 again and we snuggled under blankets, while everyone else slept, and watched another episode of White Collar.  She made French toast for her and GG for breakfast. I joined them for a birthday scone. 

Allie had the day off again today. We talked about when to give Stacia gifts and decided our best bet was right before we left for her birthday lunch. Allie finds the BEST gifts. Check this out. 

Stacia had asked for some Nikon stuff...and I was taken in by this. It looked VERY real from across the room....up close...it's a cup! 

We met Alex and Jamin at Alaska's Best Phillies - or something close to that. It was a fun lunch. 

We ran Allie home so she could meet up at the church to help prepare for tonight's Back to School Olympics. The rest of us went for a quick drive. 

Stacia soon left for youth group. This was her last night in the youth group. It was BITTERsweet.  She knows she is doing what she should be doing, but transitions can be tough. Our church doesn't have a college age group that is as close knit as the youth group has been. I'm praying she meets friends at college to help fill the void...and, of course, she CAN still hang out with her friends in the youth group - just won't be as easy and natural.  Community is worth being intentional about. 

Speaking of intentional, a friend invited me to spend a couple of hours with her during youth group. It was great to have time to connect without the typical time constraints we have when we are together. I cannot tell you how much I love my developing girl tribe. 

Look who started school today! Olivia (Livie) is in 5th grade. 

📷by Carrie

Better watch out guys! She'll be 18 before you know it! Don't blink...just stop blinking!!!

Tuesday Adventures

My day started out beautifully. I agreed to get up at 0700 and watch an episode of White Collar with Stacia. Stacia is working to get her mornings started earlier in preparation for the start of in person college classes - a first for her. 

I left at 0800 for my morning with the boys. It has been a stressful week for their little family, and for their church family. I told the boys the first thing we were going to do was pick up all their toys and do a bit of house tidying. I promised them a bike ride if we got done in time.  Success!

Blow this up for the cutest expressions

Danny and Charles have gotten FAST on their balance bikes. Charles loves to run and then pick his legs up and coast. They are quite the duo. Benny runs ahead and helps keep them in the boundaries. 

Go, Charles! 

Benny wanted to take me down a new road...and he showed me a secret trail! Wow the flowers!!! While I took this photo the two years olds disappeared. I could NOT see or hear them. I began calling for them.  "Boys, come find Bachan!"

Ah ha! There they are. 

Next, I tried to capture all 3 of them at once in the flowers. Oops! I forgot about Charle's balance issues. 

Benny, Charles, Danny

On the way home Danny all of a sudden jumped off his bike and began talking excitedly. He kept saying, "Bachan, come see!" and "Bachan, don't mash it. Don't mash it!" 

Danny has discovered worms. He was fascinated. I was thrilled to observe his gentle ways. Then, he stood up and stomped on it.  In that moment so many memories from being a boy mom came racing back into my conscious memory bank. ::snort:: 

I had hoped to have time to read and play with them when we got home. We had so much fun we barely got home and seated for a snack when Arielle was home. 

Allie had the day off work! We were thrilled.  We baked scones and visited. 

We made stroganoff for dinner and enjoyed having all five us at home for dinner.  We watched an episode of Almost Paradise (filmed in Cebu, Philippines) and Person of Interest. 

It was a perfectly relaxing evening. We are gearing up for a transition from online college to classroom college, from youth group to adult "stuff,"  and who knows what else. It was good to be together. 

Jared and Larissa sent this shot from their travels. Larissa usually works from home as her job is in IT. Every so often she has to travel to Juneau for a week. Jared and Noah are exploring while Larissa works. I can't quite decide what to caption Noah's expression. 

📷by Larissa

Marvelous Monday

 

We snuck in one more time together. Nora is joining her family in the bush/village tomorrow. The only way to fly in is on a little plane. I've begun planning how to get out and see a new part of Alaska while they are out there.  It was fun to sit and talk about a move and know as far as I can tell I do NOT have any moves in the foreseeable future.  While I completely believe our roots are in JESUS and he provided great stability in the midst of our moves...I do love this new rootedness tied to a place. We HAVE recently wrestled with realizing we'd placed a big "No, hands off" over living here...and we adjusted our hearts and are holding it all with open hands once again. That's a post for another day. 

On the way home from breakfast, I stopped and picked up more meds for Dad. If anyone would have told me how much time I'd be spending at pharmacies and doctors' offices in this season of my life I would have thought they'd lost their mind. LOL 

I spent some time at home working on a couple of ministry items. I updated our women's ministry page and spent a bit of time on the phone. 

A funny thing happened today...I began to see back to school photos. It hit me our baby graduated in the spring. I don't have any back-to-school lesson plans to gather, no curriculum to buy and since both girls are now starting in person classes, I am not going to have someone at home to watch GG so Mike and I can run out at the same time. LOL Bre saved the day by sharing photos.  These kids are excited about their first day of school. Annie told Bre she didn't want to grow up - I, myself, would like to freeze time for her. This is such a fun age. 

📷by BreAnne

Bella is in 2nd grade, Gideon in 1st grade and Annie in Pre K.
📷by BreAnne 

#mugshot

I finished the book above. I really enjoyed the read. I've done many of Beth's studies, and I know about the hot water she got herself into...it was good to read more of HER story and not what others have said about her. Such a story of God's faithfulness to her through some amazing ups and downs. Quite a testimony to His goodness and steadfast love. 

Another funny thing happened today. I called everyone to dinner only to discover Michael had left the "compound."  He's done that from time to time...gets so focused on what he is doing he heads off to the next town to buy tools or parts. This time he's building a gate for our little orchard in hopes of keeping moose out. I'm excited at the thought of not having to shimmy under ropes and boards to get in there any longer. In his defense, he DID send a text. I ignored my pinging phone as I was determined to get dinner on the table "on time." ::snort::   

Noah took his first airplane ride recently. Yep, he and Daddy are going with Mommy to work in our state's capital. He's such a sweet boy! If my dates are right he's approaching 7 months. 

📷by Larissa

📷by Larissa

A Week in ONE Shot!

 This past week was a whirlwind. It WASN'T busier than usual, per se, but it felt heavier, out of control. Yet, I know it was perfectly in control. Anyway - I didn't blog so it's time to do a catch-up blog. 

Much of this week was spent interceding for a local church body, their pastor and staff. I found myself reflecting on what makes a man great and what sort of legacy I want to leave. This quote was meaningful to me this week. 

"Each time, before you intercede, be quiet first, and worship God in His glory. Think of what He can do, and how He delights to hear the prayers of His redeemed people. Think of your place and privilege in Christ and expect great things!" Andrew Murray

In the end, the answer was not what I desired. Pastor John is with Jesus - and that is good. Many are broken hearted in our community - that is hard. We continue to contemplate and pray. It was a week of journaling thoughts, memories, prayers and promises.

 Michael "and I" moved logs left behind from MEA's cutting of our front row of trees. At least we got some good firewood out of the deal. 

Hmm....along the way we discovered maybe the kids needed a bit more oversight yesterday at the potluck in our home. ::snort:: I wonder how many of them attempted to walk the plank into the abyss. No one was hurt.

 

The chickens sure love any dandelion, chickweed or garden extras we throw at them. We want to reseed the chicken yard but am unsure how to keep them from eating it all in one week. Honestly, we were told to build a sturdy fence due to the nature of predators in our area. We don't move them around the yard.... but they are destroying their yard...if any of you have these dynamics, I'd love to hear what you do? We are thinking of buying some portable fencing and moving them about in the yard, garden, woods as we can.... we haven't had a bear in here yet...just other critters and birds. 

Tis the season for wildflowers, and weeds with pretty colors. 

I didn't play with the boys this Tuesday, but I did have produce co-op. This led to hours of a humming dehydrator as I dried another case of mushrooms. We use them much better if they are dried. 

When all the produce was put up and dinner was done.... Dad decided it was time to go to bed. The three of us decided it was time to sit by the campfire. Our circle around the fire ring is getting smaller. We have had far too few campfires this year. Michael suggests them often.  Usually, by the time GG goes to bed (he doesn't like sitting outside) we're all too tired to go out and build a fire. ::snort:: 

Note Millie is still rather removed from the fire behind the chairs, but she IS sitting quietly with us. It's progress. 

Another #mugshot

Getting a bit dark to read

Wednesday was full of work, youth group and a women's ministry team meeting. Michael went to lunch with Alex.  Arielle brought the boys over on Thursday for a tie dye party with Stacia. They planned to go out on the picnic tables.  Can you see the problem? 

Mr. Moose had other plans for the yard. 

The kids relocated.

#mugshot

Behind the scenes. 

Friday began with us three women heading for vision exams. These are the pairs of glasses the girls picked out. I am a bit sad about my pair. I was hoping my eyes hadn't changed as I LIKE my current glasses. They cost $500. I wasn't going back to that spot. I'm nervous about doing online glasses with bi-focals.  I picked out the 9.99 pair and by the time they added the bi-focals, anti scratch and whatever else they cost me $209.00.  Stacia found it funny that all the glasses I tried on had to pass the hug test. My first pair got in the way of hugs. 

Our baby chicks have begun to lay - or someone is playing a trick on us. It makes NO SENSE for us not to have caught any of the tiny eggs...just big, white eggs. We didn't expect them to lay white eggs. There is the one small one so we know one of them is laying...but these are huge eggs and I wouldn't expect them yet. Come clean - who put the eggs in the little chick's yard on Sunday????? Joelle? Jenni? It was you wasn't it, Jenni?  I'm floating them and they float so we are eating them. LOL I'm not giving them away or selling them until I KNOW they are laying them. 

Millie began to get CRAZY. We finally checked outside, and Michael was LAYING in the yard. He was checking out the tiller, but Millie was convinced he'd fallen. She acts the same way when Dad falls. 

After he sat up and she confirmed he was fine - she stole his work gloves. He always puts them on to play with her. 

The boys couldn't stay away any longer and stopped by Friday afternoon to see if their tie dye shirts were ready. I'm not sure when Arielle snapped this photo at HER house - but it shows their shirts and Stacia. LOL 

📷 by Arielle

Krista happened to stop by while Arielle and the boys were at our house. We like having their storage shed on our property. LOL  She had spent the past week or so in Guam. She had a long layover in Tokyo and tried to hunt down senbei for us. She also got this cute little "traditional summer outfit" for Benny. 

Krista headed out to the manmade lake to join Luke and the kids for a swim. It was COLD. Alaskans will be Alaskans. We got a call in a couple of hours asking if it would be O.K. for them to drop by for a fire and s'mores! We were thrilled. This is one of the rare times we've had the kids over here without the WHOLE GANG. We hoped it would be less overwhelming for them. They got warm drinks and joined us around the fire. S'mores were enjoyed by all. 

We aren't sure what joke Larissa told Noah - but he thought she was incredibly funny! She was sweet to send the photos along to us. 

📷by Larissa

📷by Larissa

📷by Larissa

Bre's crew got their books in the mail! She sent these photos! 

📷by BreAnne

Jared and Larissa took Noah to his first museum this week. He was suitably impressed. 

📷by Larissa

Look where Josiah, Carrie and Liv are! They are in OREGON at a family reunion for Carrie's family. It made me so happy to see they were able to work it out to meet up with Nate (my baby brother) and Heather. I do miss the Oregon coast, and those smiling faces! 

📷by Carrie

Saturday Michael had men's breakfast/study. He left at 7:15 to prepare breakfast. I got Dad up and took him over at 9 a.m. Stacia was babysitting. While Dad was occupied, I raced to the store to do some shopping for our little coffee corner and then I set up the tables and pulled out supplies so I wouldn't have to come back in the evening. 

Stacia came home and stayed with GG, Allie went to work, and Michael, and I enjoyed dinner with Aaron and Elise, a young family we used to spend much more time with...it was fantastic. Cute kids, great food, fun conversation.  

Oh yes, sometime on Saturday I made a broccoli salad, a "San Francisco Bar" and a bowl of watermelon/berries and feta for Sunday's church potluck. 

And just like that the week was over and another was beginning.