Back to Normal?

Alllllllrighty. I think things might just be back to normal around here. Not that I even really know what normal is, mind you. But I do know that Makenna is off of her pain medication, the "bed" that was set up on the couch for her has been taken down, and she is steadily adding more and more real food back into her diet. One can only eat so much chocolate pudding and popsicles, ya know? She has a check up on Thursday, and I'm pretty certain the doctor is going to be pleased with her recovery :)

Yep, life is back to the normal hustle and bustle.

I have so much that I want to post, but not much in the way of time. One of these days I'd love to talk about our homeschool schedule. Many of you have asked what a typical day looks like for us, and I'd really love to share. I'd also love to have time for a craft or two. Sigh. But for now, I'll have to make do with a little pitiful update once or twice a week ;)

Anyone else feel consumed by the busy?

Odds & Ends

Did someone hit the fast forward button? Life sure does seem to be moving even faster than before. {And I didn't know that was possible!}

We had a terrific first week back to school. I was a little apprehensive about the start of this school year. Homeschooling two instead of one paired with Kam's super loud and needy personality left me feeling nervous. But it was great! Kameryn enjoyed sitting at the table with the "big girls", and she had her own coloring books and activities to do. That's not to say that she didn't try to "help" her big sissies every once in awhile, but all in all we had smooth days.

We had dental appointments on Thursday. I hate the dentist. I mean, I love our dentist, but I really detest going to the dentist. This visit went particularly smoothly, yay! No cavities, and we got a referral for Kenners to see an oral surgeon. Did I mention that I am just now finding that Kenners is tongue tied? Sierra never had any sort of speech impediment. Even as a toddler. Geri {MIL} and I would chuckle because from the time that Sierra could talk, all of her words came out pretty perfect. These big words from a little bitty girl. Kenners, on the other hand, used to have a lisp {that went away on its own}, and has always had a little trouble with her Rs coming out like Ws. I figured it was normal. But once she turned 5, I thought maybe we should work on correcting it. Come to find out, she is physically unable to make certain sounds because her tongue simply won't move in the way it is supposed to. When I tried to make an appointment with our pediatrician, he wouldn't see her. He wanted her to go directly to a speech therapist. While I'm not against her having speech therapy, I truly believe that if we could correct the problem {the tongue tie}, we could solve the problem on our own. Anyway, I was so grateful to our wonderful dentist for not batting an eye, but giving us a referral right away. Miss Kenners has a consultation with the OS next week!

Yesterday we spent most of the afternoon at the hospital. My brother is having severe back/neck problems {which have really been going on for years, and are finally being addressed}, and he is finally scheduled to have surgery on Monday. I am praying that this will rid him of all of the pain he has dealt with for so long, and be the start of healing in more ways than one.

Okay, hold on to your seat . . .

Siding is FINISHED! WOOHOO! Seriously, I don't think any of us had the slightest idea just how big a job siding would be. We have a little caulking to do, and then . . . it's on to electrical! Need a photo? Here ya go:

Next week we have multiple appointments scheduled, and we will be picking out a front door AND paint colors.

What are y'all up to?

This & That

As usual, lots of jumbled thoughts, and very limited time to sort through them. So here we go. A little of this, a little of that. Bullet-point style.

♥ First off, y'all are so sweet to be concerned for Sierra. Yes, that was a bandage you saw in the "birthday donut" pic. And no, we weren't playing doctor that morning ;) Last week, while we were berry picking, Sis had a little accident. The girls were actually pretty focused on berry picking at first, but after awhile they got bored of it, so they ran off to play with the other kids. I'm not exactly sure how it happened, but amid all of the excitement and fun of running amongst the blueberries, a couple of the kids started tossing rocks {I think it started with blueberries} and wouldn't ya know that one grazed Sierra. After we got her cleaned up {who knew head wounds bled so much!}, and settled down we could tell right away that it wasn't serious. But we did have a long talk reassuring her that it isn't "tattling" to come tell an adult when things start getting a little out of hand. She's healing up quite well ;)

♥ I've been having a ball with my new camera, thanks for asking! :) I sold my Canon Rebel to my mother-in-law, and purchased the 7d without a lens. Thankfully I have my 50mm 1.8, but I'm finding it to be quite limiting. Any suggestions on a good {not horribly expensive} versatile lens for everyday shooting would be greatly appreciated. {Thanks for your input, Suz, I'll be checking out that lens soon!} Yesterday a dear friend of mine came over for a visit, and I was able to snap some pics of her gorgeous girls. I actually have photographed them before, right after little Ava was born. And it got me thinking, that juuuuuust in case I get more involved in photography, I ought to start a photography-only blog. So . . . now I just have to figure out when to squeeze that in ;)

♥ Anyone else looking forward to Fall? Don't get me wrong, I love summer. The sunshine, the picnics, the long days. But I LOVE LOVE Fall. Just the thought of pumpkin patches and apple cider makes me want to do a little happy dance.

♥ House Update: There isn't one. Siding is taking a very long time. The End.

Rambles ~ That's What I Do Best

I feel a little out of the blogging loop these days, and sometimes it makes me wonder if I even have time for it anymore. But then I think about how many {wonderful} friends I've made, and how much I enjoy having a place of my very own. And that makes me want to stay.

I find myself stressing out a little when I'm "absent", and that takes some of the fun out of it. Plus, I have a hard time getting back into the groove after I've been gone a few days. {Anyone else have this problem?}. And let's not forget all the Summer fun we've been having. That, alone, leaves little time for the computer, don'tcha know. {Oh yeah, and did I mention my laptop is currently dying a slow death, making it almost impossible to use? Sigh.}

Anyway. A quick update, and then I have to get back to real life. I may or may not still be in my robe right now, ahem, at 1pm. I frosted my hair this morning {yes, I use a cap and hook. Yes, I do know that it is no longer 1987}, and, oh my, it has taken hours.

Now that I think about it, there's not much to update, ha! We've been outside, running through sprinklers, going for drives, working { a little } on the house ~ we're kind of at a standstill for the next week. That about sums it up. Windows were installed this week, and that was pretty exciting. Toward the end of next week we will install the woodstove pipe, and then roofing will begin. Yahoo!

If any of y'all are still with me, and I haven't yet bored you to tears, then Congratulations! You are true friends.

Can't wait to hear what y'all have been up to!

Home Sweet Home

We're back!

Yay!

It always feels so good to be home. My own bed. My own shower {with as much water as I care to use}. My own . . . space. And no dirt ~ woohoo!

So. Quick camping recap because I've been having serious blogging withdrawls. We had a fabulous time. Jeremy got a LOT of fishing in which made him super happy, the girls got to ride bikes and play with cousins, and I got to visit with family. It was good. But I'm so happy to be home. I don't like dirt, and there was a lot of it where we were camped. I wanted to hug my shower, washer, and dryer when we got home last night, but I refrained. Amazing how six days of camping really make you appreciate all that you have at home.

Anyway.

The laundry is calling. I just completed my 12th load. And it feels like bedtime. But I promise to post photos soon. {And when I say "soon" I do mean sometime this year}. I took a lot of them. Not quite 1233, but close ;) Hope y'all had a great week!!

Checking In

Wow. Summer is busy! Whoever came up with "lazy Summer days" was sadly mistaken.

So, a quick check in before we head out for a week of camping fun ;)

First, we had a fabulous 4th. It was nice, quiet, and fairly relaxing. We went to church, came home so that Kam could take a snooze, and then headed to my mom and dad's for dinner and a few fireworks.

Kam enjoyed dinner. A lot.

And for dessert? Cookies. Sierra and Makenna decorated them all by themselves.

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I only have about a million more trips out to the trailer before we're ready to go camping, so that's good.

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If I can get my act together {that's a BIG "if"}, I may schedule a post or two while I'm away. If not, I'll see y'all next week. And now, I'm off to go read some of my favorite blogs. I've missed you guys.

This & That

We had a fantastic trip to the beach. As usual, it was much too short. We're still playing catch up on laundry, homeschool, and, well, life! So, in the interest of saving a little time, I'll let the pictures do {most of} the talking. I do have a slumber party with my girls to get back to, ya know.

While it poured at home, we enjoyed some decent weather. Windy, yes, but not so much as a drop of rain.

We even brought a friend along. Sierra and Kate {and Makenna} had so much fun together!!

We hit the sand, and Sierra proceeded to get SOAKED. Let's just say it was a cold, wet, windy walk back to the condo.

We skipped the sand on Monday, and hit the Outlet Stores instead. Gramps even came along to carry his girls ;)

The rest of our trip was spent relaxing and enjoying girl time. Game playin', movie watchin', the works.

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And now, back to real life ~ house cleaning, teething babies and all! Stay tuned for a home-building update :)

Accentuate the Positives

We've been keeping busy! Less computer time leaves more time for . . . life!

{Imagine that!}

A little re-cap of our last few days.

Wednesday night ~ The girls and I went to my Mother-in-law's to make tags for our local Aid Network. Sierra and Makenna chose two tags, two children in need, to buy gifts for this year. Makenna chose a 3 year old girl, and Sierra, an 8 year old girl. We can't wait to choose special gifts for these special children.

Thursday ~ was our last day of swim! I think we are ALL looking forward to the break. Kam was getting a little antsy sitting pool-side for an hour twice a week.

Friday ~ an all day shopping trip! We ran around {a bit like crazy people}, but did manage to check a few names off our gift list.

Saturday ~ Geri {MIL} had her niece for the weekend and wanted to take all us girls to the movies. We went to see Planet 51. Kam and I lasted about 5 1/2 minutes. The remaining hour and 35 minutes was spent wandering around the lobby. I think the girls had fun. We don't make it to the theater very often, so it was quite a treat. Thanks Geri!

Light at the end of the tunnel?

Hey y'all!

Thank you so much for the well wishes.

I think the girls may be on the mend. YAY!

The fevers are gone. They're out of bed {sort of},

and Kam managed a few winks of sleep last night. Hurray!

Hope the rest of the week finds you healthy and happy :)