Outside Around Here

Bluebird on my window.

Texas Star Hibiscus

Last splashes

And fall color arrives.

We're ready.

Around the World

German spätzle; brussels sprouts (that's caramelized maple syrup, trust me--yum); schnitzel.

pretzels

Onigiri (Japanese rice balls)

Ramen

Pizza.

With stuffed crust!

Basil harvesting

All the spices. 

Whew, we're tired.  No more accepting the country-specific cooking challenge from my kids. Although, it tickles me when they show up to help. 

The Backyard

We recently had the weeds torn out and had the lawn seeded in our backyard. 

The front yard in the foreground, solid.

The backyard a barren waste.

Then it started to arrive. 

And now I think the back looks better than the front!

Last Breath of Summer

I was able to sneak away to my parents for a few days recently.  

As always, I'm terribly helpful. And maybe I took home some daylilies in my suitcase.

And then perhaps, I visited all the gardens and harvested seeds for my own and put those in my suitcase too.  They are all dried and in the freezer for their winter now--February is marked on my calendar for planting. 

Certainly it wasn't about hanging out and fishing. 

I know that 12 pounds of bacon in the freezer re-defines putting up for the winter. 

But sunset and fishing--heaven.

Our Spaces

The spaces they live in have become so incredibly important.

So, when Alida said she wanted to paint her room white, we were all in. 

Anything for you, lady.

Even if you go weird from time to time and paint yourself to look like a creepy doll.

We're Still Here

Homeschooling away.  

Class from the bedroom, from the kitchen, together, apart, we roll along. 

"Mom!  The toilet is smoking!"

 All middle school pranks take place here too.  

One thing I don't miss from the world before: public restrooms.

Flashback Friday: August 2012

Those are still my favorite ever pajamas the girls had. 

Neither she nor I prefer that haircut.

Before sending the girls off to their first year of school and the boys off to first grade, we stopped to see family in Minnesota.  I think this may be the last time we were all together. 

Everyone is so much bigger now! 

And then they were off, to a school building with people and germs and colds and attendance and friends and enemies and school lunch and recess.  I'd pay money for all those things today.

Eggs Up

Running out for breakfast on the weekend is so different now. 

Casual is surprisingly hard to pull off these days.

Out Of Place

Behind this door is where we keep the cleaning stuff. 

You would think for as often as I find this door just hanging open, my house was the cleanest ever made.  But, I think instead they just come by here and open the door to drive me mad. 

And, no wonder I can never find any tape around here. 

Also out of place, Army tech departments to fix computer batteries.  I'm pretty sure they don't want Patric taking apart his own computer, yet here we are.  The gifted screwdriver set, one of the best gifts ever. 

Out of place now--the dried herbs.  

It is time to take them down, yet we never seem to get to it. 

The children call us the witches now. 

Baking

Despite the heat of summer, we learned a new bread for our dinner made of French-inspired dishes.  We have been traveling to all countries of the world for dinner as part of a challenge put forth by the kids. 

This is not an apple fritter. 

It is a potato from our garden.  

Hmmm. 

And kitchen time nearly needs a schedule these days, since the girls have decided to make dog biscuits and sell them. 

They better start selling them because this guy has become supremely spoiled in the test kitchen phase.

And their eyes were opened by the pricing lesson, which included learning that flour and peanut butter isn't free from the pantry. 

And we've taught ourselves regulations and labeling requirements over the last month or so. 

And I'll entertain all such endeavors because we could have spent all of 2020 like this, but we haven't.  And we won't.

Gaming

While we may often hear Ben off in the background yelling at video games, we're as likely to find the girls in more traditional endeavors.  As with all puzzles, they started off one afternoon gangbusters to finish this one. 

Then my painted ladybug rocks showed up on the kitchen counter one day. 

They were looking for a game board to call home, it seems. 

And not too many days later, the bumblebees showed up and there was a game of tic-tac-toe.

The puzzle, as with all puzzles ever started by us, has lingered now for many days.

With school here, I imagine we won't ever finish this one.