the start of a sport

We signed up for our first organized sport this fall. Soccer met once a week for a few hours on Friday afternoons and it was the perfect introduction to a new sport. And all I have to say is thank goodness for the shin guards and knee socks. Because the excitement over these items alone seemed to motivate my boy to head out on the field.

It's amazing how quickly you are suddenly the parent. Our very first day brought a lot of nerves and worry. In the parking lot and I found myself repeating all of the things my mom just said to me when I was filled with nerves and worry. "Everyone is feeling the same butterflies. It's totally normal. We just have to be brave for a few minutes and then we'll feel more comfortable. Just try it for today and then you'll know if you like it or not. The coach is there to help you learn. How could you already be good at something you've never learned before?!!" 

And, thankfully, he did feel comfortable right away. And loved it. He wore the same blue shirt with a soccer ball on it, blue plaid shorts and blue knee highs each week and did really well on the field. Hooray for positive experiences when trying something new! And hooray for an awesome coach who could deal with 4, 5 and 6 year olds and their attention spans, tears and enthusiasm!

baby mobile

I helped host a baby shower for friends at our church almost a month ago. The friends lead our children's program and my kids absolutely love this couple. I was trying to figure out what we could do that would include all of the kids in the congregation and decided on a mobile. The adults wrote blessings on the leaves and the kids wrote their names on the birds, promising to keep this baby in their prayers. I found the branch under our oak tree, assembled it last night and figured the thing out as I went along. I absolutely love how it turned out and want to make one for Hattie now. 

It felt so good to be crafty again! And I have so many projects in my head now. It's amazing how one project can inspire other projects. I remember my sister-in-law Sara telling me that whenever she feels stuck in writing a song, she'll crochet a pair of slippers, or get her sewing machine out, or do anything creative. Because somehow the act of creating spurs on greater creativity. How amazing!

Here's to more creative projects! 

kitchen help

Back in August I wrote about all sorts of new systems I was putting in motion in an effort to keep my house tidy and organized. I am happy to report that things are really sticking around here. The paper clutter problem has been solved. My counter tops are kept pretty empty and the whole 'start the dishwasher each night and unload it in the morning' thing is a game changer.

But there is one other thing that I have to mention if I'm going to be totally honest. I got kitchen help. She comes in first thing in the morning and has really helped me streamline the way my kitchen runs. She's big into accessibility. For example, the first thing she does is open the towel drawer and pull all the towels out onto the floor. If I'm ever loading or unloading the dishwasher, she is right there, pulling out the sharp knives first, lending a hand. She pulls out the tupper ware each day, and I can only assume she is trying to match lids to bottoms. Once we found her sorting the garbage can all over the floor, making sure there wasn't something that should be in the recycling bin. She's so thorough! Above and beyond!

It was when she dumped the trash out that I realize her genius in pulling out all of the dish towels, very first thing. Because suddenly we needed all of them to wipe the mess off of her, the cupboards and the floor.

She's great company and I'm grateful to have her assistance. And also for a locking gate on the kitchen.

well that was never going to work.

Well. There's actually not that much to say other than I feel like I'm ripping duct tape off of my mouth right now. Turns out not writing about our day to day, and the little and big things floating around in my head just didn't work out. So I'm back. I suppose I could elaborate for a few paragraphs, but whatever. I love this little place for archiving our life and I love sharing it with whoever wants to read about it. I'm not sure the frequency of which I'll blog, but I'm for sure not shutting this thing down. I may very well be blogging from the nursing home after all.

Besides, where else would I share my pictures from our latest glorious country drive?

Fall in the country is stunning and knocks my socks off every year. The whole world turns to gold and it's breathtaking. The pictures below were one night when the five of us jumped in the truck to watch our three lambs graze in the orchard. They do the mowing around the apple trees and have become very friendly, tame farm animals. We watched the sunset and watched the sheep eat and took lots of pictures. Obviously worthy of a blog post!

So here I am. I'm not even that shy about my return. I suppose my dad knew best all along in saying I should just try it for a month. But you know I'm a bit more theatrical than that...so we're back!

so long, farewell

You may have noticed I have been quite wordy on this blog during the last two weeks. But there's a reason for that...

So a very remarkable thing has happened to me. I never thought it would happen. I was certain it never would. But I have lost some zeal for blogging. And I'm as surprised as anyone. I thought for certain I would blog into my 80's, writing funny stories about my nursing home, telling about my fifty-year-old son, Ivar.

But right around January I began to wonder if I should keep this baby up. And immediately with the thought of ending my blog, my writing became really labored. For eight years I have whipped posts together with speed and joy, but it started to feel like something I had to get done.

I suppose part of it was the addition of a third child and trying to keep up with all the life that surrounds my every day. Margin time is sort of a lost reality with three...

And then there were a few kid stories that I thought about writing about, but because of all we know about the internet and how permanent this place is, I just decided not to. The kids are getting older, and many of their stories are not mine to tell.

But the thing that sort of sealed the deal was earlier this month when I made fried green tomatoes and I thought, "I should photograph these for the blog." And then I thought, "I wonder how many years I have staged pictures of my fried green tomatoes and written about them?!!" (Answer: 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015 I've been blogging about Fried Green Tomatoes for six years!)

Which just feels terribly redundant.

Plus, I'm about to embark on educating my children. Which is sort of a doosie of a commitment to heap onto my day-to-day life.

So I prayed about it and felt a sincere release. I really did, and that is my main reason for concluding this long-running public journal.

I'm sad though. Even though I know this is good and right for this season of life, I am going to miss it. I print each year that I blog into a book and have loved this avenue for documenting my life in stories. (Anyone remember when the blog was called that? Back in Nebraska!) This place for writing and sharing our life has been such a gift to me. I've always said I would write even if it was just for my own family, but the truth is the love and connection I have always felt because of this blog has been a sweet spot in my life. I have LOYAL readers. I have blogged for eight years come September 21st, and have so many of you who have read every word! Eight years is no small amount of time, and I am grateful and in awe of all of the love and friendship that has come of this little blog.

I have told a few people about this turn of events, trying to get a feel for how I should close it. My dad said, "well don't just be done. Say you'll reassess in January in case you want to return. Or that you may jump on once in a while if something really eventful happens." But that's the tricky part. If I leave that door open, I'll still feel the need to put something up here once in a while. And it's that feeling I'm trying to let go of.

I will say that my friend Shannon brought up The Grovestead Blog and asked if I'd start contributing over there, maybe just a quarterly update on what's going on inside the farmhouse.  I loved that idea. To write a post four times a year giving a little life update for anyone still interested. So that's the plan. Rory will continue to update that blog and post on instagram. (I'm not on instagram anymore...I get super compulsive with any social media platform...)

And I won't be a stranger. Maybe Dad is right and come January I'll be dying for an outlet again. But we'll see. Until then, it's going to be quiet around here, so drop me an email sometime. I'll still be here, organizing my house, learning how to roast lamb chops, reading more lovely LM Montgomery books, playing in my kitchen garden, teaching my kids how to read and doing it all very joyfully.

Thank you for reading. Thank you for caring for my family and checking in on our adventures. Thank you for all of the emails of encouragement and your faithful friendship. I do believe God is in this decision, and I do believe something new and different will likely surface after a while. I believe in a God of resurrection and that he makes all things new. I will be eager to see what new thing he is doing here.