my tiny farmer

When we planted our garden, Eden had requested that we plant corn.  We have never planted corn before, but it was so fun to watch our stalks grow over the summer!

She was so proud of how they grew...

 It was crisp and sweet and delicious.  

We will be growing it every year from now on...❤︎

soccer...

This week soccer started for our kiddos...

Kit coached Ryder for two years and now this is his second year coaching Eden.

Being a kid that didn't grow up playing sports, I never knew what a blessing it could be for not only our kids but for our whole family.  God has placed incredible coaches and families and we are excited for this new season.❤︎

babysitting...

While Eden is at school, I am often asked to "babysit" her doll.  When she comes home from school or "her work" as she likes to call it, this is what happens:

She changes the doll and then cuddles it, saying how much the baby missed her and needed her "mommmy time"...

And then she tells me I did a good job with my babysitting job.

Well, I've had some practice....❤︎

tiny pink goodness...

This weekend, I was able to attend the sweetest baby shower for one of our close friends.  They are expecting a baby girl at the end of October, and it was SO FUN to celebrate with her and all the pink goodness!  I wanted to remember every detail, it was all so perfect!

 Pictures of both of the parents when they were little were at every table:

We decorated blocks.

The grandma gave a bath towel that had belonged to the dad with a picture of him in it:

(I want to remember this...)

We love you Gibos and we are SO EXCITED to meet your baby girl!

Mia's 70th birthday celebration...

My mom turned 70 last friday! So on Saturday, my dad took the family to special grape stomping event at a Callaway Vineyards in Temecula.  We had done it about 20 years ago when we were in college, and had really enjoyed it.  Callaway does this event now for families.  The theme this year  was from "I Love Lucy", so we watched the episode before we left:

 They thought it was hilarious!

Then on to the vineyard:

 Family photos before the stomping begins!

Eden and Ruby wanted their faces painted:

Then on to the stomping:

Then we danced the night away while we had dinner and dessert.  To clarify, I sat and watched with such pride while my children tore up the dance floor:

It was a really sweet evening!  We love you Mia and we ALL are so glad that you were born!❤︎

little green thumbs

My kids planted so many things this summer and we have enjoyed so many tasty veggies and fruits from our yard.  This week, the kids were able to harvest their first fig!

They LOVED it!

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Also, today is Mia's 70th birthday! 

We have a fun event planned for tomorrow night!

We love you Mom!

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And today is Eden's 1/2 birthday.

Because we love to celebrate 1/2 birthdays too!

His first 3rd grade project...

Today Ryder finished his first project of the school year: His "all about me" poster for when he is chosen for "Star of the Week" later in the year.  The point of the project was to help his classmates and his teachers get to know him better.

 My heart exploded with such joy and pride in how this poster reflects who he is, in the silly and the serious.  Also it brings me such joy to see how sweet the relationship is between Kit and Ryder!

That time I overestimated my painting skills

I decided last Friday to refinish and paint our bedroom dresser. We got it several years ago and I recently painted our bedside tables.  I thought it would be fun if they matched.  I had this silly idea it would only take a couple of hours MAX...  Kit tried to warn me.

Here is the before:

 So over 6 hours later (because I couldn't get the pulls off so I had to work around them and then meticulously scrape off paint that had gotten on them. Also raw pine takes so many coats...) Again, Kit tried to warn me...

 We are so happy with how it turned out!

(And yes, Kit was right!)

While the kids are away...

...lots of projects are going to get finished!

While the kids have been at school, I have had time to tackle some projects that I have really wanted to do.  Two big projects were in our back yard.  First, our furniture that we had gotten and painted from my grandparents was in need of a {re}paint job.  I also recently received the bar cart that had gone with the set.

Before:

 After:

Then for the second project, I painted our back cinderblock wall a fresh coat of white.  Nothing fancy but it cleaned it up so nicely.

Before:

I should have taken an up close picture of the wall, it was pretty bad...

After:

(This is my view from my kitchen window.)

Looking out at our yard makes me so happy.  It feels so much nicer when we are out there doing homework or reading or eating...

I sure love this little house of ours and every project that loves on it makes my heart so happy!❤︎