Thank you, Elon Musk!

Here I am again and I hope to stay this time.  I have been MIA from my blog and really missing it.  The reason is quite simply because we had the crappiest internet that exists.  It would take me three and four days to write, upload and publish a blog.  We have been on a waitlist for Starlink Internet for a little over three years and about two weeks ago, it finally was offered to us!  This is a satellite internet company that Elon Musk started.  We decided to give it two weeks to mess around with, make some stuff on the Glowforge, watch some shows, run a bunch of devices at the same time, etc. and let me tell you, we are not disappointed.  The speeds were promised to be like 50-100x faster than our current speeds and they are.  So, I decided to give the blog a try before our 30 day "trial" is over (it's not a trial but they give 30 days to get a full refund).  

I have decided the best way to catch up is to start where I left off and do several posts.  I'll do the rest of April and May in one post then June in another, then July and then bring August into the mix.  

So, as usual, we have had a packed spring and summer.  I mean, a lot going on and a lot of changes.  We have some new family members, future olympians, baby chicks, and so much more...  

One of the first things that we did since my last post was adopt Sadie.  What an awesome addition to our family.  She is so loving, chill and sweet.  She is so good with the kids.  She is still figuring out her place with the cats and chickens and is in training to behave herself better.  We were at the farmers market as we usually are every Saturday morning manning our booth.  They had the county animal shelter there as the featured guest.  Well, I saw them unload Sadie and was instantly attracted to her.  She was the only puppy there that day.  I went and checked her out but didn't want to make any decisions yet.  Eric kept saying "no" so I was just waiting him out.  We are at the market for about 4 hours including set-up and take-down so I figured if no one adopted her, I'd push harder with Eric.  I found out she was six months old and a "lab mix."  That's what they call all the dogs.  I saw a family with about four kids walking her around for what seemed like hours and thought for sure they'd adopt her.  I saw the wife trying to convince the husband but then I saw them leave and Sadie was back in her crate.  As we were cleaning up and loading up to go, I saw them loading Sadie up and asked Eric again "are you dead set that it's a no?'  He said "I'm not 100% against it..."  So I took that as my green-light and went and adopted her.  As it turns out, someone had sponsored all the adoptions that day and she was free of charge!  Nico thought she was for him but she has decided she's for me. Lol.  At first we thought maybe pitty/lab mix or boxer/lab mix but now we see Great Dane/lab.  She has the fully webbed toes so we are pretty certain she's lab and she is definitely looking more lab...  so, who knows.  I want to do a DNA test.  All I know is she belongs and we love her so much.  She's the sweetest and loves hugs.  Missy loves her, Bear doesn't.  He has gotten much better though.  She is a stubborn one but we are determined and she is worth it all.  Wait till you see over the next few posts how much she has grown!    

Ivy LOVES the dog crate and hangs out in it every time she is over.  

                                              

The day following Sadie's arrival, we had Nico's 10th birthday party.  It was so much fun, as always.  We had the usual suspects here and had such a good time.  He is so loved and everyone is so good about showing him (and our whole family) all of the love.  We swam, hit the piñata, opened gifts, ate, had cake, played ball, had friends over and Nico got to go to Mr. Ivann and Mrs. Andrea's house for a sleepover!  

He got some of the nail polish I put in the piñata for the girls and when Harlan gets something, he will not let it go.  I tried to convince him to give it to Ivy but he won it so it wasn't going anywhere.  He asked to paint his nails so of course I said 'yes'.  

Nico got to go to build-a-bear and get the birthday bear as one of his gifts.  

One of the next things that happened was my brother, Jeremy, came for a short visit.  He actually was in Atlanta on business and we met him about half-way between here and there for an evening.  It was incredible to see him and I loved it.  The kids loved seeing their uncle and we had a great time together. We found an awesome park to play at while awaiting his arrival and the kids had a blast.  We went to dinner at a delicious Mexican restaurant.  The kids were beat by the time we headed home.  Gramps was on a high for like 3 days after seeing him.  It had been a while for us all.  

Shortly after our visit with my brother, I began fundraising for the Kingston Clippers Swim Team in earnest and I also became the treasurer of the board.  It was such a huge commitment this season because we started off behind and had to play catch-up all season.  By the way, to those who donated to the team, THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!  It was a huge success.  This season ended up being wonderful and we were able to do so much because of all of the fundraising efforts.  While out fundraising one day, Eric and I got a flat tire on my car.  We ended up needing new tires.  We also needed new brakes, rotors, wheel bearings, spark plugs, and a bunch of other stuff.  Thank GOD my husband can do it all himself so we saved thousands of dollars.  Oh, it was like 98 degrees that day.  

Eric's parents sold their home and moved to Des Moines to be closer to their doctors, their other Grandkids, Eric's sister and the airport.  Oh, and Ruby Tuesdays. Lol.  Eric took the three older kids up to help them move and with the help of Aunt Nancy, Uncle Ben, Kaden and McKenna, it was a success.  It was an awesome trip and they got all settled in.  

One day, I was out checking on the cows and noticed Patty's udder was growing.  Her teats were swollen and she looked very pregnant.  Well, this was a shock to us because she is VERY young.  Her mother, Petunia, was also pregnant and calved a little bull-calf we named Tom.  For Tomahawk Steak.  So we now have Porter and Tom.  Well, about a week later Tristan came running into the house and was like "I think Patty has a baby."  I was like "I knew she was pregnant!"  We all went out there and sure enough, she had a little heifer calf, just as teeny as can be standing beside her.  We suspect she came a bit early because of her size but she nursed and she was clean and she was running around just like the others.  We named her Poppy.  She's great.  Thriving and eating and as cute as can be.  

Poppy

Petunia and Tom

Violet, Petunia, Maybelle and Patty

Petunia is such a good mama. 

Petunia and Patty.  This was the day I saw how big Patty had gotten and tried to prove it to Eric, who was in complete denial. 

Udders and teats! I knew she had to be pregnant.  

Eric texted me while I was out fundraising and said Petunia had calved.  She's a champ much like Maybelle.  

Patty and her brand new baby, Poppy.  Patty even let Tristan pet them both.  

The kids...  Well, the twins had a successful preschool year and also did four weeks of summer school.  They even attended the STEAM hour after summer school on the days they did not have jiu jitsu.  Oh, they started jiu jitsu.  So, now all five kids are enrolled.  Since Tristan is on the competition team, we are there 5 days per week with options to go a sixth and twice some days.  It's a lot.  We want to be supportive and will continue UNTIL he can drive himself.  He is required to get his license when he is able IF he is trustworthy.  Prayers appreciated.  He has two competitions in Nashville in October.  The twins had a small preschool graduation and we loved it.  The big kids started swim team and we had a very successful bake sale here at the house.  We actually had three this season, all of which were VERY successful.  Eric and I ended up being the top donors for the team with our "private" bake sale and some other donations but we had MANY sponsors and generous people willing to donate and support.  Swim team was awesome this year.  More to come on that in future posts as well.  Anyway, Tristan also got a job.  He's been working for Ivann rehabbing an apartment complex.  He worked for about a week during swim and now Ivann is basically finished with the job and can sell.  

This is the back of the shirts we were able to gift to the swimmers this year due to major fundraising efforts.  

This is our sponsor banner we have up at the pool.  

The twins and I were home one night while the big kids and Eric were at jiu jitsu and they requested top ramen and omelets for supper. It was easy so I went ahead and obliged. It was their go-to for about three weeks.  

Nolan and I were enjoying some tea together.  My mug is a gift from my lovely girlfriend, Jess.  

Nico joined the local chess club and got to go once before they closed for the summer.  They're supposed to start back up now that school is in session so we are on the look-out for that to happen.  

Eric's buddy, Justin, and his wife, Andrea, came for a visit.  They stayed at a local BNB and loved it.  The views were incredible and the place is just beautiful.  It is near the twins' school in South Kingston.  It is a farm but fixed up really nicely and the grounds are beautiful.  It's on the river.  They said they would recommend it to anyone visiting the area.  Anyway, Eric, Justin and Andrea were all in the Navy together in Scotland and have known one another for MANY years.  It was so nice to meet them and I really loved getting to know them even a little bit and appreciate them making the effort to come see us and enduring our crazy.  They also brought us a bag full of s'more fixings and some nice drinks that we have all enjoyed thoroughly.  Thank you both!  I always love to see Eric with his oldest friends and of the many I have now met, I have genuinely liked all of them.  I can see why they stayed friends all of these years.  As usual, we didn't take enough pictures and the ones that were snapped were pretty much all from Justin, so, thank you for documenting some of our time together!  

Food, animals, gardening, projects and more randomness.  We have had a bunch of squash and zucchini given to us by a neighbor in exchange for baked goods.  We are loving the trades and enjoying the veggies so much.  I have made several sheet pan meals with them.  Also, we get the best sunsets.  I can't get enough of them.  Our skies have been just so big and beautiful.  We have been crafting a little bit but to be honest, I haven't spent much time on my Glowforge or in the shop at all and Eric has been manning our farmers market booth for the past five weekends or more due to commitments that have kept me away.  The Glowforge I genuinely miss working with and want to get back to but our internet was so bad that it was making me so frustrated and miserable.  It would glitch and ruin projects and would take forever to load designs.  I felt like I was getting nowhere and I was beginning to hate doing it.  Many months ago, we met this lovely, eccentric woman named Martha at the farmers market.  She asked Eric to build her some tables with her own wood.  She is the coolest lady and such a treasure.  She bought her family home in Kingston and several years ago, an eastern red cedar tree went down in her yard.  She saved the wood all these years and had Eric build her tables out of it.  He did an incredible job and is now building her a coffee table and some other things.  He also made her a serving tray (which neither of us photographed) and she loved it.  She walked around the farmers market showing it off to everyone she encountered.  We delivered her tables that afternoon and she and Nico became fast friends.  She let him borrow some National Geographic books and a puzzle.  

Ivy slept over one night recently and thought it would be best if she just slept in Sadie's crate.  She watched a show in there until I convinced her to sleep in a real bed and let Sadie have her bed back.  

Emery had her 12th birthday in May and we were all at a loss as to what to get for her.  She had several summer trips planned so we thought it best to give cash so I made this cool little money holder to make it more special.  

Homemade coffee, chocolate chip muffins. 

Magnolia blooms!

Oscar...  He weighs 25lbs.  

He looks pretty average here but he is a BIG cat. 

So, the boys have basically destroyed their bathroom.  Each and every hook has been savagely ripped from the wall, the door handle has been rammed into the sheetrock and the shower doors were hanging by a thread.  Alright, so that's a slight exaggeration BUT it was in bad shape.  I am not certain why but the sheetrock in their bathroom is junk.  It's thin and damages easily.  Well, we were getting ready to have several sets of guests and I needed to patch it up a bit.  Every time in the past, one of the kids would push the plugs through the wall or re-damage the repair spots.  I went out to the shop and found some white oak scraps and Eric planed them down for me and I screwed AND GLUED them to the walls after patching the holes.  It sounds extreme but believe me, it was necessary.  Oh, also, we plan to remodel the bathroom in its entirety and put wood paneling (like shiplap) up so the glue won't matter.  I hung an old kite up to match their decor and hung hooks on the new wood.  I also bought soft, squishy pads for the door handle to hit when it is slammed open.  I need to paint and get on top of the remodel but it's like I need more hours in each day...  I also put up the curved shower curtain holder but all I could find was a short curtain so that's what is on there for now.  The liner is extra long but the curtain is little.  Oh, well!  lol.  We bought a new faucet because the boys had broken the handle and jammed the drain plug.  

Eric started the NSNG diet and added an anti-inflammatory diet to boot.  He is killing it (I'll write more in a future post about it).  We have made so many new recipes that we all love, egg cups and all kinds of new things.  

These flowers were gifted to me by one of the flower vendors at the farmers market.  I love her flowers and buy from her every-other weekend.  

Some of these were grown in my yard and some are from a bouquet that was bought for me by Sierra.  

Our first nectarine.  In a future post, you will see us all enjoy this beauty.  

Year-end teacher gifts.  I can print handwriting on the Glowforge.  

Recently, I whipped out my Cricut and had a small craft day with it.  I miss working with it and loved cutting fabric.  I haven't cut much fabric with it.  

Martha's tables. They have a live edge on the front. 

I made a bunch of earrings and have been selling the heck out of them at the farmers market.  

More chocolate chip, coffee muffins. 

Sheet pan zucchini and squash.

We're addicted to this seasoning. We love it.  It has real, dried bell pepper in it.  

This was my mom's mothers day gift.  Where the blank (scored) "Grandma" is got a raised letter "Grandma" painted black with a heart.  I want to make them for a few more people but need to get the kids' handwriting with their names first.  

Birthdays!!!! 

We missed a few birthdays this year and please forgive me if I neglected to mention you in the previous post.  I think I am close to catching up.  We really try to make sure our loved ones know we are thinking about you on your day so we apologize if we missed it.  

For May:  I just checked and I think we got everyone on the April 26th post.  If not, we sincerely apologize!  

Well, that about sums up the end of April and May.  June will follow shortly and then we will move on to July and so on.  

We hope this post finds everyone well, staying healthy, happy and loving life.  Please stay in touch!  We have loved sharing all we have by text and phone and appreciate everyone who checked in on us during our time away...  

Much love to you all...  Take care. 

(Just a side note; my usual blogs this size or so take me about three days to complete because of slow upload speeds but this one took only a few hours.  I am loving our new internet and think it came at a very crucial time).