A New Look & A Fresh (Re)Start!

You may have noticed a lack in posts recently. No new recipes and very sporadic participation in link-ups. I have something I'm calling "blogger burn-out". 


I enjoy blogging; I really do. I enjoy sharing our weekly activities with family and friends, especially those that live so far away. This later branched out to sharing with fellow homeschool moms I did not know. I love having a network of like-minded moms to turn to, even if they don't know I read their blogs.


It was time to refocus and reorganize. I needed a new look, so this weekend I finally sat down and created something that I liked, which is a big undertaking for someone who lacks creativity. I wanted something simple, but pleasant. This is it.

I'm not completely done yet, as my menu bar links are still bare, but those will be a work in progress. I used to be much more proficient in code, but now I am having to really think about what I am trying to do, and that takes time.


I am also still in the process of combining previous blogs into this one, so as to keep everything in one place. This has been an ongoing project for months, as those posts were more personal and contained names and photos of family and friends and need to be edited for their privacy.


I will have some new posts up this week, and I hope that you'll stop by again to check them out!

Week in Review 2016: #36

Life

Our schedule really starts filling up again after Labor Day. This week, Bridget began her fourth year at the dance academy. We were able to schedule her ballet and tap/jazz classes back-to-back on the same day, so instead of taking her to the dance academy two days a week as we did last year, we only go once a week. My parents watched the boys and I had two whole hours to myself! Because it was Bridget's first day, I wanted to make sure that she knew to go on to her next class instead of coming to the door for pick-up. She also needed to change leotards (which she wore one on top of the other) along with her dance shoes, and I did not know if she'd need my help with that. (The academy assigns a different color leotard for the different dance levels. The pre-ballet girls, ages 3 and 4, wear light pink, then they move up to light blue. Bridget is still in a light blue leotard for ballet but is in the next level for tap/jazz so she needed to wear a navy blue leotard. We got this one in a camisole style to feel more comfortable under her short-sleeved light blue leotard.) I went inside to see if she needed my help between her first and second classes, and she did great on her own. She did not even know I had gone in to check on her. I really wish she wouldn't grow up so fast, though it felt good not to be needed.

I spent my two hours of alone time in the van. The weather was mild so I put the windows down and got a lot of reading and lesson planning done.  That never happens. Bridget was so excited when I picked her up. She told me she wished she could go to dance classes every day. She's been wearing her ballet shoes around the house, twirling around at every chance she gets. It's nice to see her so passionate about something.

I have been M.I.A. from blogging much these past few weeks before of our upcoming move. We have managed to clear out a lot of our belongings from the house and put them into storage (we're hoping to rent out our current house and didn't want there to be too much clutter when someone comes to look at the place). While packing, I rediscovered a number of games I had hidden under my bed. Mostly games with small pieces that I did not want the little ones getting a hold of. I hid them so well that I had forgotten all about them. George discovered the games with me and we had a great time playing mancala the other day. George then taught Bridget how to play and they ended in a tie. 

I happened to have my phone with me when this little guy woke up from his nap. I need to record him one of these days. He always wakes up so cheerful. He spends a long time in his crib playing and being silly before I finally get him out. His favorite thing right now is to be tickled. 

Homeschool

Bridget is powering through her math lessons lately. We had gotten a bit behind on math in first grade and she is still finishing up the Alpha book (Math-U-See). We have three lessons to go before we begin on the new Beta book. She has caught on very quickly and some lessons we're able to complete in one day (video, worksheets, and test).

She is also attempting to get ahead on her handwriting book this year, because half-way through the book she will begin to write in cursive.

Liam keeps himself occupied with coloring while I do school with the older two. He is a very serious scribbler.

Linking Up With:

My Autumn Bucket List {52 Lists}

A fun list this week!! I only wish it would start to feel like fall. Temperatures were in the 90's today!

Our family takes advantage of the autumn season. It is our last chance for some quality family time before the holiday chaos hits and Daddy begins working long hours (he's a tax accountant).

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This year, my autumn bucket list includes:

A trip to the mountains. One of our favorite places! We love the Biltmore Estate and have seen it in all its seasonal glory. Last year, I experienced seeing the leaves changing colors and walking through their fall garden. This year, we received free tickets for another visit.

Apple picking. We did this for the first time last year and it was so much fun!!! We jump at any opportunity to harvest our own food (strawberries and blueberries grow very well in our area, as do many varieties of vegetables) and so we drove 5 hours to pick our own apples. It was an adventure in one of the most beautiful settings!

Pie. We don't do too much baking during the summer months, so when autumn rolls around I am more than ready to get to work in the kitchen. I will make an apple pie from our freshly picked Granny Smith's. I will also make a pumpkin pie, as the smell of pumpkin pie is one of my favorites at this time of year (though surprisingly, it is not my favorite to eat).

Soup. I love soup served with freshly baked bread. It is hardly appropriate to eat soup during the summer (unless a storm is upon us), but autumn is a time to plan to make all of my favorites from the year before.

Apple cider. The best apple cider I've ever had came from the apple orchard we visited last year. It was fresh tasting compared to store-bought. I will be picking up some more this year.

Hot wassail. My way of kicking the apple cider up a few notches. I prefer to use store-bought cider for this, so as not to waste the fresh apple cider (aka liquid gold) listed above.

Bid a not-so-fond farewell to the bugs! We live in the South, the utopia of all things creepy crawly. My poor older son gets eaten alive every time he goes outside, even for just a couple of minutes. I look forward to the temperatures getting cooler and the bugs dying off (or burrowing, or whatever they do) so that he may play outdoors without worry.

Raking leaves. I truly enjoy this chore activity. Where I grew up, leaves did not fall from the trees each year. Everything was green year-round. It was nice, but I always wanted to experience the seasons. Twelve years of living here and I still look forward to raking the leaves.

Watching the children play in the leaves. They love it as much as I do. They help rake, but kids will be kids and throw themselves into the big pile of leaves.

Collecting leaves and pine cones. The children love searching for the perfect leaf or the biggest pine cone. They glue the leaves to paper and put it on their wall to look at until the leaves dry out and crumble.

Read-Alouds. I do less reading aloud in the summertime with the children. We're always so busy and the children are active until bedtime (and sometimes after). Once the weather gets cool, they seem to calm down earlier in the evenings. My oldest two love curling up on the couch with me as I read some of my favorite chapter books. I am most looking forward to reading A Christmas Carol with them this year.

Getting into a routine. Summer is over and so are the additional activities and trips. Dance lessons have started back up, (home)school is in session, and it is the perfect time to get into a good rhythm for the school year.

Reconcile the year. I spend much of the autumn season thinking about things I would have done differently, or things that I could have done better. Most importantly, I think of my relationship with God and how it can be improved. The miracle of the season gets closer, and I reflect on all that my Savior has done for me. I use this time to make both personal goals and family goals.

Linking Up With:

New House Update #3

So much has happened since my update less than a month ago. If you remember, they had just built the foundation. Soon after, piles of lumber arrived.

Framing began the very next day!!

By day two, they were already working on the second story!! By the fifth day, they had the second story almost complete and had almost closed in the exterior.

It is very surreal to see our house finally coming together. After this last picture was taken, Hurricane Hermine came through (though it was downgraded to a tropical storm by this point). After the storm, my husband and I dropped the kids off with my parents and went to the appliance store to pick out a stove, dishwasher, microwave, and refrigerator. I had intended on upgrading our oven to a double oven (storage drawer at the bottom essentially becomes the second oven) but as we were looking at them, I bent down to open the bottom oven and decided I really didn't like the idea of picking up a pan off cookies off the floor, or a heavy casserole dish. I'm getting too old for that. We decided to go with the standard package appliances, with the exception of the refrigerator.

After our trip to the appliance store, we headed over to the house to see how it did during the storm. There were some large puddles in the backyard due to large tire tracks from the equipment they're using, but they will be leveled out before we ever move in. We were able to walk around the house and I took a lot of pictures to show the children.

We also discovered a very big mistake in the house.

I will be including those pictures and more details later in the week!