Our Faith, Our Family, & Our Friendships.

 It's an exciting new time for our family!   Thankfully, he gets to zoom in all his classes except the last one,   making it fit into our schedule easily and not disrupt the rest of our lives horribly!          Man its bitter sweet watching your kids grow up!!

10 years ago we enrolled Ben in a Christian school.    From the start of his life, we knew we wanted to give him a Godly upbringing and a firm foundation In Christ.        We have made many sacrifices over the years to get him there,  forfeiting lavish vacations,   and many of the bells and whistles in life to ensure we could always afford this chance for him.     And not for one second have we regretted that decision.    Jesus Christ is the first and most important thing in our lives.   Giving our children a solid foundation is our job.      It's been an amazing 10-year journey with him,  but this week,    He graduated from 8th grade and his whole world is about to change.        Everything he learned will go with him,    The math,  reading,  memories, and friends will never be forgotten,    but most importantly the Firm foundation in Christ t...

So It's Been a minute since I've logged in here,  but our lives have been busy with gardening, canning,  church functions,  meetings, and more!   But no worries, I've got lots to share! VBS night #4 was super fun!    The theme was fruit and veggies day which was right up Brooklies ally!   She put on a cute dress and matching scarf from Gigi and filled her little basket with all her little play foods.     One of our little friends was able to join us again also! Brooklynn won one of the best "dressed" prize too!  she was so happy!  Look at that smile! Brooklynn having so much fun running around with her group,   She Appsolutely loved it! The boys got to play slip and slide soccer,  they had a blast!     It was wet soapy fun!     

 This time we invited several friends to join us and shockingly they were all available  to join!     We offered to drive everyone and have a good time,  one friend we even invited to join us for dinner before hand! This night's theme was creepy crawlies!    So everyone brought a toy bug!     Both my kids are truly enjoying this vbs!   They are in great spirits,   doing all the "homework" and are excited each night.   This church is doing a great job!   

  Its crazy hat and hair day!       Luckily this one was easy for us as we own a photo booth and have tons of fun hats.     The Kids choose matching Jester hats with little bells at the ends of each flap.       They turned in all their finished assignments ,  said their memory verses and got points towards possible prizes at the end of the week!     Ben is even going the extra mile and saying all the books of the Bible,  new testament and old,   and quoting the 10 commandments!         Oh this kid.....

 Both kids attended,  they loved the  snacks,  crafts,  bible stories,  games,  and outdoor fun!   Brooklynn was a bit unsure at first so she asked me to stay with her and she was Not in bens groups with it bring split up by grade,  so momma got to hang out too!   Each night the kids are sent away with a bible verse to memorize for the next night and a bible sheet to complete.   It's so refreshing to have my children hear about and be encouraged in the Lord.   And yes.  No shoes.   Sheesh.  She kicked them off so fast.  Lol

One of Ben's best friends "Evie" whom he's known almost his whole life,   who also happens to be class-mates,  lives on one of the biggest farms in the area was telling me how they were in the hay season,  I shared how I lived on an organic dairy farm as a kid,  and was not a stranger to the world of Hay and said if they ever needed any extra help,  to shoot me a text and I'd bring Ben over to help.       Little did she know that it is always my dream to have my children experience the world of farming and the honest hard work that comes with it!       I personally can't give him all the experiences here where I live,   but I always knew,  as he grew older I would find opportunities for him to help local farmers and find safe ways for him to learn and be in that environment.   And who better than learn with than your best friend's family!?   Not even two days after this conversation,   I got a text from...

My Kid's principal called the other day and after a minute of greetings,   She proceeded to ask if Ben was busy for the day and if there was any way he could come to the school to help with some odd jobs.    They were moving some classrooms around and needed a strong boy!   They said he could bring a friend to help and work together!     I was happy to offer him as a help and thrilled that he could be a blessing! When I told Ben of her call,  he didn't hesitate!    He jumped right up and called one of his best friends Ella!     She also didn't hesitate,  I drove both kids over to the school around 11am,  And They worked till about 4ish in the afternoon.    When I got to the school to pick them back up,    I got nothing but positive words about how strong and hard workers they both were.   They worked so hard and didn't complain!    I was so proud of my son and his friend.     So...

 And open a jar of mommas homemade dill pickles,  eat the whole jar and then proceed to drink the juice.....  

   We are so proud!   Ben practiced and practiced,  sometimes till his arm hurt!     He went to practice with his team every day,  and then several nights, he came home and practiced more on his own!     And it paid off,   He increased his throw by 3-5 feet between regionals and states!  At Regionals, he was barely throwing 25 feet,  and by the time states came around, he was throwing 27-30 feet consistently!       And this Young man, took 3rd place,  Missing 2nd place by only 6 inches!        He was so proud of himself as we are of him!      He's already talking of next year!   

If you know anything about me,   you know I am very practical.   I don't like excess "stuff" and clutter.   It causes me to feel anxious,  and unorganized.      So,  When it comes to gift-giving,   I tend to have the same feelings.   I like to give gifts that are sensible,   something people will use,  and not a dust collector or something people feel obligated to hang onto but secretly have zero use for.   Especially a teacher,    after years of teaching a bunch of students,  they have to get overwhelmed by the amount of thoughtful yet "what do I do with this" gifts. So for teacher appreciation week this year,  I tried to think outside the box,  but be cost-effective as between my two kids there are 8-10 teachers and aids total!     I didn't have to give a gift to each teacher, and it probably wasn't expected,  but I figured if I could make it affordable,  we could easily give ...

 It's upon us.       5 nights a week practices.   Rain or shine,   wind or rain.    Ben Has faithfully gone to every single one.    Sometimes begrudgingly,   but most of the time with great enthusiasm,    and yesterday was the first track meet of the year.  And Ben ROCKED IT!   He ran the 100 yard dash,    took first in his heat!   He ran 200 yard dash and also took first in his heat    He qualified for the finals in both rounds!  And In the end he took 5th and 6th place over all! He ran the 4x100 with a few buddies from school and together they took second place!!  And he went out for shot put ,   and took 1st place in the whole thing,  throwing his record at 25 feet 7 inches!    He came home soooo excited and pumped!      As a momma I was so proud of him!    ♡♡      

 Some of Bens school mates made plans to go skating over the weekend and invited Ben to join along.     We agreed to let him go but stressed the importance of being Christ like and to always please his Lord.   It was a good feeling to know we have raised him well and can trust him for situations like these.   As he grows older we are understanding the importance of building a strong faith and foundation in their hearts of God's word.    He had never gone skating before so was beyond excited!      The mom that went along sent me pictures! He came home all pumped,  saying he loved skating!  He said after getting the hang of it,  he was actually pretty good at it!    I asked if he fell and got hurt at all and his response was "oh absolutely!!!"!   But yay for no broken bones!

 ITs generally a tradition at my kids school that at the end of Lutherans schools week, each kid get to choose one special person in their life to come and join them for a fun day in their class with all their classmates!     It was Brooklynn's first year,  and Due to the covid yuckiness,  It's was Ben's first year for a few.     And, Of course, Pa and Gigi were the kid's first requests!  It with a 50/50 chance they could attend with Pa and Gigi in Florida on Vacation,    But I told the kids it didn't hurt to ask!     So Ben and Brooklynn send an Individual video message to each pa and Gigi requesting them as their special person and Thankfully they accepted the invite and they came home in time to attend!  yay!          

  When it snows huge so everyone has a day off from school,  and both your kids ask to help you make bread,   you decide to make it fun and have a competition!      It made a mess,  and if I'm being honest was NOT on the days to-do list,  But how could I pass up the opportunity to make memories with my kids,   teach them something useful in life AND have fresh rolls to go with dinner?!    It was a Win-win if I put my selfish desires of the day aside,  so we made rolls.     They had a blast!    I handed them the ingredients,  and each kid made their own batch of rolls,  they mixed and kneaded everything themselves,   (Ben did need some help with the mixing part as he only has one hand,  But he rocked the kneading with one hand all on his own!)    Soft dinner rolls