Life

There's so much going on right now in each of our *kids'* lives (I'm not sure if I can think of anything else to call them, even though I know they are not "kids" anymore . . . but I think Buck's aunt still calls us and his full-grown cousins "kids," so maybe a generation stays *kids* as long as the generation that started calling them kids continues to do so? It's a ponder!)

I'm kind of doing cluster posts to get caught up . . . all the wedding, all the baby, all the puppy, all the football, all the in-between moments I've mentioned in those other posts--that's what this post is for. The life we live in between the big events; I love that time with the kids, too 💕 

Since it had been since January, Caelan and I decided to work a puzzle. It was murder-mystery themed. We read the story and then had to assemble the puzzle for clues to "who done it." We started it on one visit and finished it on another. It actually took some thinking, but we solved the murrderr! :)

Speaking of murder . . . that's an odd segue, but Oliver Jr., surprisingly, does have a murder! They stuck to the storyline and poor Nancy didn't make it to the end of the play. However, the kids (children in general, not ours specifically) all did a really good job! The costuming and singing and choreography was all well done. We knew several young actors from church, youth group, and I think karate? (that was Caelan, not me :), so it was fun to take a night out to support them, and of course, the arts ;)

Moving ahead to the next weekend . . . after Graysen's football tournament, we arrived home with just enough time to get ready for my NGF's eldest's high school graduation party. He loves Fall and wanted his party to take place in that season, not late spring like everyone else. It was a beautiful setting at his grandparents' home! My NGF is wonderful at parties, and she decorated everything in such a welcoming, cozy way--ugly gourds and picnic tables and hay bales and string lights and stamped banners, a fire pit, soups, cider donuts, hot chocolate, pumpkin bars, and a photo collage that showed our boys growing up together! I mean, that wasn't the main theme of the photos, but it certainly was a notable part of them :) We spent the evening chatting with friends and neighbors, hoping the rain would stay away as lightning flashed in the distance. It did. In fact, when we left, every street was soaked . . . but God must have put an umbrella over that party :) I keep hoping my NGF will post pictures, because I only took one . . . and borrowed one that was taken near Gabby's perch on the wall by an out-of-state friend. Such a beautiful, pleasant evening celebrating a really wonderful young man! And Gabby said he loved the Hawaiian shirt we brought back for him from Maui as a gift :)

Wow, was it the next day? Yes! The very next day, Caelan invited everyone over for lunch at their apartment. Gabby and Chase arrived ahead of us, and it was fun to have everyone together, with Noah and Caelan as our hosts. Caelan had the coffee pot going, so the boys got some instructions on making fancy coffee drinks with the syrups from Gabby's bridal shower :) The gnocchi soup Caelan made was delicious! Fresh bread from the bread machine, and cookie bars like we made in Hawaii--plus M & M's--a most excellent lunch!

Scarlet was glad for company, but Buck was sad that he was missing out on the fun. I told everyone to wave to him for a picture :) Have I mentioned I love times like this?!

And yes, in the midst of it all, we are still homeschooling our two high schoolers. Chemistry, Trigonometry, Psychology, Physics, Career Planning, plus more, plus college classes, plus we are just nine hours away from completing Graysen's Drivers Ed in-car practice time. Three of those are at night, and none of those have we done :)

And I think it's awesome that Brennen and G$ attend the Men's Bible Study at our church, led by their very own Uncle C! That's a blessing!

Olive is very excited that I accidentally bought the WRONG kind of balls for her to play with . . . they are all outside now, lol! So squeaky!

In other news, I figured out the horrid smell coming from the laundry room. I cleaned the toilet, the sink, took out the trash, cleaned the trash can, dumped steaming hot water down the floor drain, washed all the laundry, did a self-clean cycle on the washer and STILL the smell remained! Finally, I got up the courage to investigate at close range, and it was the rug--my beautiful Turkish rug, that is much too huge to fit into a washing machine. I guess all the spilled water of late activated some funk that I didn't know was there? Anyway, I rolled it up, took it out to the deck, stretched it across four chairs, and covered it in Oxiclean laundry powder. Both sides. It got three solid sprays with the hose (and it was still a little soapy slippery). It got dark out, so I rolled up the heavy, sopping mess and brought it inside. Yesterday was another hot, sunny day, so it seems like it dried out okay and the smell is gone. I'm thinking puppy gates from now on :)

And finally, since I didn't want to end with a dirty rug (and this better depicts "life") I will share a video I took of what I think was an elk, visiting the hills on vacation ;) He had four does with him and he was massive! It was like a family trip. Too bad we still don't know where the key is to the treehouse or they could have enjoyed our rustic airbnb on that Fall evening. I hope none of them fell in the pool--it hasn't been closed for the season yet (not that it was ever opened :)

So there is my catch up glimpse of life in between the big events! Now, back to wedding planning . . . our meeting starts in just over an hour :)