Last week of official summer?

     I can't believe last week was the last week of summer before school started!  It always goes by fast, but I feel like it went by extra fast this time.
     Gwyn and Celee did get in one last Cat Club outing.  They met at the movie theater to see African Cats together.  Lyla got to go to her Art Club just her and her friends, so they got a break from each other for a bit.

     Cat Club was going to have one more meeting at the meadow, but it ended up just us.  So they played in the river for the afternoon while Tink and I sat in the shade reading a book.  It was quite nice.  Except for the snake I saw and Tink stepped on.  She's that kind of dog - completely unobservant.  So many times I try to point out rabbits or squirrels to her and she never sees them.  (She will chase them if she sees them)  Anyway, I saw the snake and tried to get her to come to me a different way but she plowed right through and stepped on the thing anyway - completely oblivious.  At least it wasn't poisonous.  Later Celee asked me which eyes it had (to know if it was poisonous or not).  Honestly, I think that is one of the least helpful ways to try to figure out if a snake is poisonous.  I do not want to be close enough to see what it's eyes look like and then be like, "Oh, it is the poisonous kind."  It's snout was round, and it didn't bite us so I'm going with that it wasn't poisonous.      

     Some of our friends from Small Group moved to Idaho this past weekend.  :(  We will miss them.  So several families went over to help them load the trucks on Saturday.  The kids all got to play while the adults lugged boxes and furniture around.  Gwyn is definately too big for those battery powered cart toys, but she had fun with her knees up in the air anyway.

     Celee got to go to an American Girl Doll/Gymnastics birthday party for a friend of hers this weekend.  What could be more up Celee's alley?

     Monday was supposed to be the first day of school.  Everyone always posts those cute pictures of their kids on the first day all dressed up with their backpacks before they head off for the new year.  I have always done that too.  This year though, we work at the farm on Monday mornings, so we're in our "ok to get poop on them" clothes.  So yay for the first day of 5th, 4th, and 1st grade.  Maybe we'll try to re-create that first-day shot on a different day.

    I do not like these geese.  Or any other geese by the way.

     I do like these sheep.  They make the most awesome noises.  The baby bunnies are awesome too.  Lyla looks pretty forlorn in the picture, but she wanted her picture with the sheep.

     Who knows what we'll get around to this week.  I notified Carroll County that we'll be under their jurisdiction after the end of September so that's a whole new unknown to worry about.  I have two Baltimore county portfolio reviews under my belt so I felt pretty confident about the expectations for those.  All I can hope for is reviewers who actually support homeschooling.  A hostile review would be a nightmare!  But that is neither here nor there.  I can't change it and it won't happen anytime soon, so I'll try not to fret about it.  In the mean time I'm just going to continue to document everything and date everything so hopefully that will suffice.
     We're in the waiting phase now for the house.  All the paperwork that can be done has been done and now we're passing the time for the next month.  I'm glad I got to go in and take pictures of the rooms, because we're trying to get ideas for painting and other odds and ends.  I can't wait!  My pinterest boards just keep getting fuller!

Sometimes you need goggles to eat watermelon...

     This past week has been a bit hairy.  Jason hasn't felt well.  I've been a little stressed.  But we still managed to have some fun.  Thank heavens for the pool!  Actually this past week was hit and miss because of some freakishly cool weather.  But when the girls could stand it, we went swimming.  I say "we" but really it was "they."  I generally love to swim, but sometimes I just want to hang out in the sun and read.  It is so nice to have three confident swimmers and a small pool where I can see all three at one time complete with a lifeguard.
     Lyla cracks me up with her goggles.  She wears them whether she's in the water or not.  Or maybe she just didn't want to get watermelon in her nose.  She and Celee have a running tie on who is the messiest eater.

   
     Art club was once again fun.  The girls finished up some projects they had started on previous weeks and got to make tin foil sculptures.  And Marta had the popcorn flower project hung up.  Her art room looks so pretty with all the projects hung!  I can't wait for the gallery day!

     One of the cool days this week we got the scooters out and went to the playground.  I don't know where all the other kids in the complex are - school hasn't started yet and I know a lot of the moms stay home, but we had it to ourselves.  As crazy of a climber monkey Lyla usually is, for some reason she had monkey bar anxiety.  She finally got over it and crossed them by herself.  And of course she kept crossing and crossing until her fingers wouldn't hold her anymore insisting I watch each time.  :)

     Pet update:  Guess what Moxie's been watching?  She almost finished watching the entire Netflix-available seasons of Doctor Who.  Tink on the other hand could care less who kills or didn't kill the Doctor. She just wanted to roll in the grass every day.  Bless her little heart.  Her knees make it hard for her to walk sometimes so I have to walk her super slow, and her skin has been super itchy lately so she's just pitiful.  She only livens up when she thinks she's going to get chicken to eat (not happening very often in my kitchen lately)  or another small dog threatens to invade her space (which includes any area she can see).  Yes, I have the crotchety old lady dog that barks and snaps at other people's dogs and carries on even if they are across the street.  Oh, well.  She's still a sweety and we love her.

   
     We went to another Ironbirds game.  Celee had won tickets from the campout and so the girls got to invite a friend.  This game (against the Staten Island Yankees) was not as exciting as our first one.  It just seemed like everyone playing was off on both teams and it was taking a loooooong time.  I don't even know if they won or not.  They were up at the end of the 7th when we left.  We decided there were no fireworks that night and the girls were bored so we left.  Baseball is mildly interesting to me, but I can only stay interested for so long and after two and a half hours, it would take something exciting to keep my interest.  The girls did get their cotton candy though so they were all happy.

     Notice the long pants.  Cool weather!  Where did my heat go?  I need just a few more sweaty weeks!  I don't want to be cold yet!
We decided to defy the "No playing in front of buildings" sign.  A maintenance man did come by, but he just complimented the girls on their jump roping so I'm figuring they don't take this rule too seriously.  We are all definitely looking forward to a yard!

     I realized that I have never taken pictures of the girls at our new church.  Lyla decided to go cowgirl in her style today, so it was a good day to document that.  Lyla's age group is "Upstreet."  Gwyn and Celee are in "The Loft."  The kids in the Loft get to play in a pretend band each week during their worship songs, hence the drum set.  The drums actually work (how could a drum not work?) though so it makes for interesting additions to the music.

     We had the home inspection done this weekend on the house we have under contract.  Everything came out good.  It was the shortest repair report I've ever seen so that's good.  And what was on the list was pretty minor.  Cool beans with me.  So now we just wait and continue to get the paperwork all in order. The closing is set for September 27th.  Yippee!   Again, God is so good and I am so very thankful for this gift!

The Pur

     As I have tried my best to do diligent service today in researching our mortgage options, title insurance companies, and home insurance quotes, I keep feeling like I'm pulling out of a hat blindfolded.  There are truly too many options.  I can not make myself a mortgage/title insurance/home insurance expert in the time allowed.  I have made a valiant effort though.

     In the end I was reminded today that God's people cast lots often to divine God's will in the Old Testament.  I am not advocating throwing our idea of God's will to chance.  Rather that in circumstances where the options seem overwhelming that God can work through our faith to place His choice in our hands.
      He has carried me thus far.  He will continue.  I take responsibility for doing the work put before me, but I trust in Him to set my path straight when there are too many roads for me to choose from.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path.   Proverbs 3:5

The rest of the week

    Lyla had her 5 year old check up on Wednesday. She got to wear these cool glasses for the sight test which she thought was a hoot.  Our doctor, who we've only actually seen twice, is leaving so we may or may not be looking for a new ped soon.  This may be for more reasons than this, but I'll explain that later.

    We've been driving all over Baltimore, Carroll, and Harford counties looking at property.  It can be exhausting!  I feel silly being exhausted over something that requires very little physical movement other than in a car.  And I do feel extremely blessed that we can even look for property at this point. Never the less, it's been exhausting.  Celee did find this awesome tree at one farmhouse we looked at.  The property was gorgeous!  The house was our number two.  Old farmhouses are awesome, but air conditioning is a plus - especially for Jason.

     At Baugher's the bunnies had babies!  At first we could only see the fur nest moving, but this past week we could see the babies.  They are so cute!  And if course the girls want one, but no.  Not yet.

     I also discovered a family of chipmunks living under one of the chicken pens.  They are surprisingly unafraid, and let me get pretty close.  

     And as always, the sweet turkey just makes me smile.  He's such a clean and quiet bird.  His noises are so sweet and he comes to investigate when I try to mimic them.  (I will NOT be doing this for an audience). I may ask for a turkey for Mother's Day next year!

    We worked the farm for someone else last week so we were there on a day when they were picking.  We got to pick fresh peaches and prune plums.  I don't know if most people just eat this kind of plum, but we like them.  Then we went home and made a peach pie for Jason.  I'm not a big pie fan, but Jason and the girls said it was good and it didn't last long so I guess it was.

     After a stressful week and periods of several of us not feeling well, Sunday we decided to get out.  We headed up the NCR trail and the girls begged to play in the water.  They are river rats!  Anytime we can, they beg to be in some kind of stream or river.  We got to take Tink with us and let her off the leash a bit.  Her age is really starting to show though.  Her back knees get out if whack sometimes and I ended up carrying her part of the 2mile walk back because she was dragging so much.  I often forget she's 11-12 years old and not the spry little dog she used to be.

     I helped with Sunday school and found these eye stickers.  I made a hand puppet with them and this amused me way more than it probably should have.  They stayed on all day too!  It just kept cracking me up when I'd look down and it was as if "she" was eating whatever I was holding in my hand.  So all day I was like, "Stop eating that!"  Cracks me up!  Thankfully Jason humored me.

     We did find a wonderful house that has been very smartly remodeled.  We could move in with no fixing up!  It's in our middle price range and on 2.5 wooded acres that end right off of a trout stream.  We put in an offer and they counted with a very slight change, so we should be able to sign all the papers tomorrow.  The Lord has performed a miracle!  And I really don't say that lightly.  After such a crazy year and loosing so much on the Illinois house, it just doesn't seem possible for us to be able to have a place like we wished for.  Much less one that doesn't need fixing up!  God has worked through the generosity of Jason's parents and just inexplicable circumstances to make this happen.  It isn't all said and done until closing, so prayers that everything will go smoothly are much appreciated.  Now, maybe I can relax and think about school starting in two weeks!  Eek!