~First Day of School~

Today was the first day of school for my younger kiddos...we were all excited:)!

John David is a Junior (oh my!)

Before he walked out the door I asked for a picture, thinking I'd hear the answer ,"no way",

I was happy to get an eating breakfast pic!!

Madeline is a 6th grader at a new campus for her. John David will be driving her every day whoop whoop!  I took her today since she was getting her badge for blazer.

she is so grown up and adorable

We walk up to the chapel and I snap this cute pic of Madeline and Carson...slowly I began to notice not one girl is wearing their red skirt. I'm starting to look around... thinking "um I think I misread or skimmed the Friday dress code for girls". I ask Carson, who is always in the know, and she lets me know that "yes, we are supposed to wear khaki skirts or pants for Friday dress"...sigh, I did not even buy a khaki skirt because the others are so much cuter:).

Yes, I am THAT Mom.

 I quickly asked a few teachers if it was a big deal that I'm that loser Mom and they assured me it was ok for this particular day..."we are all learning"...let's not forget that I already have a Junior at the same school. I did not remind any of the teachers of this fact! I'm quite confident they will never forget that I am THAT Mom anyway ha! Thankfully Madeline was chill and good about it, go figure.

proof of the fact that I am THAT Mom...

...one red skirt in a sea of khaki and navy...

I hope the teachers recognize that the red skirt IS much cuter and change it😂

Honestly, it was all kind of funny to me once I knew Madeline was fine with it. Apparently, I am on this earth for one's entertainment😎

~It's a Wrap~

Summer has come to a close with school starting tomorrow. We have fit in the last things of summer as much as we can.

We watched lots of shows...I finally got Hank to start watching Breaking Bad with me!

 whoop whoop! (along with my big ole doggie)

Janie finished up her swim season with a swim banquet. She was thrilled to dress up of course:)

She received the "most likely to ask to race a friend" award. The coaches were so creative coming up with fun awards for each of the kids.

she received her medals from the City meet.

all her coaches...they were wonderful to these kids!

we were able to watch John David's water polo tournament. He played last spring and continued through this summer. 

We are so new to this sport and don't understand half of what is happening😂

John David explains to his old Mom after the games ha!

He has one more tournament in late August...lots of fun watching his new sport!!

~Random Summer Pics~

John David rarely lets me take pictures of him anymore but let me take a few when I was playing with my portrait mode:)

He is way too grown up now!

the girls follow John David and his friends EVERYWHERE....

A day in the life at our house...Janie still in her pj's ha!

and again Janie still in her pj's at dinner time...girl loves her corn on the cob

a random afternoon putting a cab on the tractor, cause we can all use a cab cover

and last but not least this text Hank sent me one day...again Janie still in pj's 😂

School starts in another week so we plan on staying in our pj's all week long again!

~Ralph~

 We had to put our sweet Ralph to sleep on Saturday. Needless to say lots of tears were shed for this awesome cat...he was only 7 1/2 years old.

We sure miss him!

He would answer you when meowed to, yes the entire family meowed to Ralph because it was so funny! He taunted Evie on the stairs, snuck up on Odie (scaring him to death), knocked over more glasses of milk or water than I can count...this morning I was sad thinking about how mad he made me when he knocked over glasses of milk, never thought I'd miss that:)

We tried shaking coins in a metal container and spraying water at him when he jumped up on the kitchen counter to no avail. I finally admitted defeat, referring to my counters as "Ralph's throne"...I've been sad not cleaning my counters as much!

Look how little John David is in the background! We gave him Ralph for his 9th birthday...the first names chosen were Tron and Mew...thankfully he settled on Ralph!

Evie and Ralph had a love/hate relationship....Evie loved Ralph too much and Ralph tolerated Evie😆

I love how Ralph messed with Goldbug...this pic cracks me up that Ralph thinks Goldbug can't see him.... these two had a love/love relationship

I was not a cat person until Allie talked me and Jeff into getting Pumpkin, a mixed Maine Coon stray who we all adored! After he died, I was the one begging Hank for another cat, along with John David.  I finally convinced Hank when I said "wouldn't it be fun to surprise John David with a kitten for his birthday?" He jumped right in with that. One of my fondest memories was watching John David's expression of sheer joy and surprise on that 9th birthday!

I'm certain we will be surprising some kids with another kitten one of these days but for now...missing our big ole orange Ralph...he was truly the best!

Last but not least! Too funny not to share again...Madeline was so proud of herself. I have no idea how she wrangled these three animals into the crate!

Ralph was the only smart one trying to get out, Goldbug looks like she is having fun and Odie is along for the ride! I think I want another King Charles as well😳

~All the Pretty Plants~

For years I have enjoyed seeing the deer in our yard. They are beautiful and appear so sweet....

~until they aren't sweet anymore~

I have begun a love/hate relationship with my friendly deer this summer. I continue to enjoy seeing them, however I feel a bit irritated each time their sweet eyes peer at me as I drive down my driveway....because they are eating ALL my pretty plants. I'm disgruntled with their behavior and a bit annoyed with my feelings as well...after all they are only behaving by instinct, eating anything that tastes good to them. Sigh.

I have accepted my yard's fate until yesterday...I let the dogs out and discovered the deer have started eating the one pretty plant that has not been touched as of yet...now stripped of half it's blooms.

 I immediately thought "why can't they weed my beds instead of eating all the pretty things?"

like these weeds?

As I was pulling weeds I thought of how God must view his people in the same way I view the deer in my yard...we choose the things that "taste" good giving little thought to whose yard we may be messing up. As I thought about my sins I realized God does not view me in the same way I view my deer (seeing their beauty yet disgruntled with their behavior). We are made in God's image so He does view us as His beautiful creations, yet He is not disgruntled with our behavior... complaining to His angels about us. Obviously He is not surprised by our behavior and does not ask himself "why can't they just do what I want?" He knows us, has great mercy for us...sending His son to make a way for us past our sin. 

"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God." Ephesians 2:8

"You, Lord, are forgiving and good, abounding in love to all who call you." Psalm 86:5

In light of all my ponderings on the stinkin' deer eating my plants, I am making a conscious effort to alter my thoughts when I see them. Instead of being mad, why don't I dwell upon my own sin of "eating all the pretty things"? I'm hoping that I will feel a bit merciful for them as God is merciful to me as I call out to Him. 

The deer however are being put on restriction! 😂I am going to spray my pretty plants with hinder and see if they will eat all the other things that may taste as good but are not so pretty. I'll keep you posted...maybe I'll research what I can spray on my weeds so they will eat them instead? Surely someone out there has invented that!!

~I Phone Dump~

The Fourth of July has come and gone:(

We spent the day hanging around the pool, eating lots of food, then heading to the fireworks.

Hank and I ended up being the only adults going, big kids moving on haha!

just last year these kids were twirling around in the field, now they take selfies:)

Carson texted me this pic😑, truth of growing up too quickly!

It was a sweet night!

On Friday I went to pick John David up from his last year at Camp Beartrack:(

They had the best time!

hanging out on the porch waiting on the parents.

John David receiving his award for "most self-controlled". Ha, obviously did not want his picture taken, can't blame me for trying:).

We try to take this picture every year. Goodness how they have grown into such awesome young men!

They sure were sweet letting the Moms take their pics😊

John David may go back next year as a Counselor in Training. I love the fact that these boys who love their phones and video games spend two full weeks totally unplugged. JD said it was awesome!

I'm thankful these boys have great memories made!

Lastly...

Evie needed a summer hair cut...she looks so different!

and this peanut is always ready for the camera:)

Madeline was willing to be under water for this one haha, I can barely see her hair in the deep end:)

~ Camps, Friends and Swim Team~

Sweet Caroline came to stay with us a week for Mengerie Farms Camp. She is a delight to have around here!!

I was so shocked to see Madeline riding this horse! She made her mind up that she could do it after being afraid of horses for years!

Look at that smile!!

Janie Jane is all about taking some horseback riding lessons now!

 \

John David was able to go to Orlando to visit Colby and Levi, he had a blast of course!

Even a day at Disney

He came home on Friday and left early Sunday morning for Camp Beartrack with his buddies. This looks like a bunch of boys who are not thrilled with a parent taking their pics ha!! I'm thankful I got one:)

I've been stalking the bunk pics and grabbed a few:) He will not be happy😂#dontcare

these are all the rising Juniors last year as campers...can't believe it!

Not sure what they won....

Meanwhile back at home Janie was able to attend her first swim meet of the season...she was so excited as you can imagine, girlfriend loves to swim!

their relay did great!

finishing with another first place. 

JuJu was able to come see her and so was Gardner but I somehow missed getting a picture of them together😔

being silly girls

Ready for her last race of the night!

Our family loves to watch this girl swim. She is such a great sport getting first place or sixth, she is happy and having fun!