Our new home

This was the before pictures...so glad it doesn't look like this anymore.

Not that everything has its place yet but we're getting there. I can't wait til we are settled completely but even though we're not it feels like it's been our home for a while. We are so grateful for how God has provided this great little house that meets every last one of our needs.

 And part of the slow process of unpacking and getting things in their place is due to these cute, needy, sweet, emotional, fun girls.

 We even started painting. I only have a before but as you can see...not so pretty.

 We sort of live in the country but also in a neighborhood. The boys have loved the woods and nature and I have loved the seclusion of being out here but also having people right next door. The boys even brought home one of their finds (the turtle) while they were out exploring a little creek. They wanted so badly to keep it but I had to explain that it is wild and needed to stay outside.

 Since things were a bit crazy I didn't get their first day of school pics but a couple of days later remembered while we were pulling weeds...I mean having P.E. and snapped their pictures.

 And then the girls also had their first day of school for their brothers picture. Another thing I forgot to mention is that Ansley got her first haircut this summer. Not because I decided to finally cut her hair but because Ansley and her cousin found the scissors this summer and well...Ansley had fun cutting off long strands of her hair and this is how short I had to cut it to match the lengths all around.

And our first gardening in our new house. I'm loving the gardens and outdoor space here. Can't wait for the spring.

finally back!

Where to begin...we got to St. Louis, looked for housing for about 3 months while living with my parents, had 4 different contracts on houses, found one we saw in the very beginning and then came back to it, bought it, moved in, Jason started up his school year, we started homeschooling while trying to unpack. While unpacking I finally found the cord to my camera, downloaded my pictures (all 181) of them, got overwhelmed with where to begin, couldn't find the time to actually blog anything.

Now it's Friday night. I have a little bit of time to sit and think, so here we go...I think I will start with summer photos and eventually catch up to more recent things...

 Slip-n-sliding is always a fun summer activity...especially with cousins.

 Grant's Farm where they give innocent children little bottles of milk and tell them to go into the pen with cute little "baby" goats that appear to be starving. I have never seen so many crying and screaming children in all my life. These goats know where they get the milk and they will hoof and jump on legs to get it. Poor Jude was pinned up against a fence when I found him and he was in tears. So as you can see when I said "Jude pet the goat so I can get your picture", he was a little nervous.

 Part of the $5 summer pass was a "free" slushy. So the rest of our pictures of the kids from then on have bright red and blue lips. So lovely.

 My dad put the boys to work this summer by helping him dig out a trench for a new retaining wall. You would think they would have complained but the boys were having a blast. This was a highlight for Jude this summer.

 Look at my amazing tomato plants! This is when they were small. I'm not trying to brag it's just I tried to grow tomatoes in Hawaii and they never did much. So glad to be back in normal vegetable and plant growing soil and weather.

 We went blackberry picking and picked the sweetest most delicious blackberries I have ever tasted. This was before the 100 degree weather days that seemed to never end this summer. Thank goodness for AC.

 Our friends from Hawaii came to visit their parents and we got to hang out with them for a day. The boys were glad to see their buddy again. Tubing was a new experience for the boys and they still haven't stopped talking about it.

 Of course they were trying to knock each other off...such boys.

And my baby learned to walk this summer. I forgot about that until I looked back through my pics. Now it seems like she's walked for forever.

 Stay tuned...