Catching Up! Our Back to School Tradition and 21st Anniversary!!!

I've been trying to get this post published all month long...and now it's October!!! Several years ago, my husband started taking the first day of school off of work, and we'd spend the day doing fun stuff. It's also kind of an anniversary day date, too, because that's always the first or second week back as well. It seems all our fun day trips this summer had the same thing in common: HEAT! This day was no exception, so we didn't walk through town like we normally do, but it was lots of fun. And no, I don't mind having our little third wheel along at all, because I KNOW how soon he won't be anymore.

We started off on Pierce Island in Portsmouth. Such a beautiful place to explore and visit.

Although, there was a group of women and kids in this area, extended family I think, and they were all smoking like chimneys and so, so loud. They were scattered...and in nearly every shot I tried to take, ha, so this is the best I got that morning.

Picnic by the harbor -
Levi was thrilled with the fact that he could step up and down, up and down, as much as he wanted, ha. It's the little things, I guess. ;)

Cutest little pink-cheeked boy I ever laid eyes on!

We braved the humidity and walked over to Prescott Park. I'm not entirely sure, because of the sweat stinging in my eyes, but I think it was as beautiful as ever. ha ha ha

The water you see in the background is the same as from the park, it's simply around the corner. Normally we walk all along the edge of the harbor and walk out onto the docks, but again, HEAT.

Mr. Rocket Scientist got himself some new anti-glare glasses, and we laugh because these are the first pair that seem to glow purple in natural light. :)

My favorite part!

I don't have one single picture from the second part of our day because I was sandy and my hands were full, ha. We went straight to the beach and got clam strip sandwiches from the boardwalk- they were good! It was super hard dragging the stroller through the soft sand, and the tide was in, so insanely crowded and not much sandy real estate. We finally found a spot and let Levi play in the shade cast by the stroller- he was pretty overwhelmed by the noise and the crowd, so one of us took turns playing with him while the other jumped into the ocean to cool off. Eventually he let me carry him out into the water and we jumped waves for a long time. Then my feet started to get tingly because the air was SO hot and the water SO frigid, so we packed up and headed for home.

Levi watched some Cars until he passed out cold. :)

I've read for years about decorating the door for the first day of school, and this year, I finally got around to it! Thank goodness for Prime! Ryder knows someone's coming!!

She loved it! I don't think the boys cared as much. Or maybe they really did and they just kept their excitement hidden inside. :)

I almost wrote Happy Monday since I tried to get this done yesterday, so... Happy Tuesday! ;)

Catching Up...Labor Day Weekend and Our 20th Anniversary

Saturday was beautiful and sunny, the perfect day for a trail walk.

You'd think this was such a sweet, calm capture. Nope. She was ticked.

It was shortly after this that I made a declaration. Maybe it's not a good decision, maybe it is. But I made it anyway: I'm not bring the older kids on walks anymore. I need this time for me, a chance to rejuvenate if you will, and the complaining, fighting, and general stress that comes along with having them there is not worth it. It has the opposite effect of what I hope for every single time. And then what was supposed to be refreshing ends up sucking the very life out of me. I wish it weren't this way. well, that's a whole other post...

Sunday poured and poured all day long. Monday we decided to hit the road for something fun and somehow ended up at this joint. I explain a little below...guess I wrote that part first, ha ha.

So then Screechy McScreech started in. Bill walked around with him while we were waiting for our lunch. Fifteen minutes later, still waiting, I just scooped him up and brought him outside.

  Yeah, it looks all nice and serene. But the smell of manure was so thick in the air I nearly gagged. You could smell it from inside the restaurant, too. Which, by the way, was the most ridiculously overpriced place I've seen in a long, long time. I guess you can get away with that when you are literally in the middle of nowhere, and Google maps lead you astray with promises of waterfalls, so by the time you find this joint, you're relieved...until you walk inside, sit down and scan the menu.

Anyhoo. If I sound bitter, it's because, well, I guess I still am. A little.

There was a dairy barn at the end of this field, and another one across the street. I was so angry at this point. The waterfall we'd planned to go to couldn't be found (later Bill mentioned that one site said you couldn't access it because it "technically" is on private property. Well that might have been good to know from the start. Maybe? Yes. I think yes.)

We finished our sub-par sandwiches and hit the road again, still unsure of where we wanted to go at this point. My pity party game was still going strong, and while we were kind of near a mountain, I felt so out of sorts and tired I just didn't think I could do it. Lame, I know. I kept my comments to myself and just went along with it.

Wouldn't you know it was the very thing that changed everything around. 

I was a sweaty mess by the time we reached the top, but it was fun! And everyone enjoyed being outside and working hard at the goal of getting to the top.

Someone looks a bit unsure of this whole packpacking thing.

Oh, but Daddy bending over to tie a shoe brings out all the smiles! ha ha ha

If you know me in real life, you know what this does to me.

Monkey see, monkey do ;)

Sweaty, frizzy mess here!

Maybe this pic is at such a weird angle because my arm was too tired to raise it right? ha ha

 There were lots of other areas to walk around and see all the vistas, but I was holding Levi, who was pretty much done, done, and done at this point, so this is what I got. It really is beautiful anywhere you look.

This is Pack Monadnock by the way, so if you're in southern NH, you should visit!

We all made it in one piece!

I really missed Ethan. I know he isn't around as much between working, school, and his social life, and while I understand, it still stings. Things will never be the same, and I know that. It's just hard to accept at times.

We had told them we'd find a nearby Dunkin' for a little reward, and the boys came out of the store laughing their heads off. Apparently, the kid behind the counter gave Bill the senior discount. ha ha ha Hiking a mountain will do that to you. :)

Only later did I learn that he was being nice because Bill was a few cents short and didn't want to use a credit card. Twenty bucks won't get you very far when there are this many of you, plus that dumb lunch, but I didn't even care because it turned out to be such a fun day.

And THEN Bill took Jonah out to run some errands after he'd kissed Levi goodnight and I was feeding and rocking him, and when I came downstairs, Bill was holding the most beautiful bouquet and smiling. Ethan works with a woman who arranges flowers at the shop, and the two of them had been in cohorts all week long. The flowers were so, so pretty, but the idea that they had spent time picking them out and having them be made ahead of time just for me made me feel really special.

Bill was taking the next day off so we could spend it together, the day before our anniversary, and he wanted to be around to see me enjoy my flowers. :)

This post already feels too long, so I'll end here. Besides, the truth is, nearly every single plan we made to celebrate our anniversary fell through for one reason or another. And that's okay. That's just how life goes sometimes. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't try again. I think many times we've felt crushed that something didn't happen, but then as time goes on, we never made it right. And then that disappointment took root and it became a bitter or sad regret. I won't ever regret putting our family's needs ahead of my own, and it just so happened that they needed All.The.Things over the past week or so, but we've committed to keep pursing those special dates that we had to put on hold, and now we have lots of things to look forward to.

Oops, it's later than I thought and hungry kids will be storming through any moment. Have a good day!

An Anniversary And a SALE

Wow, so lots of business stuff this week. And I've got the cluttered counters, wayward piles and stashes of fabric and trims, and thread-covered floors to prove it! Today is also my 16th anniversary, so I'm celebrating with a SALE in the shop (and dinner out tonight)! Please check out my new Facebook page too...it would mean so much to me! Thanks!  :)

The link is HERE! Let's be friends, okay? Sorry, I couldn't resist.

You will get the coupon code for 20% off over there, too!
Here is just a sampling of things for sale...

Have a wonderful weekend!

Apple Pancakes Recipe & Other Stuff

Well, we did it. That first week of new beginnings; new schedules, teachers, classmates; new (and some old) anxieties, and the raw nerves and excitement that are all part of the process. It was actually a pretty great week.  :) Jonah and I enjoyed a lunch date on Tuesday when the others had their first day back. And on Wednesday, that first full day, when I would have wondered all day long Now what?, William and I escaped to the beach for that official last hurrah of summer (and an early anniversary celebration). It was super foggy, so no pictures to share, but we walked along the coastline pathway for a couple miles (which I have always wanted to do), ate our picnic lunch (no extra money, as in in ZERO dollars, since our double garage door broke this week) and then strolled along the ocean's edge. This had multiple significance for me -- First, it was lovely, so there's that. Second, I was really grinding my sad-looking calloused feet into the sand as we walked. Nature's pumice, you know. Third, well, it's the beach! With my husband, just the two of us! It was fun! One of us finds it impossible to ever be at a place where you normally go swimming, and then not go swimming, not naming names. I bet you can guess. On our walk back to our stuff, we got caught behind a small inlet of rocks where the water was deeper and the waves crashing in around us, and I was sooooo sure we could make it through without any mishaps. Ha! As I was waiting for a new wave to pass (because you can't see to get your footing when the water and sand are swirling all around your feet), I turned my face to look back to shore and SPLAT! A wave exploded against a large rock beside me and the resulting splash drenched me. We had a good laugh over that one.  =)

Jonah seems really happy with his new school, our church's Christian school. I used to feel such guilt over things like sending one child to this school and another to that one, but each child is different, and they need and want different things. I do think I have finally learned that parenting each child is mostly like starting all over again. The things you learn may carry over from one child to the next, but the actual practices and techniques? Not so much. Have you ever heard that saying that raising kids is like making pancakes? That first one is either undercooked or burnt because you don't know how hot the pan should be, or how much oil you add, and then by the 3rd and 4th pancake, you've figured out the heat and the oil and the timing, and you've got it right! Oh if it were truly that easy, ha!

So on my first official official alone day- Thursday- I had to bring Luke into the vets because he just seemed so off (yet another reason we have limited resources now). I broke down when the vet said if I'd waited until afternoon, I would have found Lukey dead somewhere because his bladder would have burst by then and killed him. My heart was pounding so hard! I didn't even get to say goodbye because they whisked him away so quickly to save him. They were afraid it was going to rupture or burst any moment, and that would be fatal. My poor, poor baby. He should be ready to come home later this morning and I can't wait! Neither can big brother/BFF Sneakers, who has been beside himself with grief in Luke's absence. If it weren't so pitifully sad, it would be kind of cute!

Something else far less traumatic has been on my mind...I'm looking for input so feel free to share your thoughts. I finally decided on a new name for my Etsy shop (which is so, so hard for me!) and was feeling pretty good. I was setting up a Facebook page when I discovered a hugely popular shop with about the same exact name- Roses and Ruffles, as opposed to my Rose & Ruffle. Is it too close? I thought I did such a thorough search to avoid this type of thing, and I never saw the other shop until I'd already renamed mine. So I have been hiding the page instead of trying to get "likes" because of this. Ugh. This probably sounds silly or lame or both, but it has me really worried/annoyed/concerned. Any thoughts? Thanks.  :)

Oh right, the recipe! HA Let's just make this long post even l-o-n-g-e-r!

The Best Apple Pancakes

• 2 cups flour (I use unbleached flour)
• 1/4 cup or so wheat germ
• 2-3 Tbsp ground flax seed
• scant 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1-2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup oil 
• 2 cups milk
• 2 eggs
• 1-2 apples, peeled and chopped

Place dry ingredients in large bowl; add remaining ingredients (except apples) and whisk together. Add apples when well blended. Keep some aside for the inevitable naked pancake or two.  :) These are the best pancakes for fall! They taste so good with maple syrup, honey, or what we loving refer to as "Sugar Sauce" - confectioner's sugar with a dash of cinnamon, vanilla extract and milk. At least the pancakes are a little healthier.  =) **I forgot to mention that this is the recipe doubled, which is pretty much the only way I can feed this crew of mine, ha!**

Looking for another great fall recipe? Check out my easy One-Bowl Apple Squares recipe...you're welcome!  ;)

Okay, I'm off to the Post Office to mail my favorite baby dress and adorable birdie bib, and then off to the vets to get our little Lukey! Thanks for reading my rambling! Have a wonderful Saturday!


sharing here 
 & here

Five Years Ago...

Today is a special day for our family. It was five years ago today that we relocated to Guatemala to be with our Isabelle after having endured countless delays and trials. We spent her first 18.5 months apart, and I vowed she would never leave my side again. And she hasn't.

The above picture was taken during my very first trip to Guatemala the year before, when Isabelle was 8.5 months old and I got to hold her in my arms for the first time. I never wanted to let go, but I had to. One of the hardest things I've ever had to do.

We had just celebrated Daddy's birthday before heading south -- we received news that we had finally gotten out of PGN, the last phase of the Guatemalan court!  I was about to be a single Mom of 4, in a foreign country, for however long it took!
Look how little they were! Caleb was only 4!

He had just graduated from preschool, and the next week, we left!

Here we are in Antigua, Guatemala!!

Daddy's little angel from the very beginning.

And my all-time favorite photo of my princess and me, one I'm sure I've shared on this blog about a gazillion and a half times.

Adoption was a very difficult journey for us - it isn't for everyone - and I may never know the reasons why God allowed us to be stretched in the ways we were, but I trust that it was for His ultimate good. No matter the struggles and challenges, adoption has changed our lives for the better, and we just can't imagine our family without our sweet little Isabelle in it.

Happy Gotcha Day, sweetheart! Mama te quiere mucho.  :)