Combine crisp leaves, chilly winds, and a few rays of sunshine.

Blend in four siblings. Stir well with dirt and air.

Throw in a football, 2 brooms, 15 pieces of broken chalk into days with empty hours.

Cover in jackets. Let cool outdoors until people start crying or the sun sets.

To serve, place Autumn Fun on a blanket, enjoy with a runny nose and side of muddy shoes.

Love,

Jess

Establishing a new home and a new way to “do” school in the same year summer has been one of the biggest roller-coasters of my life. Pots and pans, Ps and Qs will all get sorted out one way or another; it is the constant personal character development for me and the kids that is so hard to do!

Here are a few snap-shots from our time homeschooling.

Great-Grandma Mary "GG" listens to Ryan's read aloud assignment.

My babies exploring the patio garden.

Post-library visit impact on the living room.

Unit Study bulletin board.

Molly doing "school" on the school room table.

Cheers for school supplies!

Jess

Ry lost some teeth.

Ryan sporting a summer smile at the beach.

Molly found some patience, fractional mind you, but patience none the less.

Molly tending to her new cousin Max.

Claire found courage.

CJ "hanging" out on the neighbor's play set.

Leah lost her willingness to give up her “thumb” after nap-time.

Leah with her "taggie" on the diaper table in her nursery.

Peter found peace during his time as a canoe leader for a wilderness week Up North. He didn’t loose any of his paddlers.

Pete carrying water at his pre-trip camp site.

I lost my cool and then found it, then completely lost it again, then figured I didn’t need ‘my cool’ because frazzled is the new look for Fall.

Molly, Me, Leah, Ryan in front of the fire pit.

What’s in your lost and found box?

Love,

Jess

A sparkly new sign, made it into my Christmas decor. (Hand painted by my fellow Shabby Mama, Andrea.)

The felt “board” was laid out with our Velcro Nativity set.

My sil, Carly, gave all the sils a meaningful Christmas ornament. It means a lot to me, as I don’t have any biological sisters.

Did I mention, cookies already? We ate a lot of frosting too.

Feliz Navidad,

Jessy

Love,

Jessy

The day started like any other day. Little did I know about the challenges that lay ahead.

A blur of breakfast dishes, playing, arguing, and Holiday crafts, led quickly into afternoon.

A dinner guest was to be expected in a few hours. I busied myself laying out Christmas towels in the bathroom and picking up my boy from school.

Somehow, the sun had set, and dinner was still in a pile of ingredients resembling groceries – not a meal. The lit outdoor Christmas lights were blaring at me as if to say, “Why didn’t you do a crock pot meal? Dinner is right around the corner!”

Molly decided to “help” me cook by emptying an entire sack of flour on my living room rug.

The babies managed to empty out Ryan’s desk drawers while I was cleaning the rug.

Ryan and Molly fought over something, in-which, the nativity scene fell over.

Okay. At this point, I’m yelling, “Everyone quiet! Stop it! What are you doing! Go to your room!”

Then, on my knees, patting the ground around my room and the hallway, I shout to the other room, “WHERE is baby JESUS?” I shouted it with a harsh tone. The kind of tone that curls your lips as you said it.

The moment was not lost on me. Where was baby Jesus? The small plastic mold of baby Jesus, I was so longing to find, was under my hamper. I gave myself a wry smile, shook my head and shed a tear. I had spent more time looking for a plastic mold version of Jesus than worshiping Him this season.

Vowing to refocus my energy, I set the nativity and vacuumed the flour.

Peter brought home Chinese take-out and our guest was gracious.

We said a prayer over our meal. We laughed over knock-knock jokes, fortune cookie predictions and noodle covered babies.

The day came to an end much as it has begun…pajamas and dishes. But, a little something had changed in my heart.

Love,

Jess

The news called it Snow-ma-gedon! I called it a Blizzard. Molly called it a “Lizzard”!

We made a gingerbread village.

Peter taught Ryan a new computer game.

Peter made a huge fort with Molly and Ryan. The white glow from the living room windows was from all the blowing snow!

I made a pie.

What do you do when you are home-bound with your family? I hope you find something fun!

Love,

Jess

But, when I stop to write about it, I wonder what to say.

I decided to dig a little deeper and I found a photo in my archives…

This photo was taken 2 years ago, exactly. November 1, 2008. Two years is 730 days.

Molly,1, with her wild toddler hair, was too small to sit still. Ryan, 4, oh my…those cheeks! What a little dreamer. I thought he looked so grown up in his new Sketchers.

I have no idea what made me capture this moment. Maybe those sandy-strawberry cowlicks on my daughter or the dumpling face of my son.

Were we wrestling? Why did let Ryan on my bed with his shoes on? I’m puzzled why I never deleted this photo, after all, it is blurry.

Did I struggle with my thoughts and wonder what to “write” that day too? It seems like everything and nothing is important all at the same time.

So in 730 days from now, if I happen to be reading my archives…

• I went to the library today with all 3 girls while Ry was at Kindergarten.
• We ate Halloween candy and delayed putting away our costumes until tomorrow.
• I made baked homemade Mac-n-Cheese, to which, Ryan spent 1 1/2 minutes trying to teach me about the rectangle box of mac-n-cheese at Target.
• Molly and Peter read a Spanish word book together at bedtime.
• Claire walked from the fridge to the sliding glass door in the kitchen, by herself!
• Leah laughed herself silly during playtime. She threw her head back in enthusiasm.
• I finally called about our recalled dishwasher. It felt good to cross it of my list.

Love,

Jess

Ryan and his buddy Mason.

Claire and Leah, with their Little People bus, came out to wave bye-bye.

Ryan’s first day of afternoon Kindergarten.

sigh, I’m so proud!

Love,

Jess M.

¹⁸ She sees that her trading is profitable,
and her lamp does not go out at night.

and

²⁷ She watches over the affairs of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.

So what am I actually doing?

I am using my resourceful craftiness to create shabby chic junk for a local Junk Market. I have a few before and after posts in the works for all y’all fellow do-it-yourselfers. I hope that all my nights of work will turn a bit of a profit…if not, it sure has been fun dumpster diving, painting, and farting around in the garage.

Nextly, (that is a cool word, yes, grammarians I’m using it), I am sorting through my house brick by brick. er…Paper by paper? maybe, Toy cubby by cubby!? Whatever, you get the idea. I intend to get our family life is ship shape for this verse. More to come on that as well.

Although I am knee deep in “work”, I still find time for goofing off.

Ryan learned how to be the Captain of a boat this past weekend. He loves going fast!

I love going fast too. We’re a good team, he punches the throttle and I look where the heck we are going.

Love,
Jess