Making A Come Back

Wow! It's been a long time since I've been here. We've been busy around here the last few months and blogging became just one more thing to do. I am more than ready to get back on here and share our lives with you all. For now I'll just catch you up.

At the end of May we finished our first year of homeschooling! Abiah took his first state test and scored in the 95%. He's a little smarty pants. He is reading more and more and I love hearing him. I have some new ideas for curriculum for next year (I'll share more later) and I am excited to begin our second year in September.

Nathan is now a foreman! He is still unsure of the shift he will be on but he is a foreman. We are praying for a day shift. He has been working swing for the past 2-3 years, leaving at noon and getting home around 10:30 pm. On the day shift schedule he will leave at 4 am and get home between 2 &3 pm. It is so nice to have him home for dinner. And even better to have him home for bedtime! Although I still help get the girls ready for bed, he has taken over putting them to bed. And dealing with the "I need to go potty, I need a drink, I want my blanket on, I don't want my blanket on, I'm hot, I want my blanket on with the flowers on me" drama.

Nathan and I are doing Dave Ramsey's Total Money Make-Over. We should be debt free in the next year an a half. To free up more money so we can pay off our debt faster I started going to a local food bank. For a donation fee of about $5 a week I am getting at least $100 in food. I get frozen veggies and meat, canned goods, fresh veggies, dairy products, lentils and rice, and unlimited bread. I highly recommend that you check out your local food bank. It is such a great deal!



The last two weekends we had a yard sale here with some friends. The first weekend went pretty but all the men who stopped by were wondering where all the guy stuff was. So for weekend two we had our hubbies bring all the "stuff" they could find and it sold really well. I have never done a yard sale with guys before and was amazed at some of the differences. I wish I would have thought to take pictures of week one but I only have pictures from this last weekend.

This is the view looking out my front door:



Looking towards the house:



And this is what guys use to hold gigantic canopies down:



And these:



Yes. That is a table saw. Or something like it.

I had things like this in my yard:



And this:



At first I thought it was some kind of water pump contraption. Now I'm not sure.

The guys sold lots and lots of "stuff" and made lots of money. Which was the point. And they took the left over "stuff" with them when they left. So I'm happy.

And finely, summer has decided to show up in Oregon. One of my favorite things of summer is that my kids start dressing like this:





And that makes me all kinds of happy.