Finally Checking In

I know, it's amazing............I've finally posted something.

Quiet On the Set!!

Elsa had her film crew out to help her film her dancing Flora MacDonald's Fancy.

Sound person, Aeva, Check!

Water Girl, Meg, Check!

Videographer, Mom, Check! 

Props Master, Myles, Check!

The video is being used for the Seattle Highland Games and the Portland Highland Games. It's too big to post here, but I'll keep you all posted on the link for the Portland Highland Games.

 

Molly finally got a hair cut. Oh my goodness, it was so nice to have our clean cut Molly back.

Aeva planned our 4th of July celebration. Backyard BBQ on the fire-pit with hot dogs, watermelon, and s'mores. We had such a great time hanging out together as a family.

 Myles and Aeva had a watermelon rind throwing contest....

I have been at it again.... downsizing, organizing, and rearranging.
I put several baking ingredients, pasta, and some of the hot cereal, etc., in mason jars. I can easily see what I have and it stays nice and neat. No bags falling all over the place or getting crammed into the corner where I can't see them. 

Individual sheet sets and blankets are now stored in big clear bags. When it's time to change sheets it's grab and go. Everything remains tidy in the linen closet.

I put out a family memento on the kitchen table.

 Rhaevyn invited me to go on a hike with her. We went up the road about half an hour to Moulton Falls. It is so pretty there. We ended our hike just in the nick of time as it started to rain.

 Myles had a birthday.
Chris and I, and Rhaevyn, got him two new occupants for his fish tank.
A scarlet skunk cleaner shrimp and a lawnmower blenny.
Meg got him some M&M peanuts.
His shrimp ended up dying withing two days. The shop was really nice and replaced it with another shrimp. This one is older and is having babies (which probably will end up getting eaten by the fish).

 The shrimp shed its skin the other day.

 I had a real pretty face for a couple of weeks trying to get some precancerous spots taken care of. It didn't feel great to wear a mask, but at least the mask hid this.............
I honestly do not know why anyone would choose to do a chemical peel on their face. It was positively painful!

 Rhaevyn's friend, up in Tumwater, Washington, asked if she'd like to get together one Saturday. I was her copilot. She did great on the freeway!! We got a little lost and learned that we really hate roundabouts. At least we laughed a lot. I parked myself under a nice shade tree for two hours and there was an awesome breeze. Rhaevyn and her friend hiked around the park and river and then went for ice cream. I was incognito the whole time...

My view:

 I had a nice comfy camping chair, umbrella, a book, and chatted with my BFF for a bit on the phone.

 I know Chris tries to act like Molly isn't special to him, but then I am always seeing them together 😁

 
 Aeva made a new dress out of an old sheet.

Love watching my boy hard at work outside!

I made something to hang all the keys on. I had all the keys in a bowl. They would get all tangled up, and when I had to leave, especially if it was early in the morning, it was very noisy and frustrating trying to find the keys I needed. Now we can all find the exact keys we want, and it's not noisy!

Elsa is going to attempt to earn money to pay for dance lessons.
She wants to make pencil bags to sell. Here are the trial runs that she and I have done:

 

 

 We are patterning the bags after this one that Aeva made a few years ago:

 

 We've been switching things up around here. We needed to make more permanent sleeping and storage arrangements since we are going to have a full house for the unseen future. Both older girls have decided to switch majors and will be attending college locally. We bought a desk and chair for the middle bedroom so that Aeva can have a place to do her schoolwork once the fall semester begins. It's like dorm living again for them, except they at least know who their roommates are 😁Myles already had a desk, so Rhaevyn is going to be using that. Meg now has a spot for her clothes, and we regained a laundry basket. We spent a couple of days moving rooms around, setting up the desk, a bunk bed, and figuring out where to put bins and clothes.Meg is loving the new desk.

 Myles had to say goodbye to rooming by himself. I found a bunk-bed on Craigslist for $40, and Chris talked them down to $20. It probably should be repainted, but that may have to happen at a later date. Everyone has an actual bed to sleep in now! Yay!!

 Myles painted this Elk on a card:

Elsa and I had a little date. We sat and ate ice cream, chatted, and made slow motion and fast motion videos. We laughed a lot and enjoyed spending time together just the two of us.
This reminds me of Darby O'Gill and the Little People.

 Here we are at the end of July. I can't believe how much the world, our life, and plans have changed in a matter of months. We have a full house, Chris had his surgery, no family vacation trip to Utah since we aren't taking anyone back to college, the older girls are onto new adventures here, and Chris will be out of work in a matter of days. Although this isn't how I pictured things would be a few months ago, I know that God is good and see's the big picture. I know that I love hearing a home filled with laughter from all the kiddos. I know that in times of uncertainties and trials having faith in God and his timing will be vital. I know that it will all work out. Something great is just around the bend, right?? I'm just trying to pause and intentionally see God's hand in our everyday life. I've already seen some really wonderful and humbling blessings.
And now we are on to new adventures and uncharted territories in August!

Side note:

If you have not seen The Chosen yet, I highly recommend it.  Yes, I think it's that good! We have loved watching it as a family.
 You can watch it for free. The following link has the first episode, but there are directions on how to watch the other seven episodes.
https://studios.vidangel.com/the-chosen