I’ve been too busy to write much these days but I’m still here. I thought I’d share a fall update and some things we’re enjoying right now.

Fall is here…We picked our pears, dug our potatoes, and the garden is cleaned off for the year! The leaves have fallen from the walnut tree outside our house, and turned the driveway into a carpet of gold.

Cory has been swamped with work these last few weeks. Unfortunately, his Dad has been sick, and his right hand man is down and out too, so while we’re thankful for his work, he’s busier than he actually wants to be. Always something to do, and while we’re doing it, life flies by.

We’re back into a school schedule and I’m really happy with our setup this year. Everyone seems to be learning well and enjoying their studies, and that makes teaching so much fun.

Anna Grace is 8, (and yes, that makes me feel old:) She is thoughtful and cautious and oh so helpful… She loves to bake, and- as is typical of the oldest daughter, she’s responsible beyond her years. We often remind her that she only has so many years left to be a child, and she should play more instead of only working all the time.

Lest I sound ungrateful, please know her help is dearly appreciated! Her willingness to pitch in with cooking , cleaning, and babysitting, is the reason my house doesn’t look worse than it does.

(It looks pretty bad sometimes, but it would be much worse without her.)i

Oliver is 6, and he’s my animal lover. If I give him a job that involves feeding or caring for an animal, he takes the responsibility proudly and almost never forgets to do it. I have yet to figure out how to get the same results in keeping his room clean, but I guess we can’t be good at everything.

He also loves to cook and bake, so that is super helpful for us, having two little cooks that can whip something up in a pinch.

A few days ago I was busy with various projects and they made egg salad, and their creative minds thought of toasting their egg salad sandwiches in the skillet. It was actually delicious!

Oliver is obsessed with Legos. His little imagination dreams up all kinds of creations. He spends hours building castles and cars and planes, etc.

We’ve been singing at a nursing home once a month, and Oliver likes to take a Lego creation along, to show the residents/staff. All of our kids are singers, but Oliver has a really sweet clear voice and just melts my heart with his singing. 🙂

Next in line is our Ruthie Girl. She is one of a kind. Her big blue eyes just sparkle with wonder and joy and mischief. We just laugh and laugh at the things she says. She just turned 5, a milestone she’s been looking forward to.

She desperately wanted to start first grade this year but I felt like it would be better to wait a while. I did go ahead and give her a first grade math book and we’re working on a reading program together, but I told her she’s not allowed to officially start grade until next year:)

They grow up fast enough, I’ve learned, without me pushing them.

Elizabeth is almost 3, and if I call her Honey, or Sugar, etc, she corrects me by saying “no, Mama, ‘member? I’m your Ladybug!” It fits her well, I think.

She’s a lot of fun, I think she’s been the most articulate little one we’ve had yet. She’s just so talkative and can get her thoughts into words in a way that we (biased parents) think is delightful.

Like the others she’s human, it has just taken her humanity a bit longer to manifest than some children. She’s currently going through what we call the “threenager” stage. 🙂 (For example: “Mama, if I can’t get some chocolate, I’m jus’ not gonna be your Ladybug no more!”

Then there’s Harrison Holt, our chubby little guy. He’s 10 months old, and starting to say some words.

He’s the little celebrity in the family, all the older children celebrate his little milestones with so much excitement. Maybe it’s because he’s taken his time hitting those milestones, but I’ve never seen a dance party over a baby’s first tooth until now. 🤣 At 9 months old it finally came through, and was discovered at someone else’s house. The ensuing jubilation was probably similar to when he finally figured out he could scoot across the floor (also at almost 9 months,) but it felt a bit over-dramatic to me, when it was happening in someone else’s living room.😅

Now for a few things we are loving this year, in no particular order.

Something I am absolutely loving on chilly days, is this hot cinnamon tea. It is delicious, and warms you up as you drink it. 🥰

(Some of us) are loving David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens:

My love of Dickens started young, when Mom read to us an illustrated version of A Christmas Carol. I believe she read it more than once; as I can see those illustrations in my minds eye, to this day; and I have a mental image of Ebenezer Scrooge that is straight off the pages of that book. I’m on a mission to read everything Dickens published.

Recently I decided it was time to share with my children, (and hopefully my husband) my love of Dickens. I thought David Copperfield would be a good starter, so I hefted it down from the shelf, and dove in. Anna Grace was captivated almost instantly, but Hubby not so much. “Repelled” might be a more accurate term.

First he moved from the recliner to our bedroom, but he apparently could still hear too much from there, for soon came a plea, to “please save that book for when I’m not at home…way too many words! …gives me a headache!”

Alas for my dreams of sharing my love of Dickens! With him, anyway. Anna Grace and I have just loved the descriptive accounts; but especially the one describing a conversation carried on through a keyhole. (Davy forgot to remove his mouth from the keyhole and replace it with his ear, in which case the servant’s words “tickled him very much, though he couldn’t hear them.”) Anna Grace is getting a lot of the subtle humor that I thought she was probably too young to pick up on, so that’s fun too.

The younger children are more sympathetic to their Papa’s views, but I hope the exposure at a young age will eventually lead to them wanting to re-read or re-listen as they grow older. We shall see.

As for Cory, I still have a glimmer of hope for him. He is currently reading straight through the Old Testament, and he’s so excited about it. He tells me that he can’t wait to read it again, when he gets finished. So I think I after he reads through the Old Testament a few more times, the wordiness of David Copperfield may not seem so vast, and he will be ready to try again. Time will tell.

Here’s a quote by A.A.Milne, in defense of a book he loved, that others didn’t: “One does not argue about The Wind In The Willows.. The young man gives it to the girl with whom he is in love; and, if she does not like it, asks her to return his letters. The older man tries it on his nephew, and alters his will accordingly. The book is a test of character. We can’t criticize it, because it is criticizing us. But I must give you one word of warning. When you sit down to it, don’t be so ridiculous as to suppose that you are sitting in judgment on my taste, or on the art of Kenneth Grahame… You are merely sitting in judgment on yourself. You may be worthy: I don’t know, but it is you who are on trial.” -A.A.Milne

I feel this way about Dickens. (In plain 2024 English, if you don’t like it the problem is you. 😅)

Another thing we’re loving right now is imaginative play…

Last but not least, the children are currently obsessed with Natural Calm magnesium gummies.

What can I say about these gummies? A few weeks ago I gave one to a little boy who was suffering from leg cramps, and he eventually felt better. But that’s not all. Since then, you wouldn’t believe the number of cramps that have developed and then magically disappeared.

I even had one little girl ask for one, saying she’d “got a cramp in her head and needed one o’ dem cramp vitamins.” Seconds later she was skipping away saying “All better!”

… I think when they are all gone, I will just fill the container with (the much cheaper) regular gummies and see if they have the same effect. 🤣

Y’all take care, till next time, and don’t forget that no matter what you’re going through, God is there for you.

Be blessed❤️