As September Comes to an End...

Things have been busy here, in our neck of the woods. It looks as though it will stay that way for a while...always much to do with schooling, housework, and other responsibilities. As this month draws to a close for this year, I thought I would just write a short "end of September" post. The boys are reading at the moment (Jaxson is reading Dr. Dolittle and Xavier is reading Moby Dick) so I have a few quick moments to share a few pictures from late...

Below is a broccoli cheese soup I made for supper one evening. I didn't try it but it got rave reviews from the family! You can find the recipe for it HERE...

Beautiful fall flowers...

 A bread box I purchased at the festival this year...

Yesterday, our homeschool co-op had a field trip to a local state park for a real archaeology dig. There were so many families interested in participating that they had to assign groups to different dates and times! Madelyn went with a morning group of kids (thus I have no photos of her) and I took the boys to the afternoon group.

A hundred years ago, there was a sawmill here...

The children were taught how to look through the dirt to find different things...

Here were some of the findings from the earlier group in the day and our group (just from our little square of land)...

The children learned a lot and really enjoyed it! This couple even did all of this for us for *free*! Wasn't that incredibly kind of them!? They taught the children about so much...from the area and about how archaeologists work! It was a great experience!

It rained yesterday and is raining today. We will continue on with our schoolwork, chores/housework and then music lessons for the children later this afternoon. With the dismal-feeling to the day ~ we may spend extra time reading or watching a movie at some point. I am going to light some candles and attempt an atmosphere of coziness in our home today.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope your September has been enjoyed...and if times of trials were had, that God gave you strength to endure them and mold you more into the image of His Son as He brings you through them. I am such a work in progress and oh, how He is working on me. Many small struggles have happened and I have not always handled them with grace. He teaches much...but I seem to learn so slowly.

Always wanting the song of my heart to be: 

"He must increase, but I must decrease." 

~ John 3:30

Lovingly,
Katy

Our Fall Festival 2015

A busy week of preparation culminated into the wonderful fall festival yesterday (Saturday). It was a super busy, exhausting day but all went wonderfully. We praised the Lord for beautiful weather! 

Friday evening, I had to laugh at this sight (and take a photo, of course)...Chris and my brother in love pulling the porta-potty to get it washed down and ready for the festival. Such things are necessities! ;)

One of the cows...not a part of the festival...but I just like to photograph parts of the farm like this ~
(I was standing along the dirt road that goes back past the fields to direct vendors where to go...and during a lull in the 80+ vendors we had coming through, I snapped this pic)...

The vendors got all set up early in the morning...

We had a row of vendors up through the middle as well...

Grilling chicken...

Some of the cider we made...

My honey was there...of course...here he was making change for us (I worked at the homemade donut/fries stand)...

We had great attendance and overall, a great festival!

Xavier (trying to be funny by making a weird face) got photo-bombed by our good friends!!! I *love* this picture!!!

My sister and her family came too!!! Unfortunately, I didn't get any photos of Audra...(I was busy holding and dancing with her to the bluegrass band that was playing)...

Eloise smiles...

...and Dinah smiles...

The bluegrass band we had there was really good! It was so enjoyable to listen to them! Our donut/fries stand was right beside here so it was great!

My Xavier....

There were pony rides, horse/buggy rides, face painting and a hay maze for the littles...

Good friends of mine bring a mini-petting zoo each year for us! It's always a big hit! I just *love* all these animals!!!

Baby goats, micro pigs, a turtle, pigeons and more...

That's my mama in the purple...giving rides on her pony, Jasper!

Horse and buggy rides...driven by Chris's uncles...

Madelyn helped us at the donut/fries stand and other places too...so thankful for her!

My Jaxson...

Bluegrass Redemption playing...

The band even let Xavier play with them some! You can watch a video of it HERE!

I hope if you are local and came to the festival, that you enjoyed yourself! For everyone else, I hope you enjoyed seeing some of the pictures! :) Thanks so much for visiting! Happy Fall Friends!

Warmly,
Katy

New (to us) Furniture!

I was super excited to get a new hoosier cupboard! The previous owner, unfortunately, was a smoker so it smells a bit...but I have washed it down and put cedar chips throughout it and have already noticed a big difference! (I've been burning many fall candles as well!)

There is a genuine flour mill inside of it too! How fun is that!?

I am so thrilled for the extra storage *although we don't have much in there at the moment due to the cigarette smell*. You will notice hanging on a couple of the nobs are Paul Bunyan and Babe, his blue ox! Those were gifts for me from my dear friend, Joann! :)

The cupboard that *used* to be in the dining room (where the hoosier cupboard now takes up its residence) is now in the living room...

The above pic was kind of dark...so here it is with the flash...

Sleepy Stella...

And the bookshelf...that *was* in the living room had to be moved...so it found a new home in the school room (I have lots of bookshelves in there!). It isn't ideal but until my addition is done (where the new living room will be) and I have more room for this furniture love of mine..it will have to do!

I seriously have a love for old furniture. I love to acquire it and find places for it to fit perfectly in my home. My home isn't large though...so I need to be selective in what pieces I can use (I usually can find a place for it though ~ I *make* it work!).

It has been a beautiful week here so far and we have been busy preparing for our family's fall festival (that is on Saturday)! If you are local, I hope you will stop by! We have over 80 vendors plus pony rides, a mini-petting zoo, hay rides, a hay maze for children, food, cider, and face painting! If you aren't able to stop, be sure to visit my blog next week! I'll be sure to post fun pictures! :)

Thanks for visiting! I hope you are having a great week!
Warmly,
Katy

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