Moving Into Fall

Today was a little too warm and muggy for me, but by early evening it was really nice. The kind of weather that makes me want to sit on my front porch and watch the kids run around and play and yell and ask me to watch them like a hundred times. To celebrate moving into fall I bought pumpkin pie ice cream and let everyone try a cone of it -- well, Claire had a gluten free cupcake instead. Pretty much everyone liked it except Sarah -- who would not even give it a try and I knew she wouldn't. She's just like that. 

Then I made tacos and everyone wanted to eat on the porch since it was so nice. So, we did. Luke was still here for dinner and he loved his taco - though he doesn't look like he does. Usually Evelyn and Liam are here to eat dinner almost every night, but they are in Washington right now and I rather miss them running in every evening asking if they can have whatever my kids are eating. 

Piper has finally mastered jumping rope after two years of working on it. I was starting to think that she just wasn't going to be able to do it and then all of a sudden she yelled for me to look and she jumped 20 times straight. She was so proud. I was, too. She never gave up. There were so many times she would jump once or maybe even twice, but couldn't seem to get the hang of it. She's got it now. 

I definitely have a reader here. Tess has really taken off reading lately. Today it seemed like every single time I looked she was somewhere reading. I'm so glad she has learned to enjoy reading as it has always given me such pleasure. She lost a tooth a few weeks ago and I got her a new book as that's what we do when a child loses a tooth. She has loved her book. 

Bethany spends a lot of time drawing. She has a lot of time that she has to just sit because of her vest treatments, and that has lead to a lot of drawing and reading and now she is working on a fall puzzle. She is excited about this puzzle and is spending most of her vest time working on it. It helps to make the time go faster. 

In just a little over a month Luke is going to become a big brother. Not sure how he feels about that but he does like baby Finn a lot so hopefully he will be excited about a new baby brother. 

Making Butter

Today we made butter in a jar. We have been reading Farmer Boy and Almanzo had to help his mom make butter so we decided to give it a try. I bought heavy cream and we used two jars and the kids shook the jars over and over and over and finally the cream started getting thick. We actually thought we had messed it up because we were supposed to have a chunk of butter in a liquid - which would be buttermilk. We just had this thick mixture for a very long time. Just about the time I was going to give up and call it a flop, Bethany noticed a chunk in her jar and we realized it was finally working. So, after a little more work we had butter. 

You actually have to take the butter out and rinse it with cold water several times and then salt it. 

We did that and had a nice little mound of butter that we put on our French bread tonight at dinner. 

Autumn

I know it's autumn when the morning light comes late, 

When there's a pumpkin muffin on my breakfast plate. 

      Eileen Spinelli

Today we did what we do every first day of autumn -- we ate pumpkin muffins for breakfast.

Later in the day I met my oldest daughter at the mall to pick up some candles. We had a nice visit and it was relaxing to get out for a little while. While I was looking around I got a text message that my Amazon Prime Now order would be arriving soon. I was a little surprised as I had not ordered anything and called home to let Bill know that if it came to ask about it, as I had not placed an order. 

When I got home our island was covered with gluten free foods. Covered. Our daughter, Megan, had sent tons of things from Whole Foods for Claire since she was just diagnosed with celiac disease. Claire was thrilled that everything was for her - especially since she loves to eat so much. I could not believe how much Megan sent for her. There was just so much stuff. 

Celiac Disease

About a month ago Claire had a biopsy done to check for celiac disease. She had already had blood tests that suggested celiac was a possibility. We got the results back and they were positive and Claire was diagnosed with celiac disease. So, another change here. The doctor had me meet with a nutritionist to discuss Claire's diet and cooking and even cross contamination if using the same toaster for regular bread and gluten free bread. I guess I have a lot to learn. I have started Claire on her new diet and I guess the good thing is that Claire is not a picky eater and will eat almost anything, so she is usually happy with what I give her to eat. So far she has not complained once. 

Between Bethany's diabetes and Claire's celiac, we have had a lot of changes here -- especially getting used to checking blood sugars and reading every label on everything I buy. We seemed to have gotten Bethany's blood sugar under control and hopefully Claire will enjoy her new diet and not feel like she is missing anything. 

We are pretty much back into full swing for school and I am enjoying our studies - hopefully the kids are, too. We have spent more time in morning devotions and reading than we usually do, but I think we are all enjoying it. We are using our mark-my-time bookmark as we read and have clocked quite a few hours this month and still have over a week to go. 

Just posting random pictures I took this week of the kids outside. The weather has been rainy and messy, but today was a really nice day and the kids played outside after school. 

Bethany was digging for worms to feed the ducks and she found a really big one. 

Always Remembers

Though my son, Joey, always tells me his memory is bad now because of his tumor, he always seems to remember the things I like to do with the kids and the things I love. He stopped by with this container of acorns because he knows I like the kids to paint them and we use them for fall decorations. He has the biggest acorns I have ever seen and he spent time making sure the acorns all had caps on them which makes for a more attractive painted acorn. Such a nice thing for him to do. 

I guess we will now get out the paints and start painting. The first day of fall is almost here. 

Sewing Project

We are finally pretty much back into our normal school routine. It has been a little slow to come, but I finally feel like everything is coming together. The kids have started back to their after school activities and I think very ready for fall and a change from summer. This year I was definitely ready for summer to be done and gone and since fall is about my favorite season I am enjoying this time. 

Bethany and Tess are back in their sewing class and this past week made these cute little bags. They really did an excellent job on these. I am so glad they both love these classes and they are learning so much. I love seeing all the things they make. Bethany has been busy making pillows for Christmas -- just little accent pillows to throw on a bed or sofa, but very cute. She is earning money to do her Christmas shopping, which I know is quite a ways off, but it does take time to make them. 

Always a Project

Bethany spent the last couple of days measuring and cutting wood and working on making a couple of boats -- one for her and one for Tess. I'm not sure where she got the idea from, but she has been busy and happy, cutting and sanding and painting. My first instinct when she started to work on this was to ask her to find something else to do as the cutting and sanding was making a mess. But, she was having so much fun and we have kind of run out of energy and things to do so I let her keep on working. She had a blast and then she and Tess painted them together. She says she will be making a few more for people. She can almost always think of something to do.