The Ordinary Days

The past few weeks have been... hmm... they haven't been calm and quiet, that's for sure. They also haven't been filled with all kinds of extravagant adventures by any means. They've just been, well, ordinary. Busy, yes, but isn't busy overrated? I mean, we're always busy these days and really, isn't everyone else, too? So instead of calling the past few weeks busy, I'll stick to ordinary.

They've been an equal mix of a start to a new school year meaning back to routine and deadlines, continual mowing of the property and tiding up the lawn, alternating weekends of being gone or hosting here, an occasional cookout with friends, many bikes and walks along our country road, music programs and field trips, eye doctor appointments, and everything else that makes up the usual fall regime.

I've known for a while that the blog needed a post but what to post about had me at a loss. Scrolling through the camera roll just left me with a handful or random this and that, nothing super big and exciting. But I think we're coming to realize that the random this and that can be just as fulfilling as bigger adventures. So, bear with me as I search for the the extraordinary in our daily life ;).

that's one big onion!!

our tomato crop was... adequate. Not too many, but plenty for our needs. However, the tomato horn worms were way beyond adequate. And I mean way beyond. 

many days spent like this... making tomato products! 

never know what the boys will bring in from the chicken pen!

The Nursing home had a "fair week" and Dad's responsibility was to make cotton candy one day! He borrowed a cotton candy machine from some friends and spent one afternoon making it for the residents. He was finally getting to making some for himself when some business men showed up for an important meeting... He was covered in cotton candy dust and sticky from head to toe but the worst part was that he never got to eat his cotton candy! To make up for it, he made some for himself and the younger kids one summer evening :) Thanks, Steidingers!

Jared had some fun with a carving kit he purchased awhile back :)

The home school group enjoyed a tour of local businesses... Water works, the Funeral home, and Kilgus dairy to name a few. I was only present for a little part of it, but by the looks of things, it was a big turnout with almost ninety kids!

met some friends from Canada who were here for baptisms awhile back!

oh yes... and explanation on this one. Well, I was harvesting melons one day and came across a really tiny one - baseball sized. I didn't know if it would be any good but I brought it in to cut up and find out. As I was cutting the little slices, they brought back a childhood memory of the fisher price cantaloupe that we had in our toy box... we just had to compare them. They weren't quite as alike as they had been in my head, but we still thought the similarities was pretty comical :). And I didn't get a chance to taste the melon, but was told it was delicious despite being so small! 

The four of us made the long road trip to Georgia for a short weekend of baptisms there... and that's pretty much the long and short of the deal :) We actually found out that it is so much easier to travel with four people!! I mean, I love being part of a big family, but every aspect of  a road trip goes considerably faster with four instead of seven. In fact, on the way home, we made it in 9 hours and 35 minutes with only one 7 minute stop! (And thank you to the friends who cared for the other three while we were gone.)

And there you have it... a little this and that from our ordinary daily life over the past few weeks. We spent our day yesterday getting the gardens all cleaned off and all the manure spread (notice I didn't include any pictures because, well, it wasn't a very lovely experience and I'm not sure any of us were smiling) which is a wonderful feeling!! We are now vacation driven and excited to be leaving Friday,  hoping for safe travels and some exciting blog posts ahead! Until then, I better get back to the ordinary :). Faith