Still here...

...and with lots to say... I'm just one busy momma! The last week or so has been packed full of good, but busy stuff. Just for fun, here's a glimpse into our lives these last few days:

- We spent our last few play times with our great friends, the Zuyderwyks. Tyler and some other guys helped them load up their moving truck last week and we said our tearful goodbyes as they began their new adventure to New Mexico. My boys have grown up with Brock and Tristan, and they're going to miss their good buddies!

- Hosted an awesome Father/Son camp out in our backyard over Labor Day weekend! The original plan was for Tyler, Jack and Trey to try out a campground for the first time, but everything was booked over the holiday. So, they opted for our backyard instead - this time with our brand new tent! The Beaver boys joined us overnight, and they enjoyed lots of pudgie pies, S'Mores, ribs, backyard creatures, light saber duals, biscuits and gravy, sticks, and general boy stuff. Fun!!

- Chase started preschool!! That cutie - he loves it. And I love it that he finally has something to call his own after watching the big boys do their thing all this time. He goes Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 9-11:30am, just enough time for me to lay Tess down for a nap and start a load of laundry. :)

- We've had a some neat opportunities to minister to some families this past week. We've taken some meals to friends who've had babies, plus another one to a busy, recovering momma with a recently repaired ACL.

- The hatch on the van door finally got fixed! This seems terribly lame and insignificant to even mention, until you try to unload your groceries with a baby in one arm, a grocery bag in the other, all the while propping the hatch up by your forehead. Yeah. Hopefully no one in town actually spotted me doing this.

- The big boys started Fall baseball (Trey's crazy into it. Jack, not so much), and the-momma-without-a-nursing-infant-for-once started attending a Ladies' Workshop at church on Wednesday nights.

- One very sweet husband spent his morning off work taking care of the little ones so I could make an early morning trip to visit the Paschals at Riley Children's Hospital last Thursday. It was an emotional trip for me for many reasons, one being the fact that we spent many hours in the same hospital treating Jack's urinary reflux a few years ago. Nolan is doing great post-surgery... please continue to pray for his recovery!

- We even squeezed in a garage sale (ok, it dominated our lives for days on end) with our neighbors last weekend. I am seriously a glutton for punishment. I thought about throwing in the towel half-way through pulling out every item out of every cabinet and closet I own, but then realized that I'd be stuck with one huge mess if it didn't all go. Somewhere. It ended up being time well spent after all: we lost some significant clutter (even after all of the men in my life carried at least one thing back into the house...), and gained almost $600 bucks to show for all of our junk. Sweet.

- A baby shower for my cousin back in my hometown, plus our first meeting for our new small group bible study rounded out Sunday. All of this in one week!

Did I mention the two sick kids, the girl who learned to climb up onto everything overnight, and the rebellious three year old?

Never a dull moment, folks...