Fall is nonstop. The older girls have been busy lately. And I've spent a lot of time driving around taking them places and picking them up again. Cadence has wanted to be involved in all of the 5th grade things, including the dodgeball tournament. I think they were the 'Pink Panthers' or something like that.
We procured apples from an orchard this year (my parents' Jonathon tree was destroyed in a storm, sad day). So far this new kitchen functions pretty well for canning.
Kenna roped Bob and I and Cecily into being on her student council trivia night team. 😏 I was skeptical, but it ended up being pretty fun and we almost won.
We went to birthday parties at the Braker's.
Perrin wanted to help with applesauce.
It took several weeks to get the old house cleaned up and listed and it was finally live September 16th. We knew that it had been shown a couple of times, and then we got an offer while we were at the W-ton Church 50th anniversary celebration. It was a good offer and they could close in two weeks soooo... we took it. So on the 1st of October, we officially were back to only one house! Woohoo! And then the buyer backed into the van in the parking lot after closing. 😆 I felt so bad for them. It's not super noticeable and it still runs fine so I have been very unmotivated to get it fixed. Or even get estimates. 😋
Homecoming parade! The natives were restless waiting for it to start.
Cecily and Emmy both marched with the band.
And here's a picture of her in her band uniform. It's a far cry from my band experience, but that's probably ok. ha.
Cecily was off at Robotics and Cadence and I went shopping before we picked her up- we found the perfect vintage camp stools for Perrin's room at Joshua's.
Bob wanted to cut back some of the foliage along the trails... he had me drive the lawnmower pulling the little red wagon carrying a battery that the electric hedge trimmer could plug into. Redneck or genius? ha.
Cecily is 15! How is she this old already?! I am not ready to teach her to drive.
It was our turn to host the sewing club wiener roast. We took a short Sunday afternoon hike on the trails before our guests came.
The weather was glorious, not too hot, not too cold.
Many house tours were given- Em said the feedback from the pre-teen/teen group was not glowing. hehe. I'll try not to let it bother me. I think the kids mostly ate candy and marshmallows.
Our usual pumpkin patch closed last year, so we had to find a new one.
It wasn't quite the same, there were no animals to visit, but they did have wagons to transport pumpkins.
They artfully arranged their pumpkins on the porch, and Cadence found a dead butterfly.
These two decided they were in charge of decorating inside the house as well. I did some editing later.
Cadence and Miri have been very patiently waiting for me to help them get their room a little more unpacked and organized. Miri's dresser was getting too small for her clothes so we found a dresser on Varagesale for her. I'm not a huge Eastlake fan, but it almost matches Cadence's dresser and she loves it.
Perrin's room is loosely vintage camp theme, which he loves or hates depending on the day. 😝 He has far too many opinions for a 4 year old.
The kids had Columbus day off of school so we went to the farm.
I got to ride with Matt in the combine, and Dad in the truck.
Perrin wasn't going to ride in the combine, but then he changed his mind. 😊
Bob invited Dang over and they finally managed to get the safe open. PSA, fire resistant safes are not water proof. Everything in there was still damp and moldy. Ugh. I've got birth certificates replaced, still need to get new social security cards, vehicle titles, etc, etc.
I unpacked my dishes! So now they are out of their boxes and tastefully arranged in my china cabinet. Tastefully might be a stretch; they are out of their boxes! And Aunt Pearl's tea set lives at my house now.
I have really been wanting to go to a U of I band day again, and it actually worked out this year! The weather was perfect! I took the three older girls and they each invited a friend. :) (Miri stayed home, because last year she spent the Washington Band day crawling all over the bleachers and all over Betty.) The girls were pretty quiet on the ride down, and endured me pointing out campus landmarks on our way to Memorial Stadium.
We spent about 2 hours watching bands and got to see the Marching Illini perform. They are so good and make me so nostalgic. I thoroughly enjoyed myself.
We stopped at Briks Pizzaria on our way home. Kbergers were not there that day, but it was still really fun to see it and eat their really good pizza. Totally worth the detour to Mahomet.
Perrin and Miri enjoyed the Koch wiener roast.
Oh goose. We had a rough few weeks dealing with impetigo. We knew some friends had it, then Cadence had some bug bites that kept getting bigger and wouldn't heal (that she didn't tell me about). And Perrin had two scratches that just kept getting worse. It took way too long for me to connect the dots, but we got them started on antibiotic ointment and washed all the sheets and towels. And then Miri had a scab that just kept getting bigger. gah. More sheets, more calls to doctors medical call centers because it's impossible to call your actual doctor's office and talk to someone from that office anymore. Cadence ran out of ointment, her rash kept spreading, Miri's got worse. Cadence was given oral antibiotics but they wanted me to dose her through the night. (Um? No.) So we kept using Miri's ointment on her and Miri's got so bad the school called to make sure I knew about it. *sigh* More laundry and finally getting a twice a day oral antibiotic for her... it cleared up so fast once she started it. ugh. Thank goodness Perrin loves bandaids and kept his two spots covered because his never spread.
It was Cadence's turn for 5th grade pumpkin carving. She was determined to make an axolotl. We struggled cutting the gourds for its gills, but it turned out pretty cute.
It needed pompoms.
Perrin talks to me all day long and I have to come see all the things he does. Perrin: Do you want to see a shipwreck? Me: Do I have a choice? Perrin: the choice is yes!
We had a couple of days off of school for parent teacher conferences and the weather was lovely so we ate outside.
And Cadence has been begging to camp out so Bob and Miriel slept out with her. It was cold that night and the ground was hard so they were back inside before 7am.
I took Cecily to the Roboteer Rumble and volunteered in the concession stand for a few hours. I went home then, and Cecily was there until late.
The back porch beam is painted! There were fewer spiders and it wasn't hot, but the ladder was still far too tall and the dive-bombing lady bugs were terrible. 0/10 Do not recommend.
We made the trek to Gridley for the Schlipf wiener roast. The weather was great for late October.
I did not join the croquet game this year, so I did not lose. :)
This poor little tree had heads popping out of it all night.
I am not a morning person at all, but the trees turning colors in the sunrise has almost made being up early worth it.
The sunrise behind the house is pretty nice too. 😌
Our days this first month were full of boxes and cleaning and moving things around and so. much. laundry. Perrin's favorite part of the new house might be the laundry chute.
And we have another 5th grader in band... clarinet this time. She delights in making loud squeaky blats so we were all wishing for ear plugs. 😜
One morning a whole flock of wild turkeys wandered across the back yard. Perrin really, really wanted me to shoot one for lunch. Ummm.... sorry, but no? 😂
Perrin gets kind of bored when the girls are gone and he's very willing to 'help'.
There were cars and a bridge and dinosaurs in the kitchen sink.
Our old neighbors gave the kids a bucket of sidewalk chalk as a goodbye gift, which was so sweet.
Guess who is supposed to be potty trained and was really struggling the first couple weeks and got a few extra showers?
Perrin and I stopped at a few garage sales and came home with some construction equipment.
Bob invited Dang over for an evening. They were playing Jenga with some wood pieces Conrad had left for Perrin. It was intense and the crash was epic.
Since our upholstered basement furniture got ruined I started checking marketplace for replacements. Cadence came with me to pick up this cute little chaise.
It's going in our reading nook/library upstairs.
And we borrowed a truck and went to pick up a good basement couch from old high school classmates of mine. Good meaning decent and not gross, but also not nice enough for me to care if it gets spilled on or jumped on. 😏
I went to a wedding and the only picture I took was of the really cool light fixtures.... haha. Bob's cousin Erica got married on a Sunday afternoon. The ceremony was held in his backyard which was thankfully fairly shaded because it was quite hot. The reception was at the Miller Park pavilion, which is such a cool old building. And it has cool old light fixtures. 😏
We had left the younger four at the farm and they were not ready to go home. Cecily spent the day at a Bible Class invite.
Dragging soggy stuff out and bringing in industrial dehumidifiers did a number on the paint on the stairs, so once everything was dry I worked on touching up the paint. I still don't understand why they painted the stairs bright orange.
Bob has sprinklers set up all around the house to try and grow grass. One hot afternoon after school the kids were racing around the house from sprinkler to sprinkler. I'm already glad we put a shower right inside the garage door so they can clean off before they track mud and grass into the house.
He's my best laundry helper. 😂
Mr. Buster inherited the barn that Bob's grandpa made for him.
The quote we got from the restoration company to shampoo the basement carpet was a bit expensive, so instead I rented a carpet cleaner and did it myself. It probably didn't do as good of a job, but it worked.
And we needed a new sewer pipe cover. *sigh*
I put carpet treads on the steps rather than trying to paint them again. They look nice... why didn't we do this before? (Because I don't like carpet and I don't like sweeping stairs, that's why.)
So then we were waiting on the new sump pump to get the old house listed. Meanwhile, back in the woods, it took four tries to get a mirror for this bathroom that was the right size and didn't arrive broken.
The older girls' room is actually looking pretty put together and thankfully not cluttered! (The other girls' room is still very much a work in progress.)
Bob invited the Brakers over one Sunday evening. They played mariokart.
And babies.
Labor Day was spent high up on a ladder painting porch beams. We went with a composite material that looks more like wood, but has to be painted. I was regretting that decision so much and wishing it was plastic.
So. Stinking. Terrifying. I hate ladders, and heights, and spiders, and mosquitos. All of these were in abundance. And of course the ladder doesn't get you close enough, or in a comfortable position to paint. All day I was tensed up and nervous. And it was hot, so I kept making the kids bring me ice water and popsicles.
I painted until it was dark and we had to get out work lights and hated every minute of it. Summoning the motivation to do a second coat is difficult...
I finally got to the crate of extra pictures and artwork that was in the basement. This would almost be a cool effect if it wasn't also moldy. mur.
The mosquitos have been really bad after all the standing water and humidity, and it's been hot so I haven't wanted to be outside. Our windows are moth magnets after dark though (and tree frogs!), and also our window wells are full of toads so we just enjoy nature from inside. I'm living all of my Girl of the Limberlost dreams... 😏
Tim and Asa started digging holes in the old basement.
We had some leftover vinyl tiles from the kitchen and Perrin helped me lay them on top of the plywood in the storage under the eaves.
I'm not sure I'm cut out for woods life... the rodents are large and the spiders are larger.
New sump pump installed! Time to list the house.
If you want to make all of my kids cry, show them this video. Actually, if Perrin even hears the beginning of this song he starts to lose it. 😛😆🥲
Emmy got braces! They were really bugging her for about a week, poor girl.
There are dinos all over the house.
There are a few rooms that are starting to look put together and not a cluttered mess, which I love.
The electricians came and hung the last of my light fixtures! It was a very exciting day. This is the one from my Grandparents' house.
Hehe. Sam and Jordan were struggling to get this shade on. I'm dreading having to change the light bulb.
Eeeeeeekkkkk! It fits so well. 😁
So good.
Second coat on the porch went faster. It was cooler, and there were fewer bugs, so I hated it less. haha. My little helper was stressing me out walking around and under the ladder, "I'll stabilize it for you, Mom." No thanks, please go away! 😆
I dragged the family to the 50th anniversary celebration of Washington Church. It was rainy, but the fellowship was sweet, and the history presentation was great. I also read the history book my brother put together cover to cover that night. Fascinating stuff. ha.
Oh hey, look, the bus is coming down to our house! Woot woot! It only took a month of back and forth with the bus manager, but now I don't have to take them a half mile to the other bus stop. 😄
Perrin's bed frame was down in the water so it took us a while to dry it out and get it put together. We also lost the box spring to the flood waters so once again he is sleeping on plywood. On the bright side, it's not as tall this way.
This last week and a half has been very busy. The older girls have school activities starting and ACYF and grandma sleepovers and I get to drive. I have not made as much progress on unfinished house projects and unpacking as I had hoped. Oh well, slow and steady progress.
