So Long Summer...

We're gonna miss you. Till next year...

Well, I can't believe it, but the summer has ended and it's back to school again. The summer was good. We traveled a lot and crammed as much fun as we could into June and July. We went to the beach with my family in early June, Griff and I took a CRUISE in July, and then one more beach trip with Griff's family to end the summer break. I enjoyed my children this summer. We are still living at Aunt Ruby's little house, patiently waiting for our house to be renovated. My kids have been awesome about the whole situation. I am extremely proud of how they've handled this enormous inconvenience. I keep reminding myself and them that God sometimes wraps up blessings in bad things just to surprise us. That seems to be enough for them and is generally for me unless I'm just having a particularly bad day. Mia has come so far in the last few months and I sometimes can't believe she hasn't always been with us. Cole has grown into a man and I cry in secret because I know he's growing so fast and I'm going to have to let him fly. Garrett read the entire Harry Potter series this summer... he's my little studious fella. And Nolan... he has gardened, fished, and has made me giggle so many times just because he is devilishly yummy... he's my little blond-haired boy.

As I said before, God wraps up blessings in hurts sometimes and I continue to struggle with my lupus. My doctor finally decided to let me try a new infuseable medication specifically for lupus. I got my first infusion last week and it's still way too early to know if I'll respond. I am prayerful that God will bring healing to me... but the sickness has allowed me to be off from work for a while, which has given me the gift of time... time with my babies and I have loved it.

The house rebuild is still underway. My contractor is a cousin, so he can't hate me forever. I'm starting to get restless and starting to ask the same question a lot... "And when do you think you'll be done?" He just laughs and I know he secretly wants me to get to go home as much or more than I do.

Oh, and how could I forget? The garden... yes, the garden. My dad planted this ENORMOUS garden and we have spent many hours picking vegetables and putting them up for winter. I even purchased my very own FoodSaver thingy, so I am officially a domestic nerd. My goal is to have my freezer stocked with all things fresh, so that this winter when I'm craving a nice, wholesome bowl of vegetable soup... I can simply walk to my freezer, pluck out a bag, and in a little while be lapping it up. Gardening is so fun to me... as I love to watch how things grow. Again, a gift from God, because if I were working right now, I would have missed this. My mom and I had fun putting up tomatoes and soup stock together and I learned lot. Blessings.

So, my babies rushed off to school a few days ago. Cole was excited about going to high school... I know... sniff, sniff... Garrett was on-the-fence about his back-to-school opinion, Nolan was ready to get to first grade so he can learn to read... "cause I can't read the Wii and that makes me mad", he says. Mia was not excited about returning to preschool, but appeared happy when I picked her up. A new year begins and only the Lord knows what's in store, but I'm excited just the same.

I hope you all have had a fun-filled summer with the ones you love. I sure have.