I suppose

Well, I suppose it's time I post something, if for no other reason than to keep you guys interested.  Sometimes it seems like life is going by so fast it's hard to find the time to write anything down.  Right now Owen is running around going, "It's not working, it's not working!"  Finding Nemo is on the TV in the background, Owen's favorite movie.  So whatever is not working will just have to wait a minute.  

This is sort of happening:

Everyone is back to school and I'm feeling like it's time for soups and casseroles.  I made Brit's favorite Mac and Cheese for dinner last week and it was so satisfying.  Nothing like something slow-cooked and delicious to ease back into routines.  I am so ready.  This last blast of hot weather is almost like a bother at this point.  I'm always ready for a change in seasons.

Joe and I took Owen up to Ladysmith two weekends ago, to the Burch reunion.  My mom's mom was Helen Burch before she was Helen Woodbury, so that's how we fit in.  I had a better time there than I've had in a long time.  Thought long and hard about who I am and who I want to be.  What is really important.  I kind of feel like I'm going back to who I am deep down, no matter what people around me think.  Their values up on the farm are my values, and when I come back to the Western suburbs of Chicago it all seems excessive.  Everything is convenient here but there is so much that just gets in the way.  Clothes and trends and stuff and trips and even too many baseball games.  Can't believe I'm to that point but I'm to that point.  I think I'd rather be an old person than a young one!  And just last weekend Brit told me, I don't want to get older, I want to stay a kid forever.  I'm the opposite.  I think the world would be better off if more people esteemed wisdom and old age a bit more too. It absolutely is a gift to get old.

So that said, bring on fall and cooler weather.  Let's huddle together and lean on each other and get ready for some tougher times. 

Scrapbooking last week:

Hope you all are doing well.  Speaking of family and doing well, if you guys want to pray for my sister-in-law Kathleen she could use some overtime in that department.  Check out her blog: Thoughts for Kathleen.

Thanks for reading!

real quick here

So I promised a couple layouts.  I hadn't done anything lately because I was stuck on this one:

I ended up just putting the stuff down and moving on.  Then I did this one, which I loooove:

And then this one, in like a half hour.  

Hope you like them.  Nice to get the creative juices flowing again.

Vacation

We went on vacation.  It was nice.  Middle of nowhere, Minnesota.  All six of us went with one of Joe's brothers and his family.  Here are some snaps:

Boy with a stick:

I know, I know, we are super weird.  It is us in a nutshell: Joe on his phone, me disheveled, in Brit's sunglasses.  I love this pic:

Caleigh, on the boat, looking model-ish:

Brit on the boat, doing her own thing:

We all look like we're modeling:
  

Cousin Declan:

Had to include this.  The future looms large:

Sharon, my sister-in-law, who is like the nicest person in the world:

In the pool:

Trying to get tan:

Brit waiting for the Jetski:

I'd love to say Owen really enjoyed himself, but...:

Brit and her dad:

The girls:

The boy:

And his mom!:

Tommy went on this vacation too but pretty much slept the whole time.  He did take some of the better shots with my camera when he was around though, which is why he isn't in any of these pictures!  

Can't believe it's August already.  Scrapped today and will post those when I get a chance.  Hope your basements are dry!