1
Our neighbor hired Whitt to feed her cat and bring in the paper for a couple days.
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Otto asked us what “bring in the paper” meant and we were like, “you know, the paper. Bring it in”. Otto gave us a blank stare. We were like, “Otto, come on, THE PAPER!”. He shrugged.
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Suddenly it dawned on Klint and me that our kids would have no clue what a “paper” or even “bring it in” means in this context 😂. We are feeling older by the day over here 🗞️. #13yearsold #9yearsold
2
Gil and I live our days by the older boys’ school schedule, which usually just fly by. Today I was astonished when I looked at the clock and realized we had 2 whole hours before the boys got off the bus! So we played Battleship (until he got bored 3 rounds into it) 🛳️ #6yearsold
3
Every Fall, Klint’s parents hire their grandkids to gather fallen walnuts out of their yard. And every Fall, it’s a flurry of competition to see how much money each kiddo can earn, which is 1 cent per walnut.
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At our most recent Family Night, Emitt got busy frantically gathering walnuts. He finally came inside, declaring his defeat due to the nightfall and his inability to discern a walnut from a leaf, but he wow’d us all with his final count: 2,400! 😂😍 #15yearsold
4
No, I don’t have another kidney stone. I’m going on a field trip!! 🙌🏾😵💫 #3rdgraders
5
They were really disappointed about not being able to go back to Grandma Rosie’s room in the ICU, but at least there was free hot chocolate in the waiting room 🙌🏾 #15yearsold #13yearsold #9yearsold #6yearsold
6
Today Whitt went on his second field trip of the week! He visited City Hall and got to meet Mayor Whicker and Mrs. Whicker. He went to the library and the fire station and Whicker Park and ended his day at the Historical Museum.
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I was a little jealous of Whitt’s day so he sat down to tell me all about it. Apparently, at the Historical Museum (which I personally adore, but some kids think is creepy), the guide warned Whitt’s class that if they wandered from the group, they’d turn into a mannequin 😳😂. She also told them a 3-legged man lives DEEP inside the museum. Apparently, when Whitt approached her to question if she could “extremely-100-percent-PROMISE” she was telling the truth, she avoided. the. question.
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Basically, Whitt had an awesome day — complete with a plastic fire hat and a load of skepticism 🥰. #9yearsold
7
Today was a fun day!! (okay, mostly because Klint took a partial day off work 🤩.)
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I guess we could call this Phase 2 of the Parking Lot Project — the electrical jobs⚡️! Thanks to The City of Bluffton’s Electrical Department and ZAP Electric, we now have a newly relocated electrical pole (that was cool to watch!), buried electrical wires, and an updated electrical panel outside!
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ZAP and The City of Bluffton were super efficient, collaborated so well with each other, and were fun to work with — what a great group of guys! (One of them accidentally fell into a pretty deep hole…and I accidentally got it on video 🫣. This gave his coworkers great joy and, by the end of the job, they had convinced me to hand over the video so they could continue laughing over it 😂.)
8
Ahhhh….it’s Fall Break! 🙌🏾
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Those first 9 weeks of school are always a roller coaster of adjustments! 🎢 We’ve had meetings with teacher-teams to work through challenging stuff with a couple of our kiddos. We are praying for good ideas to help another kiddo with some unexpected anxiety affecting his school days. We’ve started some fantastic therapy for another kiddo that is bringing clarity. And we’re happy to report that another kiddo sailed right through the first 9 weeks with barely a glitch! 😆
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Grateful for the many resources available to us. For teachers who hug, high-five, and pray over our students. For these Fantastic Four who are willing to accept and walk through the hard things in order to grow. And mostly for a God who guides and provides in all our crazy seasons.
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Oh, and for Fall Break too 😍. #15yearsold #13yearsold #9yearsold #6yearsold
9
Oh the things I find laying around my house 😳. I have no idea if Whitt’s math, that he jotted-down purely for the fun of it, is correct but it sure looks impressive 🙌🏾. #9yearsold
10
Some days it feels like they grow up before your very eyes. Other days it feels like they’ll forever be bickering about who gets to be the “leader” and who gets to push the elevator button. It’s been a decade and counting over here! 🙃 #9yearsold #6yearsold
11
In April, on our annual cousins’ getaway to Lake Michigan, my Uncle Dave and Aunt Brenda broke away from the group for a moment to walk down to the shore and watch the sunset. I noticed how stunning their silhouettes looked against the changing sky and snapped this picture, feeling a little sheepish to have captured such a private moment.
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I’m still trying to process the suddenness of Aunt Brenda’s death this past week. From my human perspective it’s too early and too fast, yet looking at this picture I am reminded of a Hope that is unchanging 💔.
(Photo 2: grateful to God that sorrow and joy are not strangers. Spending time with my siblings, my parents, extended family and, friends these past days was a gift in the grief)
12
I really thought he might be our first in glasses, but he passed with flying colors! 👓 #6yearsold
13
20 years today!
For months now we’ve been trying to wrap our brains around HOW this can even be possible. 2 decades?! 😧
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My friend and mentor wished me a happy anniversary and commented, “there is such a deep appreciation of God’s goodness and mercy when you’ve gone through the hard.”
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Our first 10 years were really hard. These past 10 years have been spent rebuilding and I’m not sure a week goes by that we don’t marvel in God’s ability to redeem, restore, and change our hearts and minds. So grateful to be celebrating this milestone with my favorite person in the world! ❤️
14
I’ve been a mom almost 16 years and I’m pretty sure this is our first time carving pumpkins! Big kids are so fun! (Otto and Whitt aren’t home so we might end up doing it again this season) 🎃 #15yearsold #14yearsold
15
6-year-old Gil was delighted to find that 5-year-old Gil had accidentally gifted him a tootsie roll when he put on his winter vest and shoved his cold hands into it’s pockets this morning 🤩.
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The candy had spent months taking on a new form, but 6-year-old Gil concluded he actually didn’t mind eating paper 😊.
16
I asked the boys how their day was. Otto was the first to reply, “well, besides accidentally using Emitt’s toothbrush this morning and the kids at school calling me Hitler all day, not too bad.” 🤦🏼♀️ #13yearsold
17
Backing my vehicle up to the drop-off spot at the donation center and handing him my phone worked! Donating stuff is risky business when you’ve got kids 🙃. #6yearsold
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