The Bright Eyed Brunette

Hello everybody. I'm coming to you at the end of our Spring Break. A Spring Break that has been like no other. We spent a lot of time outside. Carl cleaned out the shop and we would go out and play darts, ping pong, or punch the bag. The gnats were pretty bad at the beginning of the week but got better as the week heated up. We went on a few late afternoon truck rides. Backroads are always fun when it's muddy. We were finally able to go fishing on Thursday afternoon. Carlie and Trey went out in the boat, while me, Carl, and Makena stayed on the bank. Nobody caught a thing, but we had a lot of fun and made lots of memories.  Makena got her boots stuck in the mud and had to leave them and let Carl pull them out. I guess you had to be there. It was hilarious. Makena and Trey battling it out in ping pong.  Five Mungers piled in the Ranger. We saw a snake....Makena shot him. Carlie was queen of the fishing boat! Makena Faith absolutely hates fishing in bo

Happy Anniversary to my sweetheart! Twenty one years sure seems like a long time. I can still remember everything about that day. It was perfect (well except for one little hiccup that isn't worth mentioning).  So many things have happened in 21 years. Three kids (within the first 6 years), many fun adventures, losses, health issues.. and the list goes on. There is nobody I would rather do this life with. When you get married at 19 and almost 21, you get to grow up together. It hasn't always been sunshine and puppy dogs, but we always get through it. Do you know how hard it can be to be married to Mr. Congeniality? I am pretty much the opposite of that. Over the years I have learned to not only fall into the role of Queen B (and all that implies), but to own it!   I love you more than you can possibly know. ❤❤❤❤❤ Here's to at least 21 more years together! Much Love, Beth

Hey friends! It's been a wild and crazy week here on the Homestead. We have been busy trying to get our tests done before our official "spring break" started this week. Carlie is home and just found out that she will be here until May 1. She is bummed because of the unlikelihood of graduation happening on June 15. My sweet Makena Faith is a little bummed too. There is still a little hope that her homeschool graduation will still happen on May 16. She was supposed to have her Senior Sunday on May 3rd, but as of right now, we are just in a state of not knowing. We haven't ordered graduation announcements yet, because I am unsure what to put on them?  Do I send them without a date? I mean technically the ceremony itself is not what matters, she will have a diploma.  I just want her to have "all the things" like Carlie had last year. Trey is just being Trey: funny, trying-to-get-out-of-schoolwork, Trey. He has been spending as much time outside as he can (his a

Well I have to say, it is quite interesting seeing the U.S. quickly having to turn to a form of homeschooling due to COVID19. On all platforms of social media I see this panic from parents wondering what in the world to do with their kids. It is almost laughable but I guess if you are used to spending 5-7 hours a day with your kids each day, you may have a system shock. My youngest child was in the 5th grade when we began homeschooling. I still had to keep a pretty close eye on him to make sure he was getting the work done when he was supposed to. I have no experience homeschooling kids younger than that but I did work in a school for a while. Just help them with their work. If they don't have any work from school but you want to keep the wheels turning, I suggest learnwithhomer.com   or even  pbskids.org (for kids 3- 7). Trey absolutely loved these. I am not familiar with abcmouse.com  but I've heard good things.  DO NOT feel like you have to spend all of the "school h

Hey strangers! I know it's been a minute since I last blogged. We've just been hanging out doing the daily fun stuff: work, cook, clean, laundry, school, church, repeat. We did take off from all of that on Friday to attend the Mid-South Farm and Gin Show in Memphis. This the first year we have ever gone with out one of our little chicks (Carlie had clinicals). We had fun and hit up some of our favorite exhibits for all the goodies. The show itself was a hot mess though due to renovations at the convention center. Some of the exhibits were in the convention center, some in outdoor tents, some on the streets, and some in the hotel across from the center. I'm still pretty sure we didn't see it all! We came back home instead of staying the night because Carlie comes in on Fridays, plus last year the police were called to our hotel because of a crazy lady who happened to be staying on our floor. Carl has almost been robbed getting bags out of our vehicle and let us not for