The Bright Eyed Brunette

 Good Monday morning! Hope you all had a great weekend.  We had a pretty fun one here on the homestead.  Everyone is feeling better, so we decided to give the river a go again.  Fresh air is the best medicine, right?! My girls We had the whole crew down.   Carlie, Caleb, my parents and Toby with my niece and nephews, and then me, Carl, Makena, and Trey with a total of four boats.  We had this sand bar all to ourselves because lets face it, if you saw that many people in one spot, would you want to pull up?!  I know I wouldn't! Makena with her lunch. Toby G Me and my girls I am pretty proud of the relationship we have. I have always wanted them to be able to tell me anything without fear of judgement or me not speaking to them, and I feel like that rings true for the most part. I call them out on their crap and you better believe they call me out on mine! I love them and will always do my best to support them in whatever they do. On Sunday we went ...

Hey friends!  We have had a very crazy first week of school here.  Makena started her first week of school at home in isolation.  She tested positive for Covid on Sunday (but had been having very mild symptoms since Thursday).  We honestly just thought it was just allergies.  No fever, no terrible cough.  On Monday she went and had an antibody infusion.  Other than her veins rolling and having to be poked three times to get the I V in, she did very well.  So well that she was feeling almost completely well on Tuesday.  Her main complaint was headache, runny nose, and tiredness.   It was a very stressful start to the school year! She did some classes via Zoom and had all of her syllabi here so she was able to do her assignments and turn them in (thank-you, technology!). On Friday we has a mini photoshoot. And then there were these: How's this for a pose?! Take my picture. He gone! Trey was done after about 10 minutes but Makena was j...

 Hey guys, it's that time of year again: Back to Homeschool! I thought I would share my haul of homeschool things that we will be using for tenth grade this year. His subjects this year include: Bible Doctrines, Algebra 2, English 10, Spanish 1, World History and Biology. I think I am most excited for Biology.  I loved it in high school and I loved teaching it with the girls!  The video teacher, Miss Stancel is a little odd, but does an excellent job in explaining.  We have a microscope and a few animal parts (Carlie insisted on having them, so we ordered them).  Trey said he doesn't want to do any dissections but we will at least do a frog.  I think we have a cow heart in our parts. I got a little freaked out when we first ordered because you can get all kinds of animals, and I do mean all kinds.  That includes cats and dogs! I cannot even imagine dissecting Rover. We are using the all-in-one A Beka curriculum again.  It is what we are used to an...

 We had our annual Cousins Back to School bash at the river on Friday evening.   Five of the six cousins. Sadly, Carlie had to work Noah was chilling. We are all unsure what Elijah was doing in the background.  Makena and Ellie Kate rode the tube together There was lots of screaming going on! Carl even took advantage of my dad having his ski boat out. He was sore the whole rest of the weekend though! Makena Faith was taking a break from the action. Toby loves the river as much as anyone! My parents We had a great river outing! We thought we were going to get rained out but thankfully it held off and went around us. The kids had fun spending time with each other and hanging out on the water. The S kids go back to school with the rest of the state on Monday. Makena doesn't move into her dorm until the 23rd, so lucky Trey gets to wait until the 24th to begin his 10th grade year.  We are going to enjoy every last bit of summer left. It's good to the last drop! Much ...

 Where do I even begin?  We have been busy enjoying every minute of summer down here on the homestead.  Hopefully soon I can catch ya'll up on the past month and what we've been up to.  For now, I'll share what we've been up to this past week. We have been spending as much time as possible at the river!  It is less than a mile from our house so we go every chance we get. Most of the time that is after dinner (most evenings).  Last weekend we went during the day and Makena and Trey had a blast tubing, and Carl and I have a lot of fun watching them.   Trey has to drive the boat with someone over 18 until he turns 16 (next month!!).  We have been taking Boone occasionally.  He loves the water and just dives from the sandbar into the water.  He is such a happy dog and is so handsome in his life jacket, don't you think?! We have also been swimming with the cousins! They always seem to pair up (which I am not a huge fan of). Trey and Noah...