Why Hello There!

So it's been almost a month since my last blog post. It's funny, because if you look back through my archives, you will notice that I always seem to disappear around this time of year because our summer schedule is pretty crazy. But I just wanted to say hi, and give a little update of what we have been up to.

Phillip went on a 10-day mission trip to Jamaica a few weeks ago. It was the longest he has ever been away from me and the boys, and we sure were happy to have him back.

We picked him up on Thursday and then packed up and headed to church camp that Sunday. The boys had a blast. We packed Buddy's scooter and Little Man's fire truck and they rode those things all over the campground. We went swimming everyday and they hung out with the little camp girlfriend.

I was in charge of camp "craft" again this year. Since it is high school camp, I try to come up with things they will think are cool in addition to teaching them a skill that they can take back home with them. This year we made jersey knit bracelets, and they were a huge hit. 

At camp I was able to catch up on some summer reading. I am going through a fiction phase right now and read all three novels by Kate Morton. I absolutely LOVED The Forgotten Garden. It was one of the best novels I have ever read!

We came back from camp that Friday, got a little rest, and then headed up to Tennessee on Saturday to move my sister and her girls back to Georgia to live with us. We turned our large playroom into an apartment of sorts, and we are so happy to have them sharing our home. My sister is my best friend, and her girls are the only cousins my boys have. Every morning the kids wake up so excited to go see if their cousins are awake yet so they can start another day of endless imaginative play. The house is loud and messy and fun, and I love it! I know you are probably curious as to how we arrived at the decision to invite them to move into our home, and I promise I will share that soon. 

After we got them unpacked and settled in, my sister and I decided to have a yard sale this past weekend to get rid of extra things that both of us had, and to make a little money to fund our "natural" kitchen makeover. For a while, I have wanted to get rid of all of the plastics in my kitchen and my non-stick cookware. We did well at the yard sale and already purchased new stainless steel cookware from IKEA and found a nice KitchenAid Food Processor on Craigslist. I plan to reuse glass jars for food storage and for smoothies. Have you seen these adorable mason jar tumblers on etsy? These are definitely on my summer DIY list.

We also made a kitchen compost bucket using these directions and an old animal cracker container from our church nursery that I had been saving for some crafty project. We do not have an outdoor compost bin yet, so right now we are using the dig and drop method behind the shed. Between recycling and composting, using real dishes instead of disposables, and cloth napkins and rags instead of paper towels, it is amazing how long it takes to fill up our kitchen trash now. I think we only had one bag go out last week. 

Saturday we pack up and head to Virginia for a week for our annual youth summer mission trip to work with Hope Charitable Services. Where we are working is only about 45 minutes from VA Beach, so we head over that way anytime we have a break, so it is also kind of feels like vacation. (Except for the 45 minute drive from the beach back to the hotel in a musty church van filled with wet, sandy teenagers.)

So that's a quick update of some of the things we've been up to. I'll try to get back here on a more regular basis when things calm down a bit. Hope you are having a great summer!

Always,

Amanda