Friday Photos

Hello!  And Happy Friday. I hope you had a happy, healthy week and are ready for the weekend. This past week was our last here for a bit. Next week, we head back to Pennsylvania for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Christmas!!! Yay! 

The night before Halloween was beautiful here. We wrapped up school and headed to the beach for the last warm day of the season. We sat on the beach, watching the waves, and I felt such peace knowing that all the things I used to worry about and fret over...Halloween costumes, dusty shelves and dirty laundry, Christmas pictures, time passing so quickly...those things pass. And if they don't... it's ok. I have dirty laundry on the floor. Dust accumulates whether I wipe it off every Friday or not. A Christmas picture can be the most informal, unplanned photo in the world, my children will continue to grow, and life will be different. And it is good. Life is good. 

In other news...We had a new student in the classroom this week.

He is very well-behaved and friendly.  

Halloween was fun. Flynn's costume came just in time, and she loved it! She was a favorite character from the Marvel Movies. The weather was dark and gloomy, perfect for a spooky dinner of Mummy Dogs and Macaroni and Cheese. And some delicious, made-by-Madison dark chocolate brownies, too.

We missed Peyton and Chris, but they shared their Halloween fun with us, and Peyton didn't disappoint!

The day after Halloween, we celebrated All Saint's Day. We watched a beautiful mass online. The parish has a school, and the children attended mass dressed as a favorite saint. They really looked so amazing! Yesterday, we commemorated All Soul's Day, a day we pray for our deceased loved ones. We remembered this beautiful woman, Steve's mother. Her name is Flo, but to us, she is Mum. Mum passed away six years ago on the Feast of All Souls, and I miss her every day. She taught me so many things about being a wife and mother. She was a humble, caring, faith-filled, and compassionate woman. She made the best meatloaf, ironed clothes better than a dry cleaner, and taught me to always shake my clothes before putting them into the washer to reduce wrinkles. She loved praying the rosary, fresh tomato sandwiches, and The Young and The Restless. She also raised, along with Steve's father, the most amazing, loving family of seven children I will ever know. 

Leaving you with pictures of the pups because pictures of pups make everyone smile. Have a cozy weekend, my friends. I will be around to catch up with you all!

BillieJo

Friday Photos: Fall, Family, Food, and Fun!

Good morning! This was our delicious and good-for-you breakfast one day this week. Avacado toast on whole grain bread topped with an egg is my favorite, and Steve has actually seen the light that is the goodness of the avocado! Not pictured is my junk breakfast that I have other days because even as a middle-aged woman, I cannot pass up some of my favorite childhood treats. 

Remember these? Franken Berry was always my favorite. This Carmella Creeper is new; honestly, they all taste the same. So, this year, I got this one! 

Do you have a favorite from your childhood? 

Or now???

In other news, I posted this picture before but forgot to mention that I took it because Madison texted to ask me what I was doing that night. When I sent her this picture with the strings of lighted leaves, she sent me this.

She was also watching TV with her string of lights glowing, too! And then Peyton, who is also in that text, sent this.

Same! That made me so happy! And longtime readers may recognize the little witch next to Peyton's TV from years and years of Halloween in our house! As I get older, I like to give special things to each child as a memory of their childhood and a way to carry a piece of it with them forever. 

We get pictures from the girls almost every day. I am so thankful because it is almost like we are there. Madison sent us this picture of a dinner party she and Nicolas had with Peyton and Christopher and a sweet picture of their pup, Draper! Peyton sent us these pictures of her and Christopher out for a walk to show us the leaves around her house back home. I was happy! 

Peyton also shared a recipe with me that she made and loved, and I thought it sounded so good I made a big batch, too! It is a good, hearty, cozy meal, and we all agreed it is a keeper. It is a one-pot, easy-to-make meal too! I served it with Caesar salad and fresh bread.

Want to hear a weird story? Madison is getting our mail while we are here, and she texted me this, showing me this book that came in the mail addressed to me. I admit my memory is not as good as it used to be. However, I didn't recall ordering that book! We checked our Amazon orders and any other place we could think of. No record of such an order. I thought about a book-purchasing app I have, but I have deactivated it since we came here. I checked it, and...nothing. I checked my Visa statements and my PayPal account. Nothing. Granted, it is a book I would order, but what the heck?! Finally, I contacted the help center on the app, and they looked into it. They responded a few hours later with this.

June 2022?! No wonder I couldn't remember buying it! LOL. And that mystery is solved. I am so glad I watched all those episodes of Scooby-Doo. I will leave you with some photos of the life and times of Mocha, an eight-year-old Yorkie who has me wrapped around her little paw.

Have a wonderful weekend, my friends! I will be around visiting this weekend and will be back here Monday. Finally, I saw that one of my blogger friends answered questions from comments in her posts, so I decided to give it a try! Thank you, happyone!

Mary ~Thank you! I am tidy and minimalistic by nature, but I do have help! My kids help me, and I have a very good friend who is the world's best housecleaner, too! 

Jennifer ~ Our World History is The Story of The World. It is awesome. 

Sheri ~ I get most of my candles from Yankee Candle or, for more personalized ones, Etsy. 

Judee ~ Teaching Textbooks is an excellent math program. It is online now, but you can also get books. One of the things about it is that it applies the lessons and skills taught directly to real life. Following the unit on percentages, for example, there is a unit on ways it is used in life. Flynn learned about profit margins, sales tax rates, sales commissions, and interest. And somehow, they manage to make it fun!

If I missed anyone, I'm sorry! 

Thanks for visiting!

BillieJo

Images, not mine, are from Google.

Monday Morning Coffee

 

Good Monday morning! I hope today finds you cozy, healthy and rested. Or at least one of the three! Well, yesterday was the first day I finally felt fall. The air was cool, and the leaves were falling a bit, and it just looked like fall. I just love that feeling. I wish I could put into words the happiness and contentment I feel when I step outside and feel the crisp air, smell the familiar scent of leaves, acorns, and tree nuts in the air, and see the trees shake off their leaves and watch them swirl to the ground. It is nostalgic, cozy, and home to me. That feeling is me, back in my childhood home, after dinner with my family in the TV room where my dad started a fire in the big stone fireplace as the night stretched before us. That is why I love fall. 

Our first fall weekend here looked a bit different than at home, but it was no less wonderful. Friday night, Rhett, Kyrstin, Flynn, and I went to the movies to see The Creator. I knew nothing about it except it is a science fiction film about the future on Earth, but it was really good! Very suspenseful. 

Saturday morning, Steve and I went to the farmer's market and got apples, potatoes, carrots, garlic, onions, eggs, and delicious Amish bread. I am looking forward to roasting the vegetables tonight! Then, we did a quick clean of the house. I did the bathrooms, Flynn swiffered the floors, and Steve unloaded the dishwasher and tidied the kitchen. I threw in a few loads of laundry and folded them before we headed to the beach for the night. The condo is only ten minutes from the house, so we dropped Mocha off and went to a beautiful mass. We went to dinner at a new-to-us Italian restaurant before heading in for the night. 

Yesterday was a cozy day. Steve and Rhett headed to an antique car show, while I did not. When they returned, we watched in shock as our Steelers somehow managed to win a game that, to quote my dear father, "They had no business winning!" After the game, Steve and I took a couple chairs down and sat on the beach like the old married couple we are. The beach in October fits me perfectly. It is cool, not hot. Quiet, not crowded. But still so beautiful and calming. As we sat there, I remembered the days back when we had three and then four children with us. Some splashed in the waves, while others happily stayed with me, playing with our Sesame Street sand toys and making "cake" for me to eat. (Any guess who that was?!) I remembered thinking back then, when I saw an older couple alone on that beach, that someday that would be us. It was not imaginable at that busy, blessed, fun time in my life thinking that these little ones would not always be mine and mine alone. I knew in my heart they would grow up, as that is what they are supposed to do, but it seemed so far in the distance I couldn't even catch a glimpse. Suddenly, we are here. Sitting alone on the beach on a late Sunday afternoon. Thankfully, God blessed us with Flynn, who, at almost fourteen, is the best child ever and allows us to continue the very best vocation ever. And although no longer the little guy with the silly grin, Rhett, at 21, also enjoys spending time with us, and we are so thankful. Madison and Peyton are hours away right now, but they are always in my heart and on my speed dial. Through the magic of cell phones, we get pictures of each of their days. Like Madison and Nicolas making dinner...

And Peyton with her beautiful dog Jenny and the perfect pumpkins she grew!

Our weekend here summed up in a few too many photos:

Well, it's time for me to get going. Today, Flynn and I will homeschool. I plan on making chicken and vegetables for dinner and working on some laundry. I hope you have a cozy Monday, my friends. Thanks for reading!

BillieJo

Wrapping Up The Week

 

Hello! And Happy Friday! I am coming to you from the beach this morning, where we have spent a few days with my best friend Heather and her husband, Dave. Here are a few pictures of the fun we had together...

Baskin Robbins ice cream is a must for me here because we have none anywhere close to us at home. I introduced Heather to the best flavor ever, World Class Chocolate and she was hooked! Fun fact: I will always choose a sugar cone over a bowl. Every time.

I am blessed to have my oldest daughter be a hair, makeup, and fashion expert. This took about 3 seconds, and it looked and felt so good!

,

I am the only early riser, so my mornings were quiet on the porch with my coffee and rosary.

Late afternoon was for this. Sitting watching the waves and spending time with a friend.

I'm not referring to this guy, whom I was a little afraid of.

Which was ok because he had some contemplating going on.

Finally, sitting on the porch at the end of the day, everyone is full, relaxed, rested, and happy,

Because the beach will do that every time. 

Have a wonderful weekend, my friends. Enjoy these waning weeks of summer! 

Billie Jo