Very Outside The Box: 6 month wrap up

I took an unintentional break from blogging. It is sort of like exercising - thinking about *actually* doing it seems overwhelming the longer and longer it's been since you have, and it's a lot easier to keep pushing it off until tomorrow. Tomorrow is now. Don't think that means I'm working out. Just back to blogging.

Obviously, it's a little tough to recap the past 6 months, and many of the little details that I would have shared if I was blogging regularly have been forgotten, and I'm sad about that. I'm going to give you a quick month-by-month highlights, and then overwhelm you with pictures. I actually had to go back and look at pictures from each month to remember what was going on - a good testament to why I should keep clicking!

April (that's where we last left off I believe): Addy turned 3. We also adopted a new dog, Halle; a Great Dane. We love her to bits. At the end of the month, we had a quick trip to NJ for Kati's wedding shower!

May: My sister, Jessica, gave birth to a sweet baby boy, Noah, on May 1st. We also started the work of putting in our raised garden beds. We are so lucky that we have a neighbor who is a professional landscaper, who is helping guide us with finding the proper placement for the beds and what should be planted where.

June: Kati got married! Since I was in the wedding, I didn't haul my big camera around, and mostly left the picture taking to the people who were getting paid to do it ;) Chloe also went and showed in the Appaloosa National Youth Show in Texas, and ended up Reserve High Point for 12&U. (That's a huge accomplishment!)

July: We indulged in all things summer - s'mores, beach trips, sprinklers. We also went back down to NJ to celebrate my dad's 60th birthday and the 10th anniversary of Concord Stud Farm, as well as the annual Cousin's Christmas gathering on Pete's side of the family. The banner event of July though was that Chloe turned THIRTEEN.

August: I had a couple of requests for newborn sessions in NJ around the same time, so I decided to make it a "working week" and opened myself up for sessions. I'm happy to say that I had a session at every time I had available, but was still able to make sure I did 2-year pictures for my nephew Brayden.

September: Chloe started 8th (!!!?!?!) grade, and Addy started preschool two days a week. We also decided to put Addy in ballet and tap classes this year. She is still warming up to the idea of participation - she talks about liking it, but mostly just watches the other kids. The final big news of September is that I accepted a per diem RN position at a chemo infusion clinic (adult). We have found a wonderful in-home day care that the kids have been going to once/week to ease the transition (for me as much as them!).

October: And here we are! I didn't mention it above, but Pete was furloughed this summer, so he only worked 4 days/week (and his pay reflected that cut back). As I type this, the government is shut down, and so he hasn't worked at all this week either. Needless to say, the government unrest has had an effect on our income, which was a factor in me heading back to work.

NOW - the pictures!

Our sweet Halle girl.

The above picture is submitted as evidence that I participated in manual labor. Let it be noted.

First bites of food

Homemade pizza dough

Water beads - a new favorite

My Little Pony - a constant favorite

Did I mention we're chicken farmers? We are. We have a flock of 8 laying hens, plus 4 recent chick additions that we're waiting to see if they are hens or roosters. We get 6-8 eggs a day... not too shabby!