in summerrrrr

sunsets are my love language

So thankful for sunsets. They are like a warm hug from the Lord.

And thankful that both of our homes face west and we get these ridiculous views.

crazy

I have been kind of MIA on this blog for awhile. To be honest, this year has got to have been one of the weirdest years ever.

2020. You keep surprising me.

One of these days, I may be able to come on here and actual share what I have learned through this season of quarantine, homeschooling, racial tension, business stress, and more.

But for now, just wanted to say hey.

And here’s my favorite part of the day… in one of my favorite places.

Enjoy.

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irma

We had an unexpected guest a few weeks ago. Some girl named Irma, heard of her?

Irma was a monster hurricane that decided to rock the islands and make its way to Florida.

Our home in Royal Palm just had very minor things.. debris filled the yard and we lost some shingles that we will have to fix (good thing I have such a handy hubby). And we only lost power for a bit! We got super lucky with that.

 

Our Schartner Lake Shack got hit harder by the storm. We lost several big trees. But with the gracious help of several others we were able to clear a lot of the debris! And I am still shocked that nothing landed on the house!

Here is a photo of before Irma (top), post Irma (middle), and after two rounds of pick up (bottom)

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Hurricanes are HARD work. But as stressful as they can be, there is a silver lining in my opinion. It gives our communities a chance to show love. And I saw so many displays of that. From neighbors helping neighbors, to opening up homes for others to stay, and sharing meals together.

I know we had a great opportunity to spend time with people we probably would have been able to otherwise, and for that I am very thankful.

We will continue to pray for the islands and those who felt Irma’s wrath. And hopefully we can take a lesson from this and remember to love others and show kindness beyond hurricane season.

minnow traps 

Today I thought I’d share a little activity we like to do up here at the lake. Reusing water bottles to make minnow traps. 

This is fun way to collect some minnows. The clear bottle is like a little fish tank and fun to watch them swim around or my kids even like making little habitats in tupperwares or buckets and transferring them. Then they have little pets for a couple hours (and yes they name them 😉).

Ok, first step… 

Take an old water bottle and cut it just above the label.



Then, add a couple pieces of bread or crackers. We just used an old bagel. And remove the label. Flip the top part of the bottle and put it inside the bottom like this…


You have your trap made! Just place it under water by the shore. Grassier areas work well, as long as the minnows can still swim around. 

Wait and the minnows will come! 

(Ignore my kids noisy breathing.. they were a little excited.. haha)


And there you go! Enjoy! 


What fun little things do you like to do outside to explore nature a little more? My kids love anything having to do with that. I’d love to hear your ideas! 

summer fun

I haven’t had much opportunity to post on here… which is a bummer.

We have been all over the place. I have been trying to balance my workload (weddings each weekend) and summer mode.

But, instead of diving in to all of that.. Im just going to share some images. I have been trying to take more pictures this summer of the kids (and not on my phone).

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the new lake house

So… we did something crazy this month! We bought a Lake House…. we are lovingly calling it the Schartner Lake Shack.

It needs work… for sure (our list is full front and back), but we are so excited!

To be able to have a place to get away as a family, that’s what makes me the most excited.

I can’t wait to post more about our random projects we will have going on there.. and our time spent having lots of fun too I am sure.

Here’s the house… (the view from the dock)

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This was back when we went to look at the house. Since, we have already done quite a bit of cleaning up… see below…

But, we have a lot more work to do!

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Here’s the view from the deck… We get sunsets right across the lake. So beautiful!

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This past weekend we went up for one night so the kids could see the house with our things there!

They were so excited!

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And here they are jumping in the lake for the first time! Yay!

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We are going to be back at the lake next week for 6 days! Can’t wait!