Where do I even begin? It has been quite the month! These days find me overwhelmed with trying to stay on top of everything and feeling like I am accomplishing nothing. More times than I can count this month I have considering letting some things go as I feel I just do not have the time nor the energy for it all. This blog being on top of that list. I feel guilty when I cannot write a post on a regular basis like I like to and I just cannot seem to get to the blog these days. I keep reminding myself of all that has gone on in our lives recently. So many changes and adjustments. It really is no wonder I am exhausted. I feel as though I am walking a tightrope lately and am trying desperately to keep my balance- balance that seems way off right at this moment.

I worry about keeping up with my blog but am torn because my younger children need me so much. We are still going forward with homeschooling Ariella but that is proving to be so much harder than I imagined considering her autism. Gabriel is rapidly approaching two and boy does it show in his behavior! He is so full of the devil and wanting to assert his own mindedness. As I sit and type this I can hear him downstairs running my husband into the ground. The little man is unstoppable! Some days it feels as though all I do is chase that kid out of trouble. He has the sweet face of an angel but oh my goodness, don’t let that fool you!

We are (so far!) having a rather dry but chilly fall. Today we absolutely loved the sun streaming into our windows despite the quite chilly and even icy weather outside.

A few days ago I did some experimenting with some of the plants in our new garden. We have inherited a thornless hawthorn tree and it is dripping in berries right now. I decided to see what color of natural dye these berries might hold for me. I’m still testing them out but below you can see I did indeed achieve a nice color off of them.

I have been attempting to squeeze spare moments out of the day every chance I get for holiday gift crafting. I do hope to share some of that with you here very soon.

I  will try to be find my way back to this blog this week….

Until then,

xoxo

It has been quite the whirlwind around here since my husband’s accident and our move to Washington. I did not mean to take a two week break from this blog, in fact I cannot believe two weeks have gone by already! I am slowly finding my feet again and am attempting to find normal once more. Life was really flipped upside down for a little bit there!

I wish I could say that the tow truck driver that hit my husband was found but unfortunately, I cannot. The police have suspended the case as well seeing that there is not much to go on– no license plate, no idea what company it was, etc. Everyone was hoping the tow truck company would turn their driver in but that does not seem to be what is going to happen. We think they probably fear a lawsuit and are brushing it under the rug. (Which makes me sick if that is the case– a man could have died!) People that work with my husband have been telling us that the tow truck company would face some serious liability for their driver so we think they are not reporting it.

Thankfully my husband is okay and as the days went by following the accident he only had to contend with a badly cut ear and lots of bruises (from his seatbelt of all things!)

As a family we are gradually adjusting and settling into our new home. What a crazy start we have had to it though! I spent about a week feeling all out of sorts following the accident. It was like my worst fears coming true. When my husband was in the Marine Corps I feared for him constantly. Now as a civilian he works a rather hazardous job. My worst fear is getting that phone call that he has been hurt. At four in the morning one day last month I received that phone call. It seemed to affect me more than it did him!

I am now starting to feel a little bit more like myself today. I have been trying to slow down some on making this house ours and focus on little things that make me happy. Everything got a bit neglected after the accident. Everything got turned topsy-turvy. I have been trying to focus on the kids and the little things that bring me personal joy.

{roving naturally dyed with brazilwood}

This week found me working on some natural dyes for the little fiber shop that has been neglected following the move.

{yarn in the dye pot}

I’m also enjoying the new plants (at least to me!) growing around our new home.

{tree leaves that are stubbornly not changing colors for fall}

{Which reminds me! Do the leaves in the picture above look like leaves from a sweet gum tree to you? I was thinking this was a sweet gum tree growing in our yard but the leaves are staying green and have not yet changed color so it has me confused!}

Gradually we are finding a new rhythm to our house. I am looking forward to the day when this really feels like home.

It’s finally here! Tomorrow is the BIG day that we have been planning months for. Friday evening we were finally able to pick up the keys to our new home and now tomorrow we are moving in. It has been the longest, most stressful process I have ever been through! I cannot express how relieved I am to finally have the home buying part over. Moving is going to seem easy after all that we went through in order to buy the house!

Ariella is a little confused and I worry about how she is going to handle everything. I keep having to reassure her that all of our things are coming with us. When we went into the new home on Friday after picking up our keys she was surprised to see the former owners items gone and the house empty. I think that might have helped her to understand the whole moving experience a bit better. Now she seems to understand why all of our things are in boxes.

Gabriel of course does not know what is coming! I am worried about his rhythm getting completely out of whack. (Especially when we are just now starting to sleep through the night!) He has never had his own room so I cannot wait to see what he thinks of that. I think he is really going to love having a little space of his own.

I cannot express just how drained and exhausted this whole process has made me. It has been the biggest roller coaster we have ever been on. I have been struggling with having to constantly adjust our plans and expectations. I can normally roll with things pretty well but buying this house really pushed me to my limits. I really wanted to have a week or so before moving in to get the house ready for us. That just isn’t possible now. We are fortunate that the owners of this rental house were understanding of how long our new home took to close. We were originally suppose to be out by the end of September! It has been a long and nail biting road.

I may not be around on the blog for a bit in the next week while I get everything situated and under control. I am looking forward to putting our touches on this new house and making it our home.

Thank you to everyone for all of your nice emails, comments, and thoughts while we pulled ourselves through this incredible time in our lives. It has been exciting, scary, and exhausting all rolled into one!