Getting Ready for OPEN HOUSE! And a bonus "What I Did This Summer" in photos

This time of year I find myself choosing to kick around in my classroom, happily flitting from project to project,  languidly ticking off all those necessary chores that must be finished in order to have an environment that engages and captivates the attention of...me! 

You thought I was going to say

 "engages and captives the attention of 5-6 year olds!" 
didn't you? 😜

Well, yes, them, too!!!!

💜(of course!)💜

But me as well, as that colorful classroom is where your child and I will spend most of our days together once the school year gets rolling.

Our home away from home!

I love to take my time to organize and reorganize, decorate and redecorate, arrange and rearrange without feeling the pressure of the clock ticking.

So, if you have seen me or my jeep parked outside the school at 1am (ya, I totally lost track of time on THAT day)

know I am doing what I LOVE to do.

If you scroll to the bottom of this post you will see that I do have balance in my life...just not all at the same time!

Here's a sneak peek at some of the fun:

BUT NOW THE CLOCK IS TICKING!!!!

Please come and join us on Wednesday, August 28 anytime from 4-7 for OPEN HOUSE at the Elementary.

Bring the forms from the welcome packet and school supplies.

I have a small gift for your little one for "popping" in!

💜

P.S. If you are interested, here's lots of photos of some of our summer adventures. 

We tend to squeeze a lot in, in a little time!

💜

In June I had my first commissioned art piece in acrylic and resin! 

Yes, it goes to my sister, but still...commissioned seems such a professional thing, like I could be a real artist! 

 I did lots of crocheting!  

This super soft blanket is for my 10th grandchild 
(due in October)

 This was June's activity...a kitchen revamp! 
I am in LOVE the final product, but I am still not loving the time invested! I used a miter box to trim out each and every of the 18 doors!  
Ugh. My arm still aches thinking about it!
 It's staying Scandinavian Blue, Azalea Green, and Mountain Stream Blue for the rest of MY time here in this old farmhouse!  
(OHHH but I DO love it!)

Oh, I spent an excessive amount of time here.....
and would do it all over again!

 

More crocheting, this is Sorcha's temperature blanket.  I'm making one for each of our 6 kids.  One more to go!  Then maybe one for us?

 We spent some time in the Upper Peninsula  of Michigan helping my nephew and his GF with their new fixer upper house.  They treated us to a tour of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore!  BEAUTIFUL!

From there we went straight to the other side of Lake Superior to meet up with my son,  Graham,  and his sweet wife and my adorable grandbaby in Duluth just in time for the lupines!

Tea party at Gooseberry! 

 We hiked a little, dug for agates a lot,  and then did the typical sight seeing things we usually do not do while on the North Shore...it was fantastic!

Several weeks later, just my hubby and I zoomed up to Grand Marais to tick off some more miles on the Superior Hiking Trail.  

We made the 170 mile point this summer, only 140 more to go!

 This is from our favorite agate beach about 20 miles south of the Canadian border on Hwy 61.

 Oh, I spent plenty of time here, too...along with the pets!

All 3 kiddos will be at WSU this Fall...Fionn for part of his senior year in high school taking PSEO, Sorcha for the nursing program (hopefully! She applied at the end of her sophomore year...fingers crossed), and Maeve to wrap up her degree in the film industry. Their daddy and I met there...how cool is that?  My Grandma went to that very building when it was the Normal School for Teacher Education.  AWESOME!

 We did a few local festivals, they all seemed to have a Scandinavian theme!  I might be an O'Duggan, but I am more Norwegian than Irish!

Peterson...

Decorah

 We took lots of local hikes...this one was on the river bottoms near Weaver. Maeve comes along if we take the chihuahua to keep her safe from eagles and owls! 

We checked out the new pick your own flower farm near Dover...Berry and Bloom, what fun!

And all the kids but one have summer birthdays, sooooo celebration mode is always on in the summer at our house!

 I was blown away by the generosity of my social media family and friends as they donated money for free books for each child for every month in both Kindergarten classes!  Wow!  

And it's not summer until we've taken the kayaks out for a Mississippi River tour!

I'd live in my kayak if I could!

I was lucky to head to Indianapolis for a long weekend to spend time with these sweethearts! 

My oldest, Shae, her hubby and these 4 goofballs are a blast to hang around with!

 We had a painting party and we all painted those sunflowers in the background...how fun!

On the way home,  I did get to visit my son,  Lee, and his family in Baraboo. They are the ones expecting a baby girl in October. 

It was a quick visit and shockingly no photos!   

I'll fix that next time! 

We moved Sorcha into an apartment in Winona.  

It's so quiet only having 2 kids at home!

We've had a record number of broody hens this year!  

At last count at least 7 hens have from 1-13 chicks each!  WOW!

Uff-da!  This was a tough one for me...a mermaid tail for my 10th grandbaby's newborn photo session~more to come later after she is born!  I am pretty happy with how it turned out!

And we ended the summer with a "new to me" jeep!  I am the proud owner of 2 jeeps now! Sorcha is borrowing my greenie until she can afford her own. 

So, my summer was full and fun (throw 4 weeks of enrichment summer school in there for good measure!)

but I am ready to back on a school schedule!
The time will fly, the seasons, too!

I am looking forward to this journey with you as your little one changes and grows in so many ways!

You can follow me on Instagram or facebook if you'd like to see more of our adventures!  We do try to squeeze the most out of every day but also maintain time to relax and reflect! Balance...

See you soon!