(“The Great Pumpkin” storytelling night last year.)

I got to meet a few long time blog readers yesterday at a conference I was speaking at here in Atlanta, and it was such a highlight for me! Seeing faces and hearing stories from readers is what motivates us to keep going. I love my work, but this year was such a tough one personally which made it very difficult to push through. I do mean it when I say we appreciate each of you who visit our blog. Every message, email, or note encourages us. It has nudged me to get back to writing family updates because that is the heartbeat behind all we do.

We started our second year of hybrid model school with the kids, and it has definitely been a smoother start than last year when it was all new and a tad overwhelming. We decided to hire tutor help for Gabriel and Veronica because we were slow to admit that it was impossible to run a full time business, teach lessons, and chase two toddlers even if there were two of us. We tried so hard to do it all on our own, but finally raised the white flag. Thank goodness we did. There have been days Gabe and I wonder why we make things so hard on ourselves. Hiring help in business or home life always feels like a financial investment, and it also can be tough to find the right kind of help. We found a great fit for our kids, and are feeling life is back to a more breathable pace. Our kids are still really happy with their new school, and having more time at home so for now I am just happy to make it work!

We also decided to try something new with the optional Friday enrichment classes of art and music. We were been going back and forth about whether to do sports or art/music this semester for our kids because both were not going to be possible timewise. It was kind of a sigh of relief they chose music and art. The time for practices and games for soccer isn’t bad, but it is nice to have your weekends untouched by commitments. They have such a love for creating art that it has been cool to see them get to explore different mediums. I am all about that right side of the brain development! Highly recommend this book for elementary ages.

Gabe and I are working on getting the house ready for a home tour on a bigger website, so it’s been a little crazy considering the amount of prep it takes to get your entire house clean at one time. 😉 Seems impossible with busy toddler tornadoes! We have also been working on bringing something exciting to the shop as well! We will be announcing that soon.

Cheers to the start of the new season! I was holding out mentioning the word until it was actually here, so happy fall! Best surprise this week? Full sized gourds and pumpkins grew on the side of our house just in time for the start of fall. We tossed our rotting ones there last year, and didn’t think they would actually grow that fast. They are the big muted toned ones that I love, and Gabe is feeling pretty awesome about the unexpected jackpot.

Hope you have a splendid FALL week ahead! There I said it twice.