Jackson started soccer on Friday with Coach Seth by his side again for the Fall season. His first game was Sat. Last Spring was Jackson’s first season to play and it was neat to see him start up this Fall season with some more skill and focus. We are excited to see him grow and learn with his teammates!  And I must say Coach Seth has gotten pretty darn good at herding cats… I mean coaching 1st graders!

Here are some pics!

Jackson told Seth he’ll be calling him “Coach Seth” just so the other kids don’t get confused.

let’s be honest, some family members show up for the fruit snacks they snag

learning throw-ins

and I missed getting a picture of Jackson’s first goal but I caught the celebration! …

pure joy!

sweaty and celebrating!

My canning buddy Rebecca and I decided to combine our tomatoes one week, along with a few from the farmers market close to our home. We made a triple batch of homemade salsa! Rebecca was the MVP of the day because I had an appointment to get Owen’s stitches out of his ear so she got started on the messy work of peeling and de-seeding the tomatoes!! I waltzed in from our appointment for the last round of peeling which hardly compared to what she had accomplished!

Here is the recipe from recipe.com for the salsa in case anyone is drowning in tomatoes and cares to give salsa a try!!

Sorry for the silence around here. I have 3-4 posts half written and while I have been wanting to get back on here and share things with you all I have been knee deep in school prep, garden processing and some major nesting.

We kicked off first grade yesterday with Jackson! He was very excited to go back to school with only the slightest anxiety. He plowed through the day and I was holding my breath for the breakdown. It came at around 6 pm when I think he was just so worn out from the day and full of things to tell us about. He is most thrilled to have his own desk and pencil box this year. He has a few kids from his class last year which helps to ease the jitters. His teacher seems to be a great fit for him and has a great reputation at the school. Owen heads off to preschool tomorrow and as he says he “has been waiting for years and years to go to school”. We are praying for a healthy and happy school year for both boys. There will be lots of changes with a new baby and all of that good stuff but hopefully school will provide a consistent routine! So far so good.

The garden is winding down but not without lots of tomato processing! My fingers are weary from the peeling, seeding and prepping…but of course thankful for the unexpected bounty. I have nearly given up though and I must admit our watering is slowly tapering off. The freezer is stocked with garden veggies to pull out throughout the fall and winter.  Fall is closer than it feels I imagine so it’s probably time to close down shop. We will be growing a mini fall garden of  lettuces and such but nothing too major. We have a family of mice living in our melon patch so I just avoid that area all together!!

Nesting is in full swing as are contractions. Somehow the increase in contractions makes me feel the real need to prepare for baby girls arrival, which likely leads to more contractions. Seth leaves for Peru on Sunday for a week of uninterrupted sleep, pisco sours and ceviche   work so my projects will need to be on hold in order to focus on keeping the boys alive and the baby girl in! To say I am mildly terrified to have him an overnight flight away at 32+ weeks pregnant with contractions warming up is an understatement. But Seth rolls into adventures and planning with great calm regardless of risk so we will all just roll with him (at least on the outside). I have avoided photos this pregnancy…feeling huge and not so fun about it all but since the camera was out Seth made me take one. Here is baby girl at nearly 31 weeks.   Ignore the puffy eyes, etc. I believe Owen woke up in the 4 AM hour.

I’ll be back here soon to really play catch up! I promised that last time but we’ll see if I can get it done! More on Jackson’s birthday, the rest of summer and the baby nursery coming soon!  thanks for stopping by!

After leaving Seth’s family we headed on to see my family in Ft. Worth. My brother and sister-in-law had just welcomed our new niece Grace into the world the week before so we arrived just in time for some great cuddles! Graham and Tina are wonderful parents and seem to be taking parenthood in stride! Grace is a sweetie pie and loved to be held and admired! I didn’t get nearly enough pictures of Grace since I was normally trying to hold her.  The weather was HOT while we were there so we made the most of indoor activities for the most part, aside from a few pool outings!  At the end of the week my grandmother flew in from Florida to meet Grace! We lucked out and got to see her as well.

Lots of my pictures are still on my phone but here are a few to get started!