Summertime memories

There have been a lot of fires this summer. The closest one is probably Cle Elum, on the other side of Snoqualmie Pass. It's been pretty hazy with all the smoke and ash floating around in the air. I'm in awe of all of the natural disasters that have been happening lately, between the PNW fires and Hurricane Harvey and now Irma. My heart goes out to all those who have been affected.

We've had a great summer here in Poulsbo and I wanted to document some of our memories. Some of the pictures look cloudy because of the smoke in the air.

Here's one of the first harvests from our garden this year. We only have one zucchini plant, but it is really producing for us! The broccoli became infested with aphids, so now I'm just enjoying the pretty yellow flowers that pop out of the florets. Our carrots, green beans, onions, potatoes, spinach, and berries were all awesome this year. Still waiting to see how the corn and pumpkins do...

Kender is pretty proud of his sunflowers. It's hard to tell in the picture, but this one is almost as tall as him!

I was so excited to see how this giant, lush sunflower with multiple heads would turn out - it's the only plant that survived of the seeds I planted from a seed packet (not harvested from last years sunflowers). I was terribly disappointed. 

Have you ever seen a more deformed sunflower!? There are no petals!

But our home grown harvest flowers are humongous and beautiful. They help brighten things up with the ashy skies ♥

Two things Kender has taken an interest in this summer are: Climbing trees and Baseball! He started throwing the ball around with his cousins and Uncle Scott and he loved it, so we got him his very own lefty glove (not pictured).

Kender is getting bigger and more handsome every day!

And Rhett is as cute as ever. Melissa and her family recently moved in, and he and Kender have been overjoyed having their cousins around all the time. We've had to set some new boundaries as they all adjust to having each other 24/7, but it's been good for them. It's funny listening to Kender and Lucas (ages 5 and 6) have in-depth Minecraft discussions.

He snuck into the snowmobile trailer and decided to go for his own ride :D

Made his own little chair out of pillows... He melts my heart ♥

Rhett loves having Leo around too. We think it's because he doesn't dwarf him with his size like Sadie does. He loves cuddling and tickling Leo.

Speaking of doggies, I've been in the sketching mood lately and sketched out our sweet pup this past Sunday. I've been reflecting on life with Sadie, and I've come to the conclusion that although she isn't as well trained as we'd like (especially outdoors), she does her job as an Emotional Support Animal very well. She always has an abundance of love for any one of us who needs it, and her sweet and goofy personality has brought us tons of joy ♥

These pictures are from a few weeks ago, but I think I've finally mastered the art of homemade bread!! It tastes amazing. I was trying to make it regularly and use it instead of buying bread, but it gets dry after a day or so. Not quite worth the effort. But I'll definitely be making it on occasion to enjoy with dinner :)

Kender starts Kindergarten on Monday! I know he will do great, and he's excited to have his best friend in class with him, but I still have that desire to homeschool... We did a little review tonight of his vowels and letter sounds and he just did awesome. I hope helping him with homework is as fulfilling for me as homeschooling was!