Eckenrode Family

Hello

 I’ve been very quiet in this space lately. Not sure why, but here is what’s been going on around here:

:: Soccer and hockey.

::  Miles is maturing so much. He recently got recognized at school for displaying ‘self-control,’ the positive characteristic that was highlighted this month in his school. He was the only one recognized in his class for the first two weeks. He is also beginning to try new foods and even enjoyed a green smoothie I made one morning. I thought my jaw was going to hit the floor.

:: I’ve been enjoying the wet, cooler weather and using it as an excuse to roast pumpkins and bake and organize the house.

:: I’ve been mentally preparing myself for our next big adventure: we’re becoming foster parents. This has required hours of classes which we have finished and lots of paperwork, inspections and home studies. I am appreciating every hoop we have to jump through, thinking about if this were my child that someone was taking into their home, how grateful I would be that their dedication was tested and their home was looked over and deemed safe by professionals. :: Ben is busy making new friends in his preschool and we had a nice group to the house today. We are preparing to celebrate this boy’s 5^th birthday in a little over a week. He wants to celebrate his birthday with a tractor theme for the 3^rd year in a row. I think we’ve discovered a true passion of his.

Scenes From the Weekend

Harvesting

The heat and humidity were chased away in the middle of the night by a thunderstorm and we awoke the next morning with smiles on our faces. The cool breeze continued throughout the day, pulling the leaves from the trees. We closed down the pool in a rush to keep it from filling up with leaves and with it we said what felt like an official goodbye to summer. We spent the rest of the day cleaning the coop and harvesting tomatoes, peppers, gourds, sunflower heads and pumpkins from the garden. Keeping the good, giving the bruised and rotting to the chickens. We love to pile up our goods on the picnic table each year so that we can see all of the colors and variety in one space. To see the fruits of our spring labors in the flesh.