Oh goodness! It’s been awhile since I’ve been here writing. I don’t like it when things get so busy that writing gets set aside, but sometimes that’s life!

So, what have the Schwabs been up to?

I think we could answer the question, “what haven’t the Schwabs been up to?”easier!

We have realized we took on easy too many projects this spring at one time. I think I make the mistake of thinking they will take less time than they really do and that Andrew is home more hours than he really is.

We added two raised beds to the garden. (I still don’t have enough room!) We used limestone block that’s been on our property for probably 100 years as a foundation to an old grain shed. The shed was sold last fall. It ended up being a lot of work, and all work I couldn’t really do. Those blocks are heavy! It turned out beautifully though.

Then out of pure rage, I tore the entire raspberry patch apart! I have been fighting the weeds since we moved here and they won. Last year, I got a small bowls of raspberries and spent hours pulling obnoxious weeds. This year I said, “No More!”

So I dug all the good plants out and tilled and tilled. I laid black plastic and heavily mulched and replanted. It all took way longer than I expected so I lost some plants while they were waiting to be replanted. But it looks amazing and I hardly have to weed, so I’ll call it a win! And, raspberries will send new shoots so I’ll get those plants back eventually.

Then we can’t forget there was a garden to plant! That got in very late, but it’s flourishing except for squash bugs. I moved my squash to get away from the bugs last year. It didn’t work. Now I have three kinds of bugs. Makes me really angry. And, let’s face it, they’re gross and I have to pick them off!

And, of course, if that weren’t enough, we decided to remodel our camper. We were going to just replace the roof, which was leaking, but why not just redo EVERYTHING! It’s been a fun project, but, of course, it’s taking way longer than we thought. And we keep finding things to replace or fix. We’re camping in August so I guess we better just keep pressing on so we can enjoy it! I’ll do a separate post with photos of that and show you all we did!

Of course, in the midst of this three cars needed repairs, taking up much of a weekend for each, other things on the farm needed fixing or replacing, there’s animals to take care of, and most importantly, there’s kids to raise!

Thankfully in much of this they’ve been able to participate, but they need down time too, just like us. More than us! We took them bowling and fishing and we’ve been swimming a lot. We’ve been so thankful for the pool this summer! Four of them got to participate in Frozen Jr, the musical, which was so fun!

Oh yeah, the pool took 2 weeks to get clear too! There’s always something! We feel busier than ever but it’s all been good, fruitful busy. We love to work as a family and play a a family. And we’ve been doing that this summer, for sure.

Often, when we pray, I just thank God for the strength he gives us each day to do the work He gives us each day! We definitely need it! And I don’t take it for granted!

I know I’ve forgotten things. All I can say is, wow! I hope the last half of the summer slows down a bit! I feel like I’m trying to grasp at reigns made of water to stop summer. I guess I just need to take one day at a time and be thankful for it. I hope you are too!