I did not mean to ghost you this week, a week that turned into what I have been referring to as prep week. This week we dipped our toe into fall schedule (youth group, musical theater), but next week we really go full throttle with co-op starting and some overlapping evening commitments.

And honestly? I’m excited about it! Is it just because I made up my mind to be? Perhaps. But like I tell the girls, our thoughts are powerful and what we tell ourselves repeatedly becomes our reality. So. Here I am, feeling truly energized about our fall schedule and looking forward to experiencing it all.

To help keep track of it all, we splurged and got a Skylight calendar. Being a committed paper calendar girl, I was skeptical, but now I’m a fan. After spending an hour transferring all my paper calendar commitments to the shared calendar, I’m in love! It’s easy to use, syncs with google calendar, and acts as our family control center. We can see what everyone has going on in one spot. The girls don’t have to ask me what each week looks like. They have task lists that I can adjust from my phone and they can check off as they complete it. Being that our fall is so full, this calendar is going to be our organization saving grace!

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So what have we been up to this week? Well, since you asked… 😉 It started off with trip to the Biltmore Estate to see the King Tut exhibit with some friends. It was my first time going to Asheville since we moved and having only be one hour away was awesome! I’m contemplating annual passes because the girls and I both wanted to stay longer to visit the estate and explore the grounds. The property offers so many experiences.

The exhibit itself was well done with a blend of static displays and films/projections. It was a self guided audio set up. I’d recommend it for ages 9+ unless you have a younger child really into ancient Egypt. We spent a couple hours in the exhibit, ate lunch and played at the playground, got ice cream, then headed home. A really fun fieldtrip day!

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We kept school rolling as usual after our field trip. We are marching right through our history. We finished Beowulf (kids really enjoyed it) and are a couple chapters into King Arthur (having to read slowly because there are a lot of names and places). I started language arts for K and need to do some more youtube watching to better understand how to teach it because it feels a little clunky right now. All our curriculum picks can be found in this blog post.

David and I got in a date night. We went to The Trappe Door, a Belgium restaurant in downtown Greenville. We shared the Moules Frites (mussels with fries), steak frites, and buffalo fried oysters. Can you tell we like our frites? Especially when each portion comes with three dipping sauces of your choice!

It was not only good food, but great conversation, too. We discussed 2026 travel plans, holiday schedules, house projects, and kid stuff. It was nice to have the time to enjoy each others company and address some of the loose ends that had needed addressing.

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While we will be out and about often this fall season, I’m also incredibly giddy about the time we’ll have at home. Mondays and Fridays are largely open for us, leaving plenty of time to enjoy a leisurely homeschool pace, take plenty of walks on the trails, play in the garden, light cozy candles, and cook and bake.

K has been baking up a storm lately (cookies and cakes being her favorite), H wanted to learn to make hashbrowns from scratch (and they were amazing), and I’ve still been baking my way through this artisan sourdough cookbook. The spiral version is worth the money and I find myself wishing I had had this since the beginning of my sourdough adventure. It has clear steps that aren’t complicated and every loaf I’ve made has turned out pretty darn good. I highly recommend it.

I finally joined the trend a decade late with buying the Instant Pot and so far I like it most for bone broth (the best I’ve ever made) and boiled eggs. Tell me what else I must try! When we built this house I had high hopes for my kitchen and I still feel like I pinch myself every time I walk into it. The natural light shining in on my messy blend of garden things, chicken things (yes, I had meal worms on my counter-ick), and kitchen things makes my heart so happy and I really love being in there making things for my family.

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Now it’s Friday and today is all about getting all the soccer stuff the girls need and getting the house cleaned up before we have friends joining us for pizza night! I also have been getting out to the garden each day, scraping squash bug eggs off the pumpkin plants and squishing nymphs. I’m hopeful we will get a few pumpkins! My second round of cucumbers seem to be taking, too, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed I’ll have more to pickle. Other than that, I’m about ready to plant some fall things, but I just need to decide on what. Carrots? Cabbage? Any suggestions on easy beginner fall plants?

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Signing off now to walk the dog, finish my coffee, start a load of sheets, and tie my humidity-filled frizzy hair that desperately needs a haircut back into a braid. I hope you have a wonderful Friday and a happy weekend!