Photo Journal - Josie Boettcher

And we're off! The drive today felt soooo loooonnnnnnggggg. We left around 8:30am, ran to Dunkin' for coffee and breakfast for Ben, then hit the road. We made it to Albany this evening around 6:15, then I went over to Panera and grabbed some dinner. Ben did the majority of the drive, but I took over for a couple of hours. He just gets so sleepy and, thankfully, I was awake enough to drive for a while! The kids stared at their screens quietly for the entire time and I did a crossword puzzle, but mostly just stared out the window, since I get so carsick. The hotel we're at is really nice. It's clean and in a nice part of town. We need to try to stay here again...although it is hard for all six of us to be in one room. I'm hoping we sleep ok! 

PACKING IS ALL I DID ALL DAY. With some extra cleaning thrown in. And also a quick date with Ruby. We just ran to Target and got her a Starbucks drink, then grabbed some essentials for the trip. But we're ready! Or as ready as we can be. It just always feels like I'm missing something. I don't know what, but I'm sure I'll figure it out once we're halfway to Maine. 

Man, I really did not want to go to small group today. I felt so busy! I did school and got all of those veggies from the garden. I spent HOURS chopping, peeling, and freezing veggies for later. It seriously just takes hours and hours to process all of the food I've been growing. It's amazing to have so many good things! It's really so cool. It feels great every single time I harvest anything from my garden. BUT when I have to leave in two days and I have 100 tomatoes on my counter, I start freaking out a little. I went to small group anyway, then fried up my three eggplants when I got home. I'm getting damn good at it too. So delicious. I have SO SO MUCH to get done tomorrow before we leave Friday morning! I'm sure it'll get done. The cleaning is mostly done and the veggies are mostly done. Now it's just packing. 

We went to Wild & Free this morning, intending to take a nice hike at Walnut Woods. Instead, we were viciously attacked by mosquitos until we ran back to the playground, where we were relatively safe again. It was honestly ridiculous. I have never been swarmed like we were today! Literally, SWARMED for almost a half mile! And poor Anne and Claire were wearing their babies out there. They were getting so worried and upset! Anyway, we ended up just hanging out in the pavilion while the kids played on the playground. They were fine with the change of plans, although us moms were a little bored. We had time to actually talk though, which is never bad.  Once I got home, I finished cleaning the car. It looks great! I just did not have the energy to do school this afternoon, even though that was my initial plan, since we're taking Friday off of school for the drive. Then, after dinner, I showered and joined my online book club for a discussion of The Names . It was a good one and I lo...

Halp! So grumpy! I'm bleeding so heavily and am so frustrated. We did a full day of school this morning, then I got Jonas to BJJ, picked him up, and we did art. It was a long day. Kind of hard, but mostly just because of me being cranky. I cleaned, did laundry, and worked on cleaning out the car. The car is such a monumental undertaking. I worked on it for hours and I'm only half done. And I only did the easy half! We just might not have a fully clean car for Maine. Maybe I shouldn't have started at the trunk because it feels like it'll be my seat that doesn't get cleaned. Wah. I got some groceries, cooked dinner, meal prepped some stuffed peppers for Ben, then headed back out and did some more car cleaning. When I came in, I barked some orders at the kids, took a shower, and am currently melting into the couch. I feel like my body is going to fall into a million pieces. Ugh. I am so annoying right now.  * Jonas was 10lbs 11oz when he was born. Clem was 9lbs 13oz wh...

We went to church this morning, but I am very, very grumpy so as soon as it was over, Ben suggested Taco Bell to help me. :) I felt very, very loved by that! We got some junk food and, after we got home, I did lots of cleaning and work around the house. People helped me some, but mostly just stayed out of my way. That's all I did, all day long. Ben went to play MtG and the big kids went to their respective groups. I hate how emotional and mean I am when I'm getting/on my period. I am very cranky!

We got up early and headed to Marietta this morning to visit Hazel. The visit went...fine. We did finally get up the courage to ask about dad's truck and Hazel said that she's gotten a couple of offers and doesn't really know what she wants to do yet. We headed back to Columbus much earlier than we expected to. On our way out the door this morning, Jonas reminded me that I had committed to getting him to Elisha's birthday celebration this evening. There are only three guests going, so it's not like Jonas wouldn't be missed, AND he would freak out if his best friends all got to go to a birthday party and I didn't take him because I forgot about it. Anyway, I think the timing worked out well. We were all about ready for it to end. While I was there, I felt like all was well, but by the time we started driving home, the apathy started to creep in. I started to think, why are we doing this? What are we going to hold onto this relationship for? Hazel doesn't ...

I cannot believe that one week from today, we will be more than halfway to Maine! I can't wait for this trip. I mean, there is still the trepidation I always feel leading up to a big trip. Lots of organizing and planning and packing, all of which are terrible. But I LOVE Maine. I love, love, love being there. I love being cool (temperature) and sitting next to the ocean. I can't wait. I'm going to read and stare and relax so much.  We did our fourth day of school today and it went smoothly. Some temper tantrums from Ollie, and some overwhelm for Ruby, but we got through it all and got our work done around 12:30. Ben was working from home, thankfully, so he helped with Jonas getting to BJJ and I didn't have to interrupt school to get him there. I met Christina at the library in the afternoon for about an hour, just to let the kids see their friends for a bit. I offered to let Jaxon join my older kids' history/literature/language arts class. She's been struggling ...

We had our third day of school today, and it was our best yet. :) We were done with all of our regular subjects by noon, and we got to do music! Everyone was very excited to learn some music theory, but much more excited that I taught them how to find those notes they were learning about on the actual keyboard. Every single one of them is feeling like a future pianist right now and I'm so excited that they're excited.  We had a pretty relaxing afternoon. I got a little more gardening done today...just a few more things to harvest. Then we had pizza and a movie night. Ben went out for drinks with Colin and me and the kids chilled in the den, watching tv. It was a nice night to top off a really good day. 

I spent hours out in the garden today and had a HUGE haul. SO MUCH FOOD!!!! I honestly don't even know what to do with it all. Those sunflower seeds are only from FOUR flower heads! I should really just roast them. That's what I'm planning on doing, but it's just so hard to actually carry out all of the many, many plans in my head. Aside from processing all of this produce, I have a ton of other outstanding projects on my list. I bought the wood for my compost bin in, like, May or something. I still have not built that. I also haven't stained the deck, which Ben powerwashed the week after his dad died. Captain needs a bigger enclosure and I keep saying I'm going to build it, but haven't. I also told Jonas I'd build him a bed frame because he's never had one and he really wants one. So we made some general plans, but I have a million things to do before I can do that and he's so disappointed at how long it's taking! *sigh* But, first, I need t...

We probably should have gone to Wild & Free today, but I really didn't want to deal with mud, so we skipped. Instead, we had what will probably be our last visit to the pool for 2026 and also went to the library. We had a really nice afternoon together. Everyone was getting along and I got to read. It was perfect. And not too hot! So nice! In the evening, I picked Kylienne up, and she joined me at book club for the first time. We had read a book about a "trad-wife", which was a term I had never heard before. I asked around the table and literally everyone else knew what it was besides me. So, that was a little embarrassing, but also a little like, sorry I'm not always on social media, guys. The book was called Yesteryear . Rachel quipped that a trad-wife was me, basically. I felt a little insulted, looking at the Wikipedia definition, but took it in stride and we discussed the book. Kylienne ended up asking me, basically, how I felt about the Christian representat...

First day of the '26-'27 school year!!! Woohoo! I was SO ready to get this week started. The kids were a little less eager, but today went really well anyway. Well, maybe not REALLY well, but it was okay. Good-ish. :) I lost my temper with Ollie at one point. Somehow, I guess I just forgot how difficult Ollie can be to teach. She whines. She whines SO MUCH. I had to count her today and told her she'd be going to bed early if she was going to insist on making our alone work time together miserable. She stopped crying instantly when I counted her, so she's either incredibly self-controlled or she was faking. I wonder which one it was. *eye roll* Anyway, it was a decent day and a good start to the school year.  When I was finally sitting down for some relax time this evening, Justina texted me out of the blue telling me that her birthday is in two days and she's wondering if I will send her some money. So. That threw me off a little. I feel like I responded graciously ...

We went to church this morning, and the message was actually a good one! Convicting, even. Afterward, we went out to lunch for Colin's bday at Moe's. We were a little worried about what the seating arrangements would be, but, thankfully, it was empty enough and there was seating enough for all of us. We had a blast. Lots of catching up and laughing and eating. I accidentally ordered tofu (I just pointed at what I thought was chicken because the woman making the burrito didn't speak English) in my burrito bowl and, while I normally love tofu, it was not done very well. Very yuck.  The kids left for their groups shortly after we got home from lunch and the rest of us stayed home watching tv and listening to the thunderstorms outside. I felt bad because Clem was at her group's pool party, but it turns out their pool party was at Dublin's indoor pool! And she said it was AMAZING in there. Now Ben wants to move to Dublin. I think, what it really is is that Ben wants to b...

We had a relaxing morning at home, then I got dressed up and pretty, and Ben and I headed out on a date. We went to Buffalo Wild Wings after each of us trying to martyr ourselves for the other over meal choosing for what felt like an endless amount of time. Very, very, very annoying to me, to debate over where we're going to eat. I pretty much just want to go to a sitdown place so that someone will serve me my drink. I know it's dumb, but I just want a waiter to bring me my stuff and clean up after me. I don't really care what food is there. Whatever I eat, I'm only going to be able to have a few bites before I have to pack the rest of it up. I tell Ben this over and over, but he still insists on ME deciding where we'll go out to eat. I have also expressed that I just want to not be in charge of decision-making all the time, especially for meals. Nonetheless, he feels like he's disrespecting me if he makes decisions for me. *sigh* Anyway, we went to BWW. I said ...

How in the world am I supposed to start school on Monday??? I've been waking up at 8:30am and hanging out in my bed until 9:30am every morning for weeks. Jonas and Clem don't usually get up until 10:30/11 in the morning. We're supposed to be AT THE TABLE, eating breakfast, at 8:30am for our Sunrise Symposium. Starting Monday. Monday. That is literally in three days. Maybe I'm being a little overzealous. Maybe I give us until Wednesday, like most of the schools in the area? It's just annoying to start a 4-day curriculum on a Wednesday. Then I'm doing half weeks of curriculum and we're off kilter on Mondays. Hmmmmmm.... We can do it. Can't we?? *anguished sigh* I don't know what to do! We harvested seeds from only FOUR of our sunflowers today, but got SO MANY! It's enough for a thick layer of seeds on a baking sheet. Pretty crazy! I still have lots of sunflowers to dry and harvest. I also went to lunch with some of the ladies from group today to ce...

Today was about as uneventful as the rest of the week has been. I think I mentioned the leak in our bathroom, coming from the roof. Well, we had the roofing guy out to look at it today. He was friendly and said he actually grew up in this neighborhood! He is the one who came to our house a few years ago about the very same leak. He said he thinks it's his fault it's still leaking, but he's not 100% sure. I'm not really sure what incentive he has to take responsibility for the leak, but we'll see. He's going to have his team review the photos and will let us know what the next steps are.  We were going to go to the Hilliard pool, but it was closed for the second day in a row, which is frustrating. We paid SO much for that stinking pool membership, and I don't know if we've even gone 10 times. Ben isn't stressing about it, but it makes me feel frustrated, for sure. It's been too busy of a summer.  We had pizza and a movie night tonight and watched ...

It was not storming this morning when we got up, for the first time this week. I was hoping Jonas would go to BJJ today, but he said his ankle still hurts, so he skipped...again. Since we weren't going there, I brought everyone to the library for a bit, to get new books and be around other humans that aren't Boettchers for a little while. Then we went to McDonald's and got drinks for a treat. And then we went home. *shrug* There has been a lot of time at home lately. I don't dislike it, but I was kind of at a loss for what I could do. I've read a lot this week, and that's fun, but I wanted to be productive. I went on Snapfish to work on a vacation photo book and then I did that for HOURS. It takes a long time to make photo books! But then I realized I never even ordered the one I made from Maine 2024 and I spiraled a bit, making photo books from other vacations I hadn't made them for yet. It was productive and I'm glad I got to it. Meanwhile, a bunch of ...

Okay, I enjoy staying home with nothing to do more than most...but this is starting to get a little old already. I can't believe I'm saying that! Today's plans were all cancelled because of the storms. We were supposed to go to Wild & Free this morning, but it was storming really badly at that time, then I was supposed to go to book club tonight at 7, and Kylienne was going to join for the first time, but that got cancelled too. Yesterday, I stayed in PJs all day and didn't shower. TODAY, I leveled up and actually got showered and dressed. I took the kids to the library and to get drinks at McDs, but that was the extent of our outings for today. I went out to my garden to harvest and got lots and lots more tomatoes that I'm going to have to toss because we can't eat this many cherry tomatoes, but my time out there was cut short by another incoming storm. So we just stayed inside all day, and the kids played and I read. Jonas and Clem both went to CT tonight,...

It still kind of felt like a weekend to me today. Jonas twisted his ankle last night, slipping on an unexpected puddle in our bathroom...caused by a leak in our damn roof!!! Def wasn't expecting that! The twisted ankle or the fun surprise that we have a leak in our roof. Anyway...I digress. The point is, it was a nice day. Despite the stupid leak. We didn't go anywhere or do anything! Jonas couldn't go to BJJ and we had no other plans. I worked on curriculum stuff for hours and hours, which really needed to be done. The order I received was a little wonky and didn't quite have everything I needed or even everything I thought I ordered. I've got everything organized now though! And, once I get the stuff I still need to buy, we'll be all set for the school year to start...next week? Yikes. Maybe next week. Feels crazy to say that though! I need to get a hard start date in my mind though, so I can prepare the kids. And myself. :) Ollie and I worked on a little craf...

We went to the late service at Meadow Park today and I was feeling frustrated with Christina because she didn't respond to any of my texts yesterday. I wouldn't have thought about it for another second, but she completely avoided me during the church service too. I tried to say hi to her and she just looked the other way and started talking to someone else. So, as soon as the church service was over (which was just mid, tbh) I asked her if we could talk. She looked nervous, but I just asked if anything was wrong and she said it wasn't. I feel irritated still, for sure. I don't really want to make space in my life for juvenile drama. Ben thinks I should give her the benefit of the doubt, that she really was just tired yesterday and didn't see me sitting two chairs over from her in church. Buuuuutttt....how could she not see me? Am I invisible?? Idk. Trying to just stop thinking about it.  Ben and I went on a nice date to City BBQ, then headed to Target to walk around...

I loved today. It was perfect. In the morning, I got to work on recovering these chairs. They were SO horrible!!! And they have been for at least a year. They look a lot better now. And, to think, I was about to just look into buying new chairs!  Ben and Jonas were going playing MtG for most of the day, so it was just me and the girls. We just watched TV and hung out at home. I cleaned the upstairs for a while, which is satisfying. It just looks so good up there when it's clean.  For dinner, Ollie and I went on a date to DQ. The lady working there recognized us! And asked us where the rest of the family was. :) It was cute. Pretty uneventful but relaxing day!

Today was a bit of a whirlwind. The morning started out slowly enough - some relaxation and reading, the kids playing nicely together. I mean, how many more opportunities will I even have to see all four of my kids playing together?? I got Jonas off to BJJ at 11:45. I'm feeling a little frustrated with it because he is not excited to go anymore and it's still very expensive. It felt worth it when he was training there almost daily, but now it's feeling less worthwhile. Once or twice a week for $180 each month just doesn't seem like a good deal. He keeps saying he'll pick it back up and start to go more often again, which is why I haven't made any changes. It has been a busy summer. I'll give him that.  After dropping him off, I drove all the way down to our stupid car dealership to get my oil changed. I'm not really sure why we're still paying so much more and spending so much more time to go down there. I need to ask Ben about it. It just feels ridi...

I feel like it was a very busy day, but I didn't actually go anywhere. Did I? Oh, I did. I went on a date with Clem. We went to Chick-fil-A for lunch, then went to Target for a while. She's old enough that she doesn't just beg for stuff all the time, which I'm very grateful for. We had a good time. I also worked on some homeschool stuff for a while and did some...other...stuff? I have no idea why I'm blanking on today. We had pizza and a movie night, but Ben and Ollie got into an argument and it kind of derailed the rest of the night. For the record, Ben was right and Ollie was wrong, but he just gets so confrontational with the kids, and they don't respond well to it. He tried to cut himself off, it seemed like, but it was too late and she had already run away crying. *sigh* Ben and I both wanted early nights tonight, so we went to bed at like 9:30. Jonas and Clem were so disappointed.  *Got a big harvest today! And I didn't pick any of the dozen or so jala...

I was feeling pretty grumpy today and didn't go out much, as a result. Christina invited us to go to the pool, but we were supposed to get our water meter switched out so we had to miss it. I spent three hours in my garden, trying to get my tomato plants off the ground, pruning and picking, lifting and tying, out in the 90 degree, sunny heat. I did get the job done, but it was hot, sweaty work. I was literally drenched with sweat by the time I was done AND had the added bonus of throwing my back out. And I'm not even done! I just dealt with the tomatoes finally. I didn't even look at the peppers, flowers, beans, eggplant, cucumbers, or squash. Ugh. I hope I don't have more vine borers in my zucchini. 😓 We went to small group tonight and it was, honestly, very boring. We went over Revelation 9 and, for some reason, Ed didn't break us into smaller groups, so it was just a big group discussion. Because of this, we had to listen to these incredibly long monologues from...

We had Wild & Free this morning and went to Friendship Park over in Gahanna. It was a far drive, but worth it. We had a great time hanging out with friends and creeking for a while. We left at noon because we didn't pack lunch and we just hung out at home for the afternoon. Ben and I went to the Hilliard HC in the evening. I did get to have some good conversations, and the teaching was good too. I even commented once! Ben felt pretty neutral about it...or at least chose not to really make a judgment on it. Honestly, though, I'm feeling more settled into Meadow Park lately, and I'm not sure I'd go back to Dwell fully at this point. I do like the HC though and could see myself doing both for the time being. IDK. Just waiting on a clear direction from God. I've started back up my daily devotional/independent Bible study again. It's been good for me, I think.  Max, at W & F, was flirting with Clem today and she was very disconcerted by it. I thought it was c...