August 2018

August began with the end of Nana and Grandad's visit.  I think I mentioned this in the July blog, but on the last day of their visit we visited to Space and Rocket Center. So here are the pictures from that outing.

Dawson and Carter both really wanted to do the rock wall this time. (You have to have on closed toed shoes and we have always ended up at the Rocket Center in sandals, until this day-they both purposefully wore real shoes so they could do it.)

Here's Carter at the very top of the wall!

And here's Dawson (middle) on his way up!

Clayton and Nana at the Rocket Center

Nana and Grandad with the kids at the Space and Rocket Center.

One Sunday before heading to church.

Since moving back we have gotten plugged back into our same church from when we lived here before.  The kids love it, and it feels good to be back at Asbury.

Oh, the "high shoes"

Nora Kate got these high heels on a date with John one day, and it's all she wants to wear to church...ever! She loves them.  Clayton calls them her "high cotton" shoes which is hysterical to me!

Love my fancy girl!

Oops here are two more from the Rocket Center

Sadly, oh so sadly, our wonderfully fun and adventurous summer break has come to an end.  This is always so sad to me.  I must prefer our summers, having everyone home, finding something fun to do every day, no routine over the daily grind of the school year.  So for our last day of summer break we decided to make a splash! So we headed to the pool!

I love this picture of Carter.

This is definitely a summer attitude!

I much prefer being a "summer Mommy" than a "school year Mommy"....summer Mommy is just much more fun!

Carter on the first day of 1st grade

Dawson on the first day of 3rd grade

The boys on their first day at their new school in Alabama.

I was really surprised, but they didn't seem nervous!  We all took them to school...our parade of 6 marched them both to their classrooms!

The boys were super excited about their space and rocket center shirts

Nora Kate's first day of (homeschool) preschool.

It's no secret that I have been REALLY wanting to homeschool the kids (since well before we ever knew we were moving, so it has nothing to do with the move), but it just hasn't happened.  SO I did kind of get a little bit of what I want...this year instead of sending Nora Kate to a preschool or kindergarten readiness program, I am teaching her pre-K at home!  So far, I LOVE IT! And she loves it too.  She's so sweet during this school time.  Our schedule is to do school on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.  I'm excited to see how this goes!

I have tried not to post too many pictures in the monthly blogs about our construction because I intend to blog about it after it is all complete, but I couldn't resist sharing this...I hope this will always be a neat memory for the kids!  After our slab was poured, we ordered pizza and had a pizza party on our slab!  Yes, it was a blue-billion degrees outside and the sun was beating down as we ate our pizza on our hot concrete slab in the 98 degree sunshine at 5:30pm, but it was so fun!

AND the kids wanted to spread our quilt and eat where the living room will be because they know they won't be able to eat there once the house is finished! Hah!

We checked out a  new park in Athens

It had lots of cool equipment!

Clayton loved this swing.  Someone could swing behind him and make his swing go!

Another pre-church Sunday picture!

Nora Kate has gotten really tall all the sudden, and I think you can really tell it by looking at her in this picture in particular!

We walk around the neighborhood lake at least once a day.  It's technically a lake, but once I called it a pond and now Clayton always lovingly refers to it as, "walkie pond?" when he asks to walk around the lake.  

Soccer is in full swing!  With three kids playing soccer on three different teams each practicing twice a week, we basically live here at the soccer fields!

Dawson wore his sunsphere shirt to his first Alabama soccer practice!

Our library had a special storytime at the park that was lots of fun!  Clayton was thrilled to watch the ducks on the pond after storytime.

This child keeps me laughing (when I'm not chasing him).

He runs in my room, grabs the thigh master, lays down (with his snack).  I run in after him and he's like this and he yells, "THIGH MASTER!" 

We had lunch with both big boys...the first lunch visit in their new school

Nora Kate requested her hair be in French braids for her first soccer practice.

I always feel the need to document her braids because getting her curls in French braids is no small feat!

First soccer practice ever for our sweet soccer rocker!

In Nora Kate's homeschool we also have a "life skill" to work on every week or two weeks.  She learned how to make a sandwich one week this month, and she was SO PROUD!

The sunrise over our neighborhood lake was so beautiful one morning on my run that I had to stop and take a picture!

Dawson finally likes to play scrabble with me!

I'm thrilled! No one else will play scrabble with me.

One day in August, Nora Kate, Clayton, and I went to eat lunch with John at Polaris.  Look how fancy Nora Kate is with her unicorn purse and all her jewelry.  She said she wanted to be so fancy for Daddy.

Nora Kate's chalk person on the driveway.

The kids got really into tracing each other on the driveway and then adding features this month.

It constantly looked like a crime scene out there! HAH!

A favorite activity is letting the princess bubble blower drive around the cul-de-sac in front of our house.  It puts out so many bubbles, Clayton thought he needed an umbrella!

America Girl Samantha!

I started reading the first American Girl Samantha book to Nora Kate this month

John and I went on our first Alabama date this month, and the kids had their first babysitter this month.  We attended a work related fundraising event with John's work.  Jimmy Buffet cover band, lots of yummy food and drinks...so fun!

I had a babyshower I got to go to for a friend the next day, and so John took the kids to Stevi B's.  It's pizza and arcade, and they are still talking about how I missed all the fun at Stevi B's! 

More "walkie pond"

Clayton is such a trooper at the soccer field!  He brings this dump truck to every practice!  It's driven many miles on the fields already!

The boys ready for school picture day!

August seemed to fly by as we all attempted to get into the swing of new routines with school, homeschool pre-k, soccer, soccer, soccer, and church choir started up. On to September!