August highlights-

Is it really August already?

Someone told me that for teachers, August feels like a Sunday night. I'm not a teacher and that feel true to me each year too!

When Tate got his video game system in 3rd grade, that was also the first time he started earning letter grades and could therefore make the honor roll. We told him he had to be on honor roll each and every quarter in order to keep video games on the weekends during the school year. And for 19 straight quarters he did it! But then this spring he got lazy and tried to sneak by with just doing "enough" and he didn't quite make it, earning a C in math on the last report card of the year. So that would mean the loss of his video game system for not being on honor roll, which would mean NO VIDEO GAMES ALLLLLLLL SUMMER LONG! I was crushed for him. But, a rule is a rule. And I knew with the extra time he would now have at home by not playing video games, he could use that time to work on a supplemental math program this summer. It sucked for him, but he took the news like a champ and knew that the only person to be mad at was himself. He was disappointed for an evening and then decided not to let it ruin his summer... 

I loved being out on a walk on morning and finding Macy and Katelyn playing in the woods along the path-

Summer, and all the group sleepovers that this boy does, will do this to you kiddo-

Macy and Tate both decided to get reusable straws- like their cousin Kayla, and to help save marine life-  and boycott disposable ones-

This woman took her 3 kids around the world for a year, working remotely and homeschooling-

 Sometimes I think what we are about to do is nutty with the ages of our kids, but that author helped me realize that we are going to have it way better and easier than what she did. And her family loved it!

Another (really fantastic) book I read this month- 

Tate took a week long junior lifeguard camp- 

Such great life skills to know, and possibly a foot in the door for a future summer job somewhere, some day!

From 9 months to almost 19- the range in age of the kids in our small group bible study just doesn't matter-

Macy just keeps popping up everywhere as a girl scout model-

The simple summer times-

The kids lent a hand to get all our diaper bank donations up out of the basement and into the car-

Proof of life picture for Michael and Tate, alone a lot, on their own time and schedules, until we need them someplace at an exact time- 

And they did it!


I love these impromptu family fun nights, usually with the Melendez's, almost always without a plan, and for sure a memory making night!

Going back to the no video games thing... typically Tate and Nico would have been in the basement playing games, Macy and Mia would have been watching a show or YouTube and the 4 adults would have played a game. But- because we have no video games, the boys stuck around. And so did the girls. And we had the best time playing a game ALL together! The next day Tate was still talking about the game, asking we could do it again!

Fall is close... Look how this beautiful leaf fell into my nearly matching mum-