aug blog

August was a pretty swell month; we were psyched to have some unscheduled days to finish our summer on a lazy note :).

Bumming around the house allowed us to get maximum use out of clothes by wearing them two days in a row (here Will and Jack are wearing Sunday's white undershirts on Monday). We do lazy right!

After talking about it all summer, we were finally able to get together with Chuck's co-worker Steve and his family. They invited us over for swimming and ice cream and a good time was had by all:

Christine and I had lots of fun chatting and commiserating about the night shift (Steve took Chuck's 6pm to 6am position two years ago when Chuck moved to days), Clyde and Will and Abby joined forces on a little computer game, and Jack cuddled up to Jenna. Now we need to invite them over sometime!

Sticking with the 'Chuck co-worker' theme, that weekend his sometimes boss Roderick got married to the beautiful Lisa:

(photograph by Locke Photography)

 It was a really special ceremony and such a fun reception: (photos courtesy of Locke Photography and Chuck's co-workers' facebooks since I was lame and didn't take my camera)

I'm usually limited to interacting with all the detention folks on fb or over the phone when I call Chuck at work, so it's always a good time to see them in person. It was especially fun to finally meet 'Miss Diane', a part-timer who mothers all the staff and is absolutely hilarious. And of course getting dressed up for a date night with Chuck was the best part; I sure do love him.

 Remember how it was my mama's birthday? Well here are some pictures of the partying:

It was such a fun day! We left Jackers home with a babysitter and the rest of us went and saw Iron Man 3, during which Clyde would often lean over to me and encourage me to close my eyes when it got scary. Thanks buddy. Then Chuck and the boys went home to make us dinner and Mama and I went shoppin'; Kohl's and Savers treated us both well :). 

 The day before school started there was a little Open House so we wandered over to meet the boys' teachers and drop off their supplies.

It really helped soothe any anxiety that any of us might have had... aka me :). It's nerve-racking to trust my boys (and their respective medical/behavioral needs) to complete strangers, so it was gratifying that both teachers were way ahead of me and so accommodating. Have I mentioned how much we love teachers??

We've attempted some biking to and from the school; once with all three boys to drop off paperwork before the school year started and once with just me picking up the older two after school one day - which I only braved because we live completely downhill from there, haha.

It was pretty funny to see Clyde and Will mashed in the bike trailer together and everything went swimmingly until my bike chain derailed; luckily we weren't too far from home by then.

More random August adventures: Aren't Jack and I cute together? I think you can really tell how much he loves me by the way he's leaning away from me...

Also pictured: lots of wrestling, some ipad/Daddy time, I made delicious cookie dough (turned decent-ish cookies), Jack brushed his teeth a lot, and the boys wore fedoras and bath robes. Frequently.

Oh, the end of the month brought a super fun reunion with my dear friend Megan!! Way back in the day we worked together... and I use the term "worked" VERY loosely... at Rite Aid. Since then we've both had lots of cute little boys and somehow haven't seen each other in over two years!

Sooo glad we rectified that situation :).

So one day the older boys decided to match (I promise; it was all them... I just contributed Jack's attire) so we tried for a group picture.

It clearly went very well.

The boys ran/wrestled their way over to the couch so the camera and I followed:

Suuuch goofy boys! Someday I aspire to have fancy couches where the cushions are attached and little crazy boys can't constantly dislodge them. Until then, I dream...

Football season is upon us, hooray! Our excitement is a bit subdued as this will be our first year without satellite so our actual game viewing will be greatly diminished... but we were happy to be spared having to watch the horrific Boise State loss in the season opener - although we still dressed up for the occasion, both that day and the Sunday previous :).

We also had our family fantasy football draft, which was loads of fun. We did a live draft online so we could smack talk with my mom and brothers as we drafted.

Our ward headed out to the orchard last week to pick all of our peaches. I hadn't planned on going since Chuck was at a work conference that evening, but one of the sweet sisters I visit teach was a good influence and we drove out together.

Granted, half of our time was spent moving the strollers and keeping kids happy, but we also picked loads of peaches that will now be canned and distributed through the Church welfare system. The orchard is such a neat place and it's so fun to work alongside friends from the ward; I'm glad LeAnne made sure I got out there that night!

We've been spending more time in the evenings outside:

Usually waiting for Chuck to get home. Pretty sure 5:30 to 6:30 is the longest hour of the day!

And finally, a few more pictures of the boys from throughout the month:

There have been way too many tragic reminders lately about not taking our children for granted (a sweet young couple in our ward just lost their infant daughter) and I'm trying to make my love and gratitude for my sons more evident as I interact with them. I really don't know what I would do without them - so I should probably use my time with them better, eh?

And that was August, and it's now September, which is crazy because next comes October and then it's basically Christmas. Not to freak anyone out or anything...