August Round-Up!

August was a month of BIG changes around here. Until I looked at these photos, I had kind of forgotten that the beginning of this month was still summer break. I guess I've adjusted very quickly back to the school schedule mindset, ha!

At the beginning of the month - when all the teachers were working hard to get their classrooms ready for students - my friend, Amy, came to town to have lunch with us. She invited Brianna to go with her to work in her classroom in a nearby town for the afternoon (along with a girl she was watching for the summer), and Brianna was thrilled to go! They worked hard all afternoon, then Amy and Matt came back to our town for dinner with us. One of the best things Bri told me about her day was that she almost sat on a hammer when she got in Amy's car. Some things never change . . . I have a ridiculous list of the things I've discovered in Amy's vehicles over the years, haha!

The week before school started, we packed our schedule full of fun things! One of those things included a visit to the zoo with friends.

Brooke, Brianna, Brecklyn, and Brenson

Brecklyn, Brooke, Brianna, and Brenson

Visiting our zoo in the heat of the summer isn't so bad because there are many indoors exhibits where we find a little relief from the heat. 

I'm not sure I've ever seen our tigers this close before. Look how gorgeous she is!

💓

The day after our zoo visit, we went swimming with Callie and Riggins.

Brecklyn, Brenson, Riggins, Brooke, Callie, and Brianna

The kids swam for over three hours! This gave Christie and I an opportunity to catch up on life a bit. It was so nice, but I wish I would have taken a photo of us before we sat out in the sun and dripped sweat for hours!

The next day was our Back-to-School Bash, so we worked hard all day to get ready for that. Brenson was being a great helper, so I scooped him up to tell him thank you. I'm so glad I can still pick him up, but those days are coming to an end too quickly, I'm afraid!

The morning after the Back-to-School Bash, Chris took Bren to an outdoor expo. They were able to do all sorts of fun things like fly fish,

shoot different guns,

and shoot a bow.

They also made their own fishing tackle and learned about all kinds of different safety techniques. This was right up their alley, and Bren says he can't wait to do something like this again!

The Friday evening after school started, Chris, Brianna, and Brenson ran in a 5K race called the Furnace 5K. It was definitely hot, but they all completed the race.

Bren placed 2nd in his age group!

You can see how red their little faces are from running in the heat, but I'm so proud of their perseverance. 

Mrs. S even recognized them during Rise and Shine for completing the race!

Of course, the second half of our month was consumed with adjusting back to the school schedule and to having four kids in school. Brooke and Brecklyn have done so well with school so far. I couldn't be happier with how they've transitioned!

Their teacher, Mrs. C, updates their class FB page with photos several times a week, and I'm so thankful! I love seeing photos of what they're up to during their {partial} mornings at school.

Brooke, Brecklyn, and Addabelle on the playground

Brecklyn, Madeline, and the "other" set of twins in the girls' class

I love seeing that my Brookie girl is her spunky self at school!

💜💗

At first almost every photo had both of my girls in it together, but as the days as gone on, I'm happy to see more photos of them with other kids. 

Although not as frequent, Bren's teacher also posts photos to their class FB page. 

My boy loves to create and build!

Both of Chris's parents have a birthday in August, so for the past several years Chris's sister, Cassie, has had us all over to her house for an afternoon to eat and celebrate their birthdays. The kids always love going to Cassie and Joe's house and playing with their cousins!

Brooke, Meme, and Brecklyn

Abby and Brianna

Have I already said how glad I am that the girls are only in school about three hours a day? Well, I am! After I pick them up, we have time to play a bit before lunch, eat together, then take a nap or run errands. We are taking advantage of the beautiful weather while we can and spending lots of time outside after they are through with school for the day. I love this view!

This is kind of bizarre to me, but the kids had school pictures last week. I always remember pictures being a little later in the year, but things change! They all looked adorable on school picture day :-).

Once we got to school, I realized that Brooke was wearing Brecklyn's dress (which is one size smaller than hers) and vice versa. I quickly stripped them down in our van - sitting in the school parking lot - and switched their dresses. Sigh. I feel like we're always a circus!

After all that, I went in to Rise and Shine with the kids. As soon as Brianna walked in, her friend, Abi, ran up to her with a gift. She gave Brianna a BFF necklace (and had a matching one)! 

Brianna was delighted!

Later that same day, the girls had an appointment to get their teeth cleaned. They both did so well, and we have no cavities! Yay!

Brooke

Brecklyn

They were so satisfied with how brave they were AND that they both had healthy teeth. I just stood behind them a bit and smiled as they walked together to our van. It gets me every time when they hold hands!

Brooke, Brecklyn

I think I had been kind of nervous for August because of the big transitions that would come with it. However, we're off to an excellent start to our school year, and I'm looking forward to the months ahead and continuing to find our rhythm.