August Round-Up!

Another month has gone by, and in addition to all the kids starting school this month, we've had some other interesting things going on. 

One Sunday evening as we were driving home from church, we suddenly heard a loud CRACK on our windshield. We were driving by the golf course and had been hit by a misguided golf ball! Chris pulled off the road, and the guy who had hit the ball came over to talk with him. He felt super bad about hitting our vehicle, but as luck would have it his parents own a glass company that replaces windshields. Chris and the guy exchanged information, and we went on our way with a lovely (although interesting) new design in our windshield!

Thankfully, the parents came through quickly and replaced our windshield in a timely manner. We were very grateful for how everything turned out!

After we lost Bristol back in 2017, we planted a white crepe myrtle tree in her honor. Every year when it blooms in August, it takes my breath away. 💜

My friend Amy is a fourth grade teacher in a nearby city. Last year she invited Bri to come to her classroom and help her get things set up for the school year. Bri loved doing this and was able to do it again this year!

Bri has the best time with Amy, and I love hearing her observations of my dear friend. Amy and I are opposites in many ways, so some of the things she does takes Bri by surprise 😂.

One day wasn't enough, so Bri ended up helping Amy in her classroom on a second day. Amy took Bri out to eat and was kind of surprised at how much food Bri put away. I had to remind Amy that Bri is a runner! Also, Bri almost sat on a hammer when getting in Amy's car. This really made me laugh as I have had several similar experiences with my Amy girl!

As a fun summer study, the children and I did a unit on birds of North America. The children were really more interested in this than I was, but by the time we finished the unit I found myself wanting to learn even more about birds! Once we completed the 20 lessons in the unit, we made these fun bird bookmarks (our neighbor, Riley, was over that day and joined in on the fun). 

So cute!

Before the twins started back to school, I took the crew out for a special lunch at El Azteca one day. 

We also squeezed in a playdate with Sadie and Caroline . . . love these friends!

I was still on my knee scooter for over half the month and building back leg/ankle/foot strength during the other half. Brianna has stepped up SO much during this time, taking on some of the laundry, cooking, and cleaning duties. I love this photo because not only is she mopping the kitchen floor for me, but she is SMILING while doing it!

The first few weeks of school have been exhausting for the littles. A solid nap with Timber is sometimes just what Brooke needs!

Before the twins were born, I spent some time making up a bunch of freezer meals to make meal time easier. I haven't done this for a few years, so I decided to help myself out and do it again. I bit off a little more than I could chew and ended up way overdoing it on my ankle, but I'm thankful to have easy meals for the next month or so!

Our LIGHT Academy studies have been going well so far. I'm always thankful for the bond that Bri and Bren are forming and have because of homeschooling. It's a joy to watch them work together (most of the time). 

To celebrate a successful first day of co-op, I decided to take Bri and Bren out for lunch. We went to Hideaway Pizza and ended up having to wait over an hour for our food. It was sure good when it finally came out, though!

Brecklyn's teacher is really good about sending me photos or posting photos on the class FB page. I love seeing what Brecks is up to while she's at school!

I had an appointment with my orthopedic doctor on August 25th, 7 1/2 weeks after I broke my ankle. It was at this appointment that he released me to start walking on my foot without the boot (but with an ankle brace). He was very happy with how my x-rays and healing look, and I was happy to see my foot, haha!

Dr. Isaac also told me at that appointment that if I really want to see major progress with my healing then I'll need to do physical therapy for my ankle. I said, "Sign me up!" We are planning a trip in the late fall (with lots of hiking), and I want to be as much back to normal as possible by the time we go. I went to my first PT session just a few days ago (on August 30th). I thought it would just be 15 or so minutes, but I ended up being there for an hour and a half. I had taken the kids with me, but they weren't permitted to come inside the building, so they had to sit in the van in the parking lot (I could see the van the entire time). I felt so bad for them! I'll be going to PT 2-3 times a week for the next month, so we're going to have to work out a better solution for them than sitting in the parking lot. I'm an very grateful for the opportunity to do something to speed my healing along, though!