August 31

 Nonna arrived yesterday afternoon. We took her downtown to the Science Center.

 Elliott and Clay made a robot.

 

 

 We train them early around here... Go Big Blue!

August 29

 My birthday present from Nonna arrived. Isn't it cool?

Tracy and the boys and Peggy joined us at Chuck-E-Cheese yesterday for Elliott's birthday lunch.

 

 

 Elliott and Mathew are good buddies.

 

 

 

 

Last night AWANA started back up. Elliott is now in Cubbies and will be memorizing one Bible verse each week. Kat is in Sparks again, and Julia has promoted to Explorers. I am teaching the 3rd grade girls (Julia's class). Last night was fun. We should have a good year! Well, the girls will. Elliott has decided that he doesn't like Cubbies because they make him color. Doh! 

 

 

Turning 4 in our house isn't all fun and games. Elliott has to make his bed and put away his laundry. Of course, he thinks it's cool because he's a big boy and does what his big sisters do.

August 28

Happy 4th Birthday Elliott!

 

 

 This little man made us a family of five and I can't imagine life without him. I love when he asks me to sit on the couch, watch cartoons, and "Snuggle me, Mommy". I know those days are going to end way too soon.

We kicked off Elliott's birthday this morning with Krispy Kreme donuts.

Yesterday morning the girls had piano lessons. They seem to really enjoy them. Julia's eyes light up if you ask her about piano. That's exciting (especially when she protested taking piano lessons for over a year)! After piano we did schoolwork. It was a little chaotic with Lucy crying, Elliott getting into things, and Kat and Julia throwing tantrums here and there over some of their lessons. But we survived. It can only get better, right? Lets hope so!

 I know you were hanging on the edge of your seats to find out if the Barbie's bangs worked out. They actually did! I was surprised. I foresee many Barbies getting haircuts in the near future.

 These two are going to get into alot of trouble together.

Learning how to do counted cross stitch. They'd been wanting to do this since we read about it in Little House on the Prairie. 

Last night we pulled out the Slip 'n Slide. The kids weren't sliding at all. I remembered that you could add laundry/dish soap to make it slide better, but I knew they'd get that in their eyes. We used Lucy's tear-free shampoo instead and it worked great!

 

 

 

 

 

August 27

Yesterday was our second co-op. The kids and I are really enjoying this co-op. They are making friends, learning alot of cool new things, and my schedule is much easier than last year. Yay!

 Julia decided that she wanted to cut bangs on one of her Barbies, so we found a website that walked her through step-by-step on how to do it. It involved rubber bands to make the doll look like Cousin It, pouring boiling water over the new part, and letting it dry. We're still at that part of the process, but I am curious to see if it works. When I was little, I cut many dolls' hair and they usually ended up with a buzz cut or bangs that stood straight up.  :P

 I gave the girls directions and the ingredients to make this ice cream bar birthday cake for me. They did great!

Julia had her fourth game last night. She has a great swing, but still no hits. She either swings above the ball or too late. I am starting to wonder if she just tries to get it over with as fast as possible because she doesn't like to be the center of attention. She just wants to get back in the dugout ASAP.

August 26

We celebrated my birthday a little early last night by going to Hubers to pick peaches. The smell of warm peaches was awesome! It hit us as soon as we got off the tractor ride to the orchard. Happy Birthday to me!

 

 Not the best pic of Clay, but Lucy's cheese makes me smile every time I see this picture.

 

 

 

 Yep, she loved the peaches.

 

August 25

I got the idea for this off a blog I follow. I wanted to wait until Lucy was old enough to let me paint her hands and not ball them up and freak out. I love how it turned out.

Clay and I divided the kids and conquered our To Do Lists yesterday. He took Julia to do a mission project with our Sunday School class. Then they went to the batting cages for her to practice. I took the other three rugrats and ran errands. Last night we just stayed home and had a movie night.

August 24

Happy Birthday Uncle Bob!

We had fun at the State Fair with Mamaw and Bapaw yesterday. We got there early and beat the crowds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Making Beeswax candles

 Participating in Lego Wars

 

 Lucy loved the animals. She kept pointing and giggling.

 

 

Mmm... cotton candy is good!