August 31

 

  

 Elliott and three of his teammates were promoted to yellow belt last night. Before this, only two other yellow belts had ever been given out at the gym. So even though four of them got it at once, there's only ever been 6. Chad (their black belt instructor) said that these four have great attitudes, are good role models, and will now assist in teaching the beginner classes. Wow! He said that teaching others will help them with their jiu jitsu too. It was also kind of a bittersweet night as Chad is moving to Nashville in the next month. Elliott really looks up to him. He will be missed.

August 30

Raaawwwrrr!

August 29

Julia woke us up around 4am Tuesday morning throwing up.  Poor kiddo finally stopped around 6:30am. She was pretty worn out all day and took a couple of long naps (I woke her up after 4 hours during her afternoon nap so she would be able to sleep last night). It wasn’t exactly the start to Elliott's birthday that we were going for. Clay called from work to say he planned to come home from work before lunch to take Elliott to the Slugger Museum, since I no longer could do that. Elliott had told Clay Monday night that he thought he would have good luck on his birthday. Can't disappoint the boy when he's expecting good luck!

 We grabbed Krispy Kreme donuts for breakfast. The cashier found out it was his birthday and gave him 3 free donuts plus 3 balloons. Luck!

We went to the local market to grab some Sprite, Jello, and noodle soup for Julia. The cashier found out it was Elliott's birthday, gave him a high five, told other people it was his birthday, and gave him some free fudge. More luck!

Clay came home from work and took Elliott out for lunch and to the Slugger Museum. They had a Sandlot exhibit that Elliott wanted to check out. The kid's day just kept getting better.

Then, at jiu jitsu, one of Elliott's competitors from another gym in town, came to Elliott's class. He let us know that he's going to join Elliott's competition class every Tuesday so that he and Elliott can roll. They are both so small and good that there aren't many people for them to roll with. So Elliott is thrilled because it's alot more fun for him to roll with Cane than these kids that weigh 20-60 pounds more than him. Luck!

After jiu jitsu he opened his cards and present and ate pancakes. I don't think the boy had a single vegetable all day - he'd call that luck too!

 Nurse Gus was checking on his patient. Hopefully Julia is all better and nobody else gets it! Yuck!

August 28

Happy 9th Birthday, Elliott!!!

 Elliott and I were sung to at co-op yesterday.

 

 Lucy's States & Stories class

Julia and Kat's intro to theatre class wrote and performed a Greek chorus.

August 27

Julia and Kat tagged along with Shannon and her family to the Mercy Me concert at the fair yesterday. They had great seats!

August 26

 Mom and I spent the weekend in Brown County, IN shopping, geocaching, resting, hiking, and eating. She spoiled me for my birthday. It was great! 

 

 

 

 This was the Hillbilly Footwash. We soaked our feet and then rolled them around on "hillbilly balls" (golf balls). It was hilarious.

 

 

 We did a 2 mile hike in the state park.

 I bought this sign for Lucy at one of the shops.

August 24

Happy Birthday Bob!

Clay had that procedure yesterday. This picture is of him before the procedure, high on Valium. He couldn't stop giggling. It was hilarious. He is recovering well and using frozen peas and Tylenol for discomfort.

August 23

 

Wednesday night activities have resumed at church. I am one of the first grade teachers (picture is of the first graders. Lucy is front row, second from right). Julia is excited to be able to go to youth group again. She wasn't able to go last year because of gymnastics. 

August 22

 Kat has been learning about earthquakes this week. Her assignment was to design a two-story structure made out of fetuccini and marshmallows that could withstand an earthquake (shaking the styrofoam base). Smart girl knew to use triangles for more stability.

 

 

 The kids and I used their summer reading coupons from the library to go to a free Bats game last night. Clay didn't want to go because it was also dog night at the park and he doesn't like dogs. Grumpy old man.

August 21

The chess club at co-op has a new member. 

One of Lucy's teachers texted me after co-op to compliment Lucy's behavior and also said that Lucy is a great reader. Made this mama proud.

August 20

 

Sometimes when you help Dad with the yard work, you get to have some fun. His eyelashes are long enough that they are blowing!

August 19

 

 

 Elliott competed in the Fuji jiu jitsu tournament yesterday, this time in town. Thanks for coming to watch Mamaw! He came home with a gold medal, two silvers, and a bronze. The bronze was for the gi division, so the rest were from no gi (?). What was Elliott most excited about? The four boys competing had a slumber party after the competition. He sat on the swing on our front porch waiting to be picked up.

 

 

 The girls and I went to a stranger danger class yesterday and learned some basic things they can do to protect themselves if a stranger tries to grab them (locally, there have been several instances lately of people trying to lure kids to their cars). Scary times!