August 2011

First, where the heck did August 2011 go?!!?!?!  Quite possibly the quickest 31 days of my life!  Who is in charge of the official clock?  It is moving much faster than it did in years past and I think this needs to be investigated.  Seriously, will life ever slow back down?  I'm guessing all those who are older than me are shaking their heads no....no, it will not slow down.

August:
We got back from our NY/Boston trip on Saturday July 30th.  Sunday, we recovered.  The kids went to school on Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday, August 3rd, Chad took them to Myrtle Beach to meet up with Aunt Chandra, Calyn and Carson.  Payton and Owen did not have school for the rest of the week due to pre-planned teacher work days.  Aunt Chandra is a life saver (and possibly crazy) and she agreed to have them come spend two days with her at the beach.

August 3rd just happened to be Chad's birthday as well.  Since the kids were in Myrtle Beach, we had a nice kid-free dinner...somewhere in Mt. P.....I can't remember where at the moment, but I'm sure it was great!  Payton had insisted that we get Chad a cake on Tuesday night.  He helped me pick out a chocolate cake and ice cream for Chad's birthday.  The four of us had a little party on Tuesday night since the kids would be away for his actual birthday.  Of course, Owen enjoyed the cake more than any of us!

On Friday, we headed to Myrtle Beach to pick them up.  We decided to stay Friday night so we could spend Saturday with all of them - Allen was also there for the weekend.  Rain interfered with a beach day, but as always we enjoyed our time with them.  After a nice seafood dinner, we headed back home.

When Chandra and the kids left the beach on Tuesday, they headed down to spend a few days at our house.  Unfortunately, I had to work.  I didn't get to have too much fun with them during the day but Payton, Owen and Chad enjoyed their days with them.  Chad and Calyn had a few intense basketball practices, they headed to the Aquarium, had fun at the pool and played around the house.  We had great food (of course!) and enjoyed lunch at Poe's with them before they headed back on Friday (Carson headed south to Atlanta for the PGA Championship....very busy boy!).

Saturday, we had a sitter for the boys and we headed to the Hootie and the Blowfish concert with a group of friends.  Even though it POURED down rain, we had a blast and we will definitely be planning to attend next year.

Sunday afternoon we headed to our 1st (and most likely only) Riverdogs game of the season with the Ballengers.  More rain but we were covered!  It was a great night.  Payton loved seeing Ella girl and the Riverdogs!  He also declared the Riverdogs had a black monster (like the green monster at Fenway).

The next week was busy and back to routine.  We started going to a new service at church on Wednesday nights.  This will be our routine for the fall - dinner and a class at church on Wednesday evenings.  That weekend, I don't have a clue what we did!?!?   On Sunday, Payton moved up to a new Sunday school class.  Mrs. Charlotte and Mrs. Brooke (Lila's mommy and Jack's mommy) are his new teachers.  He had a blast and is really excited to have them as his teachers!  Chad had to go to a leadership class that afternoon and we spend the evening with Andrew, Laura and Charlie. The kids played and we had dinner.  Great way to end a weekend!

Owen turned 14 months old on August 16th.  He is talking more and more - he has added so many new words this month - of course, his favorites are baseball, basketball and football - which all have slight variations but mostly sound like "bat ball."   Adorable!

Somewhere in that last week, Owen took about 7-10 steps in a row - over and over, in the bonus room. He walked back and forth from Chad and I while holding or going after a ball.  Every day he gets a little more confident but he's not truly walking yet.

The next week came and went too quickly.  On Friday, we headed up to East Bend.  We enjoyed dinner with the Webb's on Friday night and were able to attend Addie's second birthday in Kernersville on Saturday.  We were able to see most of Chad's family on our visit.  Unfortunately, we received some terrible news on Friday night and had to cut our trip a little short.

My cousin's fiancee passed away, far too early and far too young, on Friday afternoon.  We traveled to Sherrills Ford to be with her and her two kids on Sunday.  It was a really tough day - just heart breaking for her - and it was another reminder of how hard it is to live "so" far away from the majority of our family members.  Chad finally convinced me that we needed to leave at 6:30 or 7:00 on Sunday night.  I cried for my cousin and because I did not want to be leaving.  It was so hard to make an adult decision and head home to go to work - my heart wanted to be in Sherrills Ford and it was a rough week all around.  Please continue to keep my cousin, Leslie, and her two kids in your prayers.  Pray for strength and courage for her as she continues to deal with this sad situation.  Prayers, love and hugs :)

We saw my parents and finally picked Bailey up.  She seemed to adjust back to our house just fine!  And, Grandma and Grandpa did not make her gain weight...impressive!

On Thursday, our life changed forever....I'm am being dramatic...but really, it did.  On Thursday, September 1st, my life as a soccer mom began.  Payton had his first soccer meeting on practice.  He will be playing on the 3 year old Fast Start team for the IOP Recreation Department.  He is so excited!  He has his 1st pair of soccer cleats, knee pads and socks.  Chad and I both rushed through our day to leave work early, get the kids and get to the soccer fields by 5:15.  For the next 18 - 20 years, I see the same thing happening over and over and over!  He will have to miss his 1st game but, we are looking forward to watching him play on his 1st team.

Owen continued adding more and more words through the month - as I said earlier, any thing to do with a ball is his favorite word - but, he is starting to repeat so many things - mommy, daddy, dog, milk, marshmellow, big truck, Bailey, airplane, fish (for goldfish), more, book, Go (for Diego), he is making several animal sounds - moo, quack, meow - ....not all the words are that clear, but he is able to communicate more and more with us!

Well, that's August - if I left anything out, I'll try to fill it in with pictures!