Birth month celebration

 September is my birth month!  I make Jason celebrate all month long because I am such a humble and giving wife.  :)

9/3 - we bought some hay from our neighbor.  And hay is good for playing on!

9/5 - since my birthday fell on a Saturday, my amazing husband was able to make me homemade waffles and serve them to me in bed.  The kids ate breakfast with me in my bed which means that we got to put clean sheets on the bed!  Bonus.  Then we went to Springfield where I had a 10:30 race.  It was at least 90 degrees when the race started.  It was brutal.  I promise it's not because I'm now 38.  Most of the race was in direct sun.  I started out strong but after the first mile I was done.  This was probably my slowest 5K race ever, and the only one where I've stopped to walk.  I really thought I might pass out.  So thankful to the gentleman who sprayed me with his power washer, and for the mid-race water stop (which I circled back to after realizing that one tiny cup of water was not going to be sufficient).  I finished strong, but only because my kids were watching :) I asked another racer if this was her hottest 5K ever, and she said "no, I ran in Iraq".  So maybe a cue for me to stop my complaining.

 This is me trying to get my core body temp below 600 degrees.  They made me this amazing sign!  They had bouncy houses at the race, so the kids got to have some fun too.

 I won first place in my age group, and 2nd female overall - but only because it was a really small race.  It's still fun to win a medal on your birthday, even if you do get an embarrassingly slow time!

 Then we went to Chick-fil-a for lunch, and then on to Andy's for dessert!  A great birthday.

 9/6 - Jason's parents met us at Freedom Fest - a local car show and fireworks display that's hosted at the church where their school is located.  They got some amazing balloon people to bring home - thanks Mi Mi!

 9/7 - we took the kids kayaking.  It was really fun - even though we got drenched in the rain for a few minutes!

 9/11 - grandparents day at school!  Thanks for coming Paw Paw!  After lunch, the kids went home with their Paw Paw to spend the weekend.  They had a great time.

 9/12 - while the kids were away, we went to a personality class at our church.  It was interesting!  You can take the free test here:  http://www.motivematters.com/

Then we took advantage of a kid-free night and went to a Greek festival where we got some delicious gyros and got to dress up in togas.

 Thanks again for watching these crazy kids!

 9/19 - my parents came to visit, and my dad assisted Jason in putting in an exhaust fan in our bathroom!  It's amazing the things you get excited about as a homeowner.  While they were working, I took Josiah to a birthday party while my mom took Levi to the zoo.  Then my mom and I took the kids to the City Utilities annual picnic.  Bummed that my hard working City Utilities employee husband didn't get to go!  We went through part of the corn maze, and then a hayride, but the boys loved the mechanical stuffed racing pigs the best.  Probably because they got candy prizes.

My dad reading to my Levi.  So thankful that my kids love to read!

For some reason, the kids have forgotten how to smile for a picture and think they should scowl and/or strike ninja poses.

Also this month - Josiah started cub scouts!  He's only been to a few meetings so far, but he loves it.  They are building a rocket which he thinks is amazing, and he loves reading in his handbook.  Jason has agreed to be the den leader, so I'm sure at some point I'll be able to post a picture of them together in uniform!

Back to school 2015

We spent the last week of summer break in Branson with my side of the family.  Our first night there, we got to see my friend Julie and her family and go swimming with them.  Joshua is adorable!

My dad brought his boat and we spent 8/11 on Table Rock lake.

Jason and I got to ski, Josiah got to try out knee boarding, and so did 2 of his cousins.  Then the boat died.  The guys spent some time trouble shooting the issue - battery, spark plugs, etc - but couldn't figure out an easy solution.  We called a boat towing place, and they said it would be $600 to tow us.  Ouch.  So then we decided to flag someone down and pay them to tow us in (which was more difficult than it sounds).

 Here we are being towed!  What a crazy adventure.  We were all a little sunburned but thankful to be on dry ground again.  The guy that towed us in was really nice, and we ended up seeing him the next day at Silver Dollar City.  Later in the week the guys went on a guided fishing tour, and their guide looked at the boat and said there's a kill switch that accidentally got tripped.  Oops.  At least it wasn't a big expensive problem!

 8/12 - Silver Dollar City.  Josiah loved the big roller coasters, and Levi was brave and rode Fire in the Hole (even though he doesn't like the rides in the dark).

 Then some fro-yo!

 8/13 - pool time with the cousins!  Levi loves swimming with his floatie.

 8/14 - we went to the fish hatchery and fed some fish.  I'm surprised and grateful that no one fell in!

 After the cousins left for their long trip home, we went go-cart racing!  Levi got to drive by himself!  He was doing great until he got distracted and wrecked.  As he wrecked, he forgot to take his foot off the gas pedal, which didn't help.  Then he got mad and started crying.  Maybe sleep deprived 4 year olds shouldn't race go-carts.  He had fun at the beginning!

 Then Josiah got a turn on a little bit bigger track.  He did great and was cracking us up as we stood on the sidelines because he kept winking at us every time he drove past.

 Then we all went on the big track.  It was fun!

 Then we joined a rock band...sort of.

We had a great time on our Branson vacation!  Thanks Bonvillians!

8/19 - Josiah's first day of 2nd grade!  He read almost 40 books this summer, completed a cursive handwriting book, and some math when I remembered to do it.  He's doing great in school.  So proud of this big kid!

 8/20 - Levi's first day of preschool!  I was a little concerned that he wouldn't want me to leave, but he had no problem at all!  Can't believe he's in school!  He goes 2 half days a week so I don't have too much time to miss him.

 8/22 - Josiah being silly at the Lowe's build and grow clinic.  Their daddy took them to a lot of these - I just happened to be at this one to snap a picture.

 8/23 - farm entertainment: a baby bird who hasn't figured out how to fly yet, just hanging out in our yard.  I think it finally figured it out...or else it got eaten by something...yeah, let's go with the first option.

 8/24 - the kids started watching American Ninja Warrior, so this is a game Josiah thought up based upon that.  It wasn't enough to climb the wall - he also wants us to throw things at him while he's up there.  It's a pretty funny game.  He hasn't fallen yet!

 8/26 - went to the zoo with Levi's best friend Ben.  We had a great time!

Ben told Levi all about this "pee fan" (which mists water), so that was the highlight of the zoo trip.  "Are we at the pee fan yet?"  "How much longer until we get to the pee fan?"  And then we finally found it - very exciting!

 8/29 - we went to visit Jason's parents for a fun family day.  His grandparents were there, as well as aunts and cousins.  Debby had a new superhero book that the kids enjoyed.

 We played some fun minute-to-win-it games.

 Then we went out to dinner with David & Debby.  It was a really fun day!

Goodbye to Daisy

7/25 - we went to Bass Pro and ended up eating dinner at Hemingway's where the boys got to eat free and got these cool zebra glasses.  Bonus.

7/29 - I took the boys to Columbia to see Genevieve and her kids while they were in town.  It was so great to see them!  We spent most of this day in the water.  We started at a park, but quickly got too hot, so we went to this splash park, then to swim in the pond nearby, then to a pool.  It was great fun and we thoroughly wore the kids out!  Josiah got a sunburn on his face, which is hard to prevent since he now swims like a fish!  Levi had a great time wearing his new floatie/life jacket.  He has no fear wearing that thing.

7/30 - Genevieve came out to my parent's house, and we spent some time playing with toys in the basement.  The kids also dressed up as robbers and as you can see, they took their roles very seriously.  :)

We also spent some time outside on the trampoline and the swing.  So fun to hang out again!

7/31 - on our way home, we stopped in Fulton to visit my Grandma Lucy.  So glad we got to see her.  And then my mom rode home with us, and my dad drove down later that evening.  We also had a fun back to school night at the pool - can't believe summer is almost over!

8/1 - we went out to dinner with my parents before they headed home.  And the kids made silly faces.

8/2 - we joined our church!  It only took us 2 years. :)

8/5 - we took our cat Daisy to the vet because she had some open sores on her face, and was still sick (see the last post).  The vet said he thought it was a fungal infection, and he wanted to keep her to run some tests.  So we left her there and continued on with our fun plans for the day - jumping at Sky Zone with friends!  We had a great time, and then got pineapple whip afterwards (an amazing local-to-Springfield frozen treat).  Then the vet called back.  He said that it was definitely the fungal infection he suspected.  The infection causes these terrible open sores like the ones on her face.  And it is contagious to humans.  He said the medicine plus boarding her while we're out of town (in isolation because she's contagious) would be around $600.  We drove home and I tried to explain to the kids what was going on.  Josiah immediately started crying.  He loves Daisy.  We've had her for four years and he has always said she's his favorite (over her brother Truman).  When we got home, he ran to get his wallet and, in tears, brought me all his money ($7) to use to make Daisy feel better.  My heart was broken.  I sat and cried with him for a while.  In the end, we decided it wasn't worth the risk of passing this infection to us (especially the kids).  We told the vet to put her down.  It was a rough rest of the day.  It's always sad to say goodbye to a pet, but it's harder to see your kids going through that.  We're glad she's not in pain anymore and that none of us are sick!

8/6 - Levi graduates from a car seat to a booster!!  Yay!  This big kid will be going to preschool soon!

We only have one full week left before school starts, and we're hoping to make the most of it! :)