Our August, in a nutshell

So, I have been a complete slacker about taking pictures for the month of August (sadly, that includes both Jeremy and I's birthdays!)  But, here is what I do have, and a short recap on the birthday action.

First off, we found this pool on sale at Walmart- best $20 spent all summer!  The kids and their friends have had a blast in in, and it's super easy to inflate, fill, empty and deflate.  Here are some pictures of the kids in it one day with a couple of their friends :)

Just a couple of shots before church one day, cause the kids looked so darn cute!  It was surprising for me to note the height difference in the 2 kiddos when they were side-by-side!

We had to trek back to see my OB in Denver at the beginning of August, and while we were there we did get pictures of one August birthday celebration: Johnny's!  He turned 8, and got a full party :)

 We also got to go to the Ball rocket launch while we were there.  For the most part, it was quite hot and dusty (and this prego lady was rather whiney about it, I'm sorry to report!).  But, for the short=lived moments when they were launching some really cool rockets, it was great!  There was one in particular that was ENORMOUS!  When it launched it looked like a NASA rocket with all the smoke and fire under it, etc.  It had 20 different pay loads in it, each with it's own parachute (which is Nathan's favorite part!).  All in all, glad we went (minus the part where I stepped on a cactus with my flip flops on on the way back to the car...booo for forgetting to pack my sneakers!)

Here is a short movie of one of the launches.  It was so bright that I had a hard time following the rocket once it got to where I was looking straight up, but it gives you the idea :)

 OK, so for our birthdays... amidst the traveling to Colorado.... we took Jeremy to Best Buy and let him pick a flatscreen TV for our room (he has been really wanting one ever since we got the elliptical in there, or at least that is what he said..but the first thing he did was hook up the XBox to it :) Silly hubba).  The kids made him cards (Nathan wrote his all on his own- his first time composing words and a message all by himself).  We delivered our cards/letters at a breakfast of his favorite foods and sent him off to work.  What I didn't realize, is that in his work environment it is customary to bring in donuts on your birthday!  He was just going to keep it quiet so he didn't have to do that (since he had just had a big breakfast)...but when the kids and I came up for a late lunch/dinner with him his master plan failed.  After lunch, and some frozen custard, Nathan begged and pleaded if he could please go see Daddy's desk.  He has been asking every time we take Jeremy to work.  This time, Dad had the time, and it was late enough on a Thursday afternoon that the disruption would be minimal.  Well, as soon as we got in there Nathan started talking up a storm with everyone in sight, and the first thing he did with all of them was grab the card he had made Jeremy (which was sitting on his desk) and tell everyone that it was his dad's birthday, and did they want to hear his card!  Word spread quickly, and it came out that everyone was disappointed that he did not tell them (i.e. bring donuts).  So, he took in several dozen donuts the next morning to make up for it- and everyone was quite happy about that.  Other than that, we relaxed that night- skipped going to dinner because lunch ended up being so late (but it was fun to get to see him in the middle of the day!).  On Saturday, Nathan took him (and Hannah and I came along) to the movie theater to see the movie Planes.  Great idea!  Jeremy LOVED IT!  It wasn't until the next week that I finally got around to making his cake...slacker wifey!  He picked a white cake frosted half and half with vanilla and chocolate frosting :)  Kind of a ying and yang look! He barely ate any of it (counting calories again) and I helped out and polished it off!  So, I insisted that it count as my cake, because I couldn't afford to consume another entire cake by myself.

For my birthday we were in Denver, and it was lovely! Interestingly enough, none of the other family was in Denver that weekend besides Jason, so it was pretty quiet.  But, we stayed at my parents empty house and arrived to a table full of presents!  Anna and Duncan got me a fantastic new purse, which I moved into immediately and have been loving ever since.  Mom and Dad left Jeremy and I cards with some spending money, chocolate covered almonds (which were technically for him, but we all shared!) and a box of homemade cards.  The kids had stacks of prizes as well, so it was like Christmas, or birthdays all around!  The next day (Friday), it was really nice to have Jeremy off of work and to just spend the day with my family.  We had a lovely breakfast before going to see my doctor.  Then we went shoe shopping and I spent my birthday money on 3 new pairs of shoes - something that fits no matter how fat my belly gets :)  Hannah picked out a necklace to give me, and Nathan a pair of sunglasses.  After a long day of shopping, we took the kiddos over to Jason's place and he kindly watched them while Jeremy and I enjoyed a long dinner at the Melting Pot.  Fabulous day.  AND, that's not all!  Saturday we went to brunch at Cinzetti's (yes, I am all about the food these days!).  And then we wandered around IKEA for several hours.  It was the first time I have ever been in one, and I have to say it was really cool!

The week after we returned to Denver, our good friends the Smith's came to visit so Sharon and I could have a belated birthday celebration.

We tried to take them to one of the Lowe's workshops, but got there too late.  Sorry kiddos!  But, it was a nice outing anyways!

 That afternoon the kiddos played in the pool under the menfolk's supervision while Sharon and I went out SHOPPING!  It was really fun to get out as girls together :)  They boys had some bonding time of their own, breaking through 20-some odd levels of an XBox game called Portal 2.  Fun for everyone all around!  Again, sorry for my lack of pictures.  I have been so lazy of late.  I need to get over it and get better!  But, it was delightful having them and their gorgeous girls come and visit!

Last, but not least- I have started doing some more structured schooling at home with Nathan this school year.  In addition to his reading, writing and math work I have outlined several other science/nature-ish units and field trips for us.  The first unit was on insects and spiders (which I learned are not the same!)  He has been having a blast with it, and learned a ton- we both have!  Right after making a book about spiders, he wound up with this awful spider bite on his head.  He didn't even notice it, but all of the sudden, Jeremy looked at him and exclaimed, "What happened to your face?"  Upon closer examination, he found the bite.  Luckily, it was not harmful, just scary swollen.  It went down in a matter of hours, and in a day or two there was no trace of it, but here are a couple pictures of his nasty lump!

Best part:  Nathan didn't want to let me put ice on it (as instructed by the internet to reduce the swelling), so I showed him his face in the mirror and told him he had a spider bite and we needed to take care of it.  He looked slightly confused and then asked, "Mom, did he bite me because I was wearing a Spiderman shirt?"  Haha :)  I laughed and had to explain that had nothing to do with it!

So, that was our August.  I will try and be more diligent with updates and pictures going forward as we continue with school and inch closer the the arrival of our new little guy!