August

Since I am waaaaay behind and my sister is refusing to speak to me until I update, here is a brief recap of the end of our summer...

Jake played in his second jr golf tournament, he came in 3rd

Due to a lack of business, the new water resort in town offered up extra military splash days at the last minute, so we took advantage of the deal and spent an afternoon there with friends

I finally bought new dishes

6 little girls came over for an end of summer sleep over one night

4 little boys came the next night

We saw Kit Kittredge, the last movie in the summer program before school started. There was 18 of us this time

My wonderful neighbor weeded my flower bed, (thanks AMY!)

Baby scooted for the first time

I (finally) had some other deployed SO's over for dinner

The kids started school on the 12th of August. Hello? The 12th??? No wonder I feel like we barely had a break

This year, our walk to school goes through the construction zone that we were promised would be cleared before school started. Ha ha. Our children are now being bussed 5 blocks to and from school since there is no safe route for us to take

Bekah got her first tooth on the 14th

Our flag football season kicked off with me running practice until Ben comes home

I managed to mow my lawn and finish the work on the flower bed before falling spectacularly while holding baby three days before he was due home. Badly sprained ankle, air cast, crutches, and... 1200mg of Motrin 3x/day? Are they crazy? I'm alone with three kids! I took 1 - 800mg tablet the first night because I hurt, that was it.

Enlist neighborhood kids to clean cars before hubby comes home. Force my kids to clean porch and help with the yard.

Ditch the crutches. Don't they realize I cannot carry a 20 pound 8-month old AND walk on crutches? I move better without them anyways.

Ben finally came home on the 19th, YEAH!!!

23rd - flag football season begins

Got to see Seasame Street Live, "sunny days..."

Headed for Mt. Rushmore over Labor Day weekend, crahsed the in-laws' road trip there, had lots of fun. Baby did awesome on her first big road trip

And, last but not least, stopped at Lifelight Fest in Sioux Falls, SD on the way home from Mt. Rushmore. Ran into a military sister from AK, played at the water park, saw Mathew West, 33 miles, Building 429, David Nasser, Natalie Grant, and Casting Crowns LIVE and for FREE! It was awesome! And not just the music, but the testimonials, seeing God working and moving, the food, the atmosphere, everything. And, even though it was midnight before we saw our beds, I left that night feeling refreshed in the Lord. We are hoping to go back next year now that we know we are so close.

All in all, a good summer, even if it was short. We are so glad to have daddy back and looking foward to a busy fall season together.

*Pictures to follow