Back to Reality

 August is the summer month that is always a reminder that school will be starting up again in the near future.  So we decided to spend the time we had left having some fun before we literally had to face the reality of a set routine each day!  As I reflect on the month my heart is full of joy with the memories we were able to create....I know I say this a lot, but I truly am very thankful for each and every opportunity we were able to embark on!

#1-We decided to stay in Sidney after the softball tournament while Mike went back to GI to work.  We thought it would be a great opportunity to spend some quality time with family and it seemed feasible because we had to be back the next weekend anyway.  So the pool with cousins was a must! 

 

 #2-My sister and I thought it would be fun to have a girls night together since we do not get to do that very often.  We invited all my sister in laws and then some of our friends.  We went to this fun crafty place in Sidney and made a fall decorative piece. It was definitely a fun night!

 #3-We got to watch Finn and Piper one day while their mom was at work.  These are cousins on the Schumacher side.  It was great to spend quality time with them!

*This is just a random picture of a sign I bought for my bathroom remodel:)

 *Another random picture, but this was Reeve's reaction to me telling her that Mrs. Verba had called me and told me she would be Reeve's kindergarten teacher!!  She was soooo excited:)

 #4-Reeve has unfortunately decided that it is fun to sneak away, find my makeup, and put it on....this does not bring so much joy in my life :)  Sidenote- her eyeliner is just a tad high!

 #5-This was the next weekend in Sidney, which was our celebration of my niece Charlee who passed away at birth 5 years ago.

 My sisters and I, oldest to youngest, but I am tallest:)

 This is definitely a joy--watching my dad and Joden make memories together.  Joden LOVES my dad and truly I think he has a lot of my dads personality traits!  They are both talkers and are both goofy and both typically do not sit still very often (although my dad has the older he has gotten-ha ha).

 Another joy is seeing cousins make memories together, especially when they involve my favorite sport of basketball!!

 For some reason this is upside down, but this is the birthday cake my sister had made for our celebration of Charlee. 

 Visiting her gravesite!  What joy to have all the cousins there surrounding her headstone.  My heart longs for her to be here, but when I start to question why I am always comforted by God's word...

 #6-Mike's brother breeds German shorthairs so we got to go see them.  They were so sweet!

 #7 It truly was wonderful to see this incredible man after being away from him for a week!  Love living life with him by my side:)

 We decided to sneak off a short while to go hang with Mike's sister Kati and her cucumber loving boyfriend Nate :)

 #8  One of the most enjoyable parts of being a mom is teaching your children how to do new things such as playing Mancala.  Joden had a blast playing this game with me:)  He gets his super competitive nature from me!

 #9  Found these random pictures on my phone from Miss Reeve! These are the moments that immediately bring a smile to my face, warmth to my heart, and am immediate thought of how thankful I am to be the mother of this sweet girl. 

 #10-This joy includes several different activities in GI.  First, we finally felt like it was ok to say yes to sand volleyball because we could bring the kids with us, so here is snap shot of them playing in the sand.  We all enjoyed our Wednesdays at the sand volleyball courts!

Second, this sweet girl surprised me by competing in the YMCA summer club talent show.  She basically just did a whole bunch of cartwheels over and over, but having the courage to get up there in front of lots of people to display her talent took me by surprise!

 Thirdly, we went and tried out Big Red Treats for the first time as a fun outing one last time before school started.

 The fourth thing in GI was Reeve started soccer.  This is the first team sport she has done so we will see how it goes.  We are getting excited for her first game to see her in action!

 #11-The joy of back to school arrived mid August.  The night before the first day we got to check out their rooms.  As you can tell they were excited!!

 Already got some school work to complete at open house:)

 

 Then here are a bunch of our first day of school pictures.  We always take a few at home with their signs.  We go the simple route and just make our own.  So we have Joden in 2nd grade who wants to be an Ashley's Furniture Guy and Reeve starting Kindergarten and she wants to be a ballerina:) 

 

I always take them to the free breakfast to ease them into their first day.  Then this year was hard because I had to ditch Joden and go with Reeve.  So I was sort of sad that I could not see him experiencing the first time with his 2nd grade class.  He said he did just fine:)  As for Reeve, it was a tad emotional saying goodbye to her, but I know she is in good hands!

 #12-The weekend after the first week of school we enjoyed the Brew and Sausage Fest with Mike's family.  We of course had a great time and sure do enjoy our time with them.  The weather was beautiful and the band was great!  And of course the beer was great!

 The girls :)

 The boys :)

 Not only did we hang with our family we also got to hang out with lots of our dear friends!  These are two of my Howard friends that I will miss not getting to see every day at work, but that just means we will just have to plan times to get together:)

 #13-The joy of spending my summer with these two every day is so wonderful!  The memories we get to create together brings me so much happiness. We spent many days enjoying the pool and this was us on the last day it was open! 

 

#14-The joy of being back in the classroom teaching is definitely the case.  So far at Barr we have already had an assembly with the famous eagle Challenger, been to the state fair, set goals for our futures, and created 6 word memoirs about ourselves.  I am looking forward to the days that lie ahead with my 6th graders!

 

 #15-A few more random joys below:

-Joden went with me to watch some of our basketball girls play softball.  It was so cute because he sat right up by the fence and cheered them on:)

 -We celebrated Mike's birthday!

 -The kids were having a blast jumping in Nana's pool!

 -Playing in the park in Sidney!

 #16-The final joy for August was going to the state fair.  We often like to go on $2 Tuesdays and this year it really was a great idea because it was supposed to rain quite a bit which we think kept people away.  It ended up not raining and due to not as many people, the kids didn't have to wait in line for rides and we were able to see/do quite a bit in a short amount of time! 

What a great month of end of the summer fun and back to reality of school/work!

Always feeling incredibly thankful for these opportunities, but wanting to make sure to never lose sight of our faith!

Job 22:26
"For then you will have your delight in the Almighty, And lift up your face to God."