Our July was all about swimming, but August was all about fun! We spent afternoons and most Friday evenings at the pool. I was able to meet up with the Blond Squad. Our family traveled to the Smoky Mountains. And Matt and I celebrated birthdays. See what else our life lately has been this month!
Books I’ve Read
- The Last Lie Told by Debra Webb- Finley O’Sullivan is a legal investigator who is searching for information on a case after the man imprisoned for murder recants his confession. This is all while working through the unsolved murder of her husband. I thought Finley was a really interesting, complex character and I liked the mystery. This is the first in a series. I am looking forward to reading the second one when it comes out. 4/5
- The Last One Home by Victoria Helen Stone- Lauren Abrams wants nothing to do with her mother, whose false testimony sent Lauren’s father to prison for murder years ago. After a serial killer’s confession to the crime restored justice, Lauren chose to live with her father and grandmother. Now an adult, Lauren has come home to the family estate for good. But as Lauren makes the estate her home, new information arises about the past. This was interesting, but I didn’t find any of the characters particularly likable. 3/5
Products I’ve Tried
- Alec’s Ice Cream– I got this free to try out, but we certainly enjoyed trying it out! The ice cream is probably the best quality, creamiest ice cream I have ever tried. Not overly sweet. The vanilla flavor was incredible! Matt’s and my favorite is the lavender honey blueberry. OMG. So good!
- Slay bug spray– I love Slay spray to help repel mosquitos and ticks that contains a DEET alternative with up to 6 hours of protection. There is no sticky or greasy feel either and it has a nice, clean scent.
- Thymes candles– Thymes sent some products to Andrea for the Blond Squad meet up, but I’ve really been enjoying the candles in particular. The fall scents are amazing and so fragrant!
Recipes I’ve Made
- Ms. Andrea’s Key Lime Pie – I had this during our Blond Squad meet up and knew I needed to make it for Matt. He loved it! And now I think I need to make it again!
- Peach Pizza– We made a few different types of pizza for our birthday dinner in Matt’s pizza oven. This was my favorite! We used sourdough pizza dough and it was delicious!
- Arugula & Prosciutto Pizza– This was another flavor we made and it was also very good. Now that I’ve had sourdough crust, I can’t go back!
- Cream Cheese French Toast Bake– I save ends of bread in a bag in my freezer and make recipes like this when I have enough. I subbed out the blueberries for fresh rhubarb. It was very tasty! The kids have been enjoying this for breakfast.
- Smoked Doner Kebab– We make doner kebabs fairly often because we love them so much. But we don’t prepare them the traditional way because we didn’t have the kitchen items needed. I got Matt a vertical skewer for his barbecue and this was the first thing he made. It was absolutely delicious!
Family Update
- Matt- Matt really enjoyed his week off during our vacation. He loved all of the fun activities we were able to do while there, especially the cave tour and whitewater rafting. In fact, on the way home, we made plans to see the Grand Canyon over spring break with his parents!
- Me- The schools I work with don’t begin until a couple of weeks after the girls do so I have a couple of weeks to wrap up some projects and get things done before I’m super busy with work, school, and after school activities. I even got to take Claire to the Brookfield Zoo before she started school. It was nice to have an outing just the two of us. Whew! This month was so much fun! Between the Blond Squad meet up, our Smoky Mountain trip, and my birthday, I had a great time!
- Claire– Finally after a summer of swim team, Claire actually graduated in her swim lessons. Yes, we doubled up on swim team and swim lessons so she would continue to learn flip turns and improve her form. She will just do the non-competitive swim team at Goldfish for a couple of weeks before she starts Delta, which is a competitive swim team over fall and winter. I’m excited to see her improvements! She also started soccer practice yesterday and begins chorus next week. I’m not sure how this kid talked me into so many activities because she is still in Girl Scouts as well. We will see how crazy our schedules become! She started off 4th grade well and has lots of wonderful kids in her class. I’m just really disappointed the district allowed them to begin the school year with the max of 31 students in her classroom.
- Avie- Avie has been doing wonderfully in preK this year so far. She begins receiving swim lessons there next week so she will be doubling up in hopes of joining swim team next summer. She also begins soccer this Friday. Avie had a big month learning to ride without training wheels! What?! She isn’t even 5 yet! This kid keeps me on my toes!
AUGUST GOALS Recap
- Work on Level B books with Avie– Done! We’ve been working on 3 different Level B books.
- Paint the laundry room- Done! It looks SO good!
- Go shopping by myself- Done! I need to schedule this more often.
- Enjoy the last bit of summer! – Double check on this one. We’ve been having lots of fun on vacation and at the pool!
September Goals
- Paint mirror frame gold- We have a full length mirror in our bedroom with a silver frame. I would like to paint it gold so it would look better with our other frames in the room.
- Organize the game closet- Our kids have had some fun with the games over the summer and our game closet needs to be cleared out and reorganized.
- Drink more plain water- I’ve gotten into a habit of adding flavor to my water. I’d like to try drinking at least 16oz a day of plain water.
- Defrost the freezer- I’ve been working on emptying our chest freezer so I can defrost it before I fill it up with things again!
LINKING UP WHAT’S UP WEDNESDAY
