The beginning of August got kicked off with someone turning the big 4! I can hardly believe it!!
Handsome fella!
To celebrate his big day we decided to get a few of his favorite people together for some arcading, bowling and a movie! I think everyone had a blast…we had some pretty sugared up, hyped up kids at the end of the day but it was worth it…all in the name of celebrating this sweet, energetic little guy!
Singing happy birthday back at home with Grandma Stacey and Grandma and Grandpa. Ice cream cake and then off to a sleep over with Grandma and Grandpa! Happy birthday Coop. What a day!!
Though she is getting old, and her once all black face is nearly all gray and white…she still runs out to the yard, grabs a ball and wants to play when I am outside for any amount of time. She turned 13 this September. It's hard watching her get old. But more and more often I'm finding a pair of very sad eyes looking up at me in the morning. I know our time with her is drawing to close…so I try to be patient through the daily pee on the floor and impatience with the kids and us. She's our girl for better or worse and we are going to miss her when she is gone.
We had a yellow jacket infestation in the house this summer. I started noticing a few here and there in our living room windows. A few died and landed on the floor…but then both Cooper and I got stung. As the days went on the number I saw during the day went from one every other day to four a day. Eventually after a few visits from our Orkin guy…we discovered the nest in a pretty unlikely spot inside the walls outside our front door. He said our nest was several hundred yellow jackets strong if not more. It took two treatments and each time it sent yellow jackets running for the hills. The first treatment sent somewhere between 20-30 through the gates in our fireplace. Yikes!! My Mom came to the house with a little duct tape (I will never not need my Mom in my life!) and the next day Jer did some caulking in our breezeway and that seemed to do the trick. We haven't had any problems since!
School supply lists!
Coop loves puzzles. This Jake and the Neverland pirates ones is no exception!
Shortly after Cooper's birthday party we came down with a stomach bug. Or well Owen did. It decided to spare me and Greyson for a few weeks for some reason. After a few days when we thought we were in the clear, we busted out of the house and took the boys on a ride across the ferry. We popped in my favorite little roadside stand over near Brussels, IL and grabbed up some peaches and homemade fig and jalepeno jam. After our stop there we finished our trip by heading across the Golden Eagle ferry! I love days like this! Nothing overly special but just time with our kids and enjoying each other's company!
Jeremy and I checked out a new sandwich shop in town called Firehouse Subs. It was pretty awesome!
Trying some new curtains…still not sure.
In an attempt to try new food we requested Owen take a small bite of watermelon. I'm not going to lie…he sat here for a large part of the evening refusing to try it. A single, tiny bite. Food has been a struggle for Owen since about 13 months old. And realizing we deal with some textural issues when it comes to all things…and we also deal with a child on the bubble for autism…Jeremy and I are always battling whether or not we are doing the right thing forcing a single bite of a new food. When he was little his OT's always said not too. So there's that. But there is also all the judgements that are leveled our way for rolling over on this battle. Which parenting is nothing if not an exercise in reminding yourself not to care about what other's think and doing what works and is right for you and your child right??? So we definitely struggle with every facet of it. That being said, I hate for him to miss out on new things because we never push him outside of his own bubble of comfort. So often we do push. not hard. But tiny steps in a new direction. Right or wrong. Sometimes he actually tries things. Sometimes he LOVES the things we encourage him to try. Mostly he ends up gagging until his eyes water and barely choking it down. It's zero fun. Ahh Owen…I hope one day you will be able to eat a larger variety of foods. There is a great big world of delicious things out there for you to enjoy bubba. A great big world!
A text from my best friend that left me in stitches. And it's so true!!
This was the tiny hole in our siding/brick that the yellow jacket found to make a home. Blew me away!
We made cupcakes…and this is his (and my) favorite part! Call it parental influence if you want, but the kid knows what he likes! I love cooking with both the boys. He calls me the best maker-maker and boy does that make my mothering heart happy!!
We got an invitation to join Jonnie, April, Jackie and Paul on a triple date night to Botanical Garden's Lantern Festival. After a stop at Elijah P's for a few beers and burgers we hit the road for St. Louis. It was beautiful seeing all the Lanterns lit up. But I will whole-heartedly admit the crowds were a little too thick for my liking…but nothing a stop for a beer couldn't fix!! Cheers to a bucket list item check off and a siblings night out!!
All made of plates. Porcelain plates to be exact!
These flowers and this amazing pergola shaped lantern with cherry blossoms were my favorite displays of the night! I didn't get a good picture of the pergolas but man were they cool!
A portion of the class was spent teaching the kids about how different animals behave and acting like them. They crawled, fending off predators and rolled around on the floor like, well, animals! Too cute!!
Possibly Cooper's favorite part was the close encounters with the animals! This snake made my skin crawl but Coop couldn't wait to get his hands on it!
After his class we decided to enjoy a bit of the zoo…though it was a billion degrees, we tried to make the best of it! We went to the amphibian house, saw the sea lions and made two stops for snacking. My kind of trip!! Coop I am so thankful for this precious time spent just you and me! Love you big boy and your adventurous little spirit! And your love for ice cream :)
This face!!
So much sweat!
A preschool supply list!
Someone needs his hair cut...
But he sure is cute!!
The rest of August was spent gearing up for our return to school! Ready or not…here we come!!
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