This Month's Art: August

Just a few pieces this month. Owen is getting quite good at details. I love that he loves to draw.

And these are Charlotte's watercolor pieces. I just love that she uses ALL the colors and draws such simple lines and shapes. I think these are beautiful.

August Little Things

Here are the little things to remember about August.
First, Owen went to his FIRST Scout Camp. He was gone 4 whole days! He had a great time and did a lot of work, earning 6 merit badges. He isn't quite 12 yet, but there is a group of about 5 boys his age who are all turning 12 this fall, so they have been invited to attend several of the Boy Scout activities with the 12 year old scouts. He enjoys scouts. Here he is with our neighbor and his buddy, Hunter. They both turn 12 this fall!

I went on a hike early one morning with some friends. We hiked to the waterfalls at Bell Canyon Reservoir. I had never done that before. It was tough, but so pretty!

Here's Charlotte on a lunch date with Owen, Nate and I at Cafe Rio. Wearing her princess dress and giving us her best orange smile. And we did talent fingers again. Owen doesn't have much of a lunch break this year in school, so we are going to have to get creative with our dates!

Olivia had her friend, Olivia, over and they wanted to do a spa night. So we did yogurt and honey masks, cucumbers on their eyes and mani-pedis. They were in little girl spa heaven.

Here's from one of our pool nights at the Puzeys. Everyone always wants to hold baby Thomas, and Cheryl snapped this cute shot of Jonah and Baby T.

Olivia participated in a REAL soccer camp with most of her soccer team. Just look at this awesome team. These girls have been playing together for years now.

Charlotte and I drove the carpool one day and we came early to watch and to play on the playground.

Charlotte and I enjoying some poolside snuggles.

The most unbelievable weather rolled by us one night while we were playing at the Puzeys.

Owen, Olivia and Jonah did the Jordan High School Tennis Camp this year and really enjoyed it. Go Team Anderson!

He tried the shaved ice hut just down the street for the first time. Yum! We went with some experts who told us the best flavors to try.

Charlotte's Costco ice cream mustache.

The day before school started while Owen was at 6th grade orientation, I took the kids to Granite to sign up for PTA and to let them go say hello to their new teachers. It was really good for them to get excited about school tomorrow. We had to stop and play on the playground too.

Owen went to his SBO retreat before school started and helped make signs to welcome back the Albion students. Here is the poster he made. He was complimented on his mad drawing skills!

On Olivia's 2nd day of school her teacher sent these out to all the parents. Cute!

Charlotte went to her little friend's birthday party. Edie turned 4 and we went to her grandma's house to swim in the pool and celebrate.

Life is just crazy and hectic with so much going on, that I have to pause and remind myself to LISTEN. It's something I'm trying to focus on right now.

And thanks to Instagram I get to see some of the fun things going on in my kids' classrooms. Here are some of the posts from Jonah's class.

One of our YW taught us how to make bruchetta one night for our activity. Isn't that just beautiful?

And Charlotte and I helped shop for the Fun Run at Granite this year. These bears are always the most fun to buy. You get so many smiles as you walk around the store. Charlotte LOVED every minute of it.

And later that night I put together all 450 packets for the Fun Run assembly the next day. Good times with the PTA.

And I snapped this blurry shot, to prove that they really are so sweet with each other sometimes.

Thanks August. It was another great and full month! Hooray and Phew!

Last Pool Day

We didn't know it at the time, but his was our last trip to the pool for the season. Our pool closes after Labor Day. The Friday after school started, we loaded up the car with kids and neighbors and headed to the pool. They had a blast playing together.

Nate arrived a few hours later with pizza and crazy bread. We stayed and played until almost 9pm. It was a perfect late summer evening at the pool.

Here's how the sky looked as we were leaving. Owen snapped a picture since the sunset looked so amazing. Until next summer!

1st Day of School

The official 1st day of school for Owen, Olivia and Jonah. Owen went to his orientation yesterday, so technically this is his second day of school, but I still made him pose by the sign and take more pictures. Such a good sport. Here is our 6th-grade STUD! He left that morning at 7:20am.

And here is the Elementary School crew! Olivia is starting 4th grade and Jonah is starting 2nd grade. Charlotte will be starting preschool after Labor Day, but she wanted to be a part of all this back pack wearing and picture taking fun!

Here's our adorable 4th grader. She has Mrs. Snow this year and is really looking forward to it. She already LOVES her teacher.

And here is our amazing 2nd grader. He just knows he has the best teacher, Mrs. Smith, and is really excited to go back to school.

Mrs. Smith texted this photo to me. So cute!

After the kids were all off to school and dad was off to work, Charlotte and I met up with her little friends and their moms at the park. It's really is the most wonderful day of the year! Hooray for Back to School!!