August rolled around, and it was time for the girls to go back to school. It was hard to believe that summer break was already over! August also brought Abigail’s birthday (which I will cover in a separate post) and the beginning of the fall soccer season. Here’s the recap:
Back-to-school orientation was on Monday, August 1st. This year they held it in the evening, which was better timing for working parents, I’m sure. We tried to get there right on time because Brooklyn has FOUR teachers this year, so we had way more classrooms to visit in our 45 minute window than normal. It was exciting to be back in the school again!
It’s hard to believe that Savannah is old enough to be in 2nd grade. Where has the time gone? She has Ms. Kuenzli this year, who is one of four teachers in the “cottages” (i.e. portables) out back. Ms. Kuenzli remembered Savannah from when she used to bring the walker kids out in the afternoons when Savannah was in kindergarten. I thought that was sweet! We were hopeful that she would have a friend in her class, but when we looked over the class roster, she didn’t recognize any names except for one boy from her first grade class. We put her school supplies at her desk and gave Savannah a chance to look around the room, and then we hurried back inside the school to go to Brooklyn’s classrooms.
I didn’t take any pictures of Brooklyn with her teachers (trying not to embarrass her…), but also because we didn’t have long in each classroom at all. Brooklyn’s homeroom teacher this year is Mrs. Prevatt again, who was also her 3rd grade teacher last year. She’s actually still in the same classroom, so everything was very familiar for Brooklyn. It was good to see her and find out that Brooklyn already knew a lot of kids in her homeroom. We went around to meet her other teachers, Ms. Davidson, Ms. Taylor, and Ms. Dixon. We already knew Ms. Davidson, but didn’t know the others. Everyone seemed very nice, and Brooklyn was looking forward to changing classes and being one of the big kids on campus ;) 4th grade just sounds too old!
This sweet girl is getting so big too!!
On August 2nd, Savannah went to Gabriella’s birthday party at Altitude Trampoline Park. Savannah was very excited because she’d never been there before, and she was also happy to spend time with her friends!
She had a great time!
While Savannah was at the party, I took Brooklyn and Abigail to Jeremiah’s Italian Ice, an ice cream shop that was having its grand opening that day. I thought it would be something fun to do to celebrate the last day of summer vacation. The girls both ordered gelatis, which are a mix of Italian ice and soft serve ice cream. Yum!! They were delicious!!
Wednesday, August 3rd was the first day of school…for Brooklyn at least. Savannah started complaining of a sore throat after the party the day before, and it was bad enough that it woke her up in the middle of the night, so unfortunately she had to miss the first day of school. I took her to the doctor and she tested negative for covid and strep. Dr. Dudley said she could go to school on Thursday as long as she was feeling better. She never ran a fever at all. She and Abigail played together and it was still a good day.
I sure love this beautiful girl!
So Brooklyn went on to school for her first day without her sister. She was excited and a little nervous too about the first day.
She let me take some pictures at home with her hair down, but of course she wanted to wear a ponytail after pictures were done ;) Her report after school: “It was good but kind of boring.” I think she was hoping to go to the different teachers’ classrooms, but they just stayed in homeroom all day. She was happy to see several friends she already knew. She apparently has 8 kids in her homeroom from Mrs. Prevatt’s 3rd grade class. On the 2nd day of school, they switched classes for 20 minutes each, and the plan was that they would start their regular block schedule during the second week of school.
Meanwhile, back at home, Travis set up the card table so he could work in the new and improved office for the first time! He was still waiting on his new desk to be delivered, but thankfully it came just a few days later.
Savannah was feeling better by August 4th and excited to go to school for HER first day! ;)
She wanted to wear her hair in a French braid. She was a little nervous that everyone else would know what to do and would already have a friend since she missed the first day. She’s so much like me that it’s not even funny!
Savannah wanted to push Abigail in the stroller on the way to school that morning ;)
When we picked the girls up that afternoon, Savannah said it was a good day and she already made two friends…Miette and Lillian. She also saw some of her old friends at the playground and at PE. Ms. Kuenzli emailed me that night and told me that Savannah was so kind and got along with everyone. And she was impressed that Savannah already knew her 2nd grade sight words!
Travis went with me that day to pick up the new table I bought at Austin’s Furniture to go in the little hallway outside of our bedroom. It fit perfectly, and I was really pleased with how it looks with the photo collage that was already there.
On August 5th, Abigail and I spent some time chalking in the driveway. It is her last year at home before starting school, and I’m trying to soak up the quality time together with just the two of us.
Savannah ran into Mrs. Pride at school that day and got a quick picture with her :)
That evening, we took the girls to see our first Rocket City Trash Pandas game, and it was the girls’ first ever time to go to a baseball game. We decided to buy the cheap $8 tickets and sit on the berm since we didn’t know how much the girls would really get into the game or enjoy it.
We brought a blanket with us to sit on, and the girls enjoyed running around in the grass and even saw some friends from school.
Of course, we had to get a snack while we were there…Dippin Dots hit the spot ;)
Brooklyn saw another Brooklyn from school (also in 4th grade), and they had fun rolling down the hill for a while. As luck would have it, the girls needed to go to the bathroom right when we got to the stadium, and by the time we came out, the Trash Pandas had scored their only runs of the game (TWO 2-run homers…haha). So there wasn’t a whole lot of action for the rest of the game.
Savannah was so happy to see Annie, one of her best friends from 1st grade.
We brought along Travis’s old baseball gloves in case there were any foul balls hit our way. We didn’t catch any balls, but they made nice hats at least ;)
We specifically chose a Friday night game because we knew there would be fireworks at the end, and we thought the girls would enjoy them. They were excited when the fireworks started, and we had such a great view from the berm area. Little did we know that things were about to get crazy.
The show started off normally for a minute or two before we could tell something wasn’t right. The fireworks were exploding at ground level behind center field instead of shooting up in the air. Then, all of a sudden the first one headed our way but landed below where we were sitting on the hill. Before we could even make it up to the concrete area behind us, another firework zoomed over our heads, quickly followed by one that probably missed us by less than 5 feet to our left. We ran for cover (along with everyone else) as fast as we could, and thankfully the fireworks started shooting upright again and stopped aiming right for us. I have always been a little wary of fireworks when it’s people shooting them off for fun on the holidays, but these were supposed to be the professionals. Needless to say, the girls were scared to death. Travis and I were in a state of shock too….we ran off without our baseball gloves and didn’t even realize it until several weeks later when we couldn’t find them at home.
Travis and I sat on the couch that night trying to process what had happened to us, and we quickly realized that we were in quite a few of the YouTube videos and new articles being posted online. We definitely stood out with our neon green and bright pink shirts. Even the Daily Mail covered the story! I guess that was our 5 minute of fame, but I’m not sure the trauma was worth it ;) We were just thankful that none of us got hurt!
On August 6th, Savannah was invited to Felicity’s birthday party. They went to eat hibachi and then went swimming and ate cake/opened presents back at Felicity’s house afterward. It sounded like a really fun afternoon!
While Savannah was at Felicity’s party, I took Brooklyn and Abigail to a different birthday party for some siblings from church. While we were there, we got to hold baby Abigail for the first time. Brooklyn didn’t look too sure about it…haha.
Savannah got her turn to hold baby Abigail the next day at church!
Brooklyn created a cat house for Gabby out of shoe boxes and paper towel rolls. It had different levels and was all taped together. I love seeing her creativity in the things she imagines and creates.
Travis’s new desk was delivered on August 8th!! We were really pleased! It was a bit of a guessing game on how it would look since we’d never seen the desk in person. (Most executive desks like this aren’t carried in furniture stores.) We ordered it through Sutton’s Furniture, and they were nice enough to hold it for us for several months until we were ready for it.
The girls asked to paint after school on August 8th. We still have plenty of paint leftover from Brooklyn’s art party when she turned 7, which has come in handy so many times.
August 9th was Abigail’s first official soccer practice ever! This was a big group practice for all the 6U boys and girls, and she couldn’t wait to get out there. Savannah also had a group practice that night. They were on separate fields at Dublin, so I had to drop Savannah off and stay with Abigail at her field. Thankfully Gabriella and Coach MJ were on Savannah’s field too, and Travis got there a little while later. Abigail looked so cute in her cleats and shinguards!!
She was definitely one of the littlest ones out there, but I was so proud of her! She wasn’t afraid to poke her foot in there and try to get to the ball. She even scored a goal during one of their scrimmages! She did a good job of following directions and she had a lot of fun. She couldn’t wait to get out there (she was asking about it constantly all day leading up to the practice) and couldn’t wait for the next one!
Olive was so sweet to walk next to Abigail on the way to school on August 11th. I’m sure she was talking Olive’s ear off ;)
Abigail and I went to the pool later that morning…just the two of us! She enjoyed jumping off the side and practicing some of the things she’d learned in swim lessons earlier in the summer.
Travis emailed the Trash Pandas after what happened at the baseball game and asked if we could get a refund on our tickets, which we thought was reasonable considering what happened to us. We were surprised when he got a phone call from the GM offering us tickets to a future game and giving the girls a chance to do some fun things on the field! (Spoiler alert – we did end up going back to a game, but not until September).
The girls borrowed Gabby’s carrier to make a bunny trap for our backyard. They were convinced that they could catch one of the wild rabbits that we occasionally see out there. They put a trail of carrots on the ground leading inside and checked it for several days to see if they’d caught anything ;)
Travis went to Nashville on August 12th for a Red Hot Chili Peppers concert with Matt and Jamie Newton. This was his first Chili Peppers concert, so he was really looking forward to it.
The concert was at the Titans’ stadium, and he said they had a great time!
Sarah and her family came over for breakfast on August 13th. They brought part of the food, and we made some pancakes, and it was a really fun morning.
Later that day, we worked on moving some stuff back into the office from the dining room where it had been stored for a few weeks. We got the printer hooked up in its new spot and started going through piles of stuff. It was exciting to think about how it would all look once everything was put away. (Months later, we aren’t there yet…haha…but it’s nice to dream!).
Savannah stayed home with a tummy ache on August 15th. We weren’t doing very well starting out the school year with two absences already! She didn’t run a fever and never threw up and actually played with Abigail most of the day (including outside for a while). That night she complained of feeling dizzy and having a headache. She was covid negative, so we aren’t sure what was going on. Thankfully she felt better the next day!
They made food out of Play-doh…
…played Guess Who together…
…and Savannah even read Abigail a story at bedtime! I don’t think Abigail was sad about the extra quality time with her sister that day ;)
We started something new a couple of weeks into the new school year, and I made a “school checklist” of things that Brooklyn and Savannah are supposed to do before and after school each day. They are now responsible for packing their own snacks, helping make their lunch, charging their Chromebooks, filling their water bottles in the morning, etc. It has been great for them AND for me that they are taking more responsibility for things they can do to help!
On August 16th, we helped the Johnson girls deliver the neighborhood newspaper after school. There are about 5-6 houses that have “subscribed” to the paper, and it’s been a fun thing for the girls to do together over the last 1.5 years.
Elaina is usually the one who puts the newspaper together, but Brooklyn and Savannah both usually write several articles for each edition of the paper. I love reading it each time!
Abigail went to another 6U group soccer practice on August 18th, and it cracked me up that I had to tie her orange penny in a knot so that it wouldn’t fall off her shoulders ;)
These group practices were run by Challenger coaches from England, and they made it a lot of fun for the kids.
Brooklyn went to her first friend sleepover on August 19th at Avery’s house. It was for Avery’s birthday, and she invited two other girls as well. Brooklyn didn’t know either of the other girls before she got there, but it sounded like they all got along well. She had fun and said they went swimming twice, ate lots of junk food, and whispered after lights out…of course ;) She said, “I barely slept the whole night!” (I think she slept more than she thought she did.) I could definitely tell she was tired on Saturday, but it went well for her first sleepover! The other girls wanted to do something special on Friday night since Brooklyn was getting to do something fun, so we had a family game night and played Hoot Owl Hoot a couple of times!
Abigail got the cutest tent for her dolls as a birthday present from Levi and his family, and we caught Gabby making herself welcome inside it not too long after I got it put together…haha!
The walk home from school during the month of August is always HOT, but we are used to it now that we’ve been doing it for so many years.
Mrs. Davidson, Brooklyn’s science teacher, shared a few pictures of their activities this month. One day, they made a model of the water cycle.
They also made a model of the effects of rain on land when they were learning about weathering and erosion.
And on a different day, they examined different components of soil. Brooklyn enjoys hands-on activities, so science has been right up her alley this year.
On August 23rd, Savannnah missed MORE school for a dentist appointment. (When I scheduled it, I had no idea she would have already missed two days by this point). At her last checkup on August 1st, Dr. Curtis said she was ready for sealants on her 6 year molars, but that a couple of the molars had really deep grooves that needed to be cleaned out before the sealants were applied. They gave her a choice of whether to get laughing gas or not, and she said she wanted it. I think that was a good idea since she was feeling kind of nervous beforehand. She did great though! Her only complaint afterward was how bad the sealants taste. I still remember the taste from when I was a kid, so I get it! They said she would be fine to go to school after we were finished, so I checked her in, and she didn’t miss too much of the day.
Travis found out a few months back that he was nominated for the DA Civilian of the Year (!), and there was an awards dinner on August 23rd. Spouses were invited, so I was able to attend with him.
We ate dinner (prime rib, potatoes, salad, asparagus, dessert), which was delicious, and we listened to a few speakers get up and talk about how Huntsville and the army’s workforce here are great ;) and then each nominee went up on stage to receive a plaque.
Travis didn’t win his category (there were 11 people total in his category…more than any other), but it was still a big honor just to be nominated! The overall civilian of the year winner got to go to D.C. in October to compete against other regional winners.
We enjoyed the evening since we don’t go out very often by ourselves. I couldn’t more proud of Travis for his hard work and the way he leads his team. He doesn’t do anything halfway, and that includes his job ;) He is a servant leader and looks out for his people and makes sure they feel valued and supported. I’m happy that he was recognized at the dinner for all of his effort!
We walked to school with the Dyess girls on August 25th too :)
I helped Abigail with some thank you notes for her birthday gifts. For most of them, she drew the picture and signed her name, and I wrote what she wanted to say. But on this one, she wrote the whole message (with me telling her what letters to write)! It was a thank you note for Scooter, the dog that goes with her AG doll :)
She really liked this Paint By Sticker book from Harper and Collins, and it was good practice with recognizing her numbers :)
Savannah had her first soccer team practice on August 25th. She was thrilled to be on Coach MJ’s team again, and she already knew everyone on the team but one girl.
Ms. Kuenzli has her students take a picture of their journal entry sometimes and post it to Seesaw, which allows me to see it at home. Savannah wrote about the Trash Pandas game on August 26th: “Next week on Friday, I am going to a Trash Pandas game. Last time there were fireworks but the thing that shooted them tipped over and the fireworks went sideways! So we get to do something special at the game. It will be very fun!” :)
That morning, Addie came over for a little while to play with Abigail. They had a fun time playing in her room, upstairs in the playroom, and outside on the swingset.
Abigail’s first practice with her team was supposed to be on the 23rd, but the fields were closed due to rain, and so they ended up doing a quick meet and greet/practice on the 26th instead. Brooklyn and Savannah have both played several seasons of soccer, and so we know quite a few families in their age groups. But with Abigail’s division, we weren’t sure if we would know anyone or not! We didn’t know her coach or assistant coach, but she did end up having the little sister of Savannah’s teammate on her team, which was neat!
It was hot, so she cooled off using the stroller fan on the walk back to the car ;) She had a fun time!
On August 27th, we had our first soccer games of the fall season!! I had to get a quick picture before we got the girls and all of the gear loaded up in the car. This was our first attempt at soccer Saturdays with all three girls playing. It definitely took a good bit of planning and organization, but we made it work! It was worth it to see how much they all enjoyed the season.
I’m not sure why it took us this long, but we finally invested in a wagon to help us carry all of the chairs, backpacks, sunscreen, water bottles, fans, etc. from field to field. It was definitely a worthwhile purchase!
It was a very hot and humid day. Savannah’s team was up first at 9:30 at Dublin 8. They decided to be the Mighty Magical Unicorns this season :) Her team is a mix of old teammates from spring 2022 and fall 2021 along with one other little girl.
It didn’t take long after the game started to see that the Unicorns were much better than the other team. I’m sure it helped that they already had some team chemistry…
Savannah played great defense as usual and kicked the ball away from the other team on multiple breakaways. She also scored a goal!! Her team ended up winning 7-0. She had a headache before the game ended (I think because it was so hot). I was proud of her for toughing it out…she really hustles and gives her best.
Abigail played at 11 AM, so we had plenty of time to walk up the hill to her game on field 8. The other team didn’t show up except for one of their players, so we ended up just having a scrimmage amongst our own team. Abigail’s team is the Unicorn Butterflies this season. She couldn’t wait to get out there. It was obvious that she is still learning some of the basics of the game (like don’t take it away from your own teammates and which goal you are trying to score in), but she really did great for her first time! She ran fast, wasn’t afraid to get in there and kick the ball away, and she scored two goals (one for her team and one for the other team…haha). We are going to have to work with her on keeping her arms down because her tendency is to push people out of the way…haha. It’s going to be a fun season watching our Peapod out there!! She already can’t wait for the second game and is asking how many more days.
A few of the big sisters got out there when they needed more girls for the scrimmage, so Savannah got to play for a little bit ;) We told her to take it easy on the younger kids, and she did a good job of doing that.
We had time to hurry home and eat a quick lunch before heading to one of the new fields at Palmer for Brooklyn’s practice…
Brooklyn’s age division (10U) still didn’t have enough coaches signed up by the 27th, so they had a big jamboree practice at 1 PM instead of a game. They kicked the ball around a little bit before dividing up into groups to scrimmage. Brooklyn played several different positions including goalie. It was very, very hot, and the girls all ran out of steam pretty quickly. She did manage to score a goal right before they called it a day. We were all happy to get inside the A/C after we got home!
“Hey Mommy…I’m wearing your shoes!”
I loved Savannah’s journal about bunnies on August 29th: “In my backyard, I see very cute rabbits. Me and my sisters have made a bunny trap to catch a rabbit. I think rabbits are very cute and soft. Whenever we try to pet a rabbit, it runs away very fastly.” :)
Savannah was the math superstar on August 30th, which meant she got to sit on the ball for the rest of the school day!
Savannah and Abigail walked to school with Chloe on August 31st…
I signed up to eat lunch with Savannah that day. She was excited to see me. I’m trying to take advantage of the years where she is still happy for me to come to school ;) They pass too quickly!
Notes and Quotes from August 2022
- 8/2/22 – Abigail’s soccer uniform came in the mail yesterday, and she was so excited! She thought I was calling it a “unicorn” instead of a uniform, and this morning she told me she couldn’t wait to wear her unicorn shirt ;).
- 8/4/22 – Abigail and I were at Publix, and she was excited about some of the things I had put into our shopping cart. She started squealing and exclaimed, “I’m falling in love with the lemonade and desserts!!”
- 8/4/22 – Abigail came out of her room with her backpack on: “Mommy, I’m going hunting!” “What are you going to be hunting?” I asked. “I’m hunting for fish…in the sea! And gazelles!”
- 8/6/22 – Abigail: “Daddy, when you were a baby, did your parents name you Daddy?” :)
- 8/23/22 – Abigail pulled out the old “interrupting cow” knock knock joke today with Paw and Rae Rae for the first time in months. Rae Rae said, “I thought you’d forgotten that joke!” Abigail replied, “I’ve been keeping it in my secret mind.” :)
- 8/24/22 – Abigail has been playing a “who am I?” game with Paw and Rae Rae on Facetime this week where she describes an animal or food, and they try to guess what she’s thinking of. So she said, “I’m thinking of an animal that’s pink with black on its feet.” Rae Rae guessed “flamingo”, but that wasn’t it. I guessed pig, but that was wrong too. We were both racking our brains trying to think of another animal that was pink, and we finally gave up. Then she exclaimed, “It’s a unicorn!!” :)
- 8/31/22 – Rae Rae asked Abigail if she was the smallest one on her soccer team. She quickly responded, “Of COURSE not!! I’m actually probably the biggest.” Like that was the biggest insult ever ;) She has no idea of her size compared to her teammates. Even if she did, I doubt that would stop her!
Thanks for reading!!
One reply on “August 2022”
Lol!!! That Peapod. You never know what’s going to come out of her mouth!!