Other August thins

Jr. Jr. really wants to make juggling balls so he and I have been working on that project- making juggling balls for everyone in the family. It's slow going but we'll get there.

Jet heard us talking about making juggling balls and told us he wanted to make "chocolate balls" so one day we made Oreo mint truffles like we did for St. Patrick's Day, except we didn't bother to make them green this time.

Jet is doing well at school so he's been able to pick something from the treasure box a few times. The first thing he brought home was a little water color paint set so I printed out a picture for him to color. He did a good job. 

I still try out new recipes from time to time, some from A Season of Family Meal Plans by Jordan Page, some from something I see on Instagram by my favorite food bloggers. I made Slow Cooker Loaded Chicken and Potato Casserole from Six Sisters' Stuff and it tasted so good to me. I didn't have whipping cream so I combined some sour cream and milk to get the creaminess (#shelfcooking).  

 

We had an amazing storm one night. I was concerned that my bedroom floor was getting wet. I went outside several times to check the window well. There were pools at the top of the stairs outside and in front of our front door. I checked my bedroom window and realized it was open. Rain was getting in and getting on my floor. Sigh. 

Luckily it dried up quickly after closing the window. I put towels down and kept checking them.

When I went outside in the pouring rain, the lightning and thunder were flashing and booming every few seconds. There was so much of it. 

 

It's amazing how calm the next morning can be after a storm.

 

 

When Nichole was the last one at home before she started school, she and I got to have some bonding time, going to the library and for a drive up the canyon to Bridal Veil Falls this time. 

More Catching Up

August 25 was Kiss and Make Up Day. Jet and I were arguing. We stopped and gave each other a kiss on the cheek and then got along.

 

August 26 was National Dog Day. Jet helped make squid pups.

It was also Toilet Paper Day. We used toilet paper. 

 

August 29 was Chop Suey Day. I just made some teriyaki. It tasted good.

August 30 was Toasted Marshmallow Day. And International Bacon Day. Nichole had this great idea to combine them. Bacon on S'mores. Why not? 

 

August 31 was Eat Outside Day. We did.

Balloon Bonding

Real quick- August 22 was Be an Angel Day. It's become tradition to have angel hair pasta that day with alfredo sauce and chicken. Yumm. 

 

Now to what I really wanted to blog about.

 

Every year, Jeremy volunteers to build a balloon sculpture in the children's section of the Orem Library for the Summer Reading Program. He's been doing it for over 15 years. This year, because of construction, they didn't have him do that. He and Lucky did teach simple balloon animals at the Kid's Art Gala and in August, they built a balloon sculpture to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the children's wing of the library.

I'm very impressed with how Lucky is picking up the balloon sculpting. He built the number 30 and the hat. Way to go both Jeremy and Lucky. I love that Lucky's getting into this and they are getting to have this bonding time together.

Since they were building on Gene Kelly's Birthday on August 23, when I went to deliver some missed items to them (I'm also a helper), I found Lucky dancing around to celebrate.

Later to also celebrate Gene Kelly's Birthday, I wore my bow earrings and pirate ship necklace and we watched "The Pirate" which Gene Kelly was in with Judy Garland.

 

That evening, we went to an end of the Summer neighborhood barbecue. I had a great time socializing. I love our neighborhood.

Catching Up August 2025 part I'm not even going to number them this time

August 6 was Wiggle Your Toes Day. I wiggled my toes. Luckily that is an easy one to celebrate because August was crazy and like July, we skipped a lot of things we normally celebrate.

Jeremy and I took a walk around the local farmer's market and saw how crowded it was.

We're still cute. 

Afterward we went home and had root beer floats for Root Beer Float Day.

August 8 was Sneak Some Zucchini Onto Your Neighbors' Porch Night. I really wanted to celebrate this with zucchini from our garden. The timing didn't work out. Bummer. One was close but it didn't work out.

What I did do that night was go to a Girls Gather activity. Spa Night.

Nichole, Stephanie, and I got together for a relaxing evening. We soaked our feet. We did some meditation. We ate snacks. We played games. We talked and talked.

Oh, I love Stephanie. She is such a good friend and good example. She taught me the following: How do you thrive through trials? Embrace a spa. S=Scriptures P=Prayers A=Affirmations. 

I needed that night and I'm grateful for taking the opportunity to breathe and relax.

 

Like Nichole and Jr. did in July, Lucky took swim lessons in August.

August 10 was Lazy Day. I wasn't that lazy but I did have a moment of resting that day. Jr. came and joined me in my room showing me on his phone what Lucky was doing in VR Golf. I got to watch with Jr. as Lucky made an impossible shot, bouncing off the railing of some stairs down into the area it was supposed to be, maybe even into the hole. I don't remember exactly. It was awesome, though.

Another day we played VR Golf for Family Home Evening. It was my first time ever doing VR. Obviously other family members have done it. Kind of crazy the first time. Lots of "Whoah."

 

August 11 was Play in the Sand Day. I chose not to because of the algal bloom in the lake. I did look at the sand, though, and got a nice morning picture in my spot that I like. 

 

August 13 was Alfred Hitchcock's Birthday. We watched two Alfred Hitchcock movies that day. I slept through one of them.

First Weeks of School! First Weeks of School!

Catching up on what we did at the end of August.
I had promised the kids we would play at a certain park so we finally did.

 Jr. started playing an instrument- the cello.

August 22 was Be an Angel Day and my kids were angels. Lucky had his kindergarten assessment to find out which class he should be in. He got a treat and was very happy about that.

That evening we went to the UCB (Utah County Birders) potluck. Nichole made a cheeseball in the shape of an American Dipper. Jeremy made a sign to go with it.

Since we had the potluck that night, we celebrated Be an Angel Day foodwise a few days later. We had alfredo with angel hair pasta again.

I got to go on a UCB field trip up Mirror Lake Scenic Byway. It was a long day but great. Jeremy took care of things with the kids while I was gone. My hero. I got to see some birds I'd never seen in Utah before and some mammals I'd never seen before.

Highlights were Canada jays (formerly known as gray jays), American three-toed woodpecker (lifer), pine marten (allusive weasel-type animal- I didn't get good pictures, others in my group did), and some pikas (cute little rodent-like animals- They are fast).

If you look really closely in that second to last picture, you can see the dark brown pine marten just above the log leaping toward that evergreen on the right side of the picture. Go ahead and click on the picture to make it bigger.

Lucky had his own first day of school. He was so excited for it, he ran to the bus stop and we got there super early and we waited... and waited... and waited. When he got home from school, he asked, "Do I get to go to school again tomorrow?" He was pleased that he did.

This picture Jeremy calls my "I'm not ready" picture. Actually, I was just trying to make sure he didn't get too far ahead where I couldn't see him and so I could take pictures.

I will admit, though, I did cry before the bus was even out of sight. I knew he would be fine, but... you know.

August 28 was National Bow Tie Day. We had bow tie pasta with our meal. Yumm. I asked the kids to set the table. They had an interesting way of doing it.

One Saturday, we took a trip up to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge and Antelope Island to see a couple new life birds. At Bear River, we saw a brown pelican. We're used to seeing American white pelicans in Utah, but we don't get brown pelicans around here. That was exciting.

At Antelope Island, we saw a wandering tattler. I didn't even know there was such a thing until that week.

And of course we chose August to go, which is when the biting bugs start to diminish because there are spiders everywhere- Western Spotted Orb Weavers. They are big... and beautiful.
Thank you, Jr., for letting us use your hand for size comparison.

Luckily, we brought along our web detracting sword so we could go along the path full of vegetation and get webs out of the way.

We celebrated Jr.'s birthday in August as well. When I asked what kind of cake he wanted, he said what he really wanted was pie. I asked what kind and he said "apple." Ah, yes. I can make apple pie. So that's what he got for his birthday. Apple pie and ice cream... and a sonic screwdriver. Have I mentioned we're Doctor Who fans?

 

Everybody's been needing haircuts. I took care of three of them in August, one in September, and one in October. I forgot to do before and after pictures on some of them but if you look at my blog, you'll be able to see the difference.

 There may have been more holidays and things in there but if I don't have pictures, I don't remember.