August was a mix of trying to maximize the last remaining days of freedom and fun with prepping for the school year with starting new things. Grateful for all that we got to see and do this month, including . . .
Competing . . . in an ice cream eating contest. Bradley saw that Macey's was having an ice cream eating competition, and he was very keen to enter it. Each contestant was given a Daddy Kone and challenged to eat as much as they could in one minute. Bradley pushed through the overwhelming brain freeze and ended up winning in his age group! So he gets free ice cream cones for a year, which is pretty much the best prize you could ask for as an almost 12-year-old boy. (Mike also competed in the adult bracket and came in second, which didn't get him any prizes but was still impressive.)
Sewing . . . a pair of stylish shorts. I helped Clark with his second sewing project of the summer. He picked out flannel watermelon fabric to broadcast his love of this summery fruit (seriously, that boy can put away an insane amount of watermelon). He was much more comfortable this time around with the mechanics of the sewing machine and the various steps and techniques. His shorts turned out great, and he's been proudly wearing them ever since.
Learning . . . from different Bible translations. We have now reached the epistles of Paul in The New Testament, and this is where I start to scratch my head and say, "Huh?" Although there are some verses I absolutely love, I also spend a good portion of the time not understanding a word of what I just read. So I've been relying on some other translations of the Bible to put Paul's words into plain English. I have especially been enjoying The Message translation. I've been reading it side by side with The King James translation, and it's helping me better appreciate the beauty of the words in that version.
Being . . . at the pool all together. We made it to the pool once, and only once, as our whole family. And Max wouldn't even get in the water, so does it even count? I'm finding that we are going to our neighborhood pool less and less as our kids get older, which makes me sad. On this particular night, we brought pizza with us and ate popsicles, too, and everything was just grand until Silas fell off a bench and bonked his head and Max begged to go home.
Making . . . awesome memories at the Nielsen Family Reunion. After a three-year hiatus, my family reinstated our annual reunion with great success. My sister, Anna, planned the whole thing, and it was pretty much perfect. We rented a big cabin in Midway, Utah with a spacious deck and amazing views. Each family planned and executed a meal (my brother, Gordy, and his smoked meat was the clear winner). We hung out for three day/two nights and had such a good time chatting, eating, playing games, doing pedicures, having a book discussion (The Art of Making Memories), making dream catchers, golfing and hiking. Besides all of these activities, there were two others that deserve special mention, which I'll talk more about below. Sadly, my brother, Ben, and his family were not able to come since they recently moved to Montana, and Ben wasn't able to take any vacation time.
Touring . . . the Heber Valley dairy farm. This family-owned farm offers daily tours, and as part of our reunion fun, we decided to experience it. We hitched a ride on a trailer to get there, and it was so fascinating to learn about how a large dairy farm is run. It is systematic, technical, and automated. My kids loved seeing the calves and having them suck on their fingers. Later that afternoon, we went back for ice cream (the huckleberry was maybe in my top five ice cream of all time), and the next day, we went back again for grilled cheese sandwiches and more ice cream (soooooo good).
Swimming . . . in a crater. Midway is also home to a 65-foot deep crater filled with water. Our large group had to be split into two sessions, so we went with Gordy's family. We had 45 minutes to float around in the warm water and look up at the sky through the top of the crater. Such a fun and unique experience. Before we went, I was a little anxious about the depth (this is where you can get scuba certified in Utah), but we all wore life jackets, so I felt like everyone was safe the entire time. Silas only enjoyed it for a short time, but the water was getting a little warm for Mike anyway, so they left and the rest of us stayed until our session was up. Then we walked to the top of the crater so that we could look down at the rest of our family who were having their turn.
Missing . . . a family reunion. Immediately following my family's reunion, there was another reunion for Mike's dad's side of the family. This reunion only happens once every other year, and I look forward to it immensely because I love all of Mike's aunts, uncles, and cousins so much. Unfortunately, on the morning of, Silas woke up with a fever, so I stayed home with him while the rest of the family went and had fun.
Speaking . . . in stake conference. I knew it probably wasn't a good sign when the stake president called me a week and a half before stake conference, and sure enough, I was given a speaking assignment. I loved the topic (always remembering the Savior by focusing on one of the names He is known by), but writing the talk was quite stressful. Upon hearing the topic, I immediately knew the name I wanted to speak about (Giver), and I felt like I was being divinely directed as I came up with an outline. However, the actual whittling down all of my ideas into seven minutes was extremely challenging, and I rewrote several sections multiple times. The assignment came at a busy time (reunion, start of school, etc.), but since life always seems to be busy, I guess there probably wouldn't have been a better time. Once I finally had it in a form I felt good about (literally not until the day before), then I was actually excited to give it. The only bummer from stake conference was that Ian threw up fifteen minutes into it. My parents were sitting with Clark, Ian, and Silas because Mike and the other boys were singing with the choir, and that was definitely not what I wanted to be watching from the stand. (Mike ended up leaving the choir and taking both Silas and Ian home.)
Starting . . . school. If I'm being completely honest, I always dread the return to school, and the first day is quite possibly my least favorite day of the year. But all of the boys had a much better attitude than me, and they are all pretty happy with where they're at: 10th for Aaron (so happy to not be a freshman anymore), 8th for Max, 6th for Bradley (loving all of the classes/teachers in junior high), 4th for Clark, and 1st for Ian (who switched schools, so he's now at the same elementary school as Clark). The elementary school was soooooo disorganized on the first day, which I found really frustrating (like, how do you not have this down to a fine-tuned system by now?!). There were not any first grade teachers out on the playground, and it was complete and utter chaos. In my opinion, you only have one job as a first grade teacher on the first day, and that's to help the children feel safe and at ease, and this was a total fail. As for me, I went home and held Silas on my lap and cried my eyes out because the house felt so quiet and lonely. I feel really grateful to have Silas around.
Vomiting . . . for days. We got hit with a nasty bug in the middle of the month. Ian got it first . . . and second . . . and fourth. Long story, but over the course of a week and a half, he got sick three times. His vomiting caught us off guard multiple times (once in the car all over Max, another time during stake conference, and another time during lunch on the second day of school, as well as many more times at home in a bag). All of the other boys ended up getting it, too, while Mike and I were somehow spared. Silas and Aaron were the sickest, lasting a solid five days and totally wiping them out. Aaron actually lost 13 pounds because of it, which really scared me. After three weeks of various people being sick at various times, we were finally past it, but man, it was rough.
Appreciating . . . my hearing. Meanwhile, I had health problems of my own. Last month while we were in Colorado, my left ear became blocked. I thought it was maybe due to the change in altitude. It mostly cleared up a few days after we got back home. But then I went swimming, and for once, I decided to be a fun mom and actually go under the water. My ear sealed off again, and this time, it didn't clear up. It was so frustrating. It got to the point where I literally had to turn my head to the right side in order to hear people. After enduring it for more than a month, I made an appointment to have it looked at. They put in ear drops and irrigated it twice before resorting to scraping around with a tool (as horrible as it sounds). But even once they cleared out the wax, it still took about five days before my hearing was restored, which was a happy, blessed day, and I still haven't lost my appreciation for it.
Losing . . . a tooth. Bradley has lost almost all of his baby teeth, but one of the teeth he recently lost was still attached to a braces bracket. Hopefully, the tooth fairy liked the extra bling! (Interestingly, Max is about ten teeth behind Bradley, which is why Bradley has braces and Max does not--the orthodontist recommended waiting until his mouth was a little further along.)
Joining . . . the ultimate frisbee team. Aaron decided cross country wasn't for him and joined the ultimate frisbee team instead. It's a club sport, which means it's fairly low-key and relaxed--much more our speed. Aaron is doing it with a cousin and a good friend, so he's loving it.
Saying . . . goodbye to a beloved yarn store. Ever since I learned to knit, I have loved my LYS (local yarn store), Blazing Needles. So I was so sad to hear that the owner is retiring and decided to close the store. That will leave Salt Lake without a yarn store, which seems like quite a hole. Because they're closing, all of their inventory is discounted, which I had to take advantage of. So far, I've been twice, once with a couple of friends and once by myself. I certainly didn't need all of this yarn, but I do have projects in mind for all of it, so there's that.
Starting . . . soccer. Ian joined a soccer team for the first time. He is on a team with his best buddy, George. Despite not playing before, not even with his brothers, he has jumped right in with enthusiasm. He even scored the one and only goal for his team one week. Clark is playing soccer as well. It's his third year with the same team (the Golden Dragons).
Falling . . . down a healthy rabbit hole. Mike and I are still on our diet. There has been something so empowering with taking charge of my health this summer and making healthy choices. One of my friends mentioned the book Eat for Life by Joel Fuhrman, so I decided to get it. He advocates for a nutritarian diet, which is mostly plant-based. Although it's a bit extreme if followed to the letter, I have been trying out a bunch of the recipes for breakfast and lunch, and I've found some real winners. I've enjoyed the variety, and it's nice to be an adventurous eater but in a healthy way.
Reading . . . a handful of good books:
The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Vol. 3 by Beth Brower (I like this series, but maybe not as much as everyone else seems to?)
Eat for Life: the Breakthrough Nutrient-Rich Program for Longevity, Disease Reversal, and Sustained Weight Loss by Joel F. Fuhrman (a little intense, but still motivating and interesting)
The Off Limits Rule by Sarah Adams (too much fluff, not enough substance)
The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis (I had never read this one before, and I loved it)
Die With Zero: Getting All You Can From Your Money and Your Life by Bill Perkins (definitely gave me some food for thought while also making me roll my eyes)
Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel (a little bit of a mind bender, and so well done)
It Was an Ugly Couch Anyway by Elizabeth Passarella (nothing super memorable, but still an enjoyable collection of essays)
Foraging . . . in the Garden of Eden (i.e., my parents' backyard). With all of the other boys being in school, I'm trying to take advantage of having the whole day with just Silas and me and do some things that we haven't been able to do before. One of those things is going to my parents' house. They live about forty minutes away, which wasn't really practical when I had a child in preschool or kindergarten. But now, we have a much larger window of time, so the drive feels worth it. My parents' backyard is booming with produce right now: blackberries, raspberries, peaches, tons of tomatoes, zucchinis, peppers, pumpkins, and apricots and corn that just finished. You can just wander around and pick your lunch straight from the vine or the tree (which is what we did). My mom and I also went on a bike ride (with Silas in the bike trailer), and I got to play their new grand piano. It was very enjoyable, and we hope to spend time regularly with them this fall.
Finishing . . . a long-standing knitting project. I started the Peregrine Shawl two years ago and worked on it in fits and starts, but I finally finished it, and it is a beauty. It is light and feathery soft, and I feel so proud of it. I also finished a pair of socks, which was my fourth pair of the year.
Biting . . . through his lip. Picture this: It is Sunday morning; we are dressed and ready to go to church; the last thing we are going to do before heading out the door is to have family prayer; our eyes are closed when we suddenly hear a thud; some of us will no longer be going to church. So . . . what happened was Clark was in another part of the house as we started to pray. He raced over to where we were and slipped into the banister. His teeth sliced right through his bottom lip. It was one of those times when you're not sure if you need to get it checked out or not, but we decided to anyway. He didn't need stitches, but he didn't make it back in time for church.
Seeing . . . the animals at the farm. Silas and I went to Wheeler Farm one morning with Mike's mom and sister and a few cousins. It was a beautiful day. We played on the playground, went on a little ride, saw cows, horses, chickens, turkeys, sheep, goats, rabbits, and pigs, and had a picnic lunch at the end. Such a nice way to spend the morning.
Playing . . . in a late summer rain storm. There were a lot of afternoon/evening thunderstorms in August, which kept the temperatures in a reasonable range. We love thunderstorms and always rush out to the porch to watch, listen, feel, and smell. It's a multi-sensory experience. Our favorite storm this month produced a gorgeous rainbow that spanned the sky.
Buying . . . snow cones one last time. The snow cone shack has closed for the season, so Aaron is out of a job. It was a great first-job experience for him. He loved working with cousins and friends, and we all enjoyed an excuse to go get a snow cone on a warm summer evening.
Signing . . . a backyard contract. Finally! Nothing has been started yet, but we're on the schedule. Woohoo!
That's all for August. Time won't stop; it's just crazy.
