summertime! - August edition

we had a very quick visit with my mom, as she came down to visit the creation museum with a group from their church in pittsburgh. it was a less-than-24-hour visit, but we'll take anything we can get!

we also enjoyed spending time with one of the families from the church, the sabellas. leah, who is now 16, was the flower girl in our wedding 9 and 1/2 years ago. she is still one of the sweetest, most beautiful girls i know!

 august means tomato season....which translates to salsa season at my house!

jacob created an outdoor band. do i see a real drum set in his future? do we dare?

we enjoyed celebrating the birthday of jacob's buddy, isabel. we spent a saturday at winton woods park out on the pontoon boat, at the splash park, playing on the many playgrounds, and a tractor ride! happy 5th birthday, isabel!

grandma turns 60 and we visit the 'burgh

we made a quick weekend trip to pittsburgh at the end of august to surprise my mom for her 60th birthday.

the moment of the birthday surprise:

party time:

we had a good time hanging out with family- the kids loved aunt brianne and uncle kevin's pool, and we were happy to get to meet jackson's newest cousin, josie.

and thankfully, we got some time in with our pié family too!

jacob starts kindergarten

it's hard to believe.
i don't like saying "time flies" because i think i use it too much. but sometimes there are just no other words.
i can't believe that my little baby big boy is old enough for kindergarten. he was rearin' and ready to start school. i thought i was ready for it too- until the 2 or 3 days before he started. it all became real to me, and my mind couldn't stop with all the "what-ifs" of sending him off to school.

but thankfully he loves it. and there have only been a few small issues that were quickly resolved.

his favorite things about school are riding the bus and playing on the playground. go figure. the first day of school he got off the bus and told us that he was able to tell his bus driver where to go. :) (this kid is better with streets and directions than i ever was at his age).
his 2 good friends at school are Cole and Maddie. i've loved watching him be brave and outgoing.

kate has also adjusted well to being the "only child" at home. thankfully the tears we got from her on the first day were not a foreshadow of what was to come. she keeps busy being a good little helper. she helps me babysit, grocery shop, and do some baking. we've also been working on preschool material, but haven't been more serious than just 1 or 2 days a week. she will still have 2 more years before it's her turn for kindergarten- i think that is going to take forever for that day to come.