August Compilation

8/1 - Derek fell asleep on the couch and Clara took care not to wake him up

8/1 - I launched my business, Memories Abound, today! Here's to hoping it takes off.

8/4 - our temporary foster dog. Derek called him Torch after his favorite dragon from the How To Train Your Dragon TV show. The Olympics just started up and I thought that was appropriate.

8/4 - Poor guy had infections, heartworms, was underweight and abused, but he was so sweet with me and the kids. Just put his big ol head in my lap while I rubbed his ears. Carolyn changed his name to Duke.

8/11 - Bryce is my hummus buddy. Any time I pull out the pretzel chips or cucumbers, he tries to grab the hummus. Love spending time with my babies! 

 8/11 - I snapped a cool photo of this grasshopper on the back fence

 8/14 - I love my LuLaRoe clothing! LuLaRoe is a boutique consultant-based company that makes cute modest clothes. My visiting teaching companion is a consultant and Mallory introduced me to their incredibly comfortable clothes. 

 8/16 - My silly boy. He is a big help when we unload groceries. Love my Derek!

 8/18 - Gorgeous sunset tonight!!!! :D

8/20 - Impromptu nacho picnic dinner with "ninja turtles and the dinosaurs" (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Blast From the Past) - their favorite movie right now.

8/23 - The boys sleep surrounded by their "babies" but Clara rarely sleeps with any stuffed animals. Had to memorialize this sweet moment.

 8/26 - All the kids love watching Derek play the harder games like Minion Run. He likes the attention.

8/29 - Kamryn and Clara are usually fighting or staring each other down. This was a momentous occasion!

Dog Playtime

 Stepped outside to take some updated photos of Sadie for Petfinder and saw these beautiful clouds!

 Told ya - they play rough

" You wanna play too?? Can I play with you??"

 "PLAY!!!"

 She can be an angel sometimes

 "Are you just gonna stand there or are you going to break them up?"

 I let Ace handle it most of the time - Sadie got her good this time

 Quick cuddle break

 Aaaaand back at it

 I know her teeth are showing, but she actually does like it

 Finally! Andi:1 and Sadie:12

She finally slowed down enough for me to take a decent picture, haha

Introducing...Foster Puppy Sadie!

Happy National Dog Day! To celebrate, we rescued a collie mix puppy we've named Sadie. She's about 2 or 3 months old, super sweet, and suuuuuper high energy. I forgot what it's like to have a puppy, whew! We rescued her from the local animal shelter who found her as a stray about a week ago. Their puppy policy was to keep the puppy crated, in arms or on a blanket on a table to interact with potential adopters, so she was crazy high-strung when I brought the kids with me to the shelter (at the last minute of the day!) to try to adopt her. The volunteer who showed her to us said that she had shown Sadie (that called her Zaya) six other times that day and everyone had declined because she was so rambunctious. Psh. We OWN rambunctious at our house, haha. So we took her home and she'll be ready for adoption around October 1st. She's adorable so I'm sure she won't last long.

 She tuckered herself out after a lot of running around the yard

 Meeting Uncle Ace - He's putting her in "Time Out" for playing too rough with Andi

 These two play soooo rough

 Connor and Clara strolling about the yard

 Andi is terrified of Sadie and doesn't know what to do around her - which gives Sadie free reign to terrorize her as much as she wants, haha

 Our sweet boy... 10 years old and still in the foster system... or is he??

 Connor, Clara and Bryce like to rock the airplane teetertotter

 Oh to have the energy of children

 Andi and Sadie ambled over to check out Kamryn playing in the sand pit, while Derek tinkers with some toys in the fort above

 Kamryn and Connor flying on the wings of imagination

 Uh-oh, Sadie got put in time out again. He barks at her if she tries to get up, haha!

A boy and his dog. What a fitting way to see out National Dog Day!

First Day of School!

Oh, the first day of school! I've been simultaneously dreading and looking forward to this day for a few weeks now. I've been hoping and praying that this year will be a better year for Derek and that his teacher will be a good fit for him. Mitchell gave him the back-to-school father's blessing last night and that was a great comfort to me, even if Derek isn't old enough to understand everything that was said. Among the many blessings and words of comfort, he was told that his teacher will be able to identify his needs, his teacher will help him meet those needs and that he'll choose good friends who are uplifting. He woke up bright and early at 5:30 am (ish), got dressed, packed his own lunch and came to wake me up at 6 with his socks and shoes already on. Whoa. We couldn't fit all the school supplies in his backpack, so I tied the rest to his backpack in a Kroger bag, haha! He's not old enough to mind yet. After a quick breakfast (and a quick lunch repack, since yogurt and potato chips aren't sufficient on their own) we headed out to the bus stop. Bryce had been crying since he woke up and discovered that today is the day Derek goes to school and not Bryce. Derek cheerfully hugged both Bryce and Clara before bouncing onto the bus without a second glance. Look out Cockrell Elementary, here comes Derek Heath!

Our day was a lot quieter but Bryce cheered up when Connor and Kamryn arrived. Eventually, it came time for the bus to drop off its precious cargo and (thankfully!) the little kids were still napping, so I camped out in the driveway by myself for a bit. He finally arrived and said he had a great day! YAAAAAAAAY!!!! The cherry on top was Bryce's face when he woke up just as Derek walked in the house. Poor little guy is gonna have a rough time with his best friend in school every day.

 Ready to take on the world... starting with first grade!!

 Aaaaand there's my Derek, lol

 Still a half hour to go and the goodbyes have already started

 Bryce is devastated that he can't go too

 My three musketeers!

 Here it comes...

 For the 32nd time this morning, he kissed Clara goodbye

 Bryce is taking it like a champ now

 Yum, wet puppy kisses, haha!

 Mitchell left for his first day of 18th grade (second year of his MBA)! Hopefully his last year of school!! :D

 Bryce isn't sure what to think of Clara's new leggings

 Clara went straight to her drawer and picked out one of her favorite shirts to wear with her new look. That girl is going to have some seriously jealousy over that hair. (Bama is already in that camp, lol)

 Connor and Bryce wanted to take a picture together too!

 Bored. I'm ready for my Derek to come home!

 YAY! He's HOOOOOME!!

 Good day or bad day?

 Good day!!!! YAAAAAAAAAY! Looks like we're off to a great start in first grade! :D

 Bryce couldn't believe his eyes when he woke up to find Derek home!

 Oh these sweet boys

The first thing they wanted to do was grab their babies and watch Dinotrux. Connor hopped in the picture, too!