August at our house

Splashing with cousin Grace, who is almost 1.




Vacuum attachment microphone. Max loves dust pans and brooms and vacuum cleaning attachments. And toilets. Can you think of filthier objects?



Levi on the potty, with a strategically placed book. He still tells me every day, "Mommy, I need privacy."



Our little performer singing the alphabet.


This is the look Levi gets on his face when he is telling a really exciting story...and when he is jumping from the coffee table to the couch :)



Max and his beloved fire truck. Thank you Nana and Grandpa! He pushes the buttons to make siren sounds and says "Whoa!"


Levi in the summer sunshine. I love this.



Personality plus :)


August has been a pretty productive (and busy) month so far. With Zach out of school, we have been working hard together, tackling various projects around the house. We had a garage sale with friends, and are now in the process of turning our guest room into a playroom/school room for the boys. The guest room has not been getting much action lately, and with 1300 square feet, we really need to maximize our living space. Having all of our toys and children's books in one room sounds like a dream to me :)

I've been spending a lot of time researching and ordering preschool supplies too. I am getting really excited about homeschooling Levi. I sometimes doubt my ability to plan ahead and stick with a plan, but I feel really good about getting some practice this fall. I couldn't decide between the Sonlight curriculum and Before Five in a Row (both revolve around classic children's literature), so I purchased the instructor manuals for both and bought a few classic books and games, knowing that we'll be borrowing most of the recommended books from the library. I have the booklist in my purse, so that I can be on the lookout for inexpensive used copies at garage sales and thrift stores. I also made Levi a plastic box with 26 files, one for each letter of the alphabet, so we will be studying a letter a week (with corresponding books and worksheets) and memorizing a couple of Bible verses for each letter of the alphabet as well. He is so excited about his "school box!" He will be turning 3 in November and is already talking a lot about his birthday party (he wants to color birthday cakes with candles and "fire" every day!)

Max has become a little star performer (at least to us.) At 15 months, he started singing the alphabet all of the way through...and he pretends to be singing into a microphone all of the time :) A spoon, a vacuum cleaner attachment, a corner of his favorite blanket...anything will do! We are so grateful for these boys.

Zach has a potential job opportunity (here in Tulsa) that looks promising, and is sort of the perfect career move, so we may be staying here for a while. We miss our Colorado friends and Colorado in general, but we feel that God has us here for now. Tulsa may not be our forever home, but we are very content and enjoying family and friends, as well as a lower cost of living, which is making it easier to pay off Zach's medical school loans in a timely fashion. Mvelopes.com is a really great budgeting tool that we have been using. Speaking of the budget (can you hear the sarcasm?) last night, we booked two trips for the fall, and we are so excited. The first is a four day Colorado getaway for me and Zach, and the second is week long trip to Virginia to visit Zach's dad and stepmom. It should be a lot of fun.

So, what haven't I been doing lately? Cooking. I have a a menu, but it is pretty basic, with a lot of smoothies and sandwiches. It is just so hard to want to turn on the oven when it is 100 degrees outside.

That is us, right now, in a nutshell.

Love,
Kate