Already August!!

I can not believe that we are almost at the end of August!  The month has gone by so fast and has been filled with lots of pool fun, boot camp with playing with friends after, weekly doctor appointments, swim lessons, birthday parties/celebrations and so on!  Here is one big blog post about the day to day things that have filled up our month.

August 4th-Ella got into her headbands and decided to wear them for the afternoon.  

Joseph showing the camera "Izzy" and "Cubby" from Jake and the Neverland Pirates, which he bought with his own money from his piggy bank. 

 A little sibling horsy ride on August 5th.

 And Ella who is too cool for school!

 Joseph used Daddy's medals from the past year all morning to play with.  

 We were going through clothes on August 7th and Ella modeled a few outfits for colder weather. 

 That afternoon we headed to the splash pad-definitely no cold weather here! 

We celebrated my 35th birthday together with Mexican food, ice cream cake and presents!  Then Rich and I had plans to go to dinner the following night after looking at cars but the car buying process took forever so we settled for takeout instead.  It was a great birthday weekend though and I am looking forward to the start of a fabulous year.  

We bought back to school shoes on August 11th and Joseph was SO excited!  Normally we take our shoes off inside our home but he asked to wear them inside this day so he could practice running in them.  

Here he is practicing his running stance.  We are going to to do the junior running club this fall so he has been practicing!

On August 12th, Joseph and Ella went over to Olivia and Jack's house for the afternoon and Eve sent me these pictures of them loving the trampoline while wet!

Later that day, Ella and I played at the park while Joseph was at swim lessons with Daddy.  That morning I told her to go get her clothes and she walked upstairs and went right into her closet.  Rich was up there and found her pointing to this dress so that is why she is in a "church" dress on a Tuesday!  This is definitely her "go to" outfit!

 "Cheese!"

 On August 14th we had Olivia and Jack over to play.  Olivia wanted to play dress up but with Ella not having many dress up clothes yet, the best she got was Joseph's clothes.  They were so funny to listen to!  

 Ella wanted to play dress up, too, and found a pair of big pajamas to put on along with a necklace!

 And, here they are with a costume change.  

 Joseph is going to a sports camp through The Woodlands rec program every Saturday morning for an hour during the month of August.  Each week they learn about and practice a new sport and he has had a great time at it!  

Daddy helping with the dunk!

Daddy and I take turns playing with Ella on the side. 

Here are a few shots from the baseball themed class on August 23rd.  That's Rich and Ella sitting next to 2nd base giving Joseph a high five as he ran the bases.  

 He is signed up for t-ball beginning in October with two of his buddies which he is really excited about!

 On Friday, August 15th we went to a trivia night that my friend, Monica's, non-profit company puts on every year.  We went last year and had a blast and had another great year this year.  Our table didn't do so hot with the actual trivia but had a fun time with friends!

The girls

The girls, again, but with Monica this time!

Most of the crew!

Ella is totally into dressing up these days!  She found Joseph's suit jacket and wore it for half the day! 

She's a pretty cute professional if you ask me-we just need to work on getting her some pants!

August 16th 

 On Sunday, August 17th we went to Wendtwoods pool (about a mile from our house) to spend the afternoon there.  Rich had never been to this one so wanted him to check it out.  

 Totally random (and not very good picture) but this is how he played for a long time one morning-he was Jake with a balloon and the stick is his sword.  This is also really random and probably too much information but I wanted to remember it and all of the other moms who read this will probably appreciate it!  Joseph and Ella always hang out with me while I am in the bathroom (what kid doesn't, right?) but recently Joseph will come up to the bathroom and ask if I am pooping or peeing and then he says, "I come in for pee but I do NOT come in for poop."  Ha ha!  Again, probably way too much information but it makes Rich and I laugh every time he says it and we have learned just to tell him that we are pooping every time to give us some privacy!!
And another funny Joseph story that I want to include is that recently we were talking about weddings and getting married and our conversation went like this:
J- "Who can I marry when I grow up?  Can I marry Ella?"
me- Aww!  "No, you can't marry Ella because she is your sister"
J-"Can I marry you?"  
me- Awww, again!  "Sorry buddy but I"m married to Daddy so you can't marry me."
J-"Well, how about Cali dog?"
All I could do then was laugh!  

 We went for a walk on August 19th and stopped to feed the ducks which we hadn't done in awhile.  

 And then we played at the park for awhile.  It was a really nice morning without the normal humidity so we took advantage of being outside (and not in the pool!)

 Joseph going down the fireman pole by himself.  Rich told me that he did this about a month ago when he took the kids to the park but I hadn't seen it yet!  Getting so big!

 And, later that day, we ended up back at the pool!  We stopped by after running a few errands and I totally forgot to pack my bathing suit but the kids were totally happy just playing in the kiddie pool so I just sat at the side and watched which was a nice change.

  I know I've mentioned before about Joseph suddenly becoming obsessed with Jake and the Neverland Pirates...well, it is still going strong and he has been talking about being Jake for Halloween.  I decided to order the costume early so he could enjoy it (since he was always wanting to wear blue pants like Jake anyways).  We received the costume on August 19th and he kept it on all day and has worn it basically every day since at least for a part of the day. 

Here he is yelling "Yo ho ho!" 

 On Wednesday, August 20th we headed to Woodforest where a bunch of our friends live and checked out their community pool.  It is super nice and was a fun day with friends!  

Ella and I hanging at the pool on later that day on August 20th during Joseph's swim lesson.  Two pools in one day is a lot-everyone slept well that night!!  He had his final lesson on August 22nd and moved up to Level 2 and can definitely swim on his own.  We just need to work on his confidence-he just gets pretty nervous once he realizes that he  is on his own but he is definitely getting there!  

 The ducks were there to keep Ella entertained during the swim lesson.

 On August 21st we met up with friends at Falcolnwing pool (another one of the 14 Woodlands pools) and had another fun pool day!

 Ella was loving the 1 foot deep water where she could practice her swimming skills!

 Swimming together!

 Bubble fun in the bath on August 22nd!

 Ella has been washing her leg like this recently!  Finally caught a picture of it. 

 On August 24th we participated in a virtual 5K for a friend of a friend's daughter who has pulmonary hypertension disease.  We walked it together and then sent our picture and donation to my friend.   Daddy took a picture of us and then one of himself, too!  (Notice Joseph in his Jake costume and Ella in her favorite dress!)

He definitely keeps us laughing!!

As I mentioned at the beginning, I can not believe that we are in the last week of August and that our family most likely will be changing by the first week in September!!