August highlights

We started to get the swing of our new normal in August, right in time for Steve to go back to work :) I don't think I would have survived the transition to four kids without having him around to help during the summer. Here are some fun photos of Junia (of course), the boys at soccer, the state fair, and our visit to Pennsylvania to see family and friends.

Ephraim really wanted to make a dessert out of Mix and Match Mama's recipe book, so he chose this red, white and blueberry pie, and we made it together :)

Our garden was really in its prime at the beginning of August, and the boys were extra proud of their giant sunflowers.

We have also enjoyed growing a variety of red, yellow, and black cherry tomatoes.

Nolan asked for a bike as an early birthday present, and Grandma and Grandpa Z came through for him! He LOVES his bike and asks to ride it every night.

Steve and I weren't crazy about our basic beige linoleum kitchen floor (with some holes and stains), so we decided to lay down a tile floor.

This was the state of the floor underneath the cabinets. 

Here's the new floor, before it was grouted! I'll have to show you what it looks like now - though our kitchen is still a work-in-progress!

Sweet Junia at THREE months! At 3 months, I wrote :  She gives us wide smiles, loves to chew fingers, wiggles but hasn't rolled yet, is gaining good neck control, calms instantly in the sling, has kept her head of dark hair with new blonde highlights, and enjoys sleeping outside in this beautiful summer.

August loves Culver's! When we go, I ask him, "Do you want a hamburger or chicken?" and he says, "Ice cream" every time. He gets very excited every time we drive past it (which is often)!

Fell asleep with his little Ranger Rick magazines :)

Getting some pizza at Giordano's on a Friday night.

Check out that cheese.

My niece wanted to take a photo of them after a soccer game, so I snapped one too, and I love it!

Enjoying all the lights and sounds at Lowe's.

We made our own Forkys from Toy Story 4. :) :)

Cousins playing soccer together! 

(Ages 9, 8, 7, 5, and 4.)

Ephraim holding on to baby sister.

We went to the Indiana State Fair for the first time, and it was really fun! We went on $2 Tuesday, which was a really good deal.

We saw cows and award-winning pumpkins, ate pineapple whips, and called it a day.

We squeezed in a trip to Pennsylvania before Steve's semester started. This was Junia's first road trip to Ohio and Pennsylvania!

The boys found Uncle Josh's Darth Vader head, and it was really a popular toy.

My friend Heidi and I got ice cream together and had a chance to catch up, and it was wonderful! I forgot to get a photo of her with Junia!

Junia and Carol in their matching blue polka dots!

I was happy to spend time with Meghan!

We ate hamburgers and strawberry shortcake outside at Carol and Dave's house.

Steve and his dad got to go for a run together a couple times, which was so good.

The boys were envious of my ice cream date, so they begged to get some, too :)

Grandpa and Grandma with the kids!

And with Uncle David and Abby. Notice Ephraim's pose :)

Our trip went by so fast! We swung by our favorite donut shop on our way out of town.

Stopping for Starbucks somewhere in Ohio.

My mom was a gracious babysitter for our 9 caterpillars while were gone!

And then the butterflies started hatching! I'll have to do a post just on them!

Since my mom had me when she was 31, and I had Junia when I was 31. . . here we are at 62, 31, and 0, right before our next birthdays. :)

Going to need a frame for this one of my oldest and youngest!

Happy Birthday to MorMor! We are so happy she lives so close now!

xo
Rachel

Sunshine and peaches

In a few months, I am going to be looking at these photos and aching for the summer sun and the activities we can do when it's warm! Hopefully it's enough to know that we made the most of summer while it was here!

We enjoyed many peaches from "The Peach Truck". They were the best I've ever had, and I made sure to freeze a few bags for fall baking!

A fun playdate with my friend Lindsay's kids! (Missing Baby Wesley here!)

Happy girl!

The boys had so much fun at an outdoor movie night with friends!

We had ice cream cake for Steve's 33rd birthday!

Eating watermelon poolside. :)

Such a great nap spot!

One Sunday at church, we found our first tiny monarch caterpillar of the summer - and an egg!

Soccer started up again, and my job is to keep these two happy while the older boys are at practice.

Ephraim (in orange) at practice.

Banana chocolate chip muffins are one of my fave things to bake!

On my to-do list this summer was to go blueberry picking! We had a great time despite the swarms of Japanese beetles.

Some boys are more helpful than others when it comes to picking fruit ;)

We did a lot of eating and freezing blueberries!

"Mommy - take picture - me - June!"

In front of the Indiana State Capitol - we need to go in sometime!

We LOVED the Canal Walk! It was so pretty, everything was flowering, and we saw baby ducklings!

We walked past this butterfly, and I had to get a photo. :)

More pool days!

Tiny Cubs fan :)

Several of the caterpillar larvae we had didn't make it, but for the most part, we have had very healthy caterpillars!

I love this photo of Junia, and that sweet little dimple!

Hanging out on campus, waiting for Daddy to get off work.

One night, Steve was running an errand and as soon as he got back to our house, the car stopped in its tracks and all the dashboard lights came on. We hoped it was just a fluke, but the mechanic blamed a faulty engine, and so we had to total our Subaru. Even though we knew that both of our cars were getting older, we thought the '05 Subaru still had a couple years left in her!

On this day, Nolan lost his front tooth in the pool when Ephraim knocked him in the face. He was SCREAMING at the top of his lungs because he was so sad he couldn't find his tooth, and he was worried the tooth fairy wouldn't come without the tooth. We searched for it but never did find it! (I guess it doesn't float?) But the tooth fairy did come. . .

 

 These are my favorite moments.

The ladies at church were all fans of this big bow!