What a month we’ve had! It started off with my birthday, then we had a sad goodbye, spent wonderful time with family, survived cross-country flights, colds, a back injury, physical therapy (for said back injury)… We came home to some hot weather, welcomed less-hot weather, made false teeth… Learned of the hospitalizations of both of my mom’s parents… Went to a farmer’s market, but our car got hit (with no note left behind) in the parking lot… Had a blast discovering a splash park I had heard of but never been to because of its hefty entry price ($7/person). It turns out you can get in free after 5:30, and it is great! Add in a couple fun barbeques, our town’s fourth of July parade (enjoyed from the shade, which was nice for everyone except for the kids who missed all the candy. Next year I think we’ll STILL sit in the shade, but I’ll come prepared with a bag of candy to throw between us and the parade!)… In between everything we had fun in the sprinkler and enjoyed some great creative play – all in all a very memorable month.
Now let’s see how I did in terms of reaching my goals:
- Finish the SKIRT: It’s cut out, all thirty-plus pieces of it (no wonder I was intimidated!), but I haven’t started sewing. Sewing it up may or may not work, since I wasn’t remotely careful about measuring before cutting.
- Sew dresses for Emma and Lily: Also cut out, but not sewn.
- Keep our garden alive: So far so good, although a few leaves have succumbed to fungus. We enjoyed a lot of peas this month (even if most of those vines are dead now – is that normal for peas?), as well as five yellow zucchini, plus two more that were sent home with friends. We haven’t actually eaten that much zucchini – just picked it!
- Make dress-up clothes for Johnny: Done, albeit not with the glamour I sometimes envision but never create. I would still like to make something beyond our superhero capes, but Johnny has become quite adept at making his own disguises, and I did pick up some fluorescent yellow vests from IKEA. They drown him, being adult-sized, but they still work nicely as “Bob the Builder” outfits.
- Go on walks: We did this some, but could have done better.
- Play outside: As with walks, we did this, but could have done more.
- Visit a local farm: Not done. Hopefully next month.
- Visit a local farmer’s market: Done. The kids enjoyed painting pots and listening to a story, and we picked up some lovely honey, blueberries, and cheese. None of us were happy to see a dent in our car when we returned to the parking lot.
- Go through belongings and select some to donate: Done. I’d like to do this again next month.
And here are my goals for August:
- Celebrate Lily’s Birthday. Target Area: gratitude
- Celebrate Mike’s Birthday. Target Area: gratitude
- Visit a local farm. Target Area: education
- Go through belongings and find more to donate. Target Area: generosity and gratitude
- Keep our garden alive. Target Area: education and health
- Sew the skirt. Target Area: education
- Sew the girls’ dresses. Target Area: education and gratitude
- Get organized for TWO kids starting school (Johnny continuing his preschool program and Emma starting kindergarten) in September Target Area: peace
- Go to Story Land!!! Target Area: fun! That can be gratitude, right? =)
- Cut out and hopefully sew my summer dress, before summer is over! Target Area: education
What do you hope to achieve in August?
MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.
Your such a good mom! I love reading all that you have accomplished…and all that you plan to do! Your truly amazing!
Aw, thank you!!!
I always admire your month after month goals. Something I’d like to do, but never really have. Well, maybe with one goal at a time, that’s about all I can manage!
It’s the only way I get anything done! I have a thing for crossing things off lists =)
Are your mom’s parents out of the hospital? What a rough month…
A splash park sounds fun! I have been admiring this homemade one.
Thirty-plus pieces of skirt… whew! My fingers are crossed that it all comes together beautifully!!
That homemade splash park is stunning!
My mom’s parents are, unfortunately, still in the hospital. The hospital stays were necessary, but they have both since acquired hospital infections, which complicates matters even further. Hopefully my grandmother at least will make it out once my mom arrives in Utah on Thursday to help out.
What a jam packed month you have had – you’ve done it all in this past month! I hope that the physio is helping your back and relieving the pain.
We also have two August birthdays in our family (Troy and I – our birthdays are one week apart). August is a month of celebration for us too.
Going to a local farm sounds like a fun family activity. Blakie wanted to go to a farm for his birthday. The closest, suitable farm we could find was about an hour and a half away and they said that they accept visits in the late afternoon for one hour – not really ideal when you are travelling with a baby that does not particularly enjoy the car. We’re thinking about going on a farm stay for a couple of nights – much more efficient!
My biggest goal for the moment is getting rid of flus and bugs that Savvy seems to be bringing home from kindy. At the moment Savvy is sick again. This is a real problem for Savvy because of her asthma. Hopefully Miss Sav will be better soon.
Poor Savvy! I hope she feels better soon!
A farm stay sounds wonderful! Happy Birthday to you and Troy in August!
Wow, your July was very busy. Sorry to hear about your parking lot accident! Our school year starts August 22, so August will be a very special month for us :)
I love that you have different target areas. I need to get planning for my next set of goals.
Peas don’t like the heat, so they are often gone by this time in the summer. We eat a lot of zuchinni in the summer. I don’t have enough room to grow it in my plot, but it’s so cheap I buy it a lot. Even my kids will eat it if I roast it. Just cut in half lenghtwise, toss with herbs and olive oil and roast until done. Yummy. For the adult version I sometimes toss with hot pepper flakes, too.
It’s good to know that’s normal for peas! I’ll have to try your zuchinni recipe!
What a month you have had!
You will have a great time at Story Land! We have a birthday in our house this month too. I always love to read your goals.
Thanks! We are very excited for our Story Land trip! I hope we get good weather!
Wow! You’ve had a busy month! Can’t wait to see your skirt and the girl’s dresses.