In my shoes: August Family Update

Hi there friends. It's that time of the month when I look back at what my family has been up to and here's a jist of what our August looked like....

Marcus turned 11 last month and that meant that he was "officially" moving on from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts. So with that he was able to be recognized for all the hard work he had accomplished as a Webelos during August's pack meeting. Because this was our first meeting after the summer break, his "awards" piled up. In this meeting he was able to get his Webelos advancement, Arrow of Light, Religious knot patch and did the official crossing over from Cub to Boy Scouts. We are definitely proud of all of his achievements and express our gratitude to his den leaders (all throughout cub scouts) for their assistance in giving my son the opportunity to grow and learn in the scouting program.

Next big thing that happened in August was my baby shower. I am extremely grateful to be surrounded by friends who were so kind to throw me a shower. My baby and I definitely felt the love. There's too many of them to name one by one but I hope they know of my deepest appreciation for their efforts and of course, friendship. Here are some of my favorite pics from the shower....

I love having creative friends. The above baby carriage was cut from a watermelon and dressed up with different fruits. My friend Jen's daughter made it and it is uber adorable.

This cute centerpiece was made into a motorcycle using diapers and other baby items. I wanted to photograph it in better lighting (that's the photographer in me) but unfortunately my kids' got a hold of it and it didn't last the following morning. :( Trust me when I say that it was extremely creative and super adorable!

Above is a picture of me opening up the presents. We were definitely "showered" with a lot of gifts and it was a great combination of necessary items (diapers, wipes, baby essentials) as well as cute boy clothes. I gotta say....this little one is going to be one stylish dude!

And here's a fun photo. The woman on my right is a teacher and at one point or another, all of us (in this photo) has had our children in her class. I love the bond that I have with these women.

The day after the shower we attended a company picnic hosted by my husband's work. It was our first time to attend so we didn't know what to expect. The kids had a blast with all of the games they had. The food was catered by a local BBQ place and it was delicious plus Mitch participated in the volleyball tournament. Here are some photos from that...

Marcus at the sack race. The kids got a little bag of goodies for participating so both of them were excited to join in on all of the games.

Maddie impressed me by getting the rope around the bull's head on the first try.

Mitch's team got third place and they got a small cash prize to split between the members of the team. It was fun to see him enjoy his time with his peers outside of the normal routine of work.

Another big event for our family in the month of August was school starting for the kids. Marcus started middle school (he's in 6th grade) and Maddie is in 3rd grade. Marcus rides the bus to and from school and Maddie will continue to walk to school. I was so relieved that Marcus' first day of school went off without any issues and he surprised me at how responsible he was with keeping up with his schedule and bus pass.

Maddie's school has had some staff changes this year. They have a new principal and she is in a class with a new teacher. We didn't know much about this new teacher but after asking her how her first day of school went and she replying with..."Mrs. Moreau is so fun!" I think it's safe to say that we are off to a great start.

And finally a baby bump picture. This was taken at about 38 weeks. As you can see I'm ready to "pop"! I don't think I can stretch my tummy anymore than this so I'm praying that baby M will decide to come sometime soon.