September

Here's a pic of Colt's 2nd grade class. 

Tatum loves painting nails. She's a sweet and helpful sister to Zoe! 

Zoe showing off her color :)

Watermellon and cookies! Not sure why we had this snack this particular day, but they sure did enjoy it.

We went on a hike with our friends, the Mullens. 

And rode the Zilker Zephyr. We love the freedom we get on Fridays to hang out with other homeschoolers. 

A day in the life

I found a recipe online for Mint chocolate shakes that are super healthy... like coconut milk, avocado, cocoa powder and gelatin. The kids LOVED them and asked me to make them every day for the rest of their lives ;) 

And they also wanted me to take their pictures while drinking them. Weird. 

We went to Marble Falls and went swimming at Aunt Pam's pool a number of times this summer. This was our last day. Tatum is SO close to learning to swim! 

Zoe found Mommy's makeup

One of her famous faces... the Levi face. 

I took Zoe to the daycare at the gym while I exercised and one of the childcare workers braided her hair into this precious 'do. Unfortunately, our next stop was to get her hair cut (It looked CrAzY when down) so we didn't get to keep it this way for long. 

Tatum is playing fall soccer with her same team again (plus one new girl). She loves the girls on this team so much! Soccer began halfway through the month so we were at the fields every Saturday! Both boys are playing for the first time this season as well so we are at the fields all morning. Other activities we are doing this month are Math Pentathlon and piano lessons once a week. 

Colt's 2nd Grade pic

Levi's 1st Grade pic

Molly turned 11 this month! We had a small bday party for her where the kids bought her some tennis balls and dog bones. 

Unfortunately this picture is not in focus, but I guess it's the best one we got. It has been several years since we've gotten together with Uncle Mark, Aunt Halley and my cousin Sarah and her family since they live in Florida. They finally came back to Texas to visit, so all the Dillmans who were available drove in from around the state to Waco for a reunion lunch with them. It was a fun, but too short of time with them. I personally am pushing for us all to take a trip to visit them in Florida for the next family vacation! ;) 

August

It sure was hot in August this year. So hot that our indoor play turned into some serious shenanigans in the Dishman household. One night, when Ty was out of town, the boys were supposed to be asleep in their room. We play them audio stories on a CD at night and that was the only noise I heard coming from their room. About 10pm, they come out and ask for a towel to clean up some water they spilled. I went in their room with them and the carpet was SOAKED! Apparently, they were trying to wash their Hot Wheels cars and were pouring water over them on the carpet. They said they probably poured 50-80 cups of water each. Needless to say, the carpet in their bathroom nook was ruined (whose idea was it to put carpet in a bathroom area anyways?!). I rolled the carpet and pad from their actual room back and think I was able to save it. The cement underneath the whole area was soaked and I made them give me their whole allowance to pay for the damage. Currently we have just the cement exposed but will probably put tile down soon.

On a positive note, while I was at Whole Foods one day, I picked up this sweet potato side dish from the prepared meals section. It was like $8 or something crazy for a sweet potato, so I put it back and headed for the checkout. A store employee saw me do that, picked it up and followed me to the checkout, asked me if why I didn't buy it was because of the price (to which I said yes) and gave it to me for free. Yet another reason why I love WF! 

Ah, this sweetie!! 

Yum, Pizza! 

I took the boys to the trail to ride bikes one day while the girls had a sleepover with Nana. 

We had a blast and it was really fun to do some "big kid" activities without the younger ones slowing us down or needing to go home for a nap. 

Our awesome neighbors invited all 4 kids over to decorate cupcakes! 

We went to the Zilker Summer Musical, Hairspray. I hadn't thought that the themes may be a bit mature for the boys, but I think most of the inappropriate comments went over their heads. Next summer is Shrek, so I think we will be safe there! 

We also went to the movies with friends... had to end our summer with lots of fun activities. 

First day of school!! 

Levi's 1st grade teacher this year is Mrs. Bomar.

Colt's 2nd grade teacher is Mrs. Thompson. 

We love Veritas Academy! 

The girls were excited to pick up their brothers after their first day of school. 

Ty and I attended the Paidea Prom, an event put on by the kid's school.

We also attended a fundraising event for the Gazelle Foundation which builds wells in Burundi. I ran track and cross county with Gilbert in college. It's always a privilege to support him and the Foundation.

July

July is one of our favorite months of the year because it is Colt's birthday!! Can't believe he turned 8 this year. We had a water party at the house and he requested Oreo cake. 

Colt and I were searching on Pinterest for some water games to play at his party (we had balloon launchers and water guns) and we saw this Dunk Bucket. Instead of a dunk tank, when the target is hit, the hanging bucket will dump water all over the person sitting beneath it. So we went to Lowe's and got the material and began building! We actually made 2 of them so you can sit under each one and throw at the person across from you so you aren't just a sitting duck. Hopefully we will have fun with these for years to come! 

July also means lake trips! Captain Ty with his crewmate Zoe.

Uncle Cody, Eliza, Tatum and Colt

Aunt Chez, Hazel and Levi 

Erica joined us for the day!

Girl's trip 

July 4th brings the Blue Lake golf cart parade. Nana is so excited that she lives there now so she can participate with her grandchildren, just like her mother did! 

The kids had so much fun decorating the golf cart and dressing up in their matching outfits :)

Colt loves feeding the deer in the evenings.

And, of course, fishing is always fun at Nana's too. 

Fun with cereal. Nana lets him play with his food ;)

The kids went to one day camp this summer called Fit Kid Camp. It was a fun week of learning about how to make their bodies healthy through exercise and nutrition. The best part was that it was led by Tatum's favorite preschool friend's mom! This picture is from Crazy Sock day... Colt won out of all the campers.

Crazy hair day

At home Colt insisted I fix his hair this crazy. Then when we showed up at camp, he began to hide because he was embarrassed about it! 

Tatum really wanted to win Crazy Hair day. She had 1/3 curls, 1/3 pony tail and 1/3 braids with beads at the end. All morning she kept saying, "I'm gonna win! I'm gonna win!" I was really hoping she wouldn't be disappointed. Well, turns out... she won! Whew ;) 

Zoe chillin' in the car. We are getting really close to taking her pacifier away at the end of this month. Thought I'd take a farewell picture :)

My Uncle Mark, Aunt Halley and Cousin Sarah and her whole family finally came back to visit us in Texas!! We all met up at Ninfa's in Waco for a long lunch. It was SO great to see them again! Maybe next time we can take a trip to visit them in sunny Florida!! :) 

 We hadn't seen Dad and Jennifer this month, so they brought Colt's bday gifts with them. Thanks for spoiling Colt with love and gifts! 

Cooling down with ice cream!

Our care group when Putt-Putting, then ate at P. Terry's. Then a few of us went to hear Rob Bell at the Paramount. Fun night!

Cutie pie! 

Tatum sunscreen selfie

We went to the lake with the Beards, Campbells and Mullens. Love hanging out with friends. Scout brought her face paints and treated the girls. This was officially the beginning of Tatum's new obsession with face painting. Thanks, Scout.