August has been full of adventure for us! My back is completely pain free and I had my last appointment with the surgeon this month. I'm feeling so much better and still just trying to take it easy. I have my JOY back and I am so, so thankful.
The first thing I thought about when I found out I was having to have surgery so quickly was our Port Aransas trip. We've gone the last three years and it's a trip I looked forward to as soon as the one before it is over. I LOVE the beach. It's my favorite place in the world. I love to sit and stare at the water and the waves and the vastness of it all. It's even better when I also get to sit and stare at my kids playing in the water and building sand castles. It's truly such a relaxing place. Sydney and I read just yesterday about God separating water from land in the early days of creation. God is powerful and I'm so thankful he goes before me!
The kids and I took a walk down the beach and met a young man who was very sweet to my much younger kids. He was probably a freshman if I was guessing and took the time to come over and talk to my kids. He found a LIVE sand dollar and gave it to them. It was sooo cool! I had never seen a whole, live sand dollar before. After walking away from this boy, I turned to my boys and told them that I hoped they noticed how kind that boy was to us and how he took the time to talk and show us what he had found. They said they did and right then and there I said a silent prayer asking God to help mold my boys into the kind of boy and eventually man that would stop and be kind to a stranger.
This cool boy turned SEVEN years old while we were on our trip. He loves spending his "actual" birthday at the beach playing in the water and sand. Myles continues to be full of FUN. He started life with the same personality he's got now. He's always been laid back, easy, easily entertained, full of laughs and just genuinely content. He is the perfect number 3 to our family. We love him so, SO much and couldn't be more thankful that he is apart of our family. He is our boy and oh so special to us. God blessed us immensely with him and we intend to continually point him to God for the rest of our days.
Ryan loved building sand castles. He's really good at designing things and then building them. Sand or Legos...he's a pro!
My whole WORLD-minus Tye!
This little angel couldn't go any longer. She took a little nap several times throughout the week on the beach wrapped up in her towel.
Brothers working together on a moat for their castle.
Ayden built me and Tye. I'm the shorter, chubbier one.
Poppa and Ryan worked for hours on a whole sand town. They did a really good job!
Family picture with Poppa and Honey
When we got home Ryan built the fishing boat that they took the morning they went bay fishing. He is so creative and talented with his Legos and most things you build. This boat even had a satellite radar system, a weather station, a fish finder and a trolling motor. SO COOL!
Eye checkups for Myles, Sydney and Mom. They both had to get new glasses. Myles sat on his first pair and broke them. The old frames were discontinued. I'm so thankful the warranty wasn't up so he just picked a new pair of frames. Sydney got new big girl glasses too! I had planned on letting her get a new pair in December after her full eye exam. She goes every six months for checkups and gets a full exam once a year. She left her glasses laying on the coffee table and Rusty CHEWED them. Tye and I were super frustrated but there was nothing we could do. She loves her new glasses and says that she looks like a BIG girl now. They do make her look older and I don't like it one bit!
TEN YEARS OLD, a decade, two hands, DOUBLE digits! Ayden had a fun filled birthday. We ate at Holly's for lunch, went to the lake with B and Shell and then ate at George's for supper. She said it was the best day ever! I know I've said this before but Ayden is the sweetest child in the world. She is just nearly perfect. She is caring, loving, thoughtful, dependable and VERY helpful at home. She is always willing to help do anything that I ask her and really goes above and beyond what any ten year old should do. She is the best oldest child and the other three have such a beautiful (inside and out) example to look up to. I know that she will do great things in her life. Even if it's simply showing kindness to those around her. She strives to know God and that is an answered prayer for sure.
Daddy and Sydney skiing together. Sydney was so cute with her little goggles on while she skied. She had no fear and said she would do it again.
We got to go away for the weekend with B and Shell to Cloudcroft towards the end of the month. The kids LOVE it there and the weather was beautiful and warm for this sun-loving Momma. Someone (whoever they are, they should be spanked) tore down the fort that the kids built with B two years ago. They not only knocked it down but they cut all the wire just trying to demolish it. In true B fashion, he built it right back up with the kids. We talked about how mean it is that someone would do that BUT we couldn't let it ruin our time. B and Tye, along with the big kids, helped pick up the logs, chop down new ones, and wire everything together to hold it good. Ryan got on the roof while they threw bark up to him and it was looking better than ever in NO TIME! Ayden decorated it with twigs and branches and even made a small kitchen inside for cooking. Myles and Ryan hauled in a new couch (big limb) and they played all weekend. I'm so proud of their attitudes and so thankful for the role models that Brent and Tye are to them. The Mason men are one of a kind!
Sydney and Spencer played under this tree all weekend. They are such sweet cousins and friends.
Mim and Grandaddy came with us and we loved spending time with them. Ryan was attached to Grandaddy's side all weekend. I couldn't be more thankful for Ryan having such a close relationship with Lewis, his great-grandad. Grandaddy hung the moon for this 8 year old.
Sydney working in her Spanish book. She told me the other day, "Mom, if I'm not saying the word right then don't correct me. I'm little and can say it however I want to."
The hardest part of the month was losing our Great Dane, Bailey. One morning she followed Tye and the kids on the 4-wheeler to the field across from the house. Tye said that she stayed with them all morning and acted fine and normal. Tye said that about an hour before lunch she took off toward the house. On the way home for lunch, Tye and the kids found her in the field by the road. The kids got to tell her bye and she died right there in front of them. IT WAS AWFUL! Tye called me to give me a heads up because Sydney had stayed home with me that morning. When they got home we all cried together. It's awful losing a pet you love dearly but to see your children grieve is even harder. We got Bailey the summer before Ayden turned one. She was our first pet together. She was sweet, loving, smart, quick and protective. We miss her everyday and reminisce about things she would do all the time. We buried her out by the pine trees, the same place that we've buried other pets that we've lost. Nothing can ever replace a good dog in your heart and I'm grateful nothing really has too.
We had a small family party at our house for Ayden and Myles. It was filled with all the family we love and all the food Ayden and Myles love. It's always fun celebrating another year of life with these two!
Sydney and Ellie (Mandy's new Cockapoo.) It's a good thing she isn't our dog because she probably wouldn't ever walk if Sydney had any say so!
We started school last week! We LOVE homeschool and it's been the best decision we've made for our family. I love the extra time I get to spend teaching my children and the extra time we get to spend together. More than ever, I cherish their childhood because I know it'll be over in the blink of an eye!
Ayden is in 5th grade this year.
Ryan is in 3rd grade.
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