Photos from Phones - August 2020 Round Up

Before I get to our August round up, I have to first share a handful of memes that I saw posted on a friend's facebook page this month. I feel like they're the perfect wrap up of life in 2020 at this point in the year. (I sure am glad there are clever folks on the internet to keep me smiling, because most of the internet makes me want to scream and pull out my hair.)

Insert Utah also.

Oh my! How true this was for me for most of July and August.
But then we finally decided on a homeschool/online option for Callie and man! it felt so
good to have a decision made, even if it's not perfect. And we're doing our best to make
the most of our flexibility - more on that to come. ;)

And here's our month of August (that didn't fit in all the other posts from the month). Enjoy!

8.1.20
(good morning sight - I always am happy to see balloons on an August morning!)

8.1.20
(we actually had three around our house this morning - good morning, indeed!)

8.1.20

8.1.20
(some especially beautiful and thoughtful and delightful picture books we enjoyed this week.)

8.1.20
(This was a record high in our big room. Yowza!)

8.1.20
(I love sunflower season!)

8.1.20

8.1.20
(pretty in pink)

8.1.20

8.1.20

8.1.20

8.1.20

8.1.20

8.2.20
(first time tithe payers after earning some money last month at their art sale - they were pretty excited to fill out the forms and hand them to the bishop since we were at the church for temple recommend interviews)

8.2.20
(what weird shaped spinach we have here in our garden - but it tastes okay, so we're gonna go with it)

8.2.20
(loved these picture book biographies about women inventing and discovering)

8.2.20
(my friend Maren told me about this one last year and I absolutely loved it. I still do. It is perfect in its words and pictures and feeling. Don't miss it!)

8.2.20
(our best zucchini is starting to shrivel at the blossom end - time to pick it for dinner, I guess - we ate all two inches of it!)

8.2.20
(these were all delightful in their own way. Good stuff from the library this week!)

8.3.20
(heading to the library to return a huge stack and had to snap just one more pic of these goodies we enjoyed this morning before turning them back in. I especially liked the Margaret Wise Brown bio, the chicken chasing queen, and learning some new Spanish words in Cazuela. Enjoy! Oh! And I think everyone's top fave was The Raft - we love Jim Lamarche's art!)

8.3.20
(ooops! One more that didn't make it into the pics earlier: this is a fun tall tale and is made even better when Gregg reads it with exciting voices :)

bonus video!

"Sam putts"

8.3.20

(Gregg took Sam to play disc golf at Weber State while I sat with Cal in urgent care, making sure she didn't have appendicitis (spoiler alert: she was fine - just had some pain in her lower right abdomen that was quite sharp during dinner, so we headed to the doctor just to make sure everything was okay; once she drank a capri sun in the office and waited for the doc to come, she was feeling totally normal again. Meanwhile, Sam is making awesome shots like this at the course across the street.)

8.4.20
(I've been waiting for this moment my whole sourdough life! It outgrew its container!)

8.5.20
(some happy mail for Cal today! But I had to laugh at that spelling of our last name - that's a new one!)

8.5.20
(she got a kit for writing and publishing her own book; she finished it a few weeks ago and the final product finally came in the mail today!)

8.5.20
(family reunion prep - think we have enough?)

8.5.20
(my mom picked up a quilt kit from the 4-H office in Logan and passed it on to Callie/us to practice some sewing skills this summer - here's the finished top that we sent back to my mom and the 4-H office, where they'll finish it and donate it to some local children in need)

8.5.20
(garden update - yeah, doesn't look a whole lot different than it did a month ago)

8.8.20
(here are Cal's entries on the Weber County 4-H page for the "virtual fair" on facebook)

8.12.20
(spotted on my evening walk - what the?)

8.13.20
(it's that time of year again - and I'm gonna leave this here so I can find it next time we have apples and I can't remember how to make sauce)

8.13.20
(ditto for the relish)

8.13.20
(just binged on this one from fave Anne Bogel. I love that she reads her own
books, but I found this one felt extra slow, so I bumped the speed up to 1.15x which made it sound
more like her normal talking speed on her podcast. Good stuff here. And very timely.)

8.14.20
(another morning - another balloon or two)

8.14.20
(canning helper number one - she was an excellent jar washer!)

8.14.20
(canning helper number 2 - he was an exuberant veggie grinder - every time I asked him if he wanted
to turn the crank again he said, "of course!")

8.14.20
(ta-da! thanks to my mom for the cukes and the onions - and the tagge's produce stand for actually having peppers!)

8.14.20
(finished this one and loved it - don't let Sam's face fool you!)

8.14.20
(it's that time of year again - grandma's huge zukes make great boats for the kids)

8.14.20
(boat testing in the canal across the street)

bonus video!

"zucchini boats"

8.14.20

8.14.20
(I love Cal's labels for our relish)

8.14.20
(that was our pizza dough and one of my favorite pyrex mixing bowls. Womp womp.)

8.14.20
(all's well that ends well though - this was delicious, by the way!)

8.15.20
(I went out to pick the lettuce since it wasn't getting any bigger and my biggest and best head of lettuce was gone! what?! no fair! Also, how? Who? Do you see those marks in the dirt? I think it was the rogue chickens that have been wandering through our yard!)

8.15.20
(these chickens! I don't know whose they are, but they've been hanging out in our yard lately and
I think they ate my lettuce?)

8.15.20
(I had absolutely no reason to make a chocolate zucchini bundt cake today, but I felt like it and so I did
and it was the best decision ever!)

8.15.20
(I saw this one when I was on a David Small and Sarah Stewart kick on the library holds website, and then
I read a recommendation for it on a book blog I follow, so I knew I had to read it. But whoa! What a story.
It was quick to read since it's a graphic novel format, and it's always interesting to read a memoir of someone
you think is cool, but what a life he had! I don't know if I would recommend this to everyone, but it was definitely
well done, if not some really tough stories)

8.16.20
(this is the one and only pic I have of our epic mouse trap retrieval one Sunday evening before bed.
I am hoping to have Gregg tell the whole story in a separate blog post, but just know it involved
a coat hanger, a vacuum, a flashlight on a string, a hook on a piece of string, two phones, and a grippy
glove. It was something else. But we were victorious in fetching the trap (with caught mouse)
out of the vent after an hour of macgyvering. whew!)

8.17.20
(it's apple pickin' time!)

8.17.20

8.17.20

8.17.20

8.17.20

8.17.20

8.17.20

8.17.20

8.17.20

8.17.20
(we picked these five stuffed full grocery sacks from our two little trees! and there were still more
left in the branches but I had to cut it off here)

8.17.20
(I never remember to cook the apples first to soften them before putting them through the food mill. here is my reminder for next time)

8.17.20
(he was a great food miller, too!)

8.17.20
(we were in full-on applesauce mode all day!)

8.17.20
(and that's a record for indoor temp in our kitchen - what was I thinking canning on the hottest day of the year?!)

8.17.20
(that's a LOT of applesauce! (close to double what I had last time I made it two years ago, which I barely finished the day before we made this . . . so, anyone want some applesauce?!)

8.18.20
(a beautiful morning at the reservoir)

8.18.20

8.18.20

8.18.20

8.18.20
(cute popsicle balancers)

8.18.20
(Cal is super into arts and crafts and has discovered the art book section at the library. she's checked out a ton of them and dreamed and created little projects from many, but says this one is her favorite (and I am really impressed with it, too. It's one I'd consider buying for her, even!)

8.18.20
(Saw this one pop up in a search for something else and checked it out on a whim. I think i had potential homeschool
thoughts in the back of my mind and it would be perfect for that. Lots of the ideas don't even feel like math! I'd say it skews a little younger than Cal, but probably just right for Sam. But I think they both could have fun and get something out of the activities inside)

8.18.20
(I found this book while searching for the illustrator, Jim Lamarche. The story was okay, but the pictures
were lovely, as usual for him. But then the story inspired Callie to try to make her own origami doll that she had seen in her Art Sparks craft book (I that I talked about above). Boom! Afternoon project and a pretty cute one at that!)

8.18.20
(seen on the way to the beach this evening with Gregg - I wonder if it's from the same people
who made the covid party sign? strange things afoot in Eden, I tell you what)

8.18.20
(it was so hot and the lake felt so good!)

8.18.20

8.18.20

8.18.20

8.18.20

8.19.20
(this sight never gets old to me!)

8.19.20
(spotted on our biggest sunflower - I thought it was mouse poop!)

8.19.20
(Heather thinks it might actually be grasshopper poop, which
would make way more sense since we are practically overrun with the creatures this year!)

8.19.20
(science day - we made litmus papers by soaking coffee filters in purple cabbage juice!)

8.19.20
(the kids had a blast choosing things to test and guessing whether
it would turn pink (acidic) or blue/green (basic) or stay purple (neutral))

8.19.20
(it really works!)

8.19.20
(Cal was upset about the possibility of Sam tracing cursive letters
with dry erase markers - I know, I know, seems a little extreme to get mad over, but
she is proud of her young cursive learning status and doesn't want to give that up to
someone younger, I think. But I was quite impressed when instead of throwing (too big)
of a tantrum about it, she wrote her feelings . . . in poetry! Who is this kid?!)

8.19.20
(well now! ain't that a beautiful sight?)

8.19.20

8.19.20

8.19.20
(I was trying to take a pic of our neighbor's huge new addition
but acting like I was taking a pic of the sunset)

8.19.20
(in case it wasn't clear enough before, now they had
to turn it pink?)

8.19.20
(fantastic sequel to ivan and the best part is it is
read by Danny DeVito! he is incredible and the perfect
Bob!)

8.20.20
(Heather came to pick apples and play at the beach - we had a wonderful day!)

8.20.20
(it even sprinkled on us for a split second! it was the perfect beach day!)

8.20.20
(we even biked there (and back)!)

8.20.20
(we are done with the garden thing so it was time
to harvest the beets - ha!)

8.21.20
(just returned this stack of delights. seriously so many great titles here!
if I had to pick two I would probably say find The Camping Trip for fiction and Leave it to Abigail
for non (check that one out for the cross stitched artwork alone!))

8.21.20
(doing some more cleaning and Sam couldn't part with this until he took a pic)

8.21.20

8.21.20

8.21.20
(these solo summer walkabouts have been such a blessing to me the past few months!)

8.23.20
(just look at this adorableness!! it's an early reader chapter book story
based on Anne and it is filled with gorgeous illustrations! There's a second one
called Anne's Kindred Spirits that I'm waiting to get from the library, too.)

8.24.20
(my mom said her tomatoes were ready and let us come
pick a couple boxfulls to take home for canning)

8.24.20
(just look at this garden! my parents have a wonderland and have been
so generous with their harvest!)

8.24.20
(O remember, remember! Our FHE game this evening
had us studying the objects and then removing one while
someone wasn't looking and they had to remember what
was missing.)

8.24.20
(Sam was the photographer tonight :)

8.25.20
(13 quarts sealed plus enough extra tomatoes (and the one unsealed
bottle thrown into the mix) turned into a big pot of spaghetti sauce for
four quarts in the freezer!)

8.25.20
(our "back to school" treat: homemade ice cream
after father's blessings)

8.25.20

8.25.20
(I really loved listening to this novel in verse - the voice of the narrator really
came through since it was read by the author. but I don't know if I can really recommend it to everyone.
there is some coming of age subject matter that might be a bit much? but it was a great story well told, so
I'm torn about sharing the love. maybe talk to me first before you start it?)

8.26.20
(here we are! it's a new year and it looks way different than I ever
thought it would, but first day down and it went okay (minus a couple tantrums
by Sam - it's an adjustment for all of us . . . I think we'll get our groove figured out
eventually).)

8.26.20
(he's not technically in school, but he'll do some writing
practice and read me some BOB books every once in a while)

8.26.20

8.26.20
(highlight of the first day: art! (I found these wooden
bird feeders on top of the fridge stashed there as leftovers
from Cal's birthday last year for just such a moment as this.))

8.26.20

8.26.20
(and I got to finish a book during school! This was so
fascinating! From the start of basketball to WWII and everything
in between . . . wow! I learned a lot! (Including Utah State played in
the tournament to determine the first ever US Olympic basketball team - what?!)

8.26.20
(also got some playdoh time in, too - here's Cal's latest interest: turtles!)

8.26.20
(still some smoke in the sky these days, but it's much
better than it was a week ago!)

8.29.20
(this was a completely delightful surprise suggested by my friend, Christine. it's not really a biography, just a bunch of thoughts about life and gardens and farming all mixed together with masterful photography and her own paintings and sketches. And I absolutely loved it! She sounds like a hoot and doesn't seem to care that she goes to the beat of her own drum and I think she's awesome.)

8.30.20
(because I was so intrigued by the last Tasha Tudor, I checked this one out, too.
Much more of a biography, it filled in some of the holes and questions I had about her.)

8.31.20
(we had another great stack of books from the library this week!)

8.31.20
(my friend Erin invited us to play at the library park and have our
own storytime afterward - she picked some funny books to read to the
kids and we all had a great time)

bonus video!

"spelling time"

8.31.20

(this spelling hack of Sam reading Cal the words was kind of an accident, but I am

so thrilled with how it is working out!)

8.31.20
(Megan gave me this spice kit subscription for Christmas
and I'm finally trying out the first one for dinner - it was
delicious!)

Every other round up here (whew!):
2020: July | June | May | Apr | March Quarantine + Mar | Feb | Jan
2019: Dec | Nov | Oct | Sep | Aug | July | June | May | Apr | Mar | Feb | Jan
2018: Dec | Nov | Oct | Sept | Aug | July | June | May | Apr | Mar | Feb | Jan
2017: Dec | Nov | Oct | Sept | Aug | July | June | May | Apr | Mar | Feb | Jan

2016: Dec | Nov | Oct | Sept | Aug | July | June | May | Apr | Mar | Feb | Jan

2015: Dec | Nov | Oct | Sept | Aug | July | June | May | Apr | Mar | Feb | Jan

2014: Dec | Nov | Oct | Sept | Aug | July | June | May | Apr | Mar | Feb | Jan

2013: Dec | Nov | Oct | Sept | Aug | July | June