The rest of August - Plus first day of school

August was filled with play dates, meet the teacher, getting ready for school, doctor well visits and enjoying a couple of Dad's days off. The kids eagerly looked forward for school to start and I was anxious for the newness of it all. The kids are awesome though and I shouldn't have worried.

 The girls have taken to playing in their huge closet. They love hiding under blankets in there and putting all the dolls in there and just having a hiding place.

Eden insisted on a picture with Dad.

The girls had several tea parties over the summer. It is a favorite and we are now having friend tea parties.

On Derek's day off we decided to brave the heat and set out to explore. We went to the Cibolo Nature Park, which is NOT in Cibolo but in Boerne an hour drive away. It was so fun though. It had short hikes and a fun tree house and this amazing stream for the kids to explore. We will definitely be going back on another day off now that it has cooled off.

The first day of school photos! Oh I love these kiddos so much!

 Teacher: Mrs. Brown

 Teacher: Ms. Merchun

We made another family theme this year and had a feast to celebrate the Sunday night before school started Monday morning. We introduced it to the kids. Our new theme this year is "Be a good example". It came from a scripture in the New Testament John 13:15 For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.

We have always been really good about evening family prayer and scriptures with the kids. It has just always been a part of bedtime routine. We are all about routine in our home and I need my Mommy time after 8 pm so it has always worked for us. What we have not been very good about is a morning family prayer and scripture. Starting in October after watching General Conference for the church we came out with the impression that morning family prayer and scripture was needed for our family and more service. We immediately started this practice and it is LIFE CHANGING! It is always great to end your day in thanks to God, but the reality is we can ask Him for help throughout the day and we can start our day inviting Him to be with us, and the change I noticed is that we are protected, loved, guided and can feel the spirit more in our home since starting this practice! It takes us 5 minutes before getting on the school bus. 5 minutes!  It is amazing to me that 5 minutes a day has changed our lives so much. I promise if you as a family take on this 5 minutes a day morning challenge your lives will change too. Heavenly Father will bless your life for remembering to keep Him in it.

In other news, I was shocked to hear Eden's answer that morning for what she wanted to be when she grew up. I knew she loved dancing, but I didn't know she knew what a ballerina was. So, I asked her what it was, and she told me (like she always does), "MOMMY, a ballerina is a beautiful dancer and she dances like THIS"! Complete with a twirl on her toes.

School wears a girl out. This is how I found her after lunch on the first day home from school.