One of my hopes for this year was to blog more often. Lately I haven't been doing a great job at that. And it's not for lack of things happening in life. Maybe it's because so much has been going on and I'm still trying to process everything myself, unable to form sentences that make any sense.
But since it is July 31st and August will be here tomorrow, let's try for a little summer recap. I can't believe August is here already. I always have these grand plans for summer, fun things I want to do with Jacob but then summer is gone before you know it. Luckily, we were able to have some fun this summer.
June was a pretty quiet month. We enjoyed celebrating Jacob's 4th birthday with family and friends. We had a dinosaur themed party, which Jacob loved! He was so cute telling everyone at the party, "This is my birthday party!" or "Thank you for coming to my birthday party!" It was a really fun time. We even took him to his first movie at the movie theater - Cars 3. He did surprisingly well, didn't ask too many questions and sat for most of the movie before finally wanting to crawl in a lap. We watched the Battle of the Bands parade in Lake Crystal and didn't get rained out like it seems we have in the last few years. Work was crazy busy with our executive director leaving at the end of the month, trying to wrap up projects, continue the day to day routines and look for a new ED.
Towards the end of the month, my dad was admitted to the hospital for bleeding. This unfortunately turned into an "adventure" that would last a couple of weeks. In and out of the hospital, procedures and tests, no real answers, a couple of big scares and finally surgery to fix the problem. Fortunately, he's doing much better now. We're all very glad things are getting back to normal.
I feel like this is really the first big (scary) thing to happen to either one of my parents and it became a reminder about how fragile life can be sometimes. How we should treasure the time we have. Tell those we love how much we do love them. But it also showed me the strength my parents have and the strength of their marriage, their love for one another. I am blessed to have grown up with such amazing parents as role models and who continue to be so even as I have become an adult.
July was a bit more crazy. We spent a weekend in Iowa celebrating Jacob's birthday. Went to many parades and got more candy than we could eat! Jacob went to his first theater production, "The Little Mermaid", and pretty much asked questions the entire time. :) Jacob also had another dentist appointment and I'm happy to say that he did better this time than his last one six months ago... although we still haven't had a full cleaning yet! Maybe next time! :)
I also spent a weekend working as an Adult Table Leader at TEC (Teens Encounter Christ) at a local church. I had gone through and worked at TEC as a teen, but this was my first time working as an adult. To be honest, I was a little nervous but it was a really great experience. The kids were great, the music was refreshing and the talks were often what I needed to hear. I'm looking forward to going back to the reunion this next weekend to see everyone again.
Jacob finished off the month of July with Vacation Bible School at CTK. He absolutely loved it! He got so excited to go every morning! And he took a really good nap each afternoon! :) That week only confirms to me just how excited Jacob is for school and how much he's going to love it! And speaking of school, we even bought Jacob his first backpack! He picked it out - Mario characters. :)
We'll see how quickly this last month of summer goes. Probably much faster than we'd like! So we'll just have to make the most out of each day.
Personally, there's been a lot going on in life. But again, each day is fresh start. Each day is a day to try and do better. Each day I do the best that I can. And that's really all I can do.
