August Goal Check In

 Ended the month strong on the goal front. But man did August fly by. We are back in the swing of things with school and both of the boys are doing really well! Daryl is taking his "no bedtime" rule very seriously. As long as he has A's and B's he is responsible enough to go to bed when he wants. The minute he has a C or lower, bedtime is back. He must like keeping his own schedule, because he is doing homework at home! He is also getting things turned in on time, so he doesn't lose points. He is a whole different kid this year. 

Alex is also enjoying seventh grade and his more challenging classes this year. So far so good this school year! 

Read 18 Books 16/18 

I added two more books to the goal this month. Only two more to reach my yearly goal! And I have one from the library locked and loaded for September! 

The Housemaid by Freida McFadden was a library book, and it was really good. It was unpredictable and I appreciate that in a fiction thriller. It also featured strong female characters, and I like that too! I would recommend! Not sure if I will pick up the sequel, I think the ending was perfect and I don't want to ruin it!! 

Wow, no thank you by Samantha Irby was a collection of short stories from the authors life. I thought I would love it because David Sedaris does the same thing, and he is one of my favorite authors. It was ok, probably not a keeper. Maybe I'm just too old for the humor. 

Run 600 Miles 426/600

I focused on my monthly miles from day 1, and man did it make a difference. My monthly goal was 58 and I ended up with 61! Next race is a half marathon in October in Manhattan. To keep things even, I have a half in Lawrence in November. LOL 

Monthly Healthy Habit Eat More Protein  

I started the month strong with this. My snack was Greek yogurt or cottage cheese every day. I made it about half the month when I got busy and was eating like my old self again. Maybe less sugar will be my habit next month. 

2024 Money Goals:   

• Replace Garage Door Replace Windows Done August 
• Down payment on New Car (Done July) 
• Pay Mortg. Principle down 4K Between windows and a hefty down payment on my new car I didn't make a principal payment in August. This year has been a little pricey, I've only paid down my Mort. principle by $1,679 so far this year. Not sure if I will get to 4,000 but I'm going to keep at it. 
• Hit my Savings Goals for the year Did make a small savings deposit. I'm $1,984 away from where I want to be at the end of the year. That is going to happen. 

Daryl isn't driving to school yet but the
Forrester is ready!

This long weekend I am working on some new placemats for the table.

A Relaxing Weekend

 It feels like it has been a long time since I've had a "no plans" weekend. While I did plenty the last couple of days, none of it was on a schedule. That was nice! 

Saturday morning I started with an 8 mile run. My long runs are getting "ahem" longer than I normally like. But I want to get up to 10 miles before my half marathon on Oct. 5th. So you gotta do what you gotta do. It was early but it was still steamy. Was so glad to just get that one done. 

Also on Saturday, Jeff and I went to Emporia to check off a few more stops on a brewery tour we are doing. We have only 4 or 5 left and if we finish in 2024 we get a T-Shirt. The last thing we need, but we are having fun experiencing new places. We went to Radius Brewery and Trolley House distillery. Both very cool places that we probably would have never visited had it not been for the tour. 

Also this weekend I started teaching myself how to do some needlepoint stitches. Jeff got me a starter kit from Missouri Quilt Co that I had been eyeing, and I started it right away! I can't wait until I can embroider llamas and cacti on everything we own! 

When I got the boys back on Sunday, priority number one was take Daryl out to celebrate his birthday. We went to Red Lobster, his choice and then cruised Kohls so he could spend his gift card from Grandma. He said he had a good birthday and I believe him because him and Alex didn't fight with each other all night. That might be a record! 

Wishing everyone a great last week of August. I have some reading to do! #monthlygoals 

The birthday boy!

I'm going to do some more tonight!

This is a great starter kit and they have videos on their website too!

We love a good card game when we are trying new places.

This place was super cute! Trolley House in Emporia

Happy Birthday, Mud Races and Catrick!

The picture I requested last night for his last day of being 15!

 Today my baby is officially my boy. On his last night of being 15 I called him my baby and he said "I'm too old for that, I'm your boy now." If you are wondering 16 is when that title changes ;-) 

He is with his dad this week so we are doing our celebration on Sunday. Last night I also asked Alex to give Daryl and big birthday hug from me. Alex reported that he did, and they didn't even fight about it. Look forward to some pictures of my 16 year old in my next post. I hope he has a great day today!! 

I do have pictures from the Mudgirl obstacle race I did with my cousin, Kayleigh, last Saturday! It was the first obstacle race for both of us and it was sooooo much fun! It was women/girls only and it wasn't timed so there was no pressure on pace. We are both racers, so of course we timed ourselves! There were 5,000 racers in Colorado Springs and it was very well organized. 

We had so much fun we have already signed up for another one in 2025! Yay cousin races! 

We finished!

Our Before picture

We went Egg hunting in Colorado Springs!

Accidently found a Greek Food festival, YES PLEASE!

On the way down I did spend a night with Catrick, he is a great host!

Back to School!

 Today was the second day of school for my kiddos but yesterday it was  raining. I needed the picture by the tree and I knew getting a picture two days in a row was probably asking too much! I'm happy I waited the demeanors were actually much better day two! 

Alex was full of nerves Monday night and said he didn't sleep well. He was much better this morning. I think he is going to do great in 7th grade! Daryl is in a sulky teenager phase, it was better this morning than yesterday, if I had asked yesterday for a picture, I think I would have been denied....

I can report day number one went well! Alex forgot some of his school supplies but he is happy with his schedule. Daryl is also happy with his schedule, he is looking forward to Journalism and vaguely remembered I have a journalism degree. LOL He is nervous about Chemistry and frankly I am to, I don't think I ever took a chemistry class....did I have to to graduate? I remember biology.....hmmmmm

I hope everyone had a great school year, I hope 7th and 10th grade treats us well! 

4-H Exchange Time

 Lately, one of Daryl's favorite 4-H things is the Exchange group. Every two years the group matches with a 4-H group from another state and one summer our kids go to that state, then the next summer we host the kids here. Daryl gets to be with friends his own age here in this county and also gets to make friends that he probably would have never met any other way. This year they exchanged with Delaware. He is still gone for one more day, but I think the fun of this group is best displayed in the pictures I have received since he has been gone. LOL 

I can't wait to get whatever details he will give me when he gets back!

He caught a home run ball at this game!

Challenging Leroy to arm wrestle

How arm wrestling ends?! LOL Get him Leroy!