It’s August and that means that my husband and four oldest kids will be starting school in just a little over a week. Actually, my husband, a principal, has been back for a week already. Anyway, to say that our summer flew by would be an understatement.
The first half of our month was filled with sewing, woodworking, and electricity projects. No, we weren’t doing a remodel. We were trying to help our oldest three kids get their 4-H projects finished.
During the fair week we spent several hours at the fair working in our 4-H club’s food stand and just enjoying the fair.
We also spent a lot of time in the pool in July thanks to the new liner that was installed near the end of June. It is so nice to have a fun and cool activity to enjoy on hot summer days right in our own backyard.
We finished out the month by starting to exercise more in order to help my oldest two kids get ready for their first cross country practice this coming Monday. I have enjoyed walking about 2 miles these past five days. I hope to be able to continue to walk some each day this month as well.
My Family
Speaking of our pool, I love how energetic my boys are. They have so much fun together and I am glad that they always have someone to play with.
I am not only thankful for our pool but also for our big yard. We have so much room for the kids to roam around.
There is also plenty of room for our five kittens that follow Joseph around like he is their mother. I have started calling him the cat whisperer because as soon as they hear his voice they run to him.
This year was Julia’s 8th year of 4-H and she wanted to make a lined jacket, skirt, and blouse from a 1940’s reproduction pattern. If we had picked better, more forgiving fabric I think she wouldn’t have had the trouble she did.
Due to our fabric woes Julia had to start her sewing project completely over just 6 days before the fashion review. I am so impressed with how she handled what most people would have considered a crisis with such grace and determination.
The new fabric she picked out was so much prettier and couldn’t have turned out better. She ended up having to enter a different category and only made the jacket and skirt instead of the blouse, too.
Janna decided the night before the fashion revue that she wanted to wear a dress like the big girls so I stayed up late and made a simple jumper to wear in the open class division.
She loved being on stage and I am glad I was able to have my girls both model together.
In July Julia turned 16. I am still in disbelief that my first baby is this old. I could never have imagined that she would grow to be such a hard-working, determined, talented, and graceful young woman.
My husband and I thought it would be fun to do one of those picture recreations for her birthday, so I found a picture of Julia at 3 months that I thought would work.
We love to laugh around here. 
What I’m Working On
In addition to helping my oldest three kids with their 4-H projects I decided to make Julia a dress for her birthday.
I used some black cotton fabric and a white cotton fabric with small black dots on it that I ordered several months ago. I used a Simplicity pattern (#2588) which has several design options.
It was a fairly easy pattern and with a few changes and different fabrics I will be able to make more dresses that will all look different.
Julia was very happy with her new dress and I think she will get a lot of use out of it.
Despite my neglect of my garden I did pick quite a bit of produce in July. I am thankful for all of the fresh vegetables we have harvested.
My Favorite Picture
I just love this picture I took of one of our sunflowers a couple of weeks ago. I am so glad I planted more flowers in my garden this year than I normally do. We have really enjoyed them.
On the Blog
While I didn’t write many posts in July due to working so much with the kids on their 4-H projects, I wouldn’t trade that time for all of the blog posts I could possibly write. I just hope that next year we don’t go down to the wire again.
Anyway, here are the posts I did manage to write in July.
- Our Great Lakes Trip (AKA: How God Kept Us Safe)
- {Garden Update} Reaping the Benefits of Our Hard Work
- Garden Fresh Coleslaw
- Sweet & Sour Macaroni Salad
- The Beauty in Each Day
Well, that about does it for July 2015. To keep up with me until next month’s update head over to Instagram where I have been sharing all sorts of random pictures. Also, be sure to follow me on Pinterest and Facebook while you’re at it.
What were you into in July?
I’m linking up with Leigh Kramer to show what I’m into lately!
