August In Numbers

Wow, it's hard to believe that we are almost into October!  This month absolutely flew by for me, which would explain why I'm getting my August in numbers post up during the last week of the month instead of the first week...  But even though I'm a little behind, I still wanted to make sure that I got this post up and shared this fun summary of my month.

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4 - Books read.  While I didn't actually read any books from my summer 2017 reading list, I still made it through four books last month.  I decided to re-read the Harry Potter series and made it through books 1-3.  (I read 4 and 5 this month.)  The other book I read is called Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor for my book club.  I really enjoyed it, but had absolutely no idea that it was part of a series until I got to the end!  And the bummer is that this book just came out this year so the next one won't be available until next year at the earliest.  Aaahhh!  Don't you hate it when that happens?

2 - Kids starting school.  That's right.  Both of my kids started school last month.  Obviously, I knew this was happening but it wasn't until it actually happened, that it hit me.  We've been at it for about a month now and are finally getting into a routine which has been nice after going most of the summer without one.  My daughter started kindergarten and she was so ready.  She is a super smart girl and I knew that she'd love school.  Her teacher is amazing and she comes home everyday with stories of things that happened.  My son started his first year of preschool and he really likes it too.  He is going to the same place my daughter went the last two years so he was already very familiar with the place and the teacher, which makes dropping him off super easy and stress free.  PLUS, having both kids in school means that I have about 5 hours twice a week where I have no kids in the morning.  It's been amazing because I've been able to get so much done in that short time.  I forgot how efficient I can be when I don't have any distractions. *wink*

1 - Mom's night out.  One of the highlights of last month was the opportunity to go to a Back to School Mom's Night Out that my friend Kyla from Ford-Ology put together.  It was a night full of fun, laughter, inspiration and a couple hours to remember what it feels like to just be a woman hanging out with her friends.  Another blogging acquaintance of mine, Kim from Talk Wordy To Me, shared a great message about 5 ways to be more mindful in our lives when there is so much to distract us from what is really important.

10 - Days of swimming lessons.  This year I decided to sign my kids up for private swimming lessons.  They've been in group classes since they were really little, but I knew that if I really wanted them to learn to swim better that they'd have to do private lessons.  Funny enough, we signed up for two weeks of lessons, but it took us three weeks to get through them due to weather issues.  The kids loved going swimming every day and I saw a huge improvement in their confidence and abilities.

3 - Crafts completed.  August was a very craft filled month for me.  Usually I only have time to get one, maybe two, crafts done in a month but I got lucky and was able to get three out.  If you've been around the blog, you might remember how I turned an old crate into a bathroom shelf, how to turn scrap paper into fun cards and my $3 back to school wreath using dollar store supplies!  It was fun to get my crafty on. *wink*

1 - Package from a pen pal. At the beginning of the summer, I signed up for the Mom Love Fellowship that my friend Justine from Little Dove organized.  Basically, she matched us up with another mom from somewhere else and we wrote one piece of snail mail each month for three months, with a fun package at the end.  My partner was Laura from Fantastically Four and she and I totally clicked!  She is definitely the type of person I would choose as a friend if we were to meet in person.  Laura is thoughtful and genuine.  Also, we cheated a little bit and wrote emails to each other in between the snail mail which meant we got to know each other a little better.  Laura sent me a yummy smelling candle with "Hello Sunshine" on the jar plus some fun accessories for my Happy Planner.  One of the things Laura and I have in common is staying organized with our love of pretty planners.  I also sent a package to her.  (You can check out what I sent here.)

23 - Bottles of jam.  For the last six years, I've made a batch of raspberry jam in the summer to last us throughout the year until the next summer when I can make more.  So when I saw them go on sale at our local grocery store (who gets them locally), I bought 4 cases.  My sister had just had a baby so I made one batch for her, then two batches for me and the final case we just ate fresh.  Raspberries are one of my family's favorite foods so it's not hard to eat a lot of them!

And because we are getting ready to close out September, you'll be seeing another month in review coming up next week!

You can check out my other month in numbers posts below:

February Month In Numbers
March Month In Number: Orlando Edition 
April Month In Numbers
May Month In Numbers
June Month In Numbers 
July Month In Numbers

Thanks so much to Deena from Shoes to Shiraz for hosting this fun month in numbers link up!