August

August started out the best way possible— surrounded by family, celebrating my amazing Dad turning 80!!!! I still can’t believe it, and I’m still emotional just thinking about it! Nobody warned me how hard this stage in life would be. Watching your parents get older, raising teenagers and preteens going through puberty, all while going through perimenopause myself, is definitely not for the faint of heart. The years really are flying by, and I’m just trying my hardest to soak them all in and count my blessings!

We celebrated with cake….

yummy food from Adriatic Cafe…

family….

friends and family…

and a pool party to try and keep cool!!

We also celebrated with some a/c and….

The Astros, of course! Papa Joe can’t miss watching the ‘Stros when they’re on!

Cake time! He’s so cute!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Picture time!

Everyone wanted a pic with the birthday boy!!

Silly BFF’s! Love that these guys are still friends. Eddy was the only friend that made the birthday list!

He’s still got it, lol!

Just missing Aunt Dorian, who was out of town.

Crazy bro-in-laws posing like the girls!

Still don’t know how he survived a house full off all these women, but my sisters sure are the greatest gift him and my mom ever gave us!

I love these two more than words!

Such a special day celebrating a very special 80 year old!

Ended the night with Ellis pulling off an epic prank on Conner and his friend, lol…

The next day was my Dad’s actual 80th birthday, and I’m so glad we got to give him a big hug before heading back to McKinney!

On our way out of Houston we stopped and had lunch with our besties first!

These kids always have so much fun together!

Just trying to soak in our last few days of summer with friends!!! It cracks me up how Shep is a foot taller than most of his friends, lol.

Shep’s got that 1.5 front flip down!

My favorite sight!

Summer basketball came to an end. Lots of fun and great exercise!

These girls fight like sisters, but also have so much fun and are so silly when they’re together!

I can’t remember if I talked about this yet in my blog or not, so if I did, this will be just a little recap. At the end of last school year I had a meeting with the school to discuss Ellis’ options for the next year. Ellis was in a place where she really wanted to get back to in person school, but things can always change with her in an instant, so I wanted to see if there was any other options besides homebound. They did say she could start the school year going half day to try and ease her back in. They were willing to accommodate and work with us, which brought me so much peace and comfort. We decided half day sounded like the best option! Ellis started reaching out to old friends again to try and mend fences before the start of the new school year. She asked me to drop them off at the mall, but decided last minute she wasn’t quite ready for me to leave, so I hung out at the book store while they walked around. I’m nervous for her and want her to guard her heart, but I’m always in awe of her and so proud of her bravery. I know and trust that God made her exactly the way she is for a purpose and He has BIG plans for her!

We made it up to the lake for one last trip of the summer and Shep made it up surfing!

Ellis made it up too!

We were supposed to have the Booher’s and Fore’s join us for one last hoorah, but they weren’t able to make it. Thankfully, the Arguijo’s made it happen! Jodie and Rickey need to get this boy a dog!

Boat time!

I’m so happy to announce that these two got along great all summer, and nothing makes my heart happier!

First time night swimming at the neighborhood pool, and we had the whole place to ourselves!

Ended the weekend with a friendly game of Spades!

I had to leave early Sunday morning to rush and get Shep to his end of summer championship basketball game. Shep came in clutch with a free throw!

And a 2 pointer!

It was a neck and neck nail biter from start to finish, but unfortunately they ended up with one point short. They still left with some bling around their necks for making it to the championship game though!

Way to go, Net Rippers!

Meanwhile, Adam and Brooks stayed up at the lake for another night to get some more lake time in. Brooks has now mastered surfing and even landed his first jump!

These two goofballs had a sleepover and made a giant burrito!

Blowing my mind that summer is over, and this is our very last “Meet the Teacher” at Wilmeth Elementary. This all escalated way too quickly!!!

Shep is the big man on his campus this last year in 5th grade!

Ellis was so worried about being seen taking a picture with her “annoying brother” at their “meet the teacher” at Cockrill Middle School. Brooks is such a cutie though! He went through the grueling 3 part interview process for the coveted “PALS” elective in 8th grade, and he made the cut out of tons of kids! He’s the “hype” man for so many fun school activities, and also gets the honor of leading an advisory class for the younger grades! The jersey he’s wearing is for that class/club. He had to get to “meet the teacher” early to help out, and he absolutely loves it!! He’s the big man on his campus this year too!

There’s that adorable smile I love! Ellis walked right into the school like she owned the place and was super excited to be back after being homebound most of the year last school year. I’m so darn grateful for all of the rest she was able to get and all of the healing she’s done, and although I’m terrified and not confident she’s ready, she is! All I can do is pray, let her fly, and provide a soft landing if she ever needs it!

First official day of Fifth Grade for Shepherd Wayne Dimmick!

He wanted to ride his bike on the first day of school and then realized how hot it was by the second day, lol

This cutie pie was up at 4:30am. She was very excited, but also very anxious about getting back to school.

First day of Seventh Grade for Ellis Grace Dimmick

First day of Eight Grade for Brooks Wayne Dimmick. Still in denial we have an almost high schooler.

We’re off to middle school!

Ellis got more and more nervous the closer we got to the school. I kept reminding her about Florida and all the hard things she’s overcome. As soon as we got to the school Brooks took off and walked right in. Ellis put on a brave face and got out of the car, but when she looked back at me to save her, I just knew in my mommy heart she was going to have a hard time. I rounded the parking lot and then I lost it. I burst into tears and just started praying and praying for Ellis to feel comforted and brave. I made it halfway home and saw that the school was calling me. She arrived to her first period doorway and then started to have a panic attack. She was able to get to the nurse and the nurse allowed her to call me. It was this poor nurses very first day and I think she was super overwhelmed and didn’t know what to do. She asked if I could come back to the school to pick her up. My heart sunk, knowing if I picked Ellis up from school I wasn’t sure if I’d ever be able to get her back through those doors. I hoped and prayed for the best, but was “sort of” prepared if in person school didn’t work out. I didn’t think it would be after the first day though, or rather, the first 10 minutes of the first day.

We still celebrated with our traditional first day of school cookie cake!

Had to wait for the group pic until after school, since they all leave at different times in the morning.

I’m so happy to report that Ellis made it back to school the next day and did so awesome!!!!!! Thankfully the first day of school was on a Thursday, so she only had to go for a half day on Friday!

She was so proud of herself and met so many new friends in her classes!

Unfortunately, after school on Friday she dropped a scooter on her already bruised toe and it was throbbing. She was convinced it was broken and I couldn’t get her to calm down or stop screaming, so off to the urgent care we went. Praise the Lord it wasn’t broken and she was able to relax. I think the stress of the new school year and the exhaustion got the best of her and she was just letting it all out. The boys and Adam decided to go to the lake for the weekend before baseball season gets into full swing, and Ellis begged me to stay home with her, which I was more than happy to do.

On Saturday we went to the cutest little “cafe” we’d been wanting to check out for a while. It’s not just any old “cafe” though, it’s a Pug Cafe, where you get to play with tons of pugs and maybe even adopt one if you so desire. Here come the pugs!!!!!

Just look at that sweet little wrinkly face!

The “puppuccino” was a hit!

Ellis was in heaven!

Of course she talked me into the claw machine on our way out!

And of course she won a prize! Claw machine Queen!

Such a fun little experience!

When Daddy’s away, Texas Roadhouse is what’s for dinner— her favorite!

For lunch on Sunday Ellis told me she wanted to try Olive Garden, and you better believe I jumped at that chance! I can’t even remember the last time I had Olive Garden!

First time trying the famous Olive Garden bread sticks!

She approves!

Unfortunately, she wasn’t a fan of anything else, so it was a “one and done”, whomp, whomp.

Meanwhile, the boys were having an awesome weekend up at the lake!

Shep mastered surfing with no rope!

And Brooks is a pro surfer now!

Ellis’ hair growing back in thick high lighted curls just blows me away!

After the little mishap with my car overheating on the way to six flags over the summer and the a/c going in and out in 100 degree temps, it was time to get me a new ride! Adam spoiled me with this sweet little blacked out Land Rover Defender!!!

I LOVE her!!! AND she has two bench rows!!!

Baseball is back and Shep is still balling out with his first strike out of the fall season!!

These girls are some of the first friends I met when we moved to Dallas. They are who I was in the trenches with when the kiddos were babies and toddlers. The one in the middle, Cecilia, moved back to Missouri 7 years ago and was in Dallas for the week for work. It was nice getting to catch up and reminisce with these ladies!

Our big boy turned 6 on 8/22!

Happy birthday, Otter!

He inhaled his birthday cupcake!

Ellis is always so good about reminding me of the dog’s birthdays, and always makes sure we buy them treats and toys. Here are the 3 toys/bones Ellis picked out for Otter for his birthday!

This girl loves her puppy brothers! Oreo insists on riding with us in the car on the way to school every morning!

BEST NURSE EVER!!!! Her middle daughter is a high school cheerleader and she talked Ellis into going to the football game to watch her cheer in the middle of her infusion!

Her youngest daughter is in 7th grade with Ellis and is on the volleyball team, so after the football game they headed straight to the middle school to watch her other daughter play. Ellis had so much fun hanging with her friends in the stands!

Her nurse is so proud and in awe of Ellis and gets just as emotional as we do when she sees her enjoying life and doing things like this! We are just so grateful that she never gave up on her!

Ellis being back in school has been quite the transition for me. For almost a year I had her home with me, and felt the pressure of keeping her physically, emotionally, and mentally healthy and motivated. I was her main source of entertainment and social interaction. It was my absolute pleasure, but I’m not going to lie, it was also exhausting and all consuming. I’m so proud of her and so grateful she’s been able to get back to “normal” for the most part, but also know that things can change in an instant with her condition. I’m for sure celebrating the wins, but also preparing for some inevitable bumps. The extra “me time” has been nice, but I can’t fill it up too much or over commit, because I need to keep myself flexible (just in case). My new flexible hobby to keep me busy and my mind sharp is Mahjongg! I love games, so this is right up my alley! I might get back into tennis eventually, but I’m not quite ready for that level of commitment yet.

Our dog groomer recently had a baby and is on maternity leave, and this little bugger was in desperate need of a bath!

The extreme Texas drought and 100+ degree temps created the perfect breeding ground for the massive “Ross Fire” in Palo Pinto County that spread over 90,000 acres for almost 3 weeks. It came a little too close for comfort to our lake house, but thankfully the amazing firefighters were able to keep it from reaching the houses. So surreal and scary and such a helpless feeling watching the clouds of smoke from the backyard ring cameras.

Adam’s golf buddy is in a 90’s rock cover band, and they were playing at the local brewery, so we went to check him out one gorgeous afternoon .

Pig’s (yes that’s his silly nickname) biggest fan club!

One Sunday we went to brunch after church, and this sweet boy wanted to take a selfie with me!

Cross Country is back!!!!

Let’s go boys!!!

Run, Brooksy, run!

Finished middle of the pack again!

His buddy Nolan is a beast and came in second place!

Henry decided to give football a try this year, but he still came to support his friends! Love these sweet boys and this time of year! August was full of soooo many blessings!!