Life @ Home

Mostly September

This will be our 300th published blog post! That calls for a little celebration and a big thank-you to anyone who’s still reading us after all these years!

Here are some photos from the very end of August and from September.

August 25

Pretty end-of-summer flowers.
I pass these on my way to work.

August 26

The Post had a little brew fest, so we went over at the tail end. Dave and I had a beer and the kids did a few of the kids’ activities.

Relaxing at the Post beer festival.
Hey, she’s good at hillbilly golf!

September 3

Benjamin was playing trucks all day; he spent a ton of time describing who was driving around in them. I managed to capture a bit of his imaginative play on video.

September 6

All the fires in the West blew smoke our direction, so we couldn’t see the mountains—or the sun—for a few days.

All the fires in California, Wyoming, and Montana made smog so thick we couldn’t really see the mountains.
The smog made a lovely sunset!

September 9

We drove into Boulder to hang out for the afternoon, which started with some delicious gelato.

Licking gelato out of a cup balanced on a cone.
Benjamin’s dark chocolate gelato must’ve been yummy!
Happy boy!

September 10

Benjamin has homework this year; he has to put the numbers from 1–10 in order on top of a picture, and he also has to learn the letters and sounds of the alphabet. Here he’s working on his numbers.

Working on some numbers homework.

We decided to replace the crumbling, sun-faded flooring in the front room with new vinyl tiles, the kind you can grout.

We finally decided to replace the crumbling vinyl tiles in the front room.
Hey, it looks pretty nice! (This is before the grouting.)

September 11

On picture day we took a white cake with chocolate frosting over to our church friend Clint, who had turned 59 that week. Phoebe did the decorating.

Phoebe decorated Clint’s birthday cake: “Happy 59th Birthday Clint Yay Clint”
She did a great job!
…and she ate some blue icing.

September 14

I looked over, and there was Benjamin riding the vacuum.

Riding the vacuum cleaner.

September 16

I did a sprint triathlon in Morrison in the morning. I was really nervous about the swim because I’d had so much trouble with the swim last year. This year, not only did I do a much shorter race, I also rented a wetsuit. It was the thick kind they use for scuba diving, and when all the other women in my wave were freezing waiting for the race to begin, I felt pretty warm. I ended up being happy with my performance all around! Unfortunately for Dave and the kids, it was a chilly day—great for exercise but tough on the spectators.

Waiting for the race to start. Everyone but me is freezing!
I’m just a few minutes from getting into the water.
Finished the swim…on to the bike.

September 18

Phoebe gets a weekly report card from her second-grade teacher, Mrs. Marshall. Things are looking good at the beginning of the year!

We love to hear that she’s an awesome role model and a voracious and fluent reader! (She does talk too much in class, and she did forget the first math homework of the year…but we’re still so proud of her!)

September 19

King Soopers had some key limes, which I’d never seen before, so I made this pie, using stale molasses cookies for the crust. It was delicious!

Homemade key lime pie with molasses cookie crust and homemade whipped cream.

September 22

We got new chairs for the conference room at work. It was really fun to put them together! It was a project that could actually be finished, for a change.

This is what work actually looks like (occasionally). Putting together new chairs for the conference room.

September 23

Benjamin is enjoying one of his three raincoats.

I’ll smile! Cheese!

September 24

Remember Clint, our church friend? His wife Carolyn turned 59 a couple of weeks after he did, so the kids helped make her a spice cake (with spice frosting!).

Making a birthday cake for Carolyn (spice cake with spice icing!)
Phoebe did much of the work herself. She’s getting very handy in the kitchen.

September 25

We dropped off Carolyn’s cake a few days before her birthday. Again, Phoebe did a great job with the decorations.

“Happy 59th birthday Carolyn”
Happy kiddo.
Wooo! I decorated the cake!

September 26

Benjamin’s fifth birthday! It was a busy day. I volunteered at Laps for Lafayette, Phoebe’s school’s annual fundraiser. The kids run laps around the field for 45 minutes. Then we all went to the dentist, ate burritos for dinner, opened presents, and stopped by the library to get Benjamin his own library card. He had a wonderful birthday!

Holy crow; the littlest Gribble is 5!
Phoebe coming outside to start Laps for Lafayette.
Marching with purpose.
Here she goes!
Phoebe ran 3.75 miles!
Running with her teacher and her friend Ellie.
Glowing in the fresh air.
“Benjamin’s” mocha cupcakes with espresso frosting. (He doesn’t like cupcakes, so I made them for the rest of us.)
The kids play with birthday balloons.
Paw Patrol lunch bag and new light-up Woody cowboy boots! That’s a happy Benjamin.
At quarter till closing on his birthday, Benjamin got his own library card! (My friend Karen said he’s downloading the information straight into his brain.)

September 29

As we waited for Dave to meet us at the coffee shop after school/work, Phoebe drew tattoos for the three of us.

Phoebe giving Benjamin a spider tattoo—with web!
Working hard.
This is a trapezoid with a pig-cat zoid inside. (Trust me!)
Phoebe drew herself a cat.
That tattoo looks pretty boss.
I’m delighted with this one Phoebe came up with for me!

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