September Goals

In the best way, August felt like a really long month. Early on, we ended up in the ER due to a bat hanging out in Cam's bedroom, and needing to get the rabies vaccine series. We went on two weekend trips - Lake James and Topsail Beach. Cam had summer camp and then two weeks at home. Then he had his first week of school! We packed a lot in, and now my days are much quieter at home without music blaring from Cam's room and kids running in and out of our house all day. I miss the commotion, but I am enjoying walks to/from school each day and getting back to my daily gym routine.

Magnet fishing (i.e. throwing a magnet into the lake to collect metal junk) has been the highlight of Summer '26.

On the Calendar this Month:

1. A trip to the zoo! I've been wanting to take the kids to this little zoo that's about an hour away. Hopefully we can fit it in on one of our available Saturdays. 

2. Leading a breakout session "Following Jesus in a Distracted World" at the Women's Retreat at church! Both exciting and scary :)

3. Our 9th annual trip to Myrtle Beach with the Murray clan! Hard to believe this tradition is going on almost a decade now; it's is one of my favorite weekends of the year.

What I Read in August:

1. Mostly magazines! I was excited to get a copy of the Triangle Weekender, which you can get a free subscription to with a Museum of Life & Science membership. 

2. For my mornings, I'm almost done with the book of 1 Kings, and for our nighttime reading, Cam and I finished the Goosebumps book "Bad Hare Day."

What I'm Loving Lately:

1. I'm finally making headway on my 2026 goal of giving Brooke a bedroom! As you may remember, she has always had her "bedroom" in the closet and she still sleeps in a mini-crib (which is even smaller than a regular crib!). Honestly, we could likely make this arrangement work for another 4-6 months, but I think she is developmentally ready to move into her own room and out of a crib. Also, since it was one of my goals for the year, I feel like now is the right time to do it before the seasonal activities start consuming the calendar in Oct/Nov/Dec. I'll have more to share about this soon!

Goals for September

1. Consistently go to the gym 4 days per week.

2. Prepare for and lead the breakout session at the Women's Retreat

3. Have Brooke sleeping in a new bedroom! Feels like the official end of the baby era at the Strawberry household. 😭