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| these are not their actual dresses, but we did successfully shop for homecoming |
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| The skies in the summer are so cool |
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| the girls like to get together with friends and take pictures, even more so now that Heidi is doing photography with photoshop (vs the film photography she did last year) |
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| get 'em on skates young |
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| it's still really hot here |
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| Caleb started preschool last week |
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| Luke's first day vs Caleb's first day, crocs and all |
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| Emily wrote this as her goal for the year, displayed out in the hallway |
It is quiet here! For the first time in 15+ years I have a few hours to myself 3x a week! Even with the age gap between Emily and Caleb, when she went to preschool I took care of my nephew (I had a few months before Caleb was born with no one at home for a few hours, but I was super pregnant and tired, lol). The girls will be home in half an hour and then the chaos of the evening begins!
Things have settled down well here, it's not usually until this time in September that reality sets in and everyone has to keep going back to school (and work). No more vacations and sleeping in, but time is going so fast it won't be long before we are talking summer again. Heidi and Anna are loving preparing for homecoming. The dresses and shoes are purchased, and they are just working with their friends on hairstyles and make-up. They are going with a group of girls and splitting up the tasks of hair and make-up between them, so it should be fun and relaxed. Thankfully neither of them are very interested in boys, saying that they are not worth dating at this age! Now I went to homecoming and prom my junior year at the same school the girls are at, with Justin (his senior year), so they may not be as far off as they think. I did the math not long ago and if either of them takes a similar path to my own they will be married in 5 years and have 2 kids in 7 years, leaving me a grandma at the ripe old age of 44! Wouldn't that be crazy! They are both doing art club and pinterest club and intermural badminton should start up in another month or so. They continue in the same small group at church and are just having fun with friends.
Luke is getting used to the dreaded Monday mornings, there wasn't too much complaining today. His schedule is much busier at school, but he seems to be handling it well. He is mostly enjoying playing street hockey and racing his rc car (thank goodness for a dead end street). He is continuing to make some great friendships and he is still participating in the same youth group as before.
Emily has transitioned well, though she is definitely more tired than before. She is a little overwhelmed by the more challenging work, but I was somewhat prepared for that. She started pioneer girls this last week and chorus starts up next week. She will do photography club again too. She has such a great group of friends in her class, I am just so happy about that. And I was reassured by the parents of one of her closer friends that they would be sending their daughter to our middle school (as opposed to a private school or homeschool, both popular options in our area). I really would like Emily to try public school and let her light shine, but also be prepared to do the homeschool/private school option if necessary. Her IEP is in January, at which time we will start working with the middle school to prepare things for her, which is also the same time Luke starts picking classes for high school. Other than being tired Emily is doing well health wise, we will check in with many doctors in the winter, about 6 months after our NIH visit. She does need to get some more teeth pulled though, which is no fun.
And Caleb loves school. He has no hesitation to go in, and remembers details pretty well. He did, however, forget to tell me that he found out from the director (a friend of mine) when the garbage pick up is at school. He was pretty excited to make a new friend on Friday, but of course he can't remember the kid's name. He is tired too, but was already asking when he gets to go everyday like the big kids (he goes 3 days a week now).
Justin is still working downtown, he is at the same building pretty much everyday, and then comes home and de-stresses with a bike ride. I upped my yield on bows a bit, we have entered velvet season, which brings in a bit more money. I also upped my sewing machine, to a heavy-duty Juki (a nice tax write-off too). I have since sold one, but I was up to 4, plus our old antique machine in the living room, and a serger that I bought at a garage sale, but have never used. My friend and I are doing another low-key Bible study together, and I continue to lead the Moms in Prayer group for several schools. Well, that was an uber brief update. I was going thru our old blog, the original one, looking for pictures and noticed so many comments from readers that I probably missed at the time I posted, so if anyone still reads this, thanks for those comments. Our days are busier but maybe less exciting than they were back then. I am off to video tape, or rather, record the recycling truck for Caleb since he misses it coming while he is at school. Happy September!
