We opened the windows

The last six weeks have been hot.  Not just warm, but HOT.  I never care for hot.  Our a/c has been running without being turned off for the past six or seven weeks, and I don't ever remember having a summer where that has happened.  Usually there is some kind of a break, but until today there hadn't been one.  Finally, this morning we have turned off the a/c.  I am so happy to be able to have the windows open again.  I recognize that this might set off my allergies, which haven't been to bad this year.  Regardless, I am very excited about cooler temps and gorgeous weather!

Another really early morning

This morning I got to "sleep in"...until 5:30.  Woo hoo.  Thanks to our early volunteer shift last weekend, today was the first day I got to sleep past 5:00.  As someone who is most certainly NOT a morning person, this is starting to be my undoing, and I am VERY tired.  I hope as the year progresses I'll become more accustomed to it, but my concern is that I'm just going to grow more tired.  It'll work out though.

We are leaving in just over an hour to make the long trek to Robert's first cross country meet.  I really, really love watching him run, and I'm so grateful he has this opportunity.  At the same time, he didn't train this summer like he did the summer before so I'm not really sure how he is going to do.

And of course, I'm looking forward to a really good night of sleeping!

The trials and tribulations of middle school loves

The last day of school last year, Thomas was so excited when he got off the bus.  He was excited to tell me that he finally had a girlfriend.  All summer, he would call her occasionally, and at 7th grade orientation, she gave him a hug.  He had eaten lunch with her this week, and also have a life skills class together.  This afternoon, he sat on our couch, squaring his jaw and making sure he didn't have any tears, as he told me he no longer has a girlfriend.  The young lady had sent him an email telling him she wanted to take a break.  I explained that perhaps seeing him every day at school, especially with him being at lunch and also being on the same bus, was just too much togetherness.  He was trying very hard to put on a brave face, and even though I know in the overall scheme of life this is just a very minor blip, things that are hard on my kids' hearts are hard on this mom's heart as well.

Heading into the first weekend of the school year

Here we are, heading into the first weekend of the school year.  I've decided beginning school on a Wednesday is absolutely the best way to begin school.  Ironically, in all of the years of my children's schooling, this is only the second year it ever happened.  Nobody, and I mean no one at all, needs the first week to be a full five day week.

Anyway, I always feel like the first weekend of the school year is so short, because we've been used to the great expanse of time off that is summer.  The last few years though, we've been able to keep it fairly unscheduled.  Not so much this year.  This evening is a football scrimmage and the school are doing a "meet the teams".  Andrew will be there with his football team, and of course both boys will be introduced for cross country (have I mentioned about Thomas? Perhaps that will be another post).  I have band obligations, although I've made it clear that once I get things set up, I will be very little use.  Robert has a very early bus ride tomorrow that leave at 6:30.  Yep, another very early wake up call tomorrow, although we do get to sleep in about 1/2 hour.  This cross country meet (high school only, thank goodness) is 2-1/2 hours away.  After I get him on the bus, we don't need to leave for about another 2-1/2 hours.  We decided afterwards that since we are so far east, we could meet his parents for dinner if we drove another hour and they drove 1-1/2 hours.  They agreed to that, and it will be nice.  It shouldn't be too terribly late when we arrive home, although we are all going to be worn out.  Sunday will be church, and Robert begins his new job.  I am taking Catherine and Thomas to my home town to celebrate the first birthday of baby Ava, my cousin's little one.  It will be fun to visit with family.

The summer flew by, as does every summer.  And with the way our schedules are looking, this school year is going to fly by as well!

The sun came out today

We got to see the sun today.  Normally, this is not noteworthy, but my goodness!  To say that we have been in a wet pattern is an understatement.  Andrew did some yard work on Saturday while I took our younger two kids to visit my grandmother, and thank goodness he did.  Sunday morning things got ugly while we were volunteering at the local state park, and it just went downhill from there.  The downpours on Sunday were downright unreal, and we haven't seen much of the sun since then.  When school started yesterday morning, it was the first time I could remember a rainy first day in several years.  I had to use an umbrella to walk Thomas to the bus stop.  Today picked up where every other day had left off, and while it didn't rain, the fog was thick as soup.  I took a nap this afternoon (I will be writing a post on my current sleeping habits at another time) and when I woke up...the sun was out!  It was so nice to be able to see the sun again!  The weather is also supposed to be so much cooler next week.  Never in my life do I remember having the a/c on for seven consecutive weeks without turning it off at all.  I am looking forward to that day as well!

I miss my kiddos

As most of my family heads off to the second day of the school year (7th in Robert's case), I am missing them.  I appreciate the quiet time I have each day, but it certainly is a lot of quiet time.  The hard part is that when they come home, it's just crazy.  Catherine gets home about 3:00, has to be out the door at 5:30 for band and will be home around 8:45, then it will be to shower & bed.  Robert and Thomas will be home 5ish from cross country.  Thomas goes to be around 8:30, and Robert is between 9:30 & 10.  I am often at band (or at least part of it) with Catherine, and Andrew gets home from football in the 5:30-5:45 range.  I miss being able to really enjoy the time together as we do in the summer, but I'm grateful my kids are busy.  I just miss having fun together.

I'm also having trouble adjusting to the fact that my house is so empty and quiet, and there is still a "6" as the first digit on the clock...along with the fact that I've been up for nearly two hours.  Robert and I are getting up at 5 these days, and that is what is going to work this year.  Andrew is worried about me getting so little sleep, but as the Olympics draw to an end, I'll get some more.  As these early morning hours continue, my body will insist upon it!  The thing I am most concerned about is the days I'll be subbing at the high school, but we'll figure out how to make it all work.  I won't begin working until October at the earliest so that I can get us all adjusted to this new year, and also so that it will almost be the end of football season.  The kids' craziness will continue, but at least Andrew will be almost finished with football and will be able to help with things!

A good beginning to the school year

It sounds as though everyone had a good beginning to the school year.  I'm grateful it was on a Wednesday as that is a day when the kids have no after school activities.  Unfortunately, Andrew's football team has a scrimmage this evening, and while we went for a while, we didn't stay very long.  He hasn't made it home yet, but I'm anxious to hear about his day from his perspective.  Thomas was very excited because his "girlfriend" is in two of his classes.  I was excited because he actually used his planner...that's a huge improvement over last year.  Hopefully it will last.  Catherine had a good day, and it was interesting to hear her perspective on Andrew's class.  I had to chuckle a little bit as she said when he talked about himself he mentioned he was married and that he has three children.  He did not point out one of them was sitting right there in his class.  He is working very hard on being sensitive about that.  Overall it was a good day and I'm grateful for that!