Bye Bye Blue Canoe

The paperwork was signed and sent this morning, so if all goes as planned the Blue Canoe will be officially sold on Wednesday! It comes with mixed feelings; I love the place and the time we spent there, and the experience of our first rental propert. But it'll be nice to have one less complication, more money to put towards other homes and college(s)! Once again, God has been so good in the process -- with the condo being on the market 2 months, providing a buyer with a good all cash (!) offer, and a great, clean inspection.

Fall
Summer is but a memory now that things have returned into the school and many activities routine. The back to school 'to do' list began in early August: athletic physicals, ortho and dentist appts, eye doctor and new glasses (which Nilla chewed within 2 weeks and had to replaced) and contacts(!) for Alex, plus clothes/shoe/athletics shopping, including backpacks, lunch boxes and school supplies. Lex also had an ingrown toenail removed successfully (except a little vomit for watching too much!).

Is this gross? They just take cut out a section, kill the root and the skin grows back together! This is a few days post-surgery.

This boy leaves for football practice at 6:15 am and has a second practice the last period of school. I'm proud of the work he's been putting in to get to play, all while keeping all A's and B's. With this being his last chance to play, as we are concerned about Texas-sized opponents and injuries in high school, so we were all a bit bent out of shape when he barely touched the field in the first two games. I was ready to have a little sit down with the coaches, but since then, he's seen more playing time as 2nd string defensive safety.  Life is just hard and unfair at times, and it's sure hurts my heart to watch my kids navigate some of life's bumps.

And this one, ready for cross country practice. He placed in the top 10% in his first meet and was recognized as an Athlete of the week for the last meet. He came in 2nd place in a triathlon last weekend, then went on to play his soccer game. I don't know where he gets the energy! All A's and B's, but Algebra is tough! 

Mrs. Way is this year's teacher, whom she really likes, and she has rotates for ELAR and social studies- it will be a challenging writing year for sure. I'm hoping the 3rd grade girl drama issues are a thing of the past. I try to remind myself...

Dan continues cheerleading for a 5th grade football team on with the same gals as last year, and she loves being a 'flyer'. 

Attic Project

Finishing out some unused attic space to use for storage has been on my wish list for some time, and now it's done! This is how the space off the media room looked before...

With my husband's talents, we added 2x12's for floor joists, laid plywood floors, added 2x4 wall studs and foam insulation for walls, and even added a vent off the A/C ducting to make it somewhat temperature controlled. 

After!

And now its filled with all my stuff! Soo much better than cramming it into the extra closet in Linc's room.

Here's the special ordered small access door. Notice anything not quite right? Silly Home Depot; don't know why they placed the door handle where it is, but it was too much trouble to reorder. We'll see who notices!

Birthdays

It was my 40ish birthday! We went to a Brazilian steakhouse, probably the nicest restaurant my kids have ever been to, and ate and ate. Yummo.

With time to kill before church and everyone wanting to stretch out, Linc opted for the spot in the trunk!

Lil' Nilla turned 1!! We didn't have a party hat, so she donned a glitter cowboy number and a bowl of ice cream to celebrate.

Dinner

Dinner time can be rough. Sometimes it's WW III. Picky eaters. I'm not the best cook. My meal planning skills lack, partly because I there's only so many ways you can cook the same 5 ingredients, and I dread it. So lately I've tried to follow a weekly schedule; it's not exciting or exotic, but it kinda seems to be working. With an occasional "on your own" thrown in there when I just can't do it. Here's the plan:

• Mexican Monday
• Tuscan Tuesday (meaning Italian)
• Whatever Wednesday (meaning leftovers or .. whatever)
• Try It Thursday (a new recipe)
• Fun Friday (like pizza or some other 'fun' food.. or whatever)
• Super Saturday- 'cuz we usually eat out!
• Sunday Brunch (breakfast type foods for dinner)

Being Still
Kids are back in school, the lake house construction done, I'm not working and my PTA Treasurer job is done (although  I was asked to be the Treasurer for the school district's PTA, which is a smaller job than the elementary school--fingers crossed!). I've struggled not always being on the go-go-go! I realized I like being busy, but feel like God is telling me to slow down and "Be still and know I am God" (Psalm 46:10). So I've started and am enjoying a women's bible study at our new church and am trying to focus more on being with Him.