What a week! We are really ramping up for back to school around here. T-6 days. Stuff just got real. I always forget, or block out of my mind, how intense it is getting 4 kids ready for back to school. Haircuts, new shoes, school supplies, sports physicals….it’s a lot. And switching 3 to a new school this year just added to the insanity. I have a chronic eye twitch. 

1. We celebrated 21 years of marriage last Friday. We had plans to go out to dinner but things happened and life got in the way. So instead we took the little kids to Red Robin on Saturday to eat while Tyler was at a football pool party. Such is life with kids. No biggie. And seriously, the bottomless fries are my favorite. 

2. Tyler’s varsity football team had a rough week. It was the last week of practices before the scrimmage so it was 2-a-days all week. I took ice cream cups up there one afternoon after the second practice as a treat for the guys. They love me. The way to their hearts is food. Always. Ha!

3. Tyler made it into 2 different football previews for our region this week. He’s the one on the left hitting the sled in this picture. In the second article he is mentioned by name as an offensive and defensive standout for our whole conference! He is STOKED!! 

4. Maia had her second orthodontist appointment for braces this week. Right now she still has the separators in place. Hopefully next week she’ll progress to the actual braces. She’s thrilled. Obviously. I keep telling her, it will all be worth it…..in 3 years when she’s done. Ha! Poor girl. 

5. The football team got their jerseys. They have new ones for this season. They are skin tight. It was hysterically funny watching him try to get this jersey on and even funnier watching him take it off. It took all 3 of us to get it off! I don’t know how they’re going to do this after a game. 35 sweaty stinky guys pulling jerseys and pads off of each other? Gross. 

Our first scrimmage is tomorrow afternoon! I’m so excited! And then back to the real world of alarm clocks and homework. What a drag. 

We had a super fun, super busy week so this shall be considered a 5 Thing Bonus Edition Friday post. Ha! August always brings forth conflicting emotions. On one hand, it’s exciting preparing for a new school year. On the other hand, I really love summer vacation. See? Conflicting. 

1. I finally got a Girls Night Out! Finally. We’ve planned it 4 times this summer and something always came up. But we finally made it happen. My sister and 4 friends met at my house and poor Matt got to drive us to our favorite restaurant. We ate delicious food- seriously, so delicious- and drank some yummy drinks- I’m lookin’ at you Pineapple Martini and Blackberry Margarita. We laughed until we were in tears. Then we prank called Tyler to come be our DD and take us to the movies. He declined to cart around 6 semi-inebriated women. I promised that we would keep our shirts on. Still a no. Spoil sport. The picture below is the one I texted him begging for a ride. Ha!

2. Camden came down to spend 4 days with us last weekend. We try to do at least a few weekends each summer but it hasn’t worked out this summer until now. So we did a longer visit. The kids swam, played video games, did lego creations, played WWE, and lounged in the hot tub. I think they all had fun and they were all exhausted by the time he left on Tuesday!

3. Tyler had his very last Accutane appointment this week! He has successfully completed the entire 6 month course. And he got amazing results. He still has a few active acne spots but that’s normal. He is SO PLEASED with the results. He has no acne on his face, very few on his back, and only a couple on his chest. It’s 99.9% better. He has some scarring but not as bad as we anticipated considering how bad his cystic acne was in the beginning. He went swimming without a shirt multiple times this week for the very first time in 4 years! And not just at home, with the football team at a friend’s house! I almost cried, y’all. 

4. Varsity football kicked into high gear this week. Tryouts started on Monday and all the new players got a good taste of how hard varsity practices really are. Tyler said there were some freshmen puking, some tears, and at least 3 quit on the first day. Ha! Welcome to varsity, boys. Because we’re a charter school we do not have a JV team, only varsity. So tryouts were held M-W mornings from 8-10 and the returning/starting players did conditioning and ran some plays with the new guys so the coaches could see who has potential. Then the starters/returning players went back for the afternoon practice from 1-3 so they could get a good solid real practice done each day. It’s a good system but man, these guys are tired. Tyler passes out on the couch and sleeps in between practices every day. We are only 6 days away from our first scrimmage of the season! I am SO READY!!!! 

5. Our neighborhood participated in the annual Neighbors Night Out event again this year. It was so much fun! Great friends, yummy food, loud tunes, fun games, and a whole lot of laughter. I love my neighborhood. Tyler and his friends played corn hole with a few of our local police officers, Mason and his friends played ping pong, Maia and her friends hung out, and Zoey played tetherball for the first time. It was so much fun!

6. The school supply lists were posted online this last weekend so I snuck out with Maia to get a start on the lists. $229 later, I’m only 1/3 of the way done. How much do you get for selling your plasma? Because I might need to do that soon. We consoled ourselves with Starbucks. 

7. We had a string of days with amazing weather. It was in the high 60s when I woke up and I got to enjoy my morning coffee on the back deck without dying of heat stroke. Matt drained and cleaned the hot tub so it’s ready for some heavy Fall use! Of course, the nice weather didn’t last long. We were back to the high 90s by Thursday. But at least we got a nice taste of Fall weather and it made me excited!

8. We spent a lot of time up at our charter school this week. We had to attend iPad deployment for Mason and MacBook deployment for Maia. They were so excited to get their devices. I love the emphasis our school puts on technology. Every child in K-3 has an assigned iPad for their personal use at school. It doesn’t come home with them but it is their iPad to use during the school day. Every 4th and 5th grader gets an iPad to keep in their possession full time, both school and home, until they move to 6th grade. Every kid in 6th-12th grade is issued a MacBook Air to use until graduation. All their assignments, tests, projects, etc are done on the computer. I love it!

9. Maia started her journey with braces this week. Her first appointment was just getting molds down and separators applied. She goes back next week and the next week…and the next week…..and the next week. Basically we’re just pouring money into her mouth at this point. But she has a crossbite on one side that is affecting the symmetry of her face so we have to get this done now. We don’t need food….it’ll be fine. 

So that was our week. Busy. And expensive. Like every other week. ha!

The summer is just flying by! It needs to slow down. I can’t even think about the school year schedule yet. NO! I’ll be in the corner curled up in the fetal position sucking my thumb if I do. I need at least another month…but we’re winding down to less than 3 weeks now. 

1. Zoey had the very best time at Show Choir camp last week and her performance at the end of the week was so adorable! She made a bunch of new friends and got to sing 4 Moana songs. So pretty much her idea of perfection. 

2. I turned 40 this week. Matt and my sister managed to pull off a surprise family BBQ for me. My parents came down and brought Camden to help us celebrate this milestone in my life. I should have known something was up when Matt was cleaning the bathrooms. But I was just so grateful that Matt was cleaning the bathrooms that I didn’t question it. ha!

3. We had family movie night this week and it was Tyler’s turn to pick. I figured I would have to veto his first 3 choices based on previous experiences. But he chose Moana. And then he sang along with Zoey to all the songs. As far as I knew, Zoey was the only one of us who had seen the movie. So apparently Tyler watched it on his own. He kept telling me what was going to happen and what his favorite parts were. He loved the chicken and the crab. I’m not sure whether to be amused or confused by his sudden love of Disney movies. The Little Mermaid remains his favorite movie to this day. I have no answers. 

4. I took Maia for her sports physical this week. She has been trying to decide whether or not to play volleyball this year since she’s brand new to the school. She wants to try cross country but she has to choose one or the other since they are both Fall sports. Either way, she needed a sports physical. She’s 5 foot 2.5 inches now and she might get another inch at the most before she’s reached her full height. She is displeased. She was hoping to be at least 5’6. Sorry kid. 

5. We’re enjoying every single minute at the pool that we can. Life has gotten busy as the summer winds down and before we know it we’ll be back in the school year shuffle. So as many hours as we can cram into relaxing at the pool is the goal for the next 20 days!