BIG Week in the P House!

So this week has been pretty momentous! I will save the best for next, but it's been a big one. It started out with me finally getting processed to be on the substitute list for the district. I was nervous about it, but it ended up being for no reason whatsoever. The procedure was quick and painless, and I walked away from the district office being an official substitute! Then, on Thursday afternoon, I got a call from the secretary at the kids' school wanting to know if I could sub on Friday-- for gym class. I know better than to turn a job down, so I said "Of course!" And I ended up having a blast. I already knew most of the teachers and many of the kids, and they accepted me in my teacher role with open arms. Really, it couldn't have gone any better! When Maya asked Niko how I did compared to Mrs. S. (the regular gym teacher, who everyone loves), he said "It was the same!" I will take that as a huge compliment!

In even BIGGER news, though... Gus got accepted to law school!!!!!!!! Let me back up a bit... We began talking about this a while back. At his current job, Gus basically acts as a lawyer, but he has none of the authority that an actual lawyer would have. His coworkers realized this long ago, and it set into motion what would eventually become a big push for Gus to go to law school and "become official." After months of discussion and planning, his boss put together a written proposal, promising to cover Gus' law school fees in exchange for an extended commitment to stay with the company (which he would have done, anyway). And, of course, Gus would receive a pay raise commensurate with hew new level of education. Gus would have been a fool to pass up this opportunity! But what it meant was that he had to apply, interview, and take a placement test. I helped with his application essay and collecting his letters, but I couldn't do much else... Still, Gus took care of it all, and then we waited. And he got it! He will be starting his first semester in January 2016! He will be going to school three nights a week while still working full time, which means we won't see him a whole lot during the school year for the next four years. It sounds like a long time, but I know it will pass quickly. And once he passes the Massachusetts Bar Exam, it will mean a significant improvement in our family's quality of life, plus improved marketability for Gus! It is so awesome, and I am so incredibly PROUD of him! He deserves it, and he has our full support. We know that he is going to ROCK it!! :)

In other, slightly-less-big-but-still-important news... the kids had their first soccer game on Friday, which was Maya's first game EVER! My parents came to watch, which was a lot of fun (nice that they are only ten minutes away now!).

The kids both also had their first scout meetings of the year, and Niko had is his first pack meeting/campout of the year. He actually ended up not camping out, but we hung out around the campfire for a few hours, and he earned his "Call of the Wild" belt loop from attending cub scout camp this summer. We all had a good time (and it was nice to come home and sleep in our own beds!).

Since Gus is out of town on business, I wanted to take the kids to do something fun today. I wanted to pick some more apples, so we did that. But we also went through the little sorghum maze at the orchard. It was perfect! Not too long or scary, and the kids led the entire time. It only took about ten minutes. They were very pleased with their navigational skills! And then we picked some monster apples. It was a great morning!

Anyway, it's been a week full of positive change for us, and I am looking forward to the future. Good things are coming! We're on our way! :) After we got home, we spent some time putting laundry away and tidying up in preparation for the week. Now that I could potentially be working any day, it changes how I do things a little bit. Once everything was set, we went to my parents' house for a delicious dinner. We came home, everyone showered, and now we are all tucked in bed. I doubt this week can live up to he last one, but it will still be great!

Busy Season!

I have come to the conclusion that life with school-aged children is pretty much ALWAYS busy. But if there was a busy season, it would be either early fall or late spring. SO MUCH to do! Everything fires up at once, and it doesn't slow down for a few months. And that's where we are now.

So my last post was on August 25th. Less than two weeks ago, yet it feels like a lifetime! Thank goodness I have Facebook to help me piece everything together!

So, after I last posted, we found out who the kids' teachers would be. Both were very happy! But this kicked me into school mode. Step 1: the kids needed haircuts. Particularly a little boy I know!

So we got that taken care of, along with purchasing the rest of their school supplies. At that point, I turned my attention back to my endless list of home improvement projects. We had actually been talking about listing the house for sale next spring, but the list of things to get done between now and then was totally overwhelming, bordering on physically/financially impossible. Plus, summer was drawing to a close and I WANTED TO SPEND TIME WITH MY BABIES! So I talked to Gus, who was more than happy to hold off on selling the house for a few years (the original plan was my idea). It was like a huge weight was lifted! The next day, I took the kids to Old Sturbridge Village, which had free admission that day (normally, it's pretty expensive!). We had a great time together!

That same day, I noticed that our favorite orchard was now open for apple picking! And my parents had never been! We figured the first weekend would be a little crazy, so we waited and went on a Tuesday morning. We had the entire place to ourselves!

The next day was the first day of school, aaaaack! They were totally ready... Mommy was not. :( It was a very long day without either one of them around, even though I met a friend for breakfast and ran errands. I felt like I was killing time the entire time they were gone. I was dying to hear about their days!!

I still don't know what I am going to do with all this free time I suddenly have. I plan to be a substitute teacher, but they won't be able to process me for employment until early October, they're estimating. So I have a month. I've been deep cleaning pretty much everything... ANYWAY...

Their days went great! I already knew Maya's teacher, and I just adored her. Niko is very happy with his teacher, too. We are going to have a great year!

Along with school, soccer also started up. It's a short season-- only eight weeks. But it's intense (3x a week). Fortunately, the kids are both on the same team this year. Their coach is Maya's Daisy Troop Leader, which is handy when it comes to schedule conflicts! We had our first practice on Thursday. It was HOT, humid, and we even got some rain at the end. By the time the season ends, I will be shivering under thick blankets on the sidelines. So I vow to remember this day!

Then, this past weekend, we had nothing on our calendar. NOTHING. For probably the only time between now and... I don't know when. February?? I know we are already seriously overbooked for next weekend. But anyway, we planned to enjoy our long weekend with no plans. On Saturday, we went out to lunch (Maya's kindergarten teacher from last year actually gave me a gift card on the first day of school this year as a thank you for my volunteer work. So nice!!). Then we went on a hike at a nearby recreation area. Despite starting out with some cranky, overtired kiddos, we ended up having a nice time!

However... the aforementioned cranky, overtired kiddos inspired Gus to suggest that he and I go do something without them on Sunday. My parents (conveniently only ten minutes away now!) kindly agreed to let the kids hang out with them for a few hours, so that Gus and I could go kayaking (using our neighbor's kayaks). I had never done it before, but it was very peaceful! I might need to borrow them again!

Today, we stayed home. I spent most of the morning cleaning up spilled sesame oil in the refrigerator (UGH!!!!), and Gus worked on the dummy wall he's been building in the laundry room. We spent the entire afternoon outside, relaxing on the deck while the kids played in our little wading pool (it's been HOT). We brought the chicks outside, who aren't very chick-like anymore. They're getting big!

As of yesterday, we were convinced that Ginger was a rooster. Today, we aren't as sure. He/She will stick around for a while longer, which we are fine with. We also discovered that Ginger has a twisted leg that he/she was definitely born with, but he/she has obviously adapted well and gets around just fine. Very interesting! I remember telling Maya that it looked like Ginger's leg was broken right after he/she hatched, and I wondered if that was part of why the hatching process took so long. But then Ginger was moving around just fine the next day, so I figured it had been trauma from hatching. Guess not!

Anyway, the week ahead involves soccer, soccer, and more soccer, with dance class, scouts, and PTO meetings thrown in for fun. Here we go again!