Project 365, Week 40

The kids were back to school full time this week! As in, FULL days, AT school, FIVE days out of the week! 

Our kids have access to the internet at home, they have parents who support and encourage education, they are heavily supervised, they are safe and well-fed at home. And still...remote/hybrid learning was spotty at best, at least that was our family's experience. The kids are happy to be back at school and off the computer, even with the weirdness of masks and social distancing and we are happy to have them be back. We are working back into a routine and normalcy and it feels good!

September 28

Client meetings all morning and then lunch out (also a good reason for the kids to be in school. ;)

This day was soccer tryouts for all three kids. Amanda as a freshman on the high school team and Aiden as a 6th grader for the middle school team. Shaun and I went a little early to pick up Aiden so we could watch a bit of it from a fair distance away. We groaned in stereo when we saw the field of middle school boys and girls trying out....all different shapes and sizes and stages of development. Such a brutal time in life and when you're least equipped to deal with it!

To make matters worse, I had a major mom fail and hadn't submitted Aiden's latest physical so he had to sit on the sidelines the entire time! I felt terrible! He was upset but gracious and after we went to the pediatrician's office to pick up the form, I bought him ice cream, which seemed to work quite well towards smoothing things over. ;) Thankfully, there were other days of tryouts that he was able to be in on.

Then we went to the adjoining field to watch the girls.

Classic New England!

Ergonomically incorrect!!

September 29

Trees along our walk in the neighborhood.

September 30

Paperwork got finalized, keys were handed over and we became owners of a new building (co-owned with Shaun's brother). Its an office building located right across the street from the office we're currently renting. Though it means another remodeling project and another building to own (both of which we've been trying to get away from!), its a really great long-term move for both businesses. Its an ideal location on a busy road (still 2 minutes from our house!) and is in good condition for a very fair price. The plan is to spend these next few months transforming it from a former doctor's office to the future home of a tax and financial services business and then we'll officially move in after tax season in the spring. Its going to be a lot of work and its going to be good.

Scheduling was a little tricky between school, sports, work and weather, but we found an evening for senior portraits. My nephew Nathanael and his friend Josh have been friends since they were little and I figured it would be a bit less painful to take pictures if they did it together. We (or at least I) had fun hanging out on a beautiful evening. However...its positively unbelievable to me that he's a senior!!

The last of the light was SO pretty on the ride home (and there were no children in the car to roll their eyes at me) so I pulled over to a couple local farms that had their displays set up.

At 8pm, we were finally gathered from the day. We ordered pizza to celebrate the closing of the new property and Amanda making the team AND varsity!!

October 1

Fall mornings are hard to beat.

Shaun got me through high school Algebra I & II and Geometry. He used to come to my house during the week and we'd sit close on the couch and work through the problems. Now he's sitting on the couch close to another high school girl, helping her get through math. Its the craziest thing.

October 2

Like I said, Fall mornings! 

October 3

My morning walk with Ginger.

Soccer

Aiden invited a couple classmates/teammates over after the game. They're really sweet boys.

October 4

This was Z's 18th (!!!) birthday. Crazy! Even more astounding to me is that his grandmother extended an invitation to our family. In these seven years since he left us and reunited with his biological family, his grandmother and I have stayed in touch. She sends me class photos, report cards, random news. She's held a place of honor for us. More than once I've had to be honest with myself and wrestle with knowing that, were things the other way around, I would not be so gracious. Instead, I think I would have distanced my child and I from anything or anyone that reminded me of those couple years when foster care was a part of our story. So it was super humbling to be invited and welcomed.

And Z? He's doing really well! He's so sweet and warm towards us and we have fun recalling memories from nine years ago. He graduated from high school, bought himself a car, has worked his way up to shift leader at DD and studies finances and the stock market on his own time. He peppered Shaun with questions and advice around the campfire. All is grace.