Overdue

Long time no post I know.  Just not a whole lot to share.   A lot of everyday life going on the last 2 weeks, though we are gearing up for a few changes.

The only pictures I have are from our small group gathering at a local dairy farm that sells ice cream.  It was really good, though the evening was hot and humid.  Fun to just meet and hang out, though, and the kids just ran and played...except for Julia.  She clung to me and asked to go home most of the time, until the very end when she realized she could step about 6 inches off the ground into the climbing tree and was quite thrilled with her adventure.  She stepped up and down about 5 times and finally was ready to go.

Hard to believe this is the end of July.  Change is in the air.  Matt has found a new location for the gym and has begun to move stuff out today!  We'll be officially at the new place August 1st.  Definitely an air of change with the gym in general--not just the building--as we say goodbye to students that have been home for the summer, others that are graduating, one of our trainers that is moving.  Will probably have some others who are students in the area return soon too.

We are gearing up for a fun time with my family next week and then when we get back, we will just have a few weeks till the big change--school!  Just found out this week that Gray will have to be at school by 7:30am each morning (Joshua still not till 9) and it's going to be CRAZY trying to wake them up and get everyone out the door with everything they need.  Joshua proved himself to be very responsible last year and most mornings went fairly smoothly, but they woke up at their leisure, ate, dressed, even had playtime before we had to leave.  Now it will be alarm clocks for all!

And then there's the matter of Gray being Gray.  He will learn a lot this year before he even gets to school I'm sure!  Hopefully we'll both emerge more disciplined and with greater patience and grace for each other!

So when August hits, it's time to start training!  The boys are going to be making their lunches on their own for one thing.  Joshua is used to it from last year but I think it's safe to say he's enjoyed being waited on this summer.  Hopefully after a few weeks of coaching, Gray will be able to make his own as well.  I've already got the school night and school morning checklists taped to the washer and we're starting to gather school supplies.

There's definitely something exciting about starting a new year of school.  We've had a fun summer and most days everyone has enjoyed each other.  But I'm excited for them to have new, hopefully wonderful, teachers.  I'm excited for them to have new experiences and learn new things.  I'm excited for them to make new friends and for Joshua to reunite with buddies from last year.  I'm excited to see how they will mature and change this year.  I'm excited to see them put into practice the stuff we talk about at home.  I'm hanging on to our last weeks together, but hopeful for a great school year ahead!