A race, A Birthday & an evening with friends

 Our Saturday started off with Nick hitting the ground running - literally.  He participated in a kids triathlon.  He swam in the pool, biked a mile and finished with a 1 mile run.  It was crazy humid yesterday morning.  Jay was competing in his first XC race in another town.  I missed his race because I was with Nick.  According to Jay he did "terrible."  I doubt he did terrible but it was so HOT yesterday it made running any distance almost unbearable. 

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My dad celebrated his 65th birthday yesterday.  My aunt, cousin and sister met at his nursing home and gave him presents and a cup cake. 

My dad and his sister.

I got the pleasure of hanging out with my mom and my two Karen friends on Saturday night.  I just love these girls.  We sat around KP's kitchen table and ate, laughed and had some sips of my all time favorite drink, cosmopolitans!  It was a really fun weekend.  Today I'll be catching up on some things around the house and getting ready for another busy week.

The last 24 hours

I can only describe the last 24 hours in one word - CRAZY!  There was a reason I was so sad to see the summer end by the end of July. During this season of my life I have to remember to be patient and give myself a break every once in awhile.  I am always so thankful for my job and it's flexibility.  I'm not sure how I would have handling our schedules if I still had a one hour daily commute.  The boys started school yesterday which was a success (yeah, mission accomplished there).  When Nick got home from school he relaxed for a bit and I finished working then I started preparing meals.  I know the day will come when I don't spend half my life in the kitchen but these days if I'm not working I'm in the kitchen, preparing a meal.  And not just any meal.  When you have two boys in sports and a hungry husband you have to get creative.  I have meatball sandwiches, chicken pasta, hot roast beef sandwiches (thank you, pioneer woman) and smoothies.  Boys are always wanting to eat.  It's a full time job trying to keep them fed and full.  At about 5:15 we start the entire process of getting Nick dressed for football which sometimes I feel you need a special degree for.  There's the "cup" which I don't get involved in, the pads, the shoulder pads, the helmet, the mouth piece - the list goes on and on.  At 5:30 we left for football.  I enjoy taking Nick to football because it's the only time I get to exercise and read.  I spend that 90 minutes doing just that and it's nice.  Meanwhile I have transportation lined up with my friend, Laura, for Jay.  She brings him home from XC.  Jay and Mike eat a meal together that I prepared before I left the house.  Nick and I get home at 8:00 and that's when the real "fun" begins.  I want to hear about Jay's day and Nick wants to tell Mike about football so the volume in the house is a little loud.  Jay & I are trying to figure out the best way to organize his school work.  Mike interjects that he doesn't agree with what we're doing which prompts Jay to say, "Dad, school has changed since 1969 when you were in school."  Oh and just so you know, Mike was born in 1972.  Somehow I manage to get Nick fed, help Jay get organized for his next day of school, direct both boys to get showers - while Mike is giving the dogs showers first.  The boys were in bed by 9:00 which in my opinion for a 3rd graders is too late but it's the best I can do.  Ha!  If this blog seems like I'm complaining, I'm not - really, I'm not.  Although this season of my life is challenging, I do enjoy it.  I love seeing my boys active in sports, I love seeing them get excited about school and to be honest I kind of like seeing myself in action but again I try to be aware that I burn out quickly so I try to balance it all for me and my family.  So here's to another season of my life. 

Back to School; 7th & 3rd grade

 Today is the first day of school.  Jay is going into 7th grade (how did that happen?).  Nick is going into 3rd grade. 

Nick and his good bud, N.  N. lives across the street from us and he and Nick are such good friends.  It warms my heart. 

Our end of summer fish fry

 The boys spent A LOT of time fishing this summer.  It was the first summer where I let them go to the beach together but without Mike or I.  They would load their poles on their bikes and off they would go.  The boys and Mike proposed in June that they would catch a bunch of fish and then in August have a party and fry all the fish.  So, that's what we did.  The picture above is of my back yard.  We sent tents up because the weather was iffy all day but it turned out to be a great evening.  It was cool and no rain.  The kids had a ball and Mike fried a whole lot of fish.

 The kids love our trails.  Heck, I love our trails.  I would have loved something like this when I was a kid.  When it got dark the kids broke their glow sticks and the entire trail looked like something out of Star Wars. 

 Nick had to break out his Gillies suit, of coarse.  The pic below is of him and his friend, A.

 We got sparklers out and the kids loved it.  They don't last long but it was cheap, fun entertainment for 10 minutes.

Miss Lauren.

Mr. Luke.  School starts tomorrow and having this party was a great way to end the summer.  I really didn't want this summer to end.  It was one of the most relaxing summers.  I'm simply not ready for the schedules, routine and homework but all good things must come to and end.  I am ready to see what 7th and 3rd grade bring this year for the boys. 

The first and final

 This week Jay had his final small group meeting with his small group leader, John.  John was amazing with this group of boys.  This week he's moving to Minnesota so the boys are losing a great leader.  The group of boys should be able to stay together this upcoming school year but under the direction of another leader. 

 The boys coming together for their last time of prayer together.  Love seeing this. 

 And now for the first.  Last night the boys and I ran a 5K.  Well the boys ran the 5K, I walked it.  We had SO much fun!!!  It was so much fun that I would like to be able to run it with the boys or at least run half of it.  Jay ran it in 27 minutes and Nick did it in 31 minutes.  I was especially proud of Nick.  It was his first 5K.  He even fell and scraped up his upper thigh and never said a word to anyone.  Mike and I discovered the huge scrape this morning.  Nick shrugged it off.  It's just like Nick.  That boy is tough as nails. 

 My dear friend, Laura coordinates running club.  She is AWESOME at it.  I tell her all the time she has a gift for it.  She's so encouraging and kind to the kids.  Last night she gave out awards and medals. 

Toads and bathrooms

 Okay, so the title of my blog was not thought out well but it's the last week of summer (before the boys go back to school) and I'm on overload.  Brain power and creativity is not something I possess right now.  I'm just trying to get by.  The boys are "getting by" by catching frogs and toads. Check out the big guy Jay caught yesterday.  Nick posed with him and of coarse got peed on. 

This is our big unveil.  Mike remodeled our half bath.  I really like the way it turned out, very rustic.  In order of getting bathrooms done this wasn't next on the list but Mike had the extra stone and I do like it.  Hopefully my next bathroom blog will be my master..........Sigh..........

Best Summer EVER

School starts on Monday for the boys and while the last week has been a little challenging, this summer has been the best summer ever (since I started working from home).  The boys started XC and football on Aug. 4.  On Aug. 3 I pouted, complaining to Mike I didn't want the summer to end and how much I enjoyed the boys this season.  We had 8 weeks of no running around.  It was such a calm, peaceful summer and I got to watch Jay and Nick grow in their relationship.  We did not have a ton of kids in and out this summer so the boys spent a lot of time together.  But they also spent a lot of time apart.  I think that's why the summer was so successful.  It was a good balance of being together and being apart.  Prime example: the boys have been home all week together and they are bored.  They are fighting constantly but that's only been this past week.  In typical kid fashion because Jay is so "bored" this week he started to complain what a boring summer he's had overall - REALLY!  I shut him down immediately.  Nick judges the summer on how often the Ausili's came out and in his opinion they didn't come out enough.  Ha!  In all seriousness we spent time with family, the boys went to camps, Jay had his mission trip (which he loved), we took a trip to TN, Nick went to church camp and we spent a lot of time at the pool.  I feel like after working 4 summers from home I finally got it right this summer.  Now if only I could repeat it again next summer.  So until next summer...that totally bums me out to write that.  So sad to see the summer end.

Nana to the rescue

My mom read my blog about Nick's time issues and because we talk about three times daily (Trust me, it's more of my "problem" than my mom's) she understood that she needed/wanted to take action.  She bought Nick a calendar wherein dates and events can be written by us or Nick.  It is helping.  I'm still getting time questions but now I'm telling him to look at his calendar.  It teaches him organization and helps with his reading.  So I give a big shout out to my mom!!! 

Jay's sleep over

 Starting last year we started letting Jay have a sleep over with a few boys.  Last year they set up a tent in the back yard.  This year it was too wet but just the same, fun was had by all.  I did make a mental note that next summer I will plan the sleep over for June.  I'm on overload right now since all activities have resumed and as a result I'm a little scatter brained........I can hear you snickering, mother! 

This year Jay had his usual crowd; Aaron, Reece and Curtis.  The boys had an air soft gun "war," rode the four wheeler and played at the beach - just the usual boy stuff.  At 1:30 I was awakened because I heard footsteps in Nick's room and Nick spent the night at Nana's so I knew it wasn't Nick.  I went upstairs to check and Jay and Aaron had crawled into Nick's bed because they had passed so much gas in Jay's room and then sprayed so much cologne they said it made them want to gag.  Meanwhile Curtis was sound sleep, somehow managing to sleep through the thick scent of stinky gas and stinky cologne, what a combo.  Ahh the joys of boys.

Elizabeth, the teacher whisperer

This summer I hired Elizabeth.  Elizabeth was actually with us last summer but only for the month of June.  She returned this summer for the entire summer and we LOVED her.  It was the most peaceful summer I've ever had since I started working from home and I owe most of that thanks to Elizabeth, who I affectionately refer to as my teacher whisperer.  She tutored Nick and he responded really well to her.  It was not unusual for me to come upstairs and see her and Nick (and sometimes both boys) engaged in a game and I would think, "Is this girl for real?"  She had a rule of no TV or electronics while the boys were with her.  She was like the piped piper who would lure my boys into complete submission.  Ha.  But in all seriousness she was kind and encouraging, just the medicine that Nick needed this summer. 

Time questions

Nick has this "thing" now where he continually asks me time questions.  He wants to know his daily schedule and then some - constantly!  I get that all kids like to know about their day and I'm fine with that.  But I've made it a rule with Nick (keep in mind, this is a recent/new rule that came from him asking me a million questions) that I don't answer any time/scheduling questions more than 24 hours out.  I tell him he can ask about the current day and into part of the next day but beyond that, I'm done.  He asks what time he goes to football, what days he has football, when were having our fish fry, when he's going to Nana's next, when school starts, what time school starts.  The questions are relentless!  Nick also seems to have a hard time understanding time in itself.  He doesn't understand that 2 weeks equates to 10 days.  If I go back in my memory I think Jay had a hard time with this too.  But Nick's time questions are exhausting me especially when he doesn't quite get when things are happening.  We sound like two old people.
Nick: Do we get our pads for football next Friday?
Me: No, you get them Aug. 18.
Nick: So we get them in 7 days?
Me: No, Nick!  You get them in like 2 weeks. 
Nick: So we get them sometime next week. 
Keep in mind I have processing issues so half the time I end up trying to calculate the time in my head and it just makes me tired and short off.  Finally, I tell Nick to pipe down, he'll get the freakin pads one of these days!  Hence why I made the new 24 hour time rule.  I'd say he might have a little OCD or anxiety but yeah, we just had him tested for all that and it was a negative.  It's just Nick being Nick.  I love him just the same but the time questions are making this momma a little tired.

Home Sweet Home

Jay is home!  Hallejah!  By mid week I was really missing him.  His trip was awesome and I enjoyed hearing all about it.  He worked in a poverty stricken neighborhood doing odd jobs; painting, yard work, etc...  A few highlights of his trip:  He said there was one house they painted where a single mother of 4 kids lived.  He said she was so appreciative of the work the kids did.  Jay said it felt "really good" to help others.  CIY (Christ in Youth) brought in a minister from Orlando, FL to speak to the kids this week.  Jay loved his humor.  Right before Jay left he was bothered that he couldn't find a bible verse that spoke to him.  He felt like everyone had a favorite bible verse except for him.  I smiled when he told me this because I didn't find my favorite verse until I was 39!!  Anyway when he came home he hadn't found a verse but a saying.  I don't know who said it but it spoke to him.  It was about prayer and how everyday we wake up we are at war without a weapon.  Prayer is our armor that God gives us.  It's something along those lines. 
I remember my missions trips and the bonds I formed with the other kids that went.  Jay went on this trip without anyone associated from school and to me, that was a good thing.  It exposed him to different kids from different schools - Yes, city boys!  LOL!  He formed strong bonds with these boys this week and they had lots of laughs together.  As for Nick, every day that went by he was indifferent about his brother being gone.  However, by Friday he was exceptionally grouchy but I couldn't pin point why until his brother walked in the door last night.  Jay opened the door and Nick ran through the kitchen, jumped into his brother's arms and wrapped his arms and legs around Jay and would not let go.  Jay returned the embrace with a smile and proceeded to walk into the house with his little brother wrapped around him.  It was at that moment I figured out why Nick was so grouchy - he missed his brother.  Jay and Nick stuck together like glue last night.  When I went to bed last night they were camped out together in Jay's room playing Battleship together.  Needless to say I went to bed with a smile on my face last night.  Thank you God!