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.