August

 The entire month of August was a complete blur. The transition of Cai back into the public school system was brutal. Not necessarily academically, but just the learning curve. Teachers, systems, technology, apps, communication, sports...everything. It took us a good couple of months to get to the point of feeling like the new normal wasn't going to kill us. Cai has done a phenomenal job through it all. He also turned 14, we can't forget the birthday!

While all the older kids were at camp we had a rare hang with the Mayhugh's. Life has pulled us in different circles where we rarely get to see each other so it was good to connect with them for an evening.

I also had a 24 hour getaway with a few close friends at the beach. Pam was house sitting and invited Martha, Magan and I to join for an evening. To just breathe and be. It was BEAUTIFUL!

A few months back Rainy came and asked if she and Harper could take a roadtrip up north. I mean, you only live once. And those girls are much braver than I ever was. Piper and I lived vicariously through their adventures as we followed them from state to state via Life 360. They budgeted, they planned, the camped in their car, they went to concerts, they traveled to 13 different states and came back exhausted, refreshed and full of stories.

And while Rainy was away we added a new family member who could FINALLY spend the night and hang with the boys since Rainy was out of the house, haha!

July - Back Into Routine

 We tried to pack in as many friends and visitors as we could before slowly easing our way back into routine and school.  We started out the month with Zeke turning 17. He is becoming quite the man-child. The Hambrick's came in and we had the BEST time! Jude and Ben have become really sweet friends and have hung out quite a bit this summer. School began light as we just focus on English and Math to get going again. The big change here is that Cai came to us to ask if we could talk about him transferring back into public school. We tried to think of all of the pros and cons to each side and sat and prayed on it for a week. When we came back together we all thought it would be great for Cai. This kids LOVES people, and activity and routine. Not only was the month a cacophony of paperwork and student service office visits, Cai also has the soccer team to jump into. We got everything approved just in time to make the last summer practice with the team. A week later he just on a school activity bus and headed to UNCG for a weekend soccer camp with his potential team. He came back completely EXHAUSTED but said he had a great time. There is a week of student camp with 7Marks and then he jumps right into soccer tryouts for the school. 

The End Has Passed, The Beginning Has Now Begun

Yes, we have had quite a crazy past couple of weeks.  I have a lot to write about but not so much time to capture my thoughts with precise words, but I'll try to begin with today and recap a few highlights later this week.

Track out came to a close late last night when the last little Colony member finally gave up and went to sleep at nearly 10pm last night.  (Jude gives a whole new meaning to persistent!)

It's funny to see how differently the kids have reacted to going back to school.

Areyna broke down crying 3 times yesterday just thinking about beginning 5th grade.  It's the stigma.  FIFTH just sounds so much more intimidating and scary.

Zeke was so antsy.  Only nervous because it was the first day, but not his normal dread and fear that usually overtakes him.  That's progress!  He finally gets to move "up stairs" to second grade this year!  We are SO proud of his progress last year and if we didn't have confirmation enough that we made the right decision to hold him back last year...

His teachers literally cried when they saw this progress!

Alethia was super excited to see her friend Madison and go to school.  There was no hesitation from this girl to tackle another year!

Cai wasn't looking forward to school, but as soon as we got to his class to drop him off and he saw his friend, Jordan, he refused to come back for a goodbye hug from us, ha!

Jude walked the halls with his little book bag on wondering which class would be the lucky one to have him:(  Poor guy is gonna be stuck with mama for another year.

There were no tears at all this morning, except when Cai was scouring the house for his infamous green jacket and long sleeved shirts, ha!

Jude helped me get started on the grass mowing but eventually came on inside and made himself lunch.  It consisted of a nectarine, blueberry coconut yogurt and my mom's homemade hot chocolate mix (in a bowl of course).  Hey, it was mostly nutritious AND I didn't have to fix it or clean it up (he's pretty good about putting his dishes in the sink)...that's considered a WIN in my book!

Now we are sitting here anxiously awaiting the return of "the kids", as Jude refers to the other Colony members in bulk, to see how their first day was.