T.G.I.F

It has been one heck of a week around here. Andy (and now Josh) started two-a-day soccer practices. The kids and I began our very intensive, but hands on fun school year. Bob has been working some v-e-r-y long days due to his office having visitors. I have been getting up at 5 am (although today it was 6 am) to prepare the day's meals for everyone so that I don't have to take time away from schooling to actually do so. We are all ready for the weekend and the break that comes with it. We have no plans and plan on keeping it that way. Well, I guess that is not entirely true as there is some yard work to be done (which I am trying to put off until the fall because it is just so hot here)  and for sure the meal planning/grocery shopping for next week's menu will need to be accomplished, and a little bit of housework will need to be caught up on, but THEN we will all just relax and be lazy. The boys especially are looking forward to sleeping in as they have not had to get up at 6 am consistently their whole lives. They have been troopers about it and generally jump out of bed when their alarm goes off, or in the event they forget to set it, when I go in to wake them. We are all exhausted are are looking forward to a weekend of (almost) nothing.

Another beautiful sunset from our backyard. 

Mr. Samuel Gregg

Getting a good petting from Sarah. 

I love when my kids laugh a belly laugh. It is probably one of the greatest joys in my life. Sarah was in the beginning stages of a belly laugh here...

Miss Lily - the beast dog. 

Girls jumping last night waiting for the boys to get home from soccer practice. 

Flowers outside the casita / school room. 

A tomato plant. Smelling tomato plants reminds me of the smell of my grandfather's garden growing up. I don't eat tomatoes very often and planted this plant solely for the purpose of  having the smell and memory of my grandfather's garden. 

H-O-T = HOT

I think I jinxed our family when I wrote about how nice the days were because it was hot, but not unbearable during the day and desert cool at night. That changed, oh, the next day after I posted that blog. Now we reach high 90's / low 100's daily and let me tell you that is a hot unlike any I have ever experienced. That desert sun is a scorcher. Without the protection of the shade it feels much hotter.   Like holy cow how to people survive without central air and pools H-O-T? I venture out only when I absolutely have to because it is just that hot.

 Yes, I completely agree that the heat here is different than back in Ohio because the humidity is so much less here, but hot is hot. So that argument is null and void at this point. This, to me, is like I am living in hell hot. Not. A. Fan. Except that I kinda am because I still get to enjoy the sunshine every day from my windows or from my pool. Spoiled? Yes. Very grateful of that? Yes. I thank God every.single.day. for the life I am blessed to live.

Oh, and the heat has also brought these incredible storms. Last night we had one. It seemed to blow in from nowhere and just hung around for over an hour.  The wind was (to me, but not really) of hurricane proportions. It knocked over our basketball hoop in the front yard. The rain? Man, when it rains here it pours. There isn't really that gentle sprinkle like back in Ohio. You might have that for a few seconds and then BAM! rain that feels like bullets on your back comes down in buckets. It is crazy!!! BUT...it is beautiful to watch the storms come through on the back patio where I can overlook the valley and see the sky for miles and miles.  The lightning here is like nothing I have ever seen in my whole life. It is beautiful and if I think of it the next time it storms at night I will take pictures.

And the sunsets? Gorgeous lately. Our pictures don't do the sunsets justice here, so you all will just have to come down here and visit us to see them for yourselves.

Even the bad weather makes me appreciate my life here so much. There is beauty to be found every where. Even when it is H-O-T hot.

First Day of the New School Year

High school soccer began yesterday and Andy is having two-a-day practices for the next 2 weeks. He is completely exhausted at the end of the day from both the work and the heat. I am proud of him for doing this as Josh went this morning with him (just to get some conditioning in) and is sound asleep right now while Andy is back at practice for the second part of his day. Andy's spirits seem to be lifted now that his days are filled with soccer and school (even though it has only been a couple of days). It makes me really happy to see him doing better. (***I began this post yesterday,  and boy did things change by the time I picked Andy up last night. He was beat...and falling apart both physically and emotionally. The heat, the hard work, the not knowing anyone, the tiredness all seemed to cave in on him  and he had a partial melt down. The coach ended up asking him where "Little Ohio" was (that is what Josh is called by the team/coaches) - Andy is 'Ohio' to them - and the invitation to practice with the high school team beyond just the morning conditioning session was opened up to Josh. So, this morning Josh began his first two-a-days after having only attended the morning conditioning session yesterday. I think that this is helpful to Andy and his spirits seemed a bit better again after this morning's practice. The boys have been getting up at 6 am to get to practice and are then again practicing at 6 pm in the evening until 8:00+. The heat is hard to navigate through as we are dealing with high 90's/low 100's for temps. Andy has been cramping up big time, and we have found some remedies today that seem to help with that. 5 days a week from now until the end of July he will be at it - although after next week it will just be once a day.  Andy though - and now Josh - is a trooper and will make through these tough days and grow and learn about himself and his ability to make it through hard times. As his mother, I just want to coddle him and make life easier for him. I hate to see him in any kind of pain, BUT this is exactly why Andy is the wonderful person he is. Adversity has made him into the exceptional young man he is. Growing pains are good. They are good for us all. It is no fun watching him (and now Josh) struggle through hardship, but I cannot be there forever for him. He has to learn to make it through the tough stuff that life will throw at him on his own. At the end of these two-a-days he will be so proud of himself. I cannot wait till end, so I can celebrate with him.



I bought the kids shaving cream to have a shaving cream fight with the night before school started. The kids had a blast as you can see.

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Bob getting in on the fun.

School started Monday for us and went off without a hitch. It is taking a lot of hours out of my day to get through everything with everyone, but I have been combating that by getting up before everyone to prep for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. This has saved me a lot of time during my day and has allowed me to feel that I am maximizing my time.

Josh is hating the fact that I am starting right now, but as Andy says, "We aren't doing anything this summer anyway, so we might as well do school work.". Smart kid. I think Josh will like it much better once he sees that 3 weeks on and 1 week off all year long are a much better gig than a whole summer off and then week after week of schoolwork. Maybe not though...

What our school rooms looks like: 

Science experiment kits!

Just some of our school books for this year. 

Sarah made me a bouquet of flowers for the school room. 

Flowers for my kitchen table. 

Window decorating...

I thought it would help Sarah to learn her spelling if she could do hands on projects. I bought a set of alphabet cookie cutters and several HUGE containers of play dough with which she can cut out the shapes of her spelling words.  This is on of many hands on activities I am incorporating this year for her. 

She loves the having the option of using her hands to help her see and learn...

Elizabeth practicing her spelling letters. 

Josh is thrilled to be doing school work again.