It's the last day of summer break and what did I do? I've gone and scheduled a dentist appointment for both kids! My timing is impeccable sometimes.

I'm torn about the end of summer. It's my favorite season for many reasons. I like warm weather and being lazy in the mornings. It's the nothing planned part that I like, too. Arkansas was fun but after that, this summer's been just a blur. We now are painting and getting the little house on the 23 acres ready for us to move in to. Pete's mom went into a nursing home in August and the trip to Boston was tempered a bit. I long for a routine again. So, that's how I'm torn. School starts back tomorrow for the kids and I will be able to get things done around the house in peace. We'll have our soccer days and church on Sunday. But, we will be moving at some point in October. Then the routines will be disrupted and we will have to start all over again.

At least, this year when the kids go back to school I won't have to try to find things to keep me busy. I've got so much to do right now that I'm a little overwhelmed. A happy medium would do, really. I guess that will have to wait.

Big day!

Friday was a big day. First, it was my baby girl's birthday. She turned 8! She has wanted to get her ears pierced for two years now, so we finally let her. Her friend and Clayton are there for moral support. Kendall needed to hold their hands.

Here, the lady is putting a mark on her earlobe.

Kendall had to close her eyes for the piercing. She was very brave.

And there you have it. Little gold balls in her ears.

After that, we went to a local water park for the afternoon. Then Kendall had her friend and her friend's sister spend the night. We threw together a little party/sleepover. The days of the big parties are over. Thank Goodness. I think they had a good time.

The other big news of the day is we got an offer on our house! They offered full asking price and were approved for a loan. Now, we need to get appraised and inspected. It's so crazy how fast this has all happened. I guess it's meant to be.

It looks like I'll be perpetually painting for a while. Ugh.

At least I still have Barcelona.....

We had a family look at our house last night. They loved it, but need to check on the financing. I really hope it works out. Or do I? If they buy it, then it means we will have to pack quickly and move to the ranch house on the 23 acres. The dream is to build on there someday and frankly, I would rather just move once. But, having two mortgages would be stressful so I definitely see my husband's point.

my father-in-law with 3 of his 4 grand kids

My trip up to Boston was all right. It was sad, too. My mother-in-law is going on week 3 in a nursing home. My husband and his sister convinced their dad to go up to Maine for the weekend. So, we all loaded up our cars and made the trip up the coast.It was the first time in 11 years that my father-in-law went to Maine without his wife. We stopped for dinner along the way at this restaurant they like to eat at. Oh, and then we stopped off at L.L. Bean in Freeport

The kids have a blast with their cousins. Clayton and Gabriel hang out and Kendall and Allegra hang out. Clayton worships Gabriel. We were able to go out on the Uncle Eddy on Saturday. Pete's dad stayed back at the house-he wasn't feeling well-and the rest of us went out. It's so much easier now that the kids are a little older. There were lobster pots (buoys) about and sailboats--a true Maine coast day.

We got back from being out on the boat and the kids played. Kendall got stung by a huge black wasp. Of course, one of the kids were making the wasps mad. Poor Kendall. She screamed and screamed. Pete killed the nest and in the process got stung twice. I detest wasps. We showed them.

For dinner on Saturday night, we tried to go out somewhere in Damariscottia. We waited until the last minute and hadn't made reservations anywhere. This is the frustrating part of the weekend. We eventually made it to Shaw's and had a great time. I think we were eating lobster around 8:30 pm. Yummy.

Sunday morning Pete, the kids, the dog, and I drove 12 hours back to PA. I was in my car alone and the kids were with Pete. Gosh, I'm getting spoiled with all this alone time. :) It was good to be back home in my own bed. Monday there was no rest with all the painting I had to finish and then Tuesday I cleaned like a crazy lady!

I've got one more trip coming up (Barcelona) and then I'll be ready to stay put for a while.
for some shopping. I think we left the store around 10 pm and had another hour to go before we hit South Bristol. I had my father-in-law with me. I can't say we chat easily. It's not good or bad, just the way it is. It was sort of a long trip, though. :0

This is the view from the property we recently purchased. Yep, that's a red barn across the way. We're surrounded by farms. The house is OK--not the dream house, but we hope to build that on the 23 acres someday. For now, we will stay in our current home and hopefully rent out the little house with the beautiful view.

I've been batchin' it these last few days. Why I ever thought life was hard before kids is beyond me. Seriously, I've been sleeping in and staying up late. I stayed back because Pete felt it was important that I paint in our current house. Yes, we have lived here 9 years and there were walls that were just white. So, I have been painting like crazy in case someone decides they want to buy our current house. We will put it on the market in the spring. At least I'll get to enjoy the pretty painted walls for a while. I guess having two mortgages is not ideal. At least, for us it isn't.

I haven't been working all the time, however. Saturday, some friends were having a swim party/cookout. I went to that. And then Sunday, I went to church and then ended the day with karaoke. A friend wanted to go out with a bunch of girls for her birthday so we went out for dinner and then karaoke. It was fun. And, I didn't have to pay a baby sitter. Bonus.

The place we went for karaoke was a little, um, how do I say this?--unrefined. It was smoky and the music was loud. And it didn't start until 10 pm! The DJ was a young, skinny guy who could really sing. He sang some good songs and then he sang a song that made me embarrassed to be there! I had never heard the song before and, honestly, could do without hearing it again. There was an old man singing (I guess one could call it that) and a couple of young girls, too. It was obvious who the regulars were. It was obvious this group of over 35 year olds was not a group of regulars.

Then Monday I painted some more and then had a softball game in the evening. Our team won! I even scored a run. It was a good night.

I can't tell you how relaxed I am. Boy, kids sure do make me tense. I'm looking forward to seeing them tomorrow, though. Today I was shopping at Target and it occurred to me that it's not that fun if you aren't escaping your kids. I needed a couple of things and, once I got them, discovered I was ready to get out of there. Wow. Yep, I'm looking forward to seeing my kiddos.

I can't believe summer is winding down. I went to the grocery store this week and I could tell that some of the students were back. I'm just not ready for the hustle and bustle.

I'm also not ready for cooler weather, which with the end of summer approaching, means cooler weather is on its way. I detest coats, gloves, hats. I don't like how my skin gets dry and my toes stay cold.

This summer has flown by with the purchase of the 23.77 acres and Pete's mom going into the nursing home. It seems like everything is happening at the same time. I don't know if that is a good thing or not. I guess we don't have a choice.

We went to New York state over the weekend. My husband's friend from high school and college was in the country from Taiwan. He, his wife and two kids were here for a while. They come every summer and have a big cookout and all his friends come to see them. It's like a mini reunion for Cornell. Ben sets up tents (we brought ours) and people sleep in the yard. Ben's parents live in a huge farm house that was built in 1905. There's a pool and tons of space for kids to run around. At night, there's always a big bonfire. This year I came down with a cold. :( It was still nice seeing everyone, but I felt like poop.

Tomorrow we close on the property (finally). I wish we could find a renter for the house over there because it's not looking like we are going to sell our house. I need a job if we are going to have two mortgages.

Which, I'm actively searching for a job right now. There are some possibilities out there and I'm keeping my fingers crossed. It would be so good to have a career of my own. I'm tired of the SAHM routine. Besides, the kids are older and spend most of their time at school during the year. And it would be good to use my brain again.

In other news, my sister has moved back to Northwest Arkansas. She's working in hospice full-time now. She decided to leave Family Practice because, in her words, "to do it right, you don't make any money." There is a huge problem with primary care in this country. The doctors don't get reimbursed like they should. My sister was the medical director for a small hospice house with 4 or 6 beds for five years and during that time discovered she loved doing hospice. It will be great to spend more time in Fayetteville when we go down in the summers.