The Great Catch Up!

It has been a full month since I've been in this space. It has been an absolute blur, and I kept meaning to write separate posts for each event. Since that doesn't seem to be in the cards, I am going to do one big catch up post!

On October 24, Issa got her onyx:

The onyx is a very special class ring, and she was so excited to finally have her own. They do a big dinner and ceremony, and she had a blast with her friends!

October 29 Evan started the wrestling season:

He wrestled in his first varsity tournament Saturday and went 2-2. He won on points, got teched, teched his third opponent, and ended with a pin, but he looked really good and Coach was very happy:

The two people he lost to went on to place first and second, so you can't really be mad at that.

It was just Brad and I for Halloween this year:

The fire bowl was a lovely addition to our Nightmare Before Christmas theme. Evan was with friends at the football game, and Issa and Kai went as Simon and Theresa to the Campbell Bonfire:

November 5 was Corn! My department had too much fun in the parade:

Issa's class had a solid showing and came in second overall:

We forgot to get a family picture, but one of my colleagues grabbed this one:

And this pretty much describes work right now:

I'm swamped, but I'm loving doing more with students. 


Monica came for a weekend visit, which was lovely:

I also finished book 27:

It was the last book in Farseer trilogy, and I loved it.

I keep thinking every week will slow down, but that does not seem to be the case. I'm just trying to enjoy the moments as they come.

Book 26 and Other Fall Fun

We are in full Halloween mode around here! Book 26 was the next book club book, chosen just for the season:

It is a delightfully quirky book with a main character who is a monster in pile of goo form. No amount of explanation can do it justice, but it is so fun.

We also went back to Springhaven for the our annual pumpkin carving with goats:

Brad had to get fancy this year and truly carve rather than cut:
 

I was just beyond excited to snuggle baby goats:

My children thought I might have finally lost my mind:

But all the pumpkins came out well:

And we had so much fun petting the other animals and enjoying a little bit of fall fun!

Book 25

I finished Book 25 this weekend:

This one was another book club read, and it tells the story of Jim from Huck Finn from his perspective. It goes well beyond Twain, and it has an interesting take of slavery. It wasn't an easy read, but it was a really good read. 

This also marks my reading goal for the year! I was going for 25, and now I'm excited to see how many I read this year!

 

A Weekend of Happy

This was a weekend of lots of little happies.

The boys spent Saturday and Sunday at Lake Quest with the Raleigh dojo:

They had a ton of fun training, and they got to use their black belt swords, which is always exciting.

I spent the weekend recharging my batteries a bit. Work has been a lot a lot lately, and I was pretty burnt out. I finished books 23 and 24. Book 23 was the second of a trilogy we started in book club:

I liked book two far more than book one, and I'm anxious to see how the saga ends in book three!

Book 24 was another of Kaitlin's manuscripts;

I can't wait until this girl is published. I will be at the launch party.

Saturday night, I went to see the Downton movie with Mom and Shannon which was fun. I spent a chunk of time working in the yard, and another playing with Bella. And I finally made it back to the pottery studio:

I plan to put little flowers in the opening. I didn't make time for pottery this summer, and I realized this weekend how much being there and working with clay fills my soul. I am scheduled for time through November, so I am very, very happy.

 

Happy Birthday, Issa!

It has taken me a week to have enough breathing room to actually write the post, but we had a great time celebrating Issa's 19th birthday last weekend:

Her big present from Brad and I was her second tattoo, which she managed to actually get on her birthday:

The flowers were each drawn by one of us, and she drew Inks:

I honestly think Evan's pitcher plant on the far left may be one of my favorites. Friday night she cooked her own favorite meal and we had a quiet night.

Saturday we went to Antonia's for lunch, where she opened her new camera from Nana and Aunt Shannon:

We spent Saturday afternoon shopping for her first black cocktail dress for ring dinner this fall. We finally found the perfect dress but didn't take a single picture. We did have some good laughs about some less than perfect dresses.
 

18 was a great year for Issa, and I have a feeling 19 is going to be even better.

Feels Like Fall

We had a lovely weekend doing as very little as possible. Issa came home for the holiday weekend, and we did one last round of burgers on the grill to celebrate the end of summer.

I spent a lot of time in the backyard with Bella and my book:

 The weather finally feels like fall is coming, and Bella is loving being outside. I put the pumpkin on the front door and did my first fall manicure. It's time.

I think Evan and I will take the pool down this weekend, and I think that will quickly be followed by a fire in the fire bowl and full dive into fall.

Book 22 and a Weekend with my Boy

Issa is all settled in at school, and Brad went to a meditation workshop this weekend, so it was just Evan and I. Our whole weekend revolved around eating. Friday night we went to the Nickel for wings, Saturday we went to a local pizza place that only has gluteny pizza, and last night we got his favorite Taco Bell. My stomach may never recover, but it was so fun to just hang out with him all weekend. A lot of it was spent outside with this girl:

Bella will play fetch all day, and I think we just about did. She also crushed her training class this week, which was really nice. We are seeing so much growth!

I also finished book 22, a book club pick:

This was a Hallmark movie with a cover, and I loved every page of it. It was a nice break and fluff after a few heavy reads!

Book 21

Book 21 was a hard read:

This book captures of the 44 laws of capturing or holding power. It is a really insightful book that gives examples and counterexamples from across the world and time. I want to be angry about it, but it is so very true.

Given the context of our world, it explains a lot, and it certainly is a handbook for playing the game. I'm just trying to think about how to play it for the greater good.

 

It Explains So Much

Bella has been with us for three months, and she just keeps getting bigger and better:

She is so smart, and she loves to play. She is also incredibly stubborn and vocal. We have been incredibly curious about her breed, so we finally did the DNA test, which explains everything:

 Evan got his Husky. The energy and the sass come straight from that section of the breakdown. Now we just have to figure out how to channel it all!

He's Off!

Evan is having a very big month. Although school doesn't start for another two weeks, he sent me this first day of class picture:

He is doing two college classes at Durham Tech this semester, and he started Monday. He is loving the flexibility of a college schedule, and so far the homework is minimal. We are super proud of him for taking this leap, and we hope pre-calc and Java go well this semester!
 

She's In!

We moved Issa in last Friday! Year two was so much easier emotionally but a bit more complicated in the packing department. So many things were in nice flat boxes last year, and now we were moving built furniture and stuff to outfit a whole room since she has a single, but we managed to do it in just two cars!

Since Issa is an RA this year, she got to move in early and was the only one on her floor doing so! We had the elevator to ourselves, and we could load everything into the other half of the suite and then unpack slowly in her room. It made for a very happy move:

Her room is so cute, and I know she is going to be a great RA:

She brought back fabric from Italy to decorate the room, and she's divided her room into zones. This is her sleeping bed:

And this is her lofted couch bed for relaxing or studying:

She has her own bathroom, which is incredible:

And she set up her little kitchen again:

She has one desk for studying and another for beverage preperation:

It was nice to be able to get her fully settled complete with everything on the walls:

Even if it was a bit much at times:

We did learn we needed the good tape; tacky tuff just didn't cut it:

It only took us one Staples run to finish, and we were able to have a nice long lunch at Postino's halfway through.

It really is a great room, and it feels so much like her. I just know this is going to be a great year!