Simply Sandy

The End of Summer has arrived for us. Oh, I know it doesn't "officially" end until September, but for all practical purposes, summer is over for us. The last of the summer activities end this week, co-op begins on Wednesday, and other school-year activities begin within the month. It's been a good summer.
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We had a family reunion in Tennessee on Saturday and I had a nice time talking with siblings and cousins I hadn't seen in a couple of years (my family is complicated, so a couple of years is really a good track record for us!) I met my youngest brother Will's wife and baby for the first time too. Will has always been one of those people who... well, marches to the beat of a totally different drummer. It was a joy to meet his wife and find that she is very nice, very friendly- and perfectly normal! They have a cute-as-a-button 18-month-old red-headed baby named Jackson.

My parents, my brother Matt, Will and his wife and baby, and another niece and nephew all came to stay with us this weekend- it was a houseful of people! This sort of come-one-come-all approach to family visits is a standard thing in my family... everyone is welcome as long as you can find a space to crash. It took my Yankee husband a while to get used to this style of southern hospitality, but I think he enjoys it now (at least for short visits!) It's always interesting and you never really know just who is going to show up. But groups of them began leaving last night and by noon today, everyone was gone.

After the kids and I got a nap, it was time. The First Day of School. It was a good start- no pressure. It's sort of fun to work in brand new books, so I didn't receive complaints from any one, except Nathanael who is last on the list to work into the new school schedule.

Another good thing is our new piano teacher, whom the kids really like. I was only planning on having the four older kids take lessons, but Nathanael just couldn't stand it- he was desperate to play the piano too. He gets left out of so many of the older kids' activities already, and he was so disappointed when I told him, "Maybe next year..." that I asked the teacher about some shorter lessons for him. She agreed to give him a trial run with some 15 minute lessons, so we'll see how it goes.

And another very good thing... the red van got the $100 repair instead of the $1200 repair! ($131.00, to be exact!) And the Nissan is running again, although the starter still has to be replaced. We are excited to have vehicles that move again, for however long it lasts.

It was a good way to end the summer.