Back at it

Well, school started Tuesday. Hard to believe that Hailey's a senior this year. I told Jim on Tuesday that I wanted to sit in the corner and cry, that it wasn't fair for them to grow up so fast. Having already done this once, I know for certain that this school year will be over before I can catch my breath. Already we're looking ahead to things coming up in October and November, and I've been trying to figure out if I can pull off my (used to be) annual Christmas shopping in Portland. Problem is, I'm having trouble coming up with a weekend between now and Thanksgiving that isn't already committed! I'm working on it...

Jim, the little guys, and I traveled to Portland this past weekend so that Logan could meet some more of his family and so that Jim could help his youngest brother with the addition on their house. Logan had a ball, Ryan loved playing with the cousins, and Jim was sore and tired but very content on Monday. I rather suspect he'll be headed down again to help with the sheetrocking.

The boys and I are adjusting to the new routine: tumbling on Mondays, preschool on Tuesdays, baby Emily to play on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and speech on Fridays. It was fun to see Emily today. She's grown so much we'll have to come up with a new name for her, since she's most definitely NOT a baby any more! She and the boys had a ball this afternoon and both of them asked me at bedtime when she was coming back. It will be fun to watch the 3 of them play together this year.

Not much else is new here. On other fronts, my nephew Nicholas is back in the hospital. He's doing well--it's for this round of chemo--but it's been a tough road. Nick has some blood clots in his head that are a bit of a concern. This round of chemo is tough, and he'll be in the hospital for about 6 days. Brent will even have the opportunity to help out this time: Nick's big brother Ted has his first football game on Saturday. Pam wants to go, so Brent's going to hang out at the hospital with Nick so she can attend. He's a great kid, and I'm proud of him for being so willing to do whatever they need. At this point, it looks like Nick's bone marrow transplant will happen about Thanksgiving.