Sweet 16 and new kittens

Kayla celebrated her 16th birthday on Friday by getting her driver’s license (shhh, she cut class to take the test) and then having a “girls night” of pizza and music with 4 of her girlfriends. Saturday we hosted a big BBQ bash for her friends and family that included a bon fire, a cake fight, and a few people getting thrown into the lake. All in good fun of course!

It was a strange experience to see her drive off on her own for the first time. It was both worrisome and liberating at the same time. I will miss our car conversations when I’m trekking her around, but will value the extra time I’m not spending on the road.

Kayla’s MRI on her knee came back A-okay, which is great news. She is doing better with her physical therapy and managed to play 17 games (!) of VB at last weekend’s tournament and started in all games last week. Her team is 2-1 so far in league and doing really well...we have hopes they will make it to the state tournament again this year.

I finally “gave in” to McKenna’s pleas and we adopted two kittens today. Because of course you cannot just adopt one – each needs a playmate! They are really cute – McKenna’s is a light calico girl named Quinn and Kayla’s is a gray Maine Coon named Owen – pictures attached. Owen is going to be a big boy – somewhere around 18 pounds they say. They both hiss at Rowdie who just looks at them like “what the heck is your problem?” – but hopefully they will grow to like him. Either that, or they will live downstairs since Rowdie owns the rest of the house!

TGIFDOS

Thank God It’s the First Day of School!

It’s 1:00pm and I am secretly enjoying my quiet time after the girls left for school at noon today. Noon, you ask? Yep, the “upperclassmen” at the middle school and high school start late on the first day so the “Sixlettes” (6th graders) and Freshmen have the school to themselves in the morning. Per tradition, I took our annual “front-of-the-door” photos of the girls so we can track their growth and changes year-to-year. Hmmm, I should dig out all those annual photos to compare them...I’ll add that to my “list.”

What list? That’s the list of all the things I want to do before my sabbatical ends in (gulp!) 26 days. Time is going at warp speed since we got back from vacation - I feel like I’ve just finished a two week “race” only to have another one starting! The last two weeks of summer are always busy and this year included volleyball and soccer practices, haircuts & a perm, last minute clothes and school supply shopping, doctor & dental appointments, school orientations & class schedule pick ups, end-of-

summer parties & potlucks, Sweet 16 party planning, a written driving test (she passed!), a memorial, and countless “Mom, can you (take me/pick me up) (to/from) (fill in the blank)?!?!” And now, unfortunately Kayla is having trouble with her knee again, so we’re squeezing in another MRI and physical therapy twice a week too.

Fortunately Labor Day Weekend was unscheduled for the most part and I put the finishing touches on two “almost done” photo albums and started a third. And my gardens are looking pretty darn spiffy now that I’ve “rearranged this,” “moved that,” weeded, given the bushes haircuts and FINALLY managed to grow some beautiful dahlias without the bugs taking them over (one of my sabbatical goals).

Okay, break over, now I’m off again – to order Kayla’s birthday cake, pick up books for McKenna at the library, and then cheer Kayla’s team on at the high school volleyball jamboree. Let the next race begin!