i'm blogging! i have put it off so long because it seems impossible to catch up on all of life that has passed by since i last blogged! i'm not even going to attempt that, except to give a brief overview. well, hopefully brief.

the kids have comfortably settled into their new schools and a new routine. they've  been at it for over a month and all are doing well. 

Margaret loves high school, especially the way they treat them like adults, a big jump from middle school, so she says. she chose art and athletics for her three electives (athletics counts as two). next year she'll have more options and will begin taking a foreign language. she chose to take one pre-AP course, that being English, and one AP course: human  geography. those have been her toughest classes, but she's hanging in there. she's also taking algebra 1 and biology. she has a class called ACE which is all about college and career plans that is required for all freshman. she's been working out with the cross country team since the beginning of august, which she has enjoyed immensley. she leaves the house every morning at 6 to join the team for runs. she fared very well the first few meets, but got injured about three weeks ago with what seems to be a stress fracture. she was on crutches for awhile,  but has recovered and hopes to run again in friday's meet. she's also taken on a babysitting job for a family two doors down which she's so grateful for. she used to babysit regularly for the one family in Austin, but we're too far away for her to babysit very often for them now. and speaking of that family, they've invited Margaret to go to New York with them next week to help with their boys. she's been cleared to miss a week of school and is thrilled for the opportunity!

Samuel has surprised us in how well he has adjusted to his new situation. we convinced him to sign up for athletics instead of PE, since he's such an athletic boy. the only problem with that is that all boys in athletics are required to play football, a sport Samuel has never been intersted it. he didn't know the slightest thing about the game, which iis a very complicated game to explain! he made up his mind to give it his best shot and has done remarkably well. he mostly plays nose tackle has had many quarterback sacks. he loves the camaraderie of being part a school team. he has football buddies that sit with him at lunch and play basketball with him after school. i think that the fact that he has done well in football has transfered over into his academics. he's been so much more confident this year than ever before, and for him attitude is everthing. when he feels bad about himself he shuts down and doesn't even try. getting out every morning and pushing himself on the field, then going to class...i don't know what it is, but it seems to be working for him. he loves his teachers and his coaches and is just happy. he rides his bike to school every morning, carrying a backpack full of books and his lunch box, a sports bag with his basketball, and a couple of times a week another sports bag with his football laundry. if he was hit by a car he'd be just fine with all that padding surrounding him. Samuel has grown so responsible over the last year! he comes home and does his homework without reminders or complaint, a huge improvement over how he was just a couple of years ago. of his own volition he goes to the appropiate teachers if he feels he needs tutoring. the thing we're most proud of is that he is survivng without any formal accomodations being made for hos Aspergers or ADD. the counselor suggested we just wait and see how he does before intervening to help him, and amazingly he's not only survived, but thrived. 

it has been so exciting to watch him (and Margaret) grow up and grow more independent. i see both of them becoming their own people and making wise (most of the time) decisions, and Brian and i sit back and think, wow! how did they know to do that?! i just don't understand why some parents want to control their kids and keep them from growing up. that has never appealed to me. i want them to grow up and be the people God made them to be, not young adults still waiting for us to tell them what to do at every turn, or clones of me or Brian. anyways, thats for another discussion at another time.

William was disappointed that we decided to hold him back a year and put him in 5th grade instead of letting him go on to middle school. he has a late birthday and has always been small for his age. also we had a less than stellar year homeschooling last year and we knew the kids were going into a school district with much higher expectations than that which they had been in previously. he seems to be happy enough now and is doing quite well. he has near perfect grades in almost every subject. and the most exciting thing is that HE TALKS! for those who have followed my blog for the last four or so years, you will realize what a huge deal that is. William went the first four years of school without speaking AT ALL! no one believed us when we said that he talked perfectly normal at home or with extended family. he played the role of a mute so well eveyone thought he could not speak.  anyways, he's matured a lot and pretty much acts like a normal, though a big shy kid. he and John ride their bikes to school together every day, and i think it's been so good for him to have to step up and be the big brother instead of being the middle brother (or Samuel's little brother). William has always been high anxiety, but i see it working more for him more than against him as he gets older. it helps him stay on top of things and cover all the bases. as long as he can temper it with the realization that he cannot control everything, he'll do well. 

John is a happy-go-lucky 3rd grader this year. we held him back a year as well. he has struggled tremendously with learning to read, and we're so thankful to be in a school district that jumps on learning problems quickly and has the resources to deal with them. he qualified for SRP (Supplemental Reading Program) which will aggressively target his struggles with reading, writing, and phonics. if he continues to have trouble, he will be tested for dyslexia. I've already seen improvement in his reading ability, though his writing and spelling are still very poor. other than that, he's doing well. he likes his teacher and his classmates, and likes that he gets to sit on an exercise ball in class instead of a desk chair. he is the least independent of our kids, and i think it's not just that he's the youngest of the four, i think it's his personality, too. he is dreamy, carefree, and needs lots of reminders and helps. even though he's in school, i still spend many hours a week working with him on reading, writing, and math. I'm learning to value those hours, as tiring and frustrating as they sometimes are. i know it won't always be that way. 

And then there's Hazel and me. that girl is high maintenance! i feel guilty about this, but right now she's parked in front of the tv watching babytv, thanks to the new world of cable tv that has been opened up to us. if she wasn't watching, she'd be putting on my makeup or drawing on the floor or walls, or pulling all the food out of the pantry and stacking it on the dining table bench. she is constantly changing clothes, or at least trying, forever asking me to read, paint her nails, color with her, or go walking. she asks why about everything! she loves cheese, peanuts, beans, oranges, popsicles, and french fries with ketchup. she says everyone's name but Margaret's which seems to be too difficult for some reason. she is thrilled when one-by-one the big kids get home from school. days with her are long and tiring, but also fun. we go walking a lot - I've been shooting for 6 miles every day. she helps me clean, we take bubble baths together, take care of our patio garden, go to the library, go to Bible study, go grocery shopping, fold laundry, walk to Samuel's school to watch his football practices, visit William and John for lunch, and just do girl friend stuff together. 

next week marks the halfway point in my pregnancy! it has pretty much flown by, i guess with all the busyness of keeping up with a family of seven i just lose track of time. I've felt pretty good, just more tired this go round than ever before. i have an ultrasound next wednesday when we'll hopefully find out whether it's a boy or girl. Brian is thinking it's a girl, most the kids say it's a boy. i don't know. we have some names we like, but nothing is decided on. either way, Hazel is going be over the moon when she realizes she's getting a baby of her own! we've been telling her that there's a baby in my tummy, and showing her pictures online. lately, as she's seen my belly grow, she's started asking about "the baby in my tummy". =)

Brian and i celebrate our 16th anniversary next week. sixteen years! i'm more grateful every year that passes. we're getting away for a long weekend, the first time we've been away without Hazel in nearly two years, and i am so looking forward to it!

well, that's about all there is to say, or all i have time for. 

 

This will be a test to see if anyone but Shortney reads my blog anymore. Haha. 

The summer is half over already. I feel as of it should just be getting started though. Margaret spent the first half of it working as a nanny for our friends Ben and Robyn and living at ther house at Mueller Austin near our old neighborhood. She did swim team with her old Patterson Piranha team, which she loved. She was able to ride over on a bike to Patterson from B & R's house every night. Swim team a d her nanny gig finished up last Saturday, so she's home for the rest of the summer. We all missed her a lot. It was a taste of what it will be like when she leaves home for college. 

The kids spent some time with each set of grandparents a week or so ago: half a week with one set and the other half with the other set. I think they have fun, but I was so ready for all of them to come home! Hazel was, too.

We had cousin camp for the past week. Eight kids in the house for a week, and nine for one day and night when Tommy joined the pack. It really wasn't too hard at all. The only challenge was trying to keep food on the table and in the pantry. We even managed to get all of them to the early service last Sunday. Our much larger house was a real blessing when hosting the gang. Everyone could spread out and still have room to spare. There was constant motion. There was always a group playing basketball or soccer. Or walking to the park. Or swimming. Or playing store. Or running through the woods behind our house. Or riding bikes up and down the street. Or playing restaurant in the kitchen.

I think everyone had a great time and made some wonderful memories.

For the last month we've been getting used to the idea of six Wells kids. Yes, we are expecting another, the final edition in February. I'm feeling good and looking forward to my first OB appointment this morning with Dr. Love. The big kids are thrilled and I'm sure Hazel will be, too. She's so mothering. It will be beyond her wildest dreams to have a real live baby to care for! It will be weird to have a newborn and a high school freshman! I her these things keep you young. I hope so, because I've felt pretty old and tired the last few weeks.

 

So there's the latest news. Hopefully I will get around to blogging again soon.  

Just a quick post this morning before i hit the ground running.

yesterday the boys and Hazel and i went hiking on one of the Steiner trails. it was beautiful! water was flowing in the creeks and the colors were so vibrant, as they are after a rain and on an overcast day. afterwards i took them to P. Terry's in Lakeway for milkshakes, and then on to Bee Caves to join their library. the library in Bee Caves is located in the Galleria, a beautiful outdoors mall. its a snazzy library, even if it isn't that big. we've kinda been spoiled with the downtown Austin library that has every book ever written. just about. so we each got cards and found some books. we had to make quick work of it because Hazel was signing at the top of her lungs and William and John were fighting over a Calvin and Hobbes.

i'm still getting adjusted to living on the west side. we were so immersed in our life on the eastisde, and it's such a culture shock to relocate over here. for those unfamiliar with Austin, the eastside has traditionally been the "bad" side of town, full of drugs and gangs and crime. it's been predominantly Black, and then Hispanic. but times are a changing. Gentrification is driving out a lot of long time residents and people with more money are moving in to the old houses and fixing them up. close-in eastside is now an eclectic mix of artists, musicians, lawyers, doctors, social workers, UT students, as well as professors and employees, people working in the film industry, day laborers, Mexicans "just passing through", and retirees. The sidewalks are full of people waiting for the buses, there are taco trucks, homeless, hippies, hipsters, people on bikes, people on scooters, people in electric cars. the stores are full of people. all types. Over here on the west side you see mostly white folks with a sprinkling of Asians and Indians. the cars are all new, Acura, BMW, Lexus, Mercedes, Infinity...I feel rather low class driving a new Suburban. Even stores like Target and HEB are swankier. Everyone is moving at a slower pace, women in their workout attire carrying Starbucks and their stylish reusable shopping bags. everyone is smiling, happy to be the 1% maybe?

anyways, as i said, it's been a bit of a culture shock for these two simple folk who aren't of the upwardly mobile stock. but we're making friends and learning where we fit in. learning to mind our manners and not appear too much like hicks.

gonna try to get back into blogging now that we have a new home computer. trying to create blog posts on the ipad or on our lazy laptops just wasn't cutting it.

summer is almost here for Margaret and Samuel. they've been such troopers this last month, getting up early to ride in to town with Brian, hanging around until he gets off work, getting home late. they are really going to enjoy the downtime.

the holiday weekend was a full one. i made three large cakes: a wedding cake, a grooms cake, and a birthday cake. mama came and stayed thursday through saturday to help me out. we had fun running errands, decorating the house, talking while i baked, and going for walks. after church on sunday we had a birthday party for William and John. it was our first party since we moved and it was so very nice to have all the extra room! the cousins stayed the night. its so sweet to watch how they all interact. there is such a special bond amongst them. they are each other's closest friends.

after the cousins went home, we loaded up some floats and the canoe and went over to Lake Travis, really just a five minute drive from Steiner Ranch. we went to Mansfield Dam Park, a park Brian helped design. its always cool to see projects that he has worked on and get an idea of what he does all day.

I've got a full day ahead of me. my childhood best friend's mom is retiring from teaching after 30+ years and the younger set and i are going to the party this afternoon. I've also promised the boys a trip to the pool, then there's laundry to do, house to clean, exercise to get, and grocery shopping to get done. so blessed to have so many people to love that give me so many tasks to do!

We're here in Steiner Ranch now. We still have that feeling as if we're on vacation and soon we'll have to pack up and head home. The neighborhood is lovely, as are the handful of neighbors we've met. There are more than enough opportunities for physical activity: dozens and dozens of the prettiest hiking trails, three swimming pools, bike lanes and side walks, lots of playgrounds. And the lakes.
I have just about everything unpacked and it looks like home. It's amazing how our stuff looks just right here even though our other house was a lot smaller and of a completely different style.

Last night we had our first dinner guests - Brian's parents. It was for a belated Mother's Day celebration. We grilled burgers and I made a four layer fudge cake covered in cream cheese frosting and fondant. We ate out in the backyard and it felt like camping.

It's been a bit of a shock to the system to move from east Austin to an upscale neighborhood as Steiner. Every body drives new, fancy cars and all the women are perfect and wear workout clothes all day. The kids wear clean clothes and have manicured toes. I'm sure we'll have the reputation of being The Hippie Family before too long. My kids go barefoot everywhere, get dirty a don't care, play dress up in the front yard, and ride their bikes without helmets.

I'm loving the super nice grocery stores where they're always handing out sushi, wine, and chef prepared foods. I've always loved grocery shopping, but now I do even more.

Margaret and Samuel have been real troopers. Every afternoon when they get out of school, they either walk to the Y downtown or to a library, and do their homework until Brian gets off work.mThey sometimes stop in at a grocery store along their route and buy each other snacks. I think they'll have some good memories to look back on of this time. They've become the best of friends! They've also grown up a lot this year, starting a new school together mid-year, riding the bus across town and back, and now walking around downtown together.

I'll post pics of the house as soon as I have a chance. Right now I'm off to get the kiddies ready for school.

It's Monday again. I like Mondays: fresh start, order, routine, work to do. Margaret and Samuel are off to the bus stop, and William, Hazel, and John are getting started with their day. We're planning to go help some friends pack for their move this week, but first there's school work to do. We're getting close to being done for the year, which is hard to believe. It's been such a weird year. We started out with such promise. We were doing so many fun things, tackling some challenging subjects, and having such long, full days. That lasted abut two months before the bottom fell out and I couldn't go on. It was just way more than I could handle. The full education I wanted for my kids was beyond me to provide. Then there was a month or two of no school and me going through depression. Then the answer to prayer: Margaret and Samuel being admitted into O. Henry at the time when we needed it most. The second half of the school year hasn't been a walk in the park, but it has been so much better for our family. Margaret and Samuel have thrived at O. Henry this semester and William and John have enjoyed having more attention from me. I'm not certain what we'll do for all the kids next year. Margaret will start high school and Samuel will be a seventh grader at the neighborhood middle school. William really, really wants to start 6th grade at the middle school, even though we've talked about holding him back. He thrives off of competition and challenge so he might do alright. We had talked about keeping John at home, but with his apparent dyslexia and Brian and I feeling at a loss as to how to work with him. I'm thinking it might be best for him to go to the neighborhood school. They have a dyslexia specialist and a very comprehensive program to work with children with the disability. As much as I would love to keep John at home for a couple of more years, I think it might be in his best interest to send him off to school.

Brian's mom came Thursday and stayed the night. She went to Margaret's track meet with us and we shivered together at the Murchison track while waiting for Margaret's events to come up. She finished middle of the pack in the 800, and got second place in the 1600.

I took a run Friday morning, and the spring weather was so delicious I could've eaten it! We went out to the new house later that morning for the inspection. Linda (Brian's mom) loved the house. William, John, and Hazel ran up and down stairs and round the yard making themselves at home at the new place. The inspection went well. There were only minor problems, nothing like the inspection on the Ridgemont house.

The kids ran the Dillo Mile Saturday morning. Margaret won first place in her division with a time of 6:30. Samuel also won first place in his division with a time of 5:49. William dropped out half way through the mile with breathing issues. Poor guy! He so wants to prove that he's as good as Samuel, but he's just such a different person. For one, he has horrible allergies, he's smaller, and he's just made different and has different gifts and abilities that Samuel doesn't have. John ran a 7:37 mile, finishing 7th or 8th in his age group.

The plumbers have been here for the last several days tearing up our house and yard. They tunneled under the slab from the front of the house to the back, and jack hammered the den floor all the way across. Crazy!

Yesterday after church we went out to Commons Ford Ranch and met Thomas and his kids. We took the canoe and the kids paddled up and down some of the fingers off of Lake Austin. We had an appointment to meet our realtor out at the new house to discuss the inspection report, so Margaret and Brian paddled the canoe from Commons Ford up to Steiner Ranch. The kids and I drove out and met them to load the canoe. Oh my goodness, I think we're going to love living out by both lakes and being able to pop the canoe in whenever we want! While we were out at the house we met some of the neighbors. They were super nice! Margaret, John, and I checked out the trail behind our new house. There's a canyon and a little stream at the bottom. We're all very excited about it all! At 3100 square feet, the house is a modest house for Steiner ranch, but to us it feels like a mansion.

Well, that's all the news for today. Off to help my friend Lisal pack up her house. Below are some of the latest pics.

We had such a nice Holy Week. Redeemer had midday services all week. I had intended to go to all of them, but only made it to two since the didn't offer nursery care and Hazel has become such a handful anytime we're somewhere where she's expected to be quiet. There was the usual Maundy Thursday feast as well. The church really goes all out for that one. The deacons a d elders waited the tables, so Brian didn't get to sit with us, a d Margaret was away at a track meet across town. The boys, Hazel, and I sat with some sweet ladies and had a wonderful time.

Roger brought Claire, Thomas, and Patrick over early Friday morning, and my friend Karen and her crew followed us out to my grandmother's place in Blanco. I hadn't been out there is ages. She has a new baby horse, "Prebble", named after her grandmother Prebble Annette. We took lunch and all ten kids, three grown ups, and three dogs crowded onto her porch to dine on sandwiches, Doritos, and generic Oreos.

The Winn kids ended up staying the night with us. We grilled burgers, burned lots of wood in the chiminea, and just enjoyed quality good cousin time. The cousins are more like siblings. When they get together they have such vivid imaginations and create the most amazing games!

William and Samuel helped their Sunday school class host an Easter egg hunt for the neighborhood kids on Saturday morning. After they were done, we took all the kiddos out to Burnet for an Easter celebration with my mom and stepdad and others. Thomas brought his people and the cousin crew was complete. We had lunch, sang, read some scripture, and did an egg hunt. It was rather rushed, but even so, good memories were made.

We got everyone up and out early on Easter morning and went over to mueller for our own little sunrise service. We sang a few songs, read a passage of scripture, and prayed. It's the beginning of a beautiful tradition, I hope.

We went to the the later church service and then met Brian's parents for lunch. After lunch we drove out to my uncle Gene's place at Mustang Ridge for the Evans' Easter. Of our people it was just us, Daddy, and Thomas. I don't know where Leah was, but her kids were with Roger, and Meredith had Thomas' kids. After we got home, Margaret, Samuel, Brian, and I went for a long run. It was a good way to end a busy holiday weekend.

Our buyers option period ended at midnight Saturday, so all weekend Brian and I were on edge waiting to hear of we'd come to agreement on the contract. It ended up going down to the wire, but with three hours left, they signed the contract! We will fix the under slab plumbing leak and contribute half for reroofing the carport. Even so, we'll still make 10k more than our asking price, so we feel pretty good about it all. Closing is in two weeks. In the meantime, we will be waiting to jump on any new listing to pop up in Steiner Ranch. We are going out to look at a place this morning that we both love (from the pics). Yes, it's a new house and doesn't have a lot of charm, but it's big and backs up to the greenbelt, which would be our dream. It's also within walking distance to the elementary and middle school, as well as the park and pool.

Here's the listing.


http://www.ziprealty.com/property/2713-GRIMES-RANCH-RD-AUSTIN-TX-78732/83793966/detail

We're hoping and praying that it works out.

I guess that's all the news to report.