The ceiling

First of all, popcorn ceiling, ewww. But, see that missing patch of popcorn ceiling? That was a little Mother's Day "gift" to me 8 years ago thanks to a faulty plumping piece in our tub when we gutted our bathroom. We have successfully ignored it for the last 8 years because every option there is to fix it is a huge pain, not to mention expensive. But as we come to the close of our house projects (although still not as close as I would like) this patch of ceiling stares at me and mocks me daily. No one wants to come and patch it for various reasons I have been given, blah, blah, blah. Everyone really just wants to scrape all of the popcorn ceiling off, but that's not an option for multiple reasons. Right now I am thinking of covering it up with ceiling tiles. Still not a great option, but at least one that we could do ourselves. The other problem is that this room is tied into the entire downstairs. There is no stopping point. Whatever we do to this room will have to be done to the entire first floor of our house. All options are expensive and make me cranky, but this is something that can not be ignored anymore.

The other projects that must get finished:
Find roofer to come and fix leak in our garage ceiling
Patch up drywall in garage ceiling
Paint walls in basement
Paint trim in basement
Paint basement bathroom

Once we get these done we will finally be able to put our house on the market. Theoretically.

Fall Soccer 2013

He's in a different league this year, playing against older, bigger boys on a full size field. This season has been a whole different experience for all us and it's been much, much more exciting. Plus, the weather this Fall has been absolutely beautiful which has made the season all that more enjoyable. The only downside has been Sparky's struggle with his asthma. The asthma has been rough as we try to get it figured out and he has had to sit out during games way more than he would have liked, but hopefully we can get it under control so that he's at full force in the Spring.

Sigh

Although I am young and fit and spry in my head, my body has made it clear that it is not. I am no longer 20. Ouch.

Today

1. My annual fall headache is back. I thought it was just a fluke, but after 4 days I think it's here to stay for a while. Blech.

2. Still working on the house. Blech.

3. Last weekend my cute Woo ran a 1 mile warrior run with a few of her friends. They climbed, they crawled, and they got muddy. I was very proud of my girl.

Homework

One of Tiger's homework assignments this week was to read under a tree for 10 minutes. These two kids were more than happy to follow through with that assignment. It is probably the only time I haven't had to fight with Tiger to do his homework.

Today

1. My girl has decided to play the violin. We went to the orchestra meeting last night to learn all about the program and what we needed to do and I realized that I was greatly out of my realm. We are not a musical family, nor do I come from a musical family, but I have great hopes for my girl. She has been wanting to play an instrument for so long and I would love it if she ends up enjoying this path and filling our house with her music.

2. There is nothing sweeter for me than waking my little man up for school each day. I love watching him sleep so peacefully and then giving him kisses on his warm, soft cheeks to gently wake him up. He only sleeps in his underwear and so I tend to give his little shoulders kisses as well. I know I have done my job when he mumbles, "Mama, stop giving me kisses." Then I get to scratch his little back and eventually he sits up and gives me sleepy, floppy hugs. I will miss these moments when he gets older.

3. When I had little babies at home I would always hear women with older kids talk about how hard it was to have older kids. "Yeah, right," I would think as I struggled each day with the chaos and difficulties that come from babies and little ones. And these seasoned moms would say that having little ones was hard, yes, but having older kids was certainly no easier and that it was a different kind of hard. I now understand what these moms meant. It is hard. It is a different kind of hard, a more complicated and emotional kind of hard. I was not prepared this year when school started. I took it for granted that I knew what I was doing and that I didn't really need to do anything or really think about it, but I was wrong. The start of school this year, having a teenager in middle school, my baby in school all day, and my girl getting older, has thrown our family's world into a kind of chaos that I have never known. I feel like we are living each day just trying to figure out how to make it to the next. It is insane. I didn't really recognize any of this until yesterday and so hopefully now that I am aware and have identified what is going on, I can hopefully get a handle on things and bring a little calm to our storm. It is good, though. I like having older kids and I welcome these challenges. It is just going to take some readjusting.

4. My one goal for today is to fold laundry. It has been taunting me for over a week now, but I despise it so much. If I can get the laundry folded, then today will be a success and anything else that I do will just be icing on the cake.

5. Fall is in the air. I both love it and fear it at the same time. It was such a weird summer that I just don't feel like I am ready for Fall, but ready or not, it is coming.

A typical sight

Tiger often climbs into Sparky's bed, sometimes during the day, and sometimes during the night when he needs a little comfort. Sometimes they wrestle, sometimes they snuggle, and sometimes they read. As badly as Sparky wants a room of his own, I know that one day he will miss these special brother moments that come from sharing a room with a little brother.