Wow, how did a whole month go by without a blog?!

There isnt any excuse except we are horribly busy.   On a brighter note, we have been fairly good about posting quick updates on FaceBook so you should be relatively caught up.

But .., for propriety, we'll get a quick catch up and run down...

Tom - even though he's scheduled for 30 hrs/week at work, he's been putting in 37+.  They are short staffed and he's been filling in for others in classrooms, late start, days off, etc.  He's loving the kids at school, again, and the weather has been pretty cooperate for really nice fall days and outside recess.  On top of that, he's main chauffeur for gymnastics and tried to hit as many of Jimmys football games (varsity and JV) as he could. Then, there is the matter of fall yard work and such.  He also just finished a 10 week weight loss/get in shape challenge and lost 13 lbs. Really proud of him but we are all sort of sick of hearing about fiber.  (Even Kay had to tell him not to bring up the fiber conversation when her friends are around). He continues to feed us well and we are so spoiled with all his meal creations.

Jimmy - the main problem with football season is ... football.  Tom will give a season recap but suffice to say that he played great this season in both the JV and Varsity games (practices every school day and games 2 days per week). He would have liked more Varsity play time but he's only a sophomore, that will come. Then, you have the Vikings and weekly line ups.  He's in a fantasy league with the Kims and its pretty cut throat. Did we also mention he's taking a super tough course load with AP US History (APUSH) which gives him 2+ hours of homework a night, Pre-Calc, Sociology (he loves it!), gym and band.  Then, jazz band just started and is 2 days/week before school starts.  No wonder the kid is tired!  He had a girl friend for the 1st 2 months but they are on a break.  They were good friends before they started dating and recently realized that being friends was probably a better idea. Let's hope that they can stay friends.

Kay - gymnastics, school work but...those aren't even the most important things in Kay's life right now. Friends are the #1,2 & 3 priority.  There are weekly sleep overs, hanging out after school, before practice. Runs to Starbucks. Instagram feeds to keep up and YouTube videos to watch.  Its been a rough start of the school season with her. She's finding it hard to balance and we are trying to help her out. Unfortunately, she's not the type that welcomes help.  Then, add in the face that she's grown 6 inches in the last 6 months and is about to hit puberty and ...let's just say we never know what we are walking into each time we come home. But, when she does manage to show up, she's as wonderful and brilliant as ever (its just not as frequent as we'd like)

Billy - now that he's a black belt the competition season is intense. We've had a tournament every other weekend and now he's expected to travel. We've been to Chicago, this weekend is Florida and in 2 weeks is South Dakota. These are on top of the MN tournaments. In January he's even been invited to Vegas. We shall see. He's really liking 7th grade and is doing well, not that we get much out of him. He's not a big talker. He goes to TKD 6 days/week and seems really happy with his friends and teachers.

Tracy - wow, staring a new job is overwhelming both in terms of time and mental energy.  Every night my brain explodes and I fall into a dead sleep with incredibly vivid dreams. It is SO different than Target. I'm loving it but it takes all my concentration to just keep up with my team on a daily and hourly basis.  Then, I'm in charge of TKD car pooling and all tournament travel.  Its fun to be with Billy and he's the calm, peaceful, zen being I need to be around right now to calm my brain down.  I'm still walking Nikki on a daily basis and it's a great way to center before each day starts.  Part of my job involves public "appearances" and so I have at least 1 event each week thats on the weekends or at night. I actually really enjoy these and they tend to be great reminders on why we do what we do.

Nikki - she's got it made. Daily walks, love from Billy, naps on the couch.  She's even lost a bit of weight now that we replaced some of her food with green beans (fiber fiber fiber ...)


So, life is life. Good, hectic, fun, exhausting, frustrating, emotional, happy, peaceful and chaotic.

We are blessed.