Lessons from the test drives...

We've gone on about nine test drives now and looked at dozens of cars, both from private sellers and on car lots. We've narrowed down our search and are *this* close to figuring it out. Along the way, here are some lessons we've learned:

• Smell is important. It's been easy to eliminate choices based on smell. For the record, cars that smell like smoke or pets or overly strong cleaning solutions (which make us question what other smell is being covered up) aren't options for us. :)
• Relatedly, I've made a mental note that when we eventually need to sell any of our vehicles, we should bake cookies and put them in the car ahead of time, lol.
• We've been somewhat amazed at how poorly some people care for their vehicles. Let's just leave it at that.
• The process required a lesson for Micah on negotiation tactics. We had to instruct him to only ask questions while we're *not* in the presence of the seller, lol. 
• Um, our garage may not be big enough for a second car actually. Drat. (We realized last night that the cars we'd narrowed it down to are considerably bigger than the car we're replacing (Nathan's old Scion). Pondering now the purging of the garage and potentially revising our search and starting again and all that stuff.)
• But perhaps the most surprising lesson we learned was that mini vans are really fabulous. ;) Don't laugh. Taking all three boys with us on test drives and having them sit right next to each other in the back seat really opened our eyes to the benefits of having enough room for each boy to *not* be sitting directly next to another, lol. Let's just say that sitting all in a row = noise and commotion that we really hadn't anticipated...wow. ;) (Fortunately, this will just be a second car, not the primary mode of transportation altogether...whew.)

And that's where our car search stands at the moment... :)

Lest my brain explode...

Don't get me wrong. I'm immensely grateful for how good I've got it. I am! And, I know that I've got it good. :) But. Allow me, just for the moment, to whine and freak out a wee little bit...

Our official first day ever of full time public school is in less than a week. Less than a week! That, in itself, is manageable. What might do me in, though, is the list of additional things happening between now and then...for instance:

• Our roof is being replaced as I type. (It's been rescheduled three times...first due to rain, then unexpected delay on another job, then truck problems. But. It's happening now. Fingers crossed that our regularly scheduled potential afternoon storms hold off for today. Please.)
• A second round of pest control spraying (for the ants) will be happening sometime today also...because I still saw ants. Bleh.
• The older two boys have eye appointments Friday, as I was trying to squeeze those in before Noah's schedule becomes much more difficult to work around. (Micah and I have appointments also, but those are a full week away, not a couple days, lol.)
• I need to wrap up our summer reading program as the boys have until Friday to finish. They'll all meet their minimums and it's gone really very well. I'll need to settle up with boys for the "prizes" they each earned. (Maybe they'll cut me some slack and give me an extra week or so...)
• There's an additional demo team practice Saturday morning to get ready for New West Fest the following weekend. (This isn't a huge deal but Micah's going to join in for this one routine and is being rather indecisive about how he feels about it, so I keep hearing about it, lol.)
• The deck is being removed Sunday.
• Nathan will then need to build some temporary steps until we figure out the back patio situation. (Eventually we'll probably also replace the sliding door but didn't get on top of that soon enough to get it scheduled before the house painting.)
• Nathan needs to go around and remove things from the outside of the house to prep for house painting. (The previous owner added all sorts of crazy cables to the outside of the house rather than taking the time to hide them. They've just been painted to blend in, but we're taking the opportunity to actually remove them this time.)
• Prepping for house painting will also involve removing the fence portions that abut the house. We'll schedule full replacement of the fence after that. (We managed to get the two trees that were growing into the fence lines removed last week.)
• I need to give all my guys haircuts prior to student ID pictures being taken (on Tuesday for Noah and on the 18th for the younger two).
• Exterior house painting starts Monday.
• Because they're also going to paint the front door, we need to get new front door hardware and a new doorbell ahead of time to make sure that all fits and is sanded and such.
• (And we have new exterior lights and house numbers to add, but that can wait if need be. Decided we might as well update the whole look while we're repainting and redoing the roof and gutters and screens and such.)
• We have a half day parent orientation for CEC on Monday.
• Noah has a half day new student orientation for CEC on Tuesday.
• The new window well covers we ordered should be installed early next week-ish.
• We're hoping to find a new-to-us second vehicle within the next week...this involves coordinating schedules to both go test drive things. 

Oy. In addition to all that, we'll also have our normal karate classes/practices (I count five between here and next Wednesday), laundry, groceries (which will need to be tweaked to deal with school lunches and actually eating breakfast), bill paying, house keeping, mowing and weeding, getting together with friends, picking up our weekly milk, boot camp and running, and possibly archery practice. Oh, and I need to figure out our extracurricular schedule for the school year because I need to register Noah for school year swim team soon, too. And I have our homeschooling year to finish preparing for. And Micah's still having me take him around trying to sell his books. ;)

So. Now you know why my brain may explode. ;) On the bright side, in a week, all this will be done and I'll be down to just "normal" stuff like school and homeschool and karate and archery and swim team and household chores and such.

Oy.

Inaugural run

Nathan and the boys christened our new backyard firepit last night! Yup, I think it's a hit. ;) 

Ten on Tuesday (completely random)

1. We spent the day down in Boulder yesterday while Nathan had a meeting. The boys and I wandered the 29th Street Mall area for a bit and were surprised to find a number of these "grass" platforms all about. Odd. But apparently comfy:

2. The boys also enjoyed this checker board/set:

(Unsurprisingly, Noah won. We're also considering finding a way to work a checkerboard pattern into the backyard, lol.)

3. We were all in Boulder, btw, at least partially because we're a one vehicle family right now. The insurance company took back Nathan's car after the hail storm (it was considered totalled and they offered more for it than we figured we could get selling it ourselves) mid-July. If you happen to know anyone selling a car in the area, let us know. :) We're hoping to replace it within the next couple weeks, as school starting back up is going to make being a one vehicle family more difficult.

4. Tomorrow, Asher will be performing with Karate West's demo team at the local Barnes & Noble to celebrate the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Asher's going to represent Michelangelo with the nunchucks. ;) Come watch if you're around...the event starts at 11 and they'll perform about 11:30. (For what it's worth, my boys aren't familiar with the TMNT, though I have fond memories of them, myself, lol.)

5. Our new roof got postponed last week due to weather. Hopefully, it'll go on tomorrow!

6. Does anyone have any local recommendations for contractors who install sliding patio doors? Also for people who remove wooden decks and can replace it with a paver patio/landscaping?

7. Yup, I know I'm overdue on my annual blog posts about our upcoming homeschooling plan. ;) I'm actually doing pretty well in my planning...just haven't found time to sit down and type it out for this.

8. Speaking of homeschooling, that's all going to start again on the 18th...after Noah's high school classes start on the 13th. Oy. Working on sorting out our schedules and getting to a point where I'm feeling less overwhelmed, lol. 

9. Yay, me! I just mailed off our "official" annual notice of intent to homeschool to our local school district. 

10. Is everyone else amazed that it's already August?!

Peter Pan

Yesterday, we took Asher and Micah to see "Peter Pan" at the Candlelight Dinner Playhouse. They claim to have enjoyed it even more than last year's "The Sound of Music." So, I guess it was a hit. ;)

Here's me and my boys as we were heading out:

(Micah and I decided to take advantage of the opportunity to dress up a bit, lol.)

And here's Micah just before show time...enjoying his Pirate Punch:

The way it works is that the actors actually are also the wait staff, so Tiger Lily and one of the pirates took our orders and brought our lunch when we first arrived. Then, all the actors head off to perform. At intermission, they come back out to serve up dessert and such. It's pretty cool to get to talk with the actual performers.

The show, btw, was fabulous. The boys particularly enjoyed the flying performers and boo-ing Captain Hook and the crocodile. Our table was right up front again, so the boys could watch the orchestra and see all the action. 

And here are Nathan and the boys right in front of our table after the show was over:

And that was "Peter Pan"...a lovely way to unofficially celebrate both boys' birthdays and encourage their enjoyment of theater.

(Lest you feel sorry for Noah...as with last year, Noah was quite happy to not join us and spent a lovely afternoon with his best friend's family. Thanks again, Deanna!)