Elementary, Middle & High--Oh My!

Okay, peeps.

Once upon a time, circa 2017 or so, I did some rough calculations and realized two things:

First: I would have two, glorious golden years when all three kiddos would be in the same school!

And, second: I would have one, heinous year when all three kiddos would be in different schools.

Thanks to that realization, I lived up the golden years of the same-school situation in a BIG way. I volunteered a ton. I was present and grateful for the simplicity of the situation and it felt easy to dig in and be really involved and invested.

It was a joyful, elementary time, truly the prime years of my kiddos' collective elementary journey, and I have so many fond memories of that era.

And, now.

It's hard to believe, but we're on the flip side.

Back when I did the rough calculations, this time of life felt so very far away. Eons and lifetimes away. But....you know how it goes: even when the days are long the years are short, and we've already made it to that point. Wild!

So...

Elementary, Middle and High School all in one year...here we come!

I'll share a larger post as we dig into the nitty gritty of Chica launching her High School Journey, but for now, let me just say that our Back-to-School day felt like a whole 24-hour event, ha.

(Not really, but...kind of.)

We started in the morning at the High School with an Orientation Presentation, a Tour and some individual time spent hunting down classrooms.

Then--as terrible luck (or planning, on my part) would have it--we had to race to a Passport Renewal appointment for the whole fam, ha.

Then we rounded out the late/afternoon and early evening with a round at the Elementary School, before popping over to complete the day at the Middle School.

Whew!

That said...we managed to keep moods stable throughout the day and I felt pretty peaceful about it all by the end of the night.

For starters, I'm so proud of Chica and her attitude heading into this big High School transition.

She's exhibited the appropriate amount of excitement and anxiety, and I think it's certainly helped that she's been in steady contact with her friends this summer--and that she had to be on the High School campus for both Choir and Orchestra camps in July. That definitely helped to rip off the bandage and make the process of acclimating to the new school a bit easier.

In fact, she was steady enough after our Orientation and Tour on Thursday that we had a--dare I say?--joyful time trekking all over the academic buildings and learning the lay of the land.

She even approved some fun pics of her in the hallways, and we both enjoyed all the natural light and the windows of the lovely campus.

Thank goodness, Chica has her father's directional capabilities (translation: she can track where she is and read a map, ha). Even when I was all turned around in the hallways, she had it all figured out fairly well--and she's not overly stressed about showing up on Monday and making it to where she needs to go.

Like all my kiddos, I'm absolutely expecting a delayed meltdown in a few weeks' time. That's how it always goes for my crew, when reality sets in and the manic emotions of the school year launch have dissipated a bit. But...we'll handle it as it comes and just stay grateful for the positive momentum we have going!

Next up...Little Man!

Now, he's been a bit interesting this summer (again, a larger post for a later date). Definitely going through some of those mental and maturity growing pains of the early tween years, so his manifestation of school year anxiety has presented as moodiness. :(

Sometimes, I don't quite connect the dots when I'm wondering why he's high, low or somewhere in between, and then, I realize that the root of it has to do with a bit of fear and uncertainty heading into a new school year.

My boy always seems so unshakable and confident and ready to dive into whatever. But he's actually quite a soft soul who feels these transitions just as deeply as the girls.

Needless to say...he had a bit of a moody episode in the hour leading up to his Back-to-School event. And then, once we'd made it to campus and we'd connected with his friends, he was like a whole different child and vibe, and I realized all his crankiness from the hour prior was really just bottled up nerves.

I love my boy and all his moods--even the increasingly challenging ones--and I'm so looking forward to this milestone, 5th-grade year of his. Not to mention, our final child and final year of Elementary! (Again, a whole post for another day!).

And, last, but certainly not least: Chicklet!

Goodness, what to say about my beloved and challenging (these days) middle born????

She had a fantastic academic 6th grade year, but a more complicated social one.

She's grown more in the past 10 months--physically, mentally, and emotionally--than it feels possible for a single child to grow.

It's insane to have pictures appear on my phone that are exactly one year ago today and to acknowledge, right there with photographic evidence, how much she's changed.

I'm not gonna lie: I've earned a lot more grey hair and wrinkles this year as I've navigated Chicklet's growth (again, something for a whole separate, Big Picture post at some point in the near future).

But my hope--and the source of all my prayers--is that Chicklet will vibe and thrive in 7th grade!

In my personal opinion, 7th is the best of the Middle School years, and I have high hopes that it will be a lighter and brighter year for her.

If her own Back-to-School vibe is any indication, we might just have luck on this front.

I didn't even go into the building with her.

I sent her in with Chica and the two of them briefly walked the halls to find some classrooms, and Chicklet's mostly okay with winging it on the first day of school.

She's mastered her contact lenses, she's settled into her (current) sense of style, and she seems more at ease  than even a few months ago, but...if there's one thing I've learned in my journey (so far) of raising tweens and teens, it's this:

Change is the only constant.

So I'm going to do my best to support her and ride out all the changes still to come.

And, hopefully, maintain a shred of sanity while I'm at it!

I love these three crazies of mine SO MUCH.

In fact, I feel like these days, I love them harder than ever--because parenting is so hard.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but...we're definitely not in the golden years era any longer. We're in that long and slightly depressing march toward our children's independence and are focused on instilling morals and strength of character that can withstand the eventually fleeing from the nest.

But I'm a BIG BELIEVER in finding the joy in every season. In appreciating my children for who they are, today, and learning how to bob and weave with the incessant demands of parenting these ever-evolving humans.

We're all a work in progress, amiright?

But I have HIGH HOPES for this landmark Elementary, Middle & High School year.

We're launching with positive 2026-2027 vibes and we're going to do our best to keep things light and bright!

Happy Final Weekend of Summer, peeps!

Over and out. 

P.S. For anyone who's counting, I need to eventually do a post about:

How it feels to be wrapping up Elementary--FOR GOOD.

How Chicklet's growth and change has demanded so much from the entire family this past year.

How Chica is mentally prepping and navigating this big HIGH SCHOOL life transition.

I'll get to all of that...sometime. ;)

A Summer Cousin Wedding!

Okay, peeps.

I thought--*thought*--so many of my blogging problems would be solved with the return of my beloved app!

Turns out, that was HALF-BAKED LIES.

Apparently, my blogging problems (namely: not enough time/capacity) are only partially due to the platform and mostly due to life.

(Shocker, I know.)

Case in point: I spent three days (yes, three) starting and stopping the previous post about Little Man's bathroom because I'd type two sentences and then get pulled in a different direction.

This happened from the house, from the car, morning, noon or night. No matter the tiny slice of time I tried to carve out when I thought nobody would interrupt me...I was foiled. Time and time, again. It was almost comical.

All this to say, I'm still rejoicing, big time, that my beloved app is up and running again! But apparently, I'm still in that different age and stage of life that makes it hard to post as frequently as I once did, and I continuously have to accept that.

But…we're going to take the victories where we can get them!

And the victories today are:

1. I finally finished and posted the bathroom refresh.

2. And I'm finally--finally--going to take two seconds to post something else that happened a couple days after the bathroom was finished, before we went to Colorado, and that was...

A family wedding!

That's right: a wedding. :) In Illinois!

My youngest cousin got married on a lovely July day and we celebrated in a beautiful, peaceful setting, on a gorgeous summer evening, and it was nothing but joy to be in that neck of the woods, and see so many family members--some of whom I hadn't laid eyes on in more than twenty years! (GASP!)

Because it wasn't my wedding, I'll only share a handful of pics and ask forgiveness, not permission!

(Luckily, only about four people check this here blog, so hopefully, that small handful won't disown me,)

Okay...here you go! (Thumb nail/ collage of a bunch so family members get less annoyed with me posting unauthorized pics. Ha.)

Okay…this is one I’m posting large and still without permission. ;) Two of my cousins, who I loved seeing during my childhood visits to Illinois, but hadn’t seen in years.

One I saw one about eight years ago, and the other, twenty years ago. And they look just the same! Insane.

And finally, all the cousins in attendance (plus some spouses). Poor Younger Bro and his wife were in the aftermath of a very scary medical situation with their daughter (she’s great now!), so Older Bro held them up on FaceTime for a pic, tehe.

Not to be super mushy, but..:the older you get, the more you cherish these special events that pull many family members together and return you to adolescent memories. It’s a beautiful thing, and I’m so grateful for the time and space, together.

More post, soon!

Over and out. 

 

Little Man’s (RE)Refreshed Bathroom!

Okay, peeps.

It’s been a SOLID day (or two, if I’m being honest):

Amen, Hallelujah!.

Chica had a beautiful lazy Thursday/ Friday, after several days of orchestra commitments at the High School.

Chicklet also had fun lazy time—along with a lengthy pool party/ hang session at a friend’s house to wrap the summer.

And Little Man had a buddy over and his own swim time/ hang session Thursday, and permission for a bit more video gaming than usual.

As most parents of teens/ tweens can attest: the moods of the kiddos often set the tone for the entire household. We wish it wasn’t so—especially in these years of ups, downs and all arounds—but it’s just the cold, hard truth.

So a rare (super rare!) day or two like this when all my kids are stable and happy is a pretty massive miracle.

So  miraculous, in fact, that I even agreed to host another girly sleepover last night and, despite what sounded like rhythmic gymnastics happening upstairs well after midnight, I still have the mental bandwidth for a post right now, ha. ;)

This one just so happens to involve my favorite subject: house happenings mixed with crossing things off a to-do list!

I give you…a reveal of Little Man’s refreshed (by force, not by choice) bathroom.

Drum roll, puh-lease!

Okay. So. To rewind…

Back when we moved to San Antonio, my babies were tiny, they were all still actively bathed at night (yes, bathed) by us parents. Little Man wasn’t even officially out of diapers and was still using a pacifier. Wild.

Needless to say…when we gutted the bathroom that adjoined his room, we had fun with the aesthetic and didn’t at all think about a future when he’d be a tween, utilizing the shower in any practical way, ha.

This was his bathroom before we moved in:

And this was the fun refresh we did and really loved. :) Back when Little Man was obsessed with superheroes! I spy Spiderman. Awwww.

That crazy, black hexagon tile was such a unique statement piece for so many years—especially since the bathroom is right at the top of the stairs, so it was nice to have something coolio within line of sight.

Welp.

Fast forward many, many years, and about two years ago (give or take) Little Man finally got to a point where he wanted to shower up there in his own bathroom instead of partying in our primary bathroom like he’d done for years and years, ha.

It was a fun rite of passage (the girlies started showering in their own zone at that time, as well), and one we were ready and willing to dive in to. And it worked really well until…

A few months into his new showering process, when we discovered a leak that had manifested in the downstairs ceiling, just below Little Man’s shower.

YIKES.

It took some creativity and a snaking camera through the attic (that backs up to that shower) to eventually discover that the leak was in the drip pan of the shower, thanks to an old and rusted nail.

And…cue extreme disappointment.

For anyone who’s dealt with something like this, you know that the only fix is to rip up the shower floor—and likely a foot or so of the walls, as well—to properly repair and replace all of those important, foundational components.

So.

We were looking at sourcing new flooring tiles (not too terrible), but also, a handful of the black octagon tiles (quite a bit more terrible).

And, booooo.

Bottom line: the tile was unique, it had been too many years since we originally sourced it, and we were having a hard time finding an exact match.

We got close with size but not with texture or sheen and all sorts of other problems. And the process took quite some time to track down options and wait for samples to be shipped for inspection.

Welp, right as we were crossing off so many options that just weren’t matching perfectly, I had a moment where I had to stop and sit with the decision and the process as a whole.

One of the things I kept mulling over: the fact that we have really hard water down here. And despite water softener systems and what not, the hard water residue and build-up is real and as I thought about it more and more, I realized that the cleaning lady (ahem, ME) wouldn’t exactly love the task of scrubbing and keeping that black tile hard-water-grime clear moving forward.

So…if we were going to have to incur a significant cost for the leak repair and it was just a moderately incremental cost to redo the whole, dang shower…maybe that’s what the universe was telling us to do.

Now.

Even when my brain and my gut were both telling me a total redo would be best…the pocketbook didn’t exactly agree.

Enter: about an 18-month period where we didn’t deal with at all and just kept the shower out of commission.

Until finally, this past May, we had a stretch of time that made it clear that we were fed up with having a great shower out of order, and we decided we had to PONY UP and pay for the rip out and just get it done.

I’m sure you’ll recall all manner of renovation heinousness we’ve experienced down here in SA, so it goes without saying that it was a bit of a mental hurdle to rip off the bandage, as well. 

But.

We utilized a great handyman/contractor who works with just one other gentleman, and this duo has completed all manner of projects in half the homes in our neighborhood, so there was some great comfort there, as well. 

They were kind, clean, efficient and kept their mess contained, and the whole thing took about 6-7 business days.

I took pics most days and it was really satisfying to see the slow, steady, meticulous process toward getting this shower back up and running!

I’ve gotta say: it was a huge relief to feel relatively (I’m never totally) comfortable having these gentleman in my home. They were clean, unobtrusive, and non-threatening, and that’s a big deal for me.

And, in the end, because we just couldn’t go from a wild, black, hexagon tile to something white and boring, I’m SO GLAD we kept some of the crazy in the bathroom with this really unique grey tile. It’s the perfect blend of old and new, worked seamlessly with the existing floor tile and cabinetry, and it felt like a HUGE SIGH of relief to have it done!

So, here’s to having this shower back in working order! I’m so behind on posts, it’s been a couple of weeks, now, but it’s been amazing to have Little Man back in his zone and to get through the nighttime routine even faster and happier.:)

More catch-up posts, soon!

Happy Weekend, peeps!

Over and out.