Wrapping up the Summer

The end of the summer is always busy as we adjust to the kids' new school schedules and the start of new fall routines. While I was in Tuscaloosa helping Connor get settled in his new apartment, Jeff and Kaitlynn enjoyed one of the Texans preseason games with a smaller tailgate crew.

A very random update, but our apartment manager in Tuscaloosa, Ross, has ties with the all-star cheer world and gifted us some Worlds competition merch to share with Kaitlynn. 

As the new school year began, Kaitlynn enjoyed catching up with friends and joining in the school spirit at her various high school activities. She was starting the year off as busy as ever, but she always managed the time to sneak away for some bestie time with Anais.

One of my favorite activities during each new school year is the high school open house, where parents are invited to "walk" their student's class schedule, meet their teachers, and learn about the upcoming year's curriculum. I enjoyed meeting Kaitlynn's teachers, and I also made sure to catch up with some of Connor's former favorite teachers as well. We have been so blessed by our high school! Another perk for this year was seeing the newest 10th grade English teacher, Ms. Aasmyr in her new classroom.

Jeff managed to juggle several trips during late summer. While the weather was still warm and the water levels very low, he enjoyed a visit to our property on Lake Travis. In August, he also made one of his quarterly trips to Dubai and enjoyed catching up with his colleagues at Shelf Drilling. On yet another trip to Michigan, he visited his mom and shared a fun photo of her "sister trip" with his aunts. And finally, Jeff visited Bob in Colorado and enjoyed some beautiful weather in golf with Bob and his dad. Busy guy!! I was happy to have him back home.

Connor wrapped up his summer by joining his roommates and friends to catch a Pitbull concert at the Mercedes Benz Theater, and I really appreciated the photo he sent from his night. 

And lastly, my August ended with a fun birthday lunch with Michelle and Julie to celebrate Michelle's late August birthday. Love the chance to catch up and celebrate each other for our big days!

First Day of School

Another new school year was upon us, despite how ready (or not!) we felt. Kaitlynn started her junior year at Katy, and she was excited for new opportunities ahead as an upperclassman. Following in her brother's footsteps, her schedule was packed with advanced and AP courses and a new opportunity for PALs mentoring. She was excited but admittedly a little anxious about the dreaded tough junior year.

Connor obliged me with a first day photo as well - First Day of 14th Grade, ha! He was in his new apartment with roommates Austin and Nathan, getting settled with off-campus living and juggling his coursework with his tutoring job in the Athletics Department. 

Here's to a great new year!

Moving Back to Alabama

The summer flew by so quickly and before we knew it, we were planning Connor's move back to Alabama. For his sophomore year, he was going to be living in a 3-bedroom, 3-bathroom apartment off campus but still very close to the university. He and 5 of his closest friends rented 2 units in the same breezeway of the complex, so he was excited to start his new school year in a more spacious apartment with great amenities in the complex. Before his trip back to school, we made sure to enjoy one more meal at Lupe Tortilla's, Connor's favorite spot in Katy.

Throughout the summer, we had been planning the apartment move with his two roommates, Nathan and Austin, and their moms. We used a shared Note file on our iPhones to collectively sync up on the apartment items they would need for the coming year, which worked out great to make sure everything was covered but not duplicated. The apartment we rented was minimally furnished, and we decided to look for a bigger dining table that would better accommodate the boys. Scrolling Facebook, I managed to find a solid wood, heavy duty table set with 4 dining chairs that was absolutely perfect both in size and durability. The only question - would it fit in our vehicles?? The table was much bigger than I realized, so Jeff had to dismantle it for us. Since I was the one accompanying Connor on the apartment move-in, I made sure to take VERY detailed notes on how to reassemble the table. 

When moving day arrived, Jeff helped Connor and I load our cars with the table and chairs, along with everything else he was packing for his sophomore year away at UA. As always, Jeff did a professional-level job packing up the car (a.k.a. Tetris) and we had plenty of room to spare. When our travel day arrived, Connor and I said goodbye to home and set off for Alabama.

After the long drive to Tuscaloosa, we arrived and stayed in a hotel for the night. I messaged with the apartment complex manager, Ross, to finalize our arrival the next day to pick up Connor's keys. When we arrived, it was a whirlwind of paperwork, work orders, and unloading both of our cars. It didn't take too long, but we left the heavy table in the car for the time being in hopes of getting another one of Connor's buddies to help unload it. Feeling accomplished, we headed out for some lunch before the real work would begin.

After lunch, Connor and I got busy working on setting up his room. We began unpacking all the bags and boxes, doing loads of laundry, and figuring out where everything should go in his new space. Because we were waiting on the large dining table, we didn't have too much to do in the shared spaces except for a large rug we'd picked up for the living room. Later in the day, Connor's buddy Nolan arrived to help unload the large table. Lucky for us, he's an engineering student as well, and the two boys successfully assembled the dining table in no time. Hooray!

Connor and I worked on his bedroom suite for most of the day. I had scheduled some deliveries from Walmart for some of the big items like the rug and his queen mattress, and we were hoping they would arrive in time for us to complete his room. We used most of the items from Connor's dorm room the prior year and we sprinkled in a few more things here and there. He had SO much more space in this bedroom, which was going to be so nice for him to spread out. 

We were SO happy when the mattress arrived and we could complete the setup of Connor's bedroom. As we hung pictures and curtains, it was beginning to come together.

It took less than a full day, and we were very happy with the outcome. Connor's room was done, and it looked great! He had more than enough space to store his belongings and even set up an extra reading nook with shelves. And not to forget the all-important space under the bed for his "floor naps" throughout the year. HA!

We were pleased with ourselves for finishing up Connor's room before his other 2 roommates had even arrived. It was helpful to stay out of the way, but I enjoyed meeting the boys and their parents while they moved in the following day. It made me feel like a terrible parent when both families spent over a full day cleaning their spaces before they moved anything inside the apartment. Connor and I had wiped some stuff down but didn't think we needed to clean any more than that? Oops. 

While Nathan and Austin's families were busy cleaning and moving in the apartment, Connor and I tried to make ourselves scarce to stay out of their way. Connor took me on campus to walk his new fall schedule and see where his classes would be. We also enjoyed our quality time together which was quickly coming to an end. It was hard to believe we were starting his 2nd year away from home. As always, it was tough to say goodbye, but I was so thankful to get him settled into his new apartment. His place looked great and would be an amazing home for him in the coming year.