And So It Ends and Begins

 This was the last full week of summer and it wasn't quite the week that I had planned.  The week started out well, with lots of trips to the pool and hanging out with friends.  We enjoyed walks and riding bikes and scooters.  We even made it on our first (and likely only) full family bike ride of the summer at the end of the week (despite the events below).

Unfortunately, mid-week things took an unexpected turn.  Carrigan woke up  not feeling well on Thursday.  She had to miss her "meet the teacher" event, her first soccer practice, and a boating activity with her church group.  She is mostly better now, but it still battling some pink eye.

Merrick also woke up in a state on Thursday.  He had come home from camping with bug bites the weekend before.  Then, as the week went on, he got more and more bug bites at football practice.  Each time the bites became swollen and hot and concerning.  I was particularly concerned about two on his forehead that were golf ball sized.  Apparently, on Wednesday his football helmet caused the swelling to start moving.  He woke up on Thursday with his eye almost completely swollen shut and we ended up at urgent care for a steroid injection.  He had to miss his school tour event as well. Side note, at urgent care they measured him at just a hair under 6'3".  Jeremy refuses to believe it.

Yesterday, with everyone mostly better, we went to Merrick's first ever football jamboree.  I don't think I have made a secret of the fact that I am not super excited about football, but it was more fun watching him than I expected.  He had fun and did great.  He had a couple catches at tight end and, defensively, he had a forced fumble and a couple tackles for a loss.

We have one more day of summer before school starts on Tuesday and I have very mixed feelings about the kids going back.  Ready, or not, here it comes.

Camping and Girls Day

 The majority of this week was spent on activities to get the business off the ground.  I expect this will be the case for the foreseeable future.  While this is, I'm sure, not how the kids want to be spending their last weeks of summer, they have been really good sports about entertaining themselves while Jeremy and I work. It has been a real family team effort.

The highlight for all the kids was definitely the weekend.  Jeremy and Merrick went on a campout with Merrick's church group (Jeremy is the leader of the group).  I will let him tell you all about that in a sec, but while the boys were gone, the girls and I had some girl time!

Friday afternoon, after the boys left, Carrigan was down at my parents' working with my mom on a dress she is sewing.  Elsie and I spent our special time playing games and reading books.  Around dinnertime, we picked up C.C. and went out for a special dinner.  When we got home, I told the girls they could have a sleepover in my room with me, something they never get to do.  They were very excited, I was less so when it turned out I didn't get much sleep that night.

The next morning the girls built blanket homes in their room and played "the floor is lava" while I did some things around the house.  We then went to see my two nephews scrimmage each other in the first football games of the season.  The girls were less than pleased to be spending their "girl time" at a sporting event so we didn't stay too long.

After lunch Carrigan went on an epic birthday party adventure that included treats from Starbucks, painting ceramics, Subway, and ice cream.  While she was gone, Elsie and I took Millie to the dog park, went to the park, and rode bikes outside.

About dinnertime, Carrigan and the boys all got home.  Here's Jeremy to fill you in on the boys' side of the adventure.

Merrick and I went on a campout with some of the boys from our church and their dads.  All in all, we had six boys and four dads.  We got a late start due to horrible traffic, but once we got out of the city we were surrounded by the forest.  We went across Bridge of the Gods and into Washington, where we stayed at Paradise Creek Campground.  The boys played and we made tin foil dinner on coals from our fire.  Then we made S'mores and told BigFoot stories around the campfire in preparation for our hike through the lava tube Ape Cave.

The next day we drove to Ape Cave and headed underground.  I wish I had taken more pictures, but as you can see, pictures underground do not turn out well.  Ape Cave is a mile long lava tube that requires the hikers to scramble over large boulders and climb rock faces.  The boys hurried ahead as the adults took a little longer to scramble over the boulders.  There were places where the cave roof was about 30 feet from the ground and then places where I had to crouch in order to get through.  The cave was about 42 degrees, so we wore sweatshirts which were quickly shed once we returned to the 80 degree weather of the open air.  Everyone had a great experience exploring the cave and hiking back to the cars.  

Big Changes

 So I think it's time to finally loop everyone in on the big changes that had been happening in our lives over the last few weeks.  Just over three weeks ago Jeremy parted ways with his company.  I won't go into all the details due to this being a public space and an agreements that he signed with the company, but sufice it to say, we were left trying to figure out what was next.

Ever since I knew Jeremy, he has always wanted to own his own business.  Back when we were still babies he wanted to own a skate and clothing shop.  We grew up but the dream of being his own boss never really died.

After law school, he wanted to strike out on his own.  I didn't.  I was at a point I wanted some stability, some steady income, and some insurance.  Fast forward several years.  Jeremy was looking for a a change in his career and started looking around.  I wanted him to go out on his own.  He didn't.  He had enjoyed the support and comaraderie at his firm and wasn't ready to leave that behind.

Fast forward to three weeks ago.  After some soul searching, Jeremy decided he was ready to make a go of it on his own.  I was ready too.  In the 8 years since law school, this was the first time we were both on the same page at the same time.

So, with the decision made, the last three weeks have been a blur of opening bank accounts, building a website, finding an office space, getting insurance, learning about SEO and marketing, looking into accounting and case managment software, etc.  The list goes on and on.  We are mostly up and running now (I say "we" because this has very much been a group effort).  Now what's left is to actually get some clients, minor detail.

I know it's going to be a bumpy ride in the beginning, but I am excited about what this means for our family in the long term.  What the future holds, no one one knows, but I will be sure to keep you updated as the furture becomes the present.

For those that are reading this in its web version (before I turn it into a book), I will include the link to his website, Law Offices of Jeremy Clifford, if you want to have a look.

Wish us luck!

17 years

 Just popping in quickly to give a shout out to Jeremy, my main squeeze and bff.  We spent the weekend on a staycation together celebrating 17 years of marriage.  We went on lots of walks, went to the movies, went to dinner and ice cream, went down to the river, slept in, and relaxed on the couch watching tv.  It was a super relaxing (and kid free thanks to my sister) weekend.  Our family stress level has been pretty high over the last few weeks so it was just the recharge we needed.  I hope to have more info on the big changes in our family next week.  Until then I am just so thankful to have such an awesome life partner by my side.  We make a pretty good team.