Welcome Home...

I mentioned in my last post that I have been MIA

due to circumstances that I would explain later.

Well....

D and I are THRILLED to share with you 

that his daughters, Laura and Grace, 

have decided to make their home in Virginia with us!

I could not be happier to have two additional daughters at home full time...

My beautiful step-daughters, Laura and Grace

They made their decision around the first of August,

and it has been a mad dash to get them registered for school,

start their school sports, enroll in fall dance classes, go back to school shopping,

and get their bedroom set up in one short month....

and we went to Hawaii for a week in the middle of all of craziness!

The transition could not have gone more smoothly,

and they both have made friends very quickly and are loving their new schools.

I now have five teenagers at home...

Katherine is a Senior and Laura is a Sophomore in high school,

and our triplets are all in 8th grade this year.

Teddy is playing football, Jack playing volley ball, Grace is running cross country,

Katherine is a varsity cheerleader, and Laura attends a dance academy.

We go through eleven gallons of milk a week and six loaves of bread.

I won't even share how many loads of laundry I have with all of the fall sports.

But everyone helps out and we work together to make it manageable.

MANY thanks to my BFF Kim who keeps me sane and is my carpool buddy! 

I won't lie....I'm exhausted.

As in DROP DEAD TIRED by the time I can fall into bed.

D is still working full time in Washington DC all week,

 and only down in Richmond on weekends so I am a single working mom during the week.

But I am happy, very very happy,

and I have VERY happy children at home.

 I truly look at it as both a privilege and a gift  

to have Laura and Grace with us full time.

I am honored to have the opportunity to be a role model for them,

and to nurture their precious souls and help them continue to grow

into the beautiful young women that they already are.

It is truly a blessing.

And I can honestly say that their full time presence in Virginia

has created nothing but positive energy in our home.

My children are equally as thrilled to have their two sisters here full time.

It's all good.

So.....here is a little of what we have been up to...

 Teddy and Jack first day of 8th grade

Laura and Katherine....Katherine's Senior year....yikes!!!

The crew (missing Laura).....

I love having Caroline closer to home at Virginia Commonwealth University! 

 First Varsity football game....American theme...Laura (front row middle) with her new friends!

Katherine with her BFF

My one true love....life is so good.

Jack made the high school JV volleyball team as an 8th grader.... 

 And so did several of his best buddies!

Realistically my blog posts will be sporadic at best until the end of October,

when the fall sports wrap up.

As if I don't have enough going on this fall,

we are gutting our kitchen and having our hardwood floors refinished this fall.

The plan is to have everything done by Thanksgiving!

If y'all are curious what I am up to in-between my blog posts, 

you can follow me on instagram, which is easier for me to post to right now.

Blessings to y'all......