So Much to Update!!!!

I am certainly not keeping up with this "I will blog more regularly to chronicle our adventures" thing.  Oh, my goodness!  My last post was more than two months ago and that post was posted 3 months late so I'll do my best to get you caught up on the goings on of the Boutte clan for the last 5 months!  Late February and early March saw things fall into place for the sale of our Lafayette house and purchase of the Fair Oaks house.  Things were teetering on falling apart at times, but in the end, it all went through with our nerves at least partially still in tact.  Through a whirlwind two weeks, we closed on the Sky Blue Ridge house, trusted our realtor to manage the contractors, dealt with a FABULOUS packing/moving crew who did an incredible job, and then moved out of Country Club and into Sky Blue Ridge.  It was an absolutely insane period, but thanks to some incredible family, we all made it through.

St. Patrick's Day, March 17th, was our move in day.  With Matt already here, he met the movers and started the delivery process which was much more involved than the move to Lafayette was.  The kids and I drove in late in the day that afternoon picking up Agnes from Ms. Marianne along the way.  Ms. Marianne was in the process of giving up her home as she was moving to Virginia, so we adopted Agnes (aka Aggie).  We were hoping to catch the very end of the movers unloading, but due to the very different process, we actually ended up helping by checking in boxes, calming the dogs down (they were SOOO excited!), and guiding where things were going.  It was kind of crazy!!!!  They finished unloading about 2/3 of the moving van that first day and set up all of the beds.  It was the same packing/moving crew less one of the guys.  They were very kind in reassuring us that they wouldn't leave until that was done so we could sleep well.  They handled us getting overwhelmed a few times with professionalism and sympathy.  They were back at it bright and early the next morning and finished up just after lunch time and then we faced MOUNTAINS upon MOUNTAINS of boxes all on our own.  Scary and overwhelming, but also exciting.

One of the highlights of that early day is that our neighbor behind us walked up the driveway and introduced herself, Elizabeth Woods.  Elizabeth is married to Brian and they have two children, Brady who is just a bit younger than Andrew and Maggie who is almost 2.  Brady and Andrew have quickly become friends and play together as often as our schedules allow.  Megan loves entertaining Maggie and Matt and I love talking with Elizabeth and Brian so friendship is building.  We have met the neighbor across the street who baked us an incredible cake and also gave us a bottle of wine.  She is a caterer so that cake was absolutely amazing!  Our neighbor to the side of us is also quite nice and recently retired from USAA.  Her husband passed away a few years ago so she lives there with her sister.  Our neighbor across the street and over one house is also very nice, but are facing an empty nest as their son heads off to Texas A&M in just a few short weeks.

The end of March, April, and May are pretty much a blur of unpacking and trying to get a handle on life again.  Schooling got done here and there, but we were predominately in survival mode as we learned how to all live together in this new place.  Tasks that we now consider normal where adventures as we learned where stores were, figured out our barn schedule, and how to get around.  We all were emotionally exhausted so stayed home, but then would be overwhelmed by the boxes and stuff to do so would want to escape, too.  We got another playscape which the kids got to help pick out.  It gets used almost every day even now that it is hot - I don't know what we would do without it!!!!  Somewhere in there, too, Maddie attended confirmation classes and was confirmed at St. Helena's.  She was able to meet some folks and grow her faith even in the midst of all of the move.

In early June, we did a family camp on Mustang Island.  It was an island escape that the kids and I really enjoyed.  Matt, not so much - just a little too much of an extroverted event.  It was hotel-like accommodations where meals and activities were provided.  You could partake or not just depending on what you felt like.  Naps, reading, the kids playing with the counselors, no cooking, and beach time was just what this exhausted momma needed.

June was full with that final push to finish school for the year.  We had serious cases of the "don't wanna's", but by the end of June, Maddie was completely done with 6th grade and Meg was within a few days of being done graded work for 3rd grade.  It was really tough to stay on task - mentally and physically.  We are still learning what parks are neat, what field trips sound like fun, and what is worth the cost vs. not.  We are still figuring out which homeschool group to really get involved in and which to let lapse when renewals come up.  We do park days once a week with NW San Antonio Homeschoolers, though that has become hit or miss this summer.  We look forward to it becoming regular again as we did enjoy meeting several super nice families though that.  We hope to do more with BACH, though they seem to be heavily weighted to their co-op which just doesn't seem to fit our family this year.  Well, that gets you updated through the start of the summer at least.  I'll work on another update to get you caught up the rest of the way in a few days (and maybe even a peek at our future plans!)