Feeling accomplished

I certainly did a lot this week. The athletes left on Thursday morning and that went well. They continued to be polite and were a pleasure to have around. DS-8 had horseback riding camp this week and he fell in love with horses. He learned how to groom, saddle and ride them. He said that when he gets a house, he wants to build a stall in the backyard. :-D Today DD and I went shopping and got her some kitchen utensils, a computer desk and swivel chair, and other sundries for her apartment. She is excited to move in after Labor Day. UCLA doesn't start until later in September, but she is anxious to be back on her own. She loves Westwood. DS-16 is still working at Knotts, which is great. He kept his job all summer, which is no small feat for a boy with ADHD. He will stop working after next weekend and school starts for him on Sept. 4, as with his younger brother. I can't wait to get onto the September schedule. The teenagers will be visiting on weekends, DS 8 will be in 3rd grade, DS4 will be in preschool 3 mornings a week, and DS2 will be with me. I envision lots of peace and quiet. Today DS 8 and I worked on a fun project. We checked all of the sprinkler stations. I had heard a geyser going off at 3am last week, so I knew something was out of whack. I found 2 geysers. One I could fix, and the other one is halfway down the back hillside. No way I'm doing down there. I'll ask the gardener to fix it when he comes back. No wonder so many of the plants look dry and tired. Some of them haven't been watered for months. One sprinkler station had so many bad sprinklers that we replaced about 10 of them and put many of those on taller risers so they were not blocked by the ivy. I showed DS all about putting on plumbers tape so water would not leak around the threads. It was a fun project and one that kept us cool. :-D

The rest of the summer should have a fairly slow pace. No more swim classes, except a few private lessons for the little ones. No more camps. No preschool. No mommy and me. And no more jobs for the teenagers after next week. And I am caught up on my bills and even thank-you notes since last week.

I accomplished taking the photo I wanted of the kids. My ambition was to take an underwater picture of all 5 of them, since the 2-y-o and 4-y-o were both able to go under water without sputtering. I got an underwater disposable camera, took about 10 group shots and a bunch of other cute pics and got a decent one. I will enclose that with our Rosh Hashana cards this year. I almost never do Rosh Hashana cards (so I feel guilty when I receive them), but this year I'm so organized I think I'll do them before the end of August.

I plan to do fewer physical projects starting at the end of August, anyway. I tend to get problems with too many Braxton Hicks contractions after the 30th week of pg, and I don't want to cause a problem with the baby that would require hospitalization or medication. I still wonder if the Terbutaline I took with my DS-16's pg caused his ADHD. Terbutaline is a stimulant, and he needs stimulants now to act normally. :-( I have cut back on my workouts too. Shorter walks, but still uphill. I like to keep up my stamina.