We spent the week with the downstairs undergoing a well-needed facelift. In addition, we fought dragons for the kids and took them on a couple of fun outings.
The house was in disarray most of the week, first with flooring removal and installation.
By work day's end on Monday, the new room was starting to shape up.
Here is the view of Hallie's new work digs. Hallie changed school's and started on Monday. By Tuesday and Wednesday the classroom desks were not set up the same.
This praying mantis hitched a ride home with Mom and Eliza from horseback riding on one of the folding chairs. Hallie got a kick out of seeing it on the chair and invited two of the neighbor girls to try and help take him gently off and add him to the garden.
Landon showed off his mad gym skills during the week. Thursday was our annual boys' parents' team meeting. The meeting started off like usual with Coach Sam reading the packet/contract. The meeting started at 7:00 and as time went on more and more adults joined the group, and Sam and the new owner were quite surprised to see so many parents attend.
The meeting took a more sobering turn when Jimmy (the husband of the new owner) decided he should speak after Sam was done with his part. Jimmy said the quiet part loud when he started his talk to the parents by prioritizing that he was running a business and considering the needs of his family first. Fine, we get it. But he's running a business that is built on people's aspirations and goals. He basically told us through his words and attitude toward the boys' parents that his core priorities and ours were not well aligned. He could have done us the courtesy of at least pretending to care (which he lamely tried to circle back to when the parents started getting riled up), but for us it was too little too late.
Based upon what Jimmy chose to share, we're going to have to consider whether we can continue to pay for his services or look elsewhere. When a parent brings up a safety concern and the owner's husband tells her she is whining about it, that makes us a bit nervous for what his priorities are for the boys at our gym. For Landon (a boy who doesn't want to do another sport), this hurts. For parents who see all the time, emotions, and physicality Landon has put into this sport, we are all hurting. When we got home from the meeting that night Eliza went upstairs and cried for her brother.
Meanwhile, back to the house. The floor installation continued apace on Tuesday.
We think the overall look is quite sharp. Now to change out the couch covers, add a throw rug and window treatments, and bring on the coastal cottage vibe for real!
Fergus seems a bit befuddled by it all. Also, we think he may not be a fan of the hard floors. Landon feels iffy about them as well.
Fergus kept Eliza company during her lessons on Wednesday. On Tuesday (with Dad) and Friday (with Mom), she went up to Bountiful to participate in a series of intelligence and other tests to see what can be done to support her learning. Eliza was super tough and a very hard worker. Over two days she spent nearly six hours with a therapist she had never met and did a great job!
This is the kind of meal Hallie gets at her new job. Apparently they have a stellar cook at Merit. The funny thing is none of the kids that Hallie had in her classroom liked it.
Fall is definitely in the air, with cooler nights and a golden-to-red hue on the mountainsides. Ferg is trying to take advantage of the warm sidewalks while they last.
On their way up and back from Bountiful, Hallie and Eliza attended some boutiques and found many articles of interest.
Hallie and Eliza love stickers and this booth definitely had some good ones to choose from.
Eliza wants to decorate the front of the house this year for Halloween, so Hallie bought a broom similar to this one at the boutique in Farmington.
They also got a picture of the colorful mountains.
Oh, and a flamingo hiding in a bush at Dutch Bros. (which was thankfully right across the street from Walmart in Centerville). Our house windows need some temporary blinds until we can decide on some new window treatments.
Among their purchases, they got Dad got this great cookie from his star pupil.
Also, Christmas is coming, and we got this LEGO set as part of a deal for buying another holiday-themed set. Instead of doing three different Lego Advent calendars this year like Hallie usually does, she decided to buy a Christmas house and every day leading to Christmas we will work on it together. Still, getting the little sailboat in our newly-themed coastal main floor wasn't a bad "free" gift.
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