10/21/2013 update

Going backwards:
1.  Last night we had our friends the Smiths over for dinner.  They are good friends and are moving to Arizona on Thursday.  It's a good thing for them, but sad for us.  Their son Andrew has been a good friend to my boys, and I know Mosey in particular will miss him.  Andrea was my cub scout co-leader, and has been a part of our  homeschooling group for the past year.  I hope all the best for them.

2.  Yesterday afternoon was Brigham's AYO fall concert.  We had to leave early from church (boo), but it was worth it-- great concert!  Brigham's orchestra pulled together 3 very well-done pieces in only 5 weeks of rehearsal.  I'm so glad he's getting this opportunity.

3.  Saturday afternoon we went to see Gravity and then out to eat at MiMi's Cafe.  We really enjoyed Gravity.  I've never seen a movie with only TWO actors (essentially only one).  It made me never, never want to go to space.  :-)  Going out to eat was an adventure.  Mosey hates going out to eat.  How is that possible?  We've spoiled him, that's how.  He thinks it takes too long and would rather eat food at home.  Joseph was a bit of a pill-- when we asked him where he wanted to go, he said, "Where ever Brigham wants to go, I don't want to go."  Nice.  So he didn't get a say.  :-)  As it is, we ended up liking the restaurant, even Mosey and Joseph.

4.  Saturday morning was the boys' Halloween piano recital.  Mosey dressed up as a Pharaoh and looked awesome.  He did a lot of the sewing on his costume by himself.  Brigham dressed up in his Army costume from last year, with the addition of a great pair of sunglasses.  He looked awesome, too.  Joseph didn't want to dress up.  I did manage to get him to wear his monster shirt that we got at Halloween last year, but that was it.  Ben got him to take along a cape and top hat (so he could be a "monster magician"), but apparently he took them off as soon as he got inside.  I am not enjoying this "I'm too cool for anything" version of Joseph these days!!  Where is my excited kid who loves Halloween??  I miss him.  :-(

5.  Friday afternoon the boys played airsoft with some friends.  Joseph and Brigham aren't getting along very well in their airsoft games...  Not sure what to do about that.  I want airsoft to continue to be something fun that they do together-- it is such a great facilitator for social activities with other kids!

6.  Joseph was sick for two days this past week. Boy is it easier to do school with two boys than three.  Ben was sick as well, so I think the two of them were sharing germs.  Joseph basically slept ALL DAY Wednesday and Thursday.  Of course, when I looked at the history of his computer and saw a couple of 3 AM sessions of World of Tanks, my confidence in the veracity of his illness was shaken a bit.  He's now under some fairly stringent computer regulations and under an enforced vacation from World of Tanks...  Man, it is complicated raising kids, especially pre-teens.

7.  A great deal of time this week was spent on the rezoning attempts on "our" forest.  I found out that the developer that bought the four acres on one side of the road is joining in with the owners of the 3 acres on the other side of the road to rezone from SF-1 (single-family large lot residences) to SF-6 (townhouse and condominium residence district), with the stated intention of building a condominium complex there.  It is impossible for me to adequately express how much I do not want this to happen.  It would be awful for our neighborhood, awful for our home values, awful for traffic around this entire area.  There is no upside.  So I took it upon myself to make sure all our neighbors know what is going on so we can organize and protest the rezoning.  In looking at the Austin zoning principles, I think we will have a pretty good case.  I have no idea if we can trust city council at all, but I guess we'll find out.  I made 100 or so flyers to take around to all the homes in our neighborhood, all the homes in the neighborhoods that back up onto the land, and the houses on the streets that connect onto ours that will be affected by increased traffic.  I have gotten to know some of the neighbors in doing this and if we succeed, it will make our neighborhood even closer.  Our whole neighborhood is pretty much up in arms about it.  It will be an interesting process, but I admit I have been kept up at night in horror, thinking about what would happen if they succeed in rezoning...