Highlights of September for the Stubbert Family included A LOT of racing for the high schoolers, Sophie’s 14th birthday, too much hot weather while we desperately wished for cooler fall temps, my trip to Rhinebeck, New York (post soon to follow), choosing a contractor to build a patio addition in the backyard (this is supremely exciting for us) and just keeping all of the usual balls in the air IN the air where they belong. Basically the mom hustle with lots of side gigs :). You know the drill, right? Check out our small square memories from September!

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First of all there has been a lot of racing by Simon and Sophie. You have to understand that the bulk of what we do/participate in/talk about/prepare for in this family is RUNNING. Basically everyone in the house runs except for me – I make sure people get to all of the practices/races and are well fueled and prepped. Thank goodness I’m able to hold down the fort. We are in the thick of high school cross-country season and they have been doing great. Simon has been dropping time beautifully (currently his best XC three-mile is a 16:19 and his two-mile is a 10:46); Sophie has been racing both JV and Varsity and continues to race stronger with each race. She loves the whole XC vibe and has made a bunch of new friends. They love the experience of being on a team together and are always cheering each other on. It’s kind of the best.

This is them running at the Ed Sias Invitational. Simon PR’d with a new best two-mile time and came in 10th overall in the Varsity Boys race.

The rest of the above photos are from a variety of races. At this point I have like 200+ race photos on my phone. It’s gotten out of control. We are so darn proud of Simon and Sophie and all that they are accomplishing.

We hosted a pasta feed for the whole team and coaching staff the night before one of our meets. It took awhile to get everything set up but it was SO much fun having 40 teenagers and their appetites and humor and awesomeness in our home for a few hours. They are a great group.

We took some time as a family and spent an afternoon at Muir Beach on Labor Day. Muir has been our longtime favorite beach and this day together was fun and relaxing. Sam and I took Seb on a hike while the others lounged on the beach below. Seb is going to be an amazing trail runner someday!

Our puppy love continues with Bebe. Even better news? It would appear that she is now house trained which might be the greatest blessing of my whole entire life. No exaggeration.

September also was a time of intense frustration as I am trying to get my passport and citizenship stuff figured out for Sadie and Sebastian. They have Social Security cards and US issued birth certificates and we honestly thought we had everything we would need to simply get them passports. BUT. We were wrong. It has been a total uphill battle trying to decipher all of the government jargon and get through all of the apparently necessary paperwork. I felt like I had to put my battle armor back on (I needed it on during multiple phases of our adoption process before, during and after adoption but haven’t had to “wear” it for a long while. Until now…). Anyway. I could talk and write about resolving this issue ad nauseam but I will spare you and simply show you this photo of me right after I left the courthouse with a newly certified Adoption Order in hand:

My sweet Sophie turned 14 in September. She has been talking about being 14 and being in high school for what feels like years and NOW she is. She is an old soul, kind of like me, and is always looking ahead to what is coming up for her. I love her so much and LOVE the joy and excitement and goofiness and motivation she exudes every single day. We really had fun celebrating her and her fourteen-ness.

For Sophie’s birthday dinner she requested Round Table cheese pizza, homemade southern-style potato salad made by our friend, a chocolate silk pie (that was the BEST chocolate pie I have ever had) made by another friend and Diet Pepsi. It was such a weird meal…but the perfect meal for a teenager!

I spent an evening in Sacramento with my friend who is one of the owners of Sparkle Athletic, helping at the expo for the DC Comics Wonder Woman Race Series. It was really fun to see this brand new race series come to life…and of course to see Carrie :).

I cleaned up Sadie’s hair with some Senegalese twist extensions. It is such a balancing act protecting her natural hair from breakage and allowing it to grow (her hair grows very VERY slowly) but also giving her an opportunity to feel long hair swishing around her. Balancing act… By the way, I am the one who does her hair. I have learned everything through the beauty of YouTube and asking African American women for help and advice whenever I can. If you had told me 10 years ago that I would know how to do this kind of hair I would have been incredulous. Thanks to Sadie, I can basically do anything 🙂

Finally, I spent five days with my best friends in Rhinebeck NY and it was everything I needed. I love these women SO much and it did my soul good to spend a few days with them near our old “homeland”.

That’s it for now. I don’t know about you but I am obsessed with fall. I have always been this way. Feeling that first snap of cold in the air kicks up a mix of powerful nostalgia and love and expectation for what is to come. The colors of the leaves, the smells in the air, the sunlight fading faster and the desire to simply cozy up and ENJOY. Fall is the best. September in the Bay Area is usually pretty warm and so we don’t get started with the best parts of fall until mid-October. I can’t wait; see you next month for the October installment of Small Squares. Keep your fingers crossed that all of my favorite fall dreams come true in October!