Well, another year is over! The Summit of Coin family just enjoyed a wonderful two weeks off together over Christmas and New Years. It was great getting to spend the time with my wife and kids. We got to spend a lot of time with my wife’s family and we took our girls to look at a light show. Our oldest liked the lights, but was probably still a little too young to get anything out of the lights. She actually liked the slide and running better than looking at the lights.

My how things have gotten crazy around the Summit of Coin household. You can probably tell by my lack of posting, but I have had a hard time finding any time to write articles. I am knee deep into basketball season and it has taken a lot of time from my normal writing time. Besides basketball season, we have been busy traveling and going to Christmas parties or birthday celebrations. My normal two to four hours each weekend to work on the website has been dwindled down to nothing.

We didn’t do any traveling in October and both of us are officially back at work. This means we are back to our long commutes, and our daughters are both at daycare everyday. This means that we cherish every moment we get on the weekends. We have enjoyed a (free) pumpkin patch, purchased some pumpkins for $20, painted some pumpkins, carved a few pumpkins and have gone for multiple walks and bike rides. We love our walk and bike ride time. It allows us to enjoy the outdoors and enjoy the little family time that we have.

September came in with a bang for the Summit of Coin family. We spent the first weekend of September in Nebraska. We celebrated my nieces fourth birthday, attempted to go to a football game and spent the rest of weekend reconnecting with family. It was a really fun weekend, even if the Husker game was cancelled due to a thunderstorm that just stalled over Lincoln.

Later in the month, my wife went back to work. This meant that I was able to come home for a couple weeks. This is the second time I have taken paternity leave. The first time I had a six weeks off with my daughter and this time I have two and a half weeks off. I will detail my thoughts and experiences from staying home with the girls, while my wife was at work.

September was a low income month, due to my wife’s maternity leave. By default, low income equals low expenses. So, let’s take a look at the numbers.

August saw the end of our families "mini-retirement." as I returned to work. It has been quite a change, but the school year has gotten off to a great start, and I enjoy my classes. My wife has even brought the girls to the school a couple of times to visit.