Summer Goodness

Here are a few pictures that perfectly illustrate our life yesterday, and our summer in general. 

This piece of cantaloupe. M really wanted to help make dinner so she put herself in charge of cutting the cantaloupe. She did a pretty darn good job for a girl with a butter knife. Even if some of her pieces weren't even or cut all the way through. 

Our Honey Bunny is the sweetest. He knows that we are not scary and will sit and eat grass in the yard while we play outside as long as we aren't too loud and give him plenty of space. It's practically like having a pet since the kids put carrots and lettuce out for him. The kids say "hi Honey Bunny" when we see him and talk to him in soft, gentle voices. 

Ignoring the moppy hair that needs to be cut, this kid found this stick yesterday and said, "A pigeon flew by and left his foot!" (It looks like the feet Mo Willems draws for Pigeon.) 

Life is stereotypically summery here. Fruit, Nature. Swimming. And that's good. I'm not quite ready to give up the sweetness of summer just yet. 

Friday Wrap Up!

Hello! I know you are all totally sick of my awful swimming lessons pictures. (I am too if we are being honest, but these are as good as I can get and I am going to talk about swimming with or without a bad picture so...) Anyway. M can swim! I've been spending most of the lesson times watching C because it's a new level for me to observe. He's doing well. 

But I bopped back over to the little pool and I couldn't find M. Because she was underwater swimming.

I am so proud and she is hecka cute doing it! Yay little girl!

Last night I hosted book club. We read Flying At Night by Rebecca Brown. I have written about it before. But it's a beautifully written book that really looks at the power of change and forgiveness. It's fiction. Rated R for language. It spoke to me though and I enjoyed it.

In it, the character Fred turns 10 and they have a birthday party for him. So that's what I did for book club.

A bakery cake. (Because I love bakery cake the best and that's what they did in the book.) Some chips, salsa, fiesta dip, guacamole, grapes and water. Simple. Some random dinosaur toys, books and a little bit of fun with my diffuser and a banner really drove the point home.

I don't know if you can tell but the diffuser was on so it was "smoking" a bit making the "volcano" especially fun. It was an inspired moment to be sure.

 This morning we went to the library. The great stressor of my life. My kids love books and read a ton so don't think I am denying them literature. But the whole keeping track of a lot of books, keeping them well taken care of and bringing them back just raises my anxiety levels to a 10. Plus staying quiet and not running around when you're there? But we had to get our summer reading packets turned in for the prizes and the credit for the school.

It's always fun to get new books you can keep! (Plus kazoos and sunglasses!) We borrowed Lady and the Tramp from the library for family movie night. Which is a movie we have been meaning to try anyway and I am loving the free of it!

The weather here is AMAZING. With lows in the upper 50s and highs in the 70s it 100% does not matter that our air conditioner is acting up! (Whomp whomp. And heading into August, it just isn't going to happen.) But I am happy to enjoy this glorious weather while it's here! It's so nice to kick the kids to the yard when it's not super hot and you have to make sure they take water breaks and stay cool enough and all that.

I am wishing you a wonderful last weekend of July friends!

Sun and Sand

Well, here we are. It's Thursday.

Swim lessons are going strong. C is loving level 2. It's really hard to watch him, it's the level with the least direct viewing spot. He is in water that's up to his shoulders so that part is fun! He's definitely working hard. I know for a fact he will not pass the level but he really is learning, getting stronger and doing well so I am very proud.

Yesterday, I pulled out the kinetic sand to try something for book club. (Which is tonight.) I had no idea it was going to be the hit it was, but M sat in her chair and played for one and a half hours. I am sure it will never get that playtime traction again, but it was amazing to watch her play and enjoy for that long.

C played with us for a while at the beginning and then again at the end. Kinetic sand is so much fun! If you don't have any, get yourself some. It's fun for all ages (past the eating it stage anyway) and it's so relaxing! Seriously. 

Have a wonderful Thursday!

In My Own Little Corner...

You. Guys.

Look!

I am ridiculously giddy over THAT wall because it is the first time in YEARS I've seen it. I wish I was kidding. I wish that it didn't make us seem so unmotivated. So let's not focus on that and just recognize that out of sight is out of mind, and if your toddler, (C. It was C!) somehow makes a hole in your plaster wall, hiding it behind a bookshelf is not the way to go.

Years. Years. Then we got the bookshelves at Ikea on Black Friday. And so the hole has been hiding behind the Lego bin. And it was always something on the honey-do list that just never seemed as important. Because out of sight, out of mind.

But like two weeks ago Husband plastered over it. This week I moved the Lego to the basement just so we would have to see the plaster spot. And yesterday we finally got the matching paint and painted over the repairs and it just looks like a wall!! A bumpy 98-year-old wall true, but where the hole was is smooth as butter.

If you take a passing glance at the wall... you would never know. We have our Invest in Marriage group coming over this week, and book club too so I am super excited to debut our wall. Which will almost certainly go unnoticed and that is okay. Because I know! And I am going to be happy about it enough for everyone!

Looking Forward to the Weekend

Hello! It's Friday which is awesome.

I am seriously trying not to wig out about how fast this summer is going. Because we are only 33 days away from the first day of school!! Yikes!

Luckily there isn't too much to do beforehand. Our school partners with 1st Day School Supplies (not an ad) and so my kid's school supplies were bought and paid for in May. I know that August is one of our tightest months financially and I thought that not having school supplies to worry about would help us out. That was excellent foresight! Between car registrations, AAA, school fees and then just normal stuff, August will remain a lean month.

During the 4th of July Old Navy had uniform polos for $6 so I bought 6 and figure that's perfect. Then not two weeks later they had them on sale for $3 so... whomp whomp. But it was still a sale so that's good. Uniform pants and shorts have also been purchased so other than a pair of new shoes we are set. And I'm not a fool, I am waiting until right before school starts to commit to a shoe size!!

I've also got my eyes set on school starting because that weekend is the first free weekend I've had since the first weekend of May. (Not complaining because, for the most part, I am really enjoying this gig!) I have two shows to see this weekend, one to review and one just for fun. And guess what? Husband is going with me to BOTH! So far, we are 1/13 of the shows I've seen this summer, and it was when we saw Knuffle Bunny. So he just met us for an early lunch since it was during the day and not far from his work!

But tonight! We are going out! We are seeing Mama Mia. (The stage musical not the new movie though I wouldn't be opposed to that either.) It's at our local dinner theater and so we get dinner included. Which is cheap-y buffet food but whatever. It's FREE! (Because I am reviewing.) Plus it is big spender night at the theater, a special performance reserved for their subscription patrons and we will get a glass of champagne with dinner too. Snazzy!

And tomorrow we are going to see The Glass Menagerie. This one is the "fun" show. We have lots of friends who've worked on it and we are excited to see it.

Two dates in one weekend?! Who do we think we are? Don't worry, we will promptly go right back to not having dates or paying for babysitters real quick.

Next week swim lessons start back up again so that's fun. So there's what's up with us! I hope you've also got a good weekend ahead!

Wednesday!

Happy Wednesday!

On Monday my friend Katie drove in for the day from Chicago. We mostly just hung out at my house. We invited another friend Kristy who just moved back here over too. Kristy's daughter is just a few months younger than M so they had a playdate while we all chatted.

Katie and I went to dinner at a local hole in the wall we frequented in college. (And I still go to occasionally.) Mongolian Grill is the best. There's nothing else quite like it, other Mongolian BBQ places don't quite stack up. So whenever anyone from college comes back we always wind up there. Husband doesn't love it the way I do. So every once in a while he "acts of service" love languages me and gets me some to go.

Then we also got her some Grinder's which is a little cheap-but-so-good Italian place. She took 3 half-gallons of ravioli and some loaves of their garlic bread home. The garlic bread is like crack. I don't know how it can be so good but it is truly just the absolute best.

Katie had a Yeti cooler and now I really want one because it's what the cool kids have!

Monday/Tuesday was Prime Day! I got a $50 gift card for $30, some batteries at a good price and stocked up on a Christmas gift.

My parents got me an Echo Dot for upstairs as an early birthday present. I love my Echo! I am excited to be able to intercom into the kitchen now! And use the Dot as an alarm clock. It came this morning and we've got it all set up. C is listening to an audiobook for a quiet time activity. It's awesome. The Dot doesn't have the same sound quality as the Echo but it is a good deal and I am already in love with it.

Our Blackeyed Susans are in bloom.

C is going to a birthday party this afternoon and he's pretty excited. M and I may go do something fun. Or maybe we won't. Still up in the air.

M made this art of her, in a skirt, jump roping this morning. I think it's pretty cute.

Okay. Have a nice day!

Swimming Lessons Session One

Swimming lessons for this session ended today! The last ten minutes of the session parents can come in and take pictures and watch their skills.

Which for M meant going down the slide. She was so upset and slighted when swimming lessons were over and she was still in line to go down again. She loves the water. The American Red Cross requires kids to be 5-years-old before moving to level 1. (Unless you are at a pool that has preschool levels, ours does not!)

Her rainbow card comment: M is completely unafraid of the water and can do everything expected of someone her age. M always seemed happy to be at lessons and was eager to participate.

C's class was more interesting to watch because I couldn't really see them well during lessons.

From my spot where I could actually see both kids, this was my view. I couldn't hear at all what was going on in the big pool but I could see that he was participating well and having a good time. It was fun to see him show off his pool skills!

He's the underwater blur in this one.

And I am going to have to find a new spot because he passed to Level 2 for next session! I am very proud of my kid. I also don't think I am going to find a spot where I will be able to see him at all but we will see. 

His rainbow card comment was "Great job on your glides." He was proud of himself and since he can read he told me that right away before I even saw the card. 

A Good Weekend and Some Books

Guys, I desperately want to blog. But I don't have anything to report and I didn't even take any pictures lately. 

Friday night I went to a show to review. And then Saturday was the best day ever. After 16 straight days of having somewhere to be or do... Saturday was a nothing day!!

I sat home in comfy clothes, wrote my review, submitted it. Husband made ribs and they were so good!! So so so good. My friend had gone to Tennessee on a trip and was so kind to bring me some of the Dolly Parton's Stampede Soup Mix. (It is so good! I have a copycat recipe but it's time-consuming.) So we had soup with ribs and watermelon and it was the perfect dinner. 

Sunday was also extremely low key, we went to church and then spent some more time cleaning out our basement. We went through a ton of boxes that we haven't touched in years to determine what was actually worthy of being kept. We managed to turn 9 boxes into one large plastic tote bin. I got rid of (nearly) ALL my old school stuff. 

Because I realized at the ripe age of 31 that I absolutely do not need my high school AP Art History Binder anymore. (And other gems like that.) I did keep some grad school stuff because should I go back to get my Ph.D. (A pipe dream at this point in life.) that would actually be relevant. Our recycling bin is FULL. 

Swimming lessons are still going well. I am getting a lot of reading in! But truly nothing worth recommending! 

These are the last ten books I've read. And unless you adore the show Younger like I do, I couldn't even really recommend Marriage Vacation. 

Here are my short reviews! 

The Lying Game: Well written, kind of eerie and just plain sad. 

Confess: Too many coincidences and extremely predictable. 

Arrogant Devil: Exactly what you'd expect from a $3.99 Kindle book. Funny!

The Atomic City Girls: Apparently there's a non-fiction book on the same topic which would be interesting for sure. Otherwise, it's as if an 8th grader wrote this book. With a villian, a hero, a secret, a sad love story and a chapter that tells you what happens to all the characters.

Carnegie's Maid: Not even plausible. Ridiculous. Lot's of unanswered questions.

The Book That Matters Most: Wanted to like this one but couldn't. Predictable ending and bad life choices. 

The Wife Between Us: Unnecessary "twists" and the two authors trying too hard to write the next Gone Girl. 

Clock Dance: Slow and sad read. 

Pachinko: Really well written cautionary tale. 

Marriage Vacation: If Eat, Pray, Love were a beach read this would be it. 

Have you read anything great lately? 

Fun on the 4th

We, like I think most of the country, had a heat advisory for the 4th. It was intense.

And we took exactly zero good pictures. But that's okay because you can check out the mediocre ones. The first chunk of the day honestly we just accomplished house stuff. We cleaned the basement, trimmed our hedges, mowed the lawn. All the fun holiday things. 

We had our Red, White and Blue dinner. Cheeseburgers, corn-on-the-cob, grilled potatoes and lemonade. Followed by angel food cake with blueberries and strawberries.  

Then when it was starting to get dark a bit, we turned on the Macy's Fireworks and had our annual glow stick dance party. It was awesome! 

I wanted to take a cute picture of the kids in their Minnie and Mickey shirts but it just didn't happen. I got loads of awful pictures. But not worth posting. 

It was a quiet, productive holiday and that is exactly what I needed. Time with my family is my favorite way to spend any day!

July is Off!

Hello! It's July! That seems crazy to me!

So let's start with what's up with us? Well, last week we had VBS. It was good! All of our planning paid off and really the week was successful and I feel like the kids had a fun time but also learned about Jesus and some of the saints. Which is the goal you know?

Heck yes, I just screenshot-ed the bulletin. 

This week we started swimming lessons! My parents got the kids swim lessons for Christmas. We were supposed to do what my kids have referred to as "inside swimming lessons" but we aren't actually members at the YMCA. By the time "non-member" sign-ups started, they were always full. But for the same price (with like a $15 difference) the kids could take TWO summer sessions. So that's what we did! Hopefully, M has fun and C learns to float! 

It's a weird year because I have been officially kicked out to behind the fence! M is in Tot Poles and doesn't need a parent. C is in level one. Last year he would have passed level one but for some reason can't get the float down. He has like no body fat so he has density working against him. I don't know. But he has 14 classes left to figure that out this summer!

Today I found a bench where I could see both kids at the same time. (I mean not well and I couldn't hear what was going on in the big pool.) But, I was able to read my book! And then look up and check in on the kids. Pretty nifty. 

I have also been really busy with my job! Which I haven't ever blogged about either. In January, I got a job freelancing with one of our local papers and I am on their theater review team. So I go see shows and then review them. And they pay me. (It's not much but it's something!) 

It's been so nice to flex my academic brain a bit. I am finally using that Master's degree again and it's been good. But busy! Because there are so many shows in the summer at different theaters in the area I have been hopping! From May 31-June 30 I saw 6 shows! Which was time away from my kiddos. (Plus then time at home where I am writing.) 

M has been having a harder time with that. This past weekend I was going to squeeze in an extra show that I wasn't reviewing but really wanted to see and because of the two show weekend before right into VBS where she was at babysitting in the mornings, plus my three nights out that week where I missed bedtime she just had had enough of her extreme lack of mom. So I sent Husband and C to the show and I stayed with my best gal and we played play-doh, watched Sing! and went to Old Navy. 

July should be easier to manage, with just 4 shows and only one per weekend. And I have a great schedule so that will be awesome. (And I should note that Husband is a fantastic dad and does a great job with the kids when I am unable. In all those outings of mine, they've only had a babysitter one time so she's not lacking in parenting, but she is just so used to being with me.) 

Anyway, that's the reasoning behind my unexplained absence throughout June. Life just got so busy!! We are all looking forward to the holiday tomorrow and some time together as a family!