A busy weekend

Saturday, we had Becky's piano performance. She did so amazing! I am in awe of her. She loves the piano and even though I can't play a note, she's doing amazing. It's all her because I don't play the piano! This makes "teaching" her during the week really hard. I can't sit down and show her what it's supposed to sound like. I can't understand sometimes when she plays it wrong. She really has to do all the work herself. 

The very next day we went to the early 4th of July celebration at a local mega church. It's always a crowded blast. The kids loved it. I was overwhelmed most of the time but we all had a lot of fun. And Esther loved the fireworks at the end! I was afraid she would be afraid, but she was fine.

Anyway, it's Monday now and 8pm and my husband just got off work. What a long day. We had a stay at home recovery day after our busy weekend and I did a lot of cleaning and chores. We also finished reading Becky's free read, All of a Kind Family. I loved the surprise ending and so did the kids. Becky immediately picked out the second book in the series All of a Kind Family Downtown. I can't wait to find out what Ella, Henny, Charlotte, Gertie and Sarah get up to in the next book!

Only four more weeks left for summer break. Counting this week, five. I'm so excited to get back to homeschooling and learning. Today I also did our homeschool paperwork, the notice of intent and proof of progress and mailed it off. I need to find a math curriculum for the kids as we are done with Masterbooks, and I need to check and make sure we don't need a new phonics or handwriting book for each kid. And we need more modeling clay. And I need a new planner. 

This week is a relax week, I have declared. I have some cleaning I need to do, think deep-cleaning, and I want to finish my novel about diamonds. The Eustace Diamonds. It's such a good book! I'm in over the moon with the writing and the depth and Anthony Trollope...it's perfection. Then I want to watch the whole BBC series from the 1970s (it's free on Youtube) and see if it lives up to the book. 

But today we will start with going to sleep early and hopefully being woken up less by my very adorable toddler. 

Paper Modelling: Kitchen Table, Pocket Book, Bed

More lovely Paper Modelling Tutorials for your homeschool. Here we have the Bed, Pocket Book, and Kitchen Table. Enjoy!

Another Pool Day!

Today my beautiful friend Mandy met us at the pool and we had an amazing time. Oh, it was the perfect day for the pool! It was cooler than two days ago when we went--only 85f instead of 99f. Also there was some cloud coverage. It was just perfect to lay in the pool with her and chat and hang with my husband and all the kids. We all had a smashing time and Becky finally tried the waterslide which she loved. 

I don't even know what else we did. Today was such a blur. Brian did the grocery shopping before swimming and Esther Rose took a beautiful 1.5 hour nap after swimming. I read my new book The Eustace Diamonds while she slept. Yes, I finished The Castle of Otranto and honestly, while I loved it halfway through by the end it was reminding me to much of Lady Macbeth. The twists at the end!! It was definitely a novel for an adult. My new book though is entirely consuming and entertaining.

What a day. 

The only picture I got was one of Esther Rose enjoying a chicken sandwich. Hah!

The pool was barely populated today, When we got there we even had it mostly to ourselves for a few minutes! 

Definitely a day to remember. 

Now that I am home and clean and the dinner dishes are put away I think we very much need a break from the pool. I don't know what next week holds but it probably doesn't hold much swimming. 

I also took a break from testing my blood sugar for today which was nice. 

God is so good and daily I try to renew my trust in him. Only four weeks of summer break left!!

Meria

This morning, we relaxed. I tried to sleep in, but alas we room in with my toddler so...I got pummeled in the face and mommy'd around 6:30. That's okay. My husband is so great and he took her down when he got out of the shower and I had a blissful 10 minutes until he had to leave for work...then all three of my lovely children came up to find out what I was doing. 

So I made pancakes. I'm fasting, so I didn't eat them. That's okay. Sometimes it's hard but sometimes it's life. I was starving so I decided to start eating at 10 and stop at 5 but I actually didn't get home until after 5 so I did have dinner at 6. Oh, well. Life, and I tried! 

For lunch we had egg salad wraps! They were good. With bacon and apple slices.

We had such a wonderful day. We rested in the morning and did chores. Becky found her stuffed animal that she lost weeks ago. It was wadded up in the sheets we keep for making forts! Yay! She was heartbroken to lose her favorite bunny snuggle and now it's back again and peace is in our house. 

We had lunch and Esther's nap. My husband had to go into the office and his office is still closed so he had to be escorted around the premises. He said it was down to 70 degrees there which is great! The air conditioners are working slowly and they are turning things back on. I think he goes back to the office full time next week. I'm almost certain nothing this crazy will happen again anytime soon. Right? Hah.

After Esther's nap I did my first ever public school pick up and we went to get Meria (not real name), my friend Kim's foster son. He is in first grade at a local school and let me tell you I felt like an imposter in their driveway picking him up! Gone are the days of kids just running out to their parents cars like in my time---they had two teachers outside with walkie-talkies and you gave the name of the kid you were picking up and out they came! We had to take Meria to visitation with his mom downtown in an hour so first we went to the public library and chilled. It was around 99 degrees so I was so thankful for the library. My kids were thrilled to play on the computers and so was Meria. 

We also checked out some library books. After the library we dropped Meria off and walked around. We ended up getting ice cream downtown and playing at the new park.

We then picked Meria up and saw him hug his mommy for a long time. I know she loves him so much! I don't know their story and I didn't ask questions. I took the kids home to play in the sprinkler for an hour while I finished up dinner! This morning I was suave enough to put a big piece of meat in the slow cooker and set rice on a delay in the instant pot. I hastily made some veggies and we dined in style. The kids played out side for another hour then Kimmy came and picked up Meria, and my kids finished off the night by watching the Mario movie. Kim had three (or two?) teeth operated on! Pray for a quick recovery. 

I'm about to put Esther to bed, Brian is finishing mowing the lawn, and it's about to storm. Perfect night to end a fun day. Tomorrow Brian has off and I can't wait to spend the day with him, even if it's doing chores.

Pool Day

Another hot day. I was texting a friend that if hell had a winter I bet it would feel like today. Hah! It was a beautiful day for swimming. Unfortunately many others thought the same and the pool was packed! You can't really tell from the 4 pictures I managed to snap, but it was completely overflowing with swimmers. It was fine, just hard to keep an eye on my kids! 

I decided to take it easy this morning and I spent some time knitting and crocheting and relaxing. We heated up leftover fried rice for lunch and got ready for the pool. I tried something different this time and put everyone's sunscreen on before we left the house. It worked so well! I didn't have to listen to any whining about how much they wanted to get into the water while I slathered them up. 

It was over 100 today. And we all felt it. The pool was the place to be for sure. I was literally sweating every time I got out! The kids got hamburgers, french fries and watermelon at the pool (they serve free lunches for kids 17 and under) and they also bought a hotdog (Reuben) and each bought an ice cream. Seeing them get excited over treats is so fun for their mama. We don't buy junk food here, but they do get it sometimes when we go out. 

Esther was living her best life. She is a water baby for sure. Reuben was going off the diving board and stayed mostly in the deep end and made a friend! Becky paddled around but stayed near me. The concrete was boiling hot. You had to sprint or get burned feet! 

Reuben jumping off the diving board

It was so fun. I lasted two hours, then we changed and ran errands. I had to pick up a meat order, pick up my milk, and I dropped off some kombucha for a friend. Actually, I had extra bucha with me and I gave some to Arden who sells veggies right next to Restoration Acres, where I was picking up my meat. 

Esther slept on the way home and that was all the nap she got. Pool days are for swimming, not sleeping. I made popcorn and iced tea for a snack and they are all curled up watching Castle in the Sky. I, uh, haven't made any dinner. I think we will do PBJs and bananas and call it a night. That's what pool days are for right? 

Hot Tuesday

It's so hot! Supposed to be a high of 97 here but I'm sure it feels like it's over 100. I'm so thankful for air conditioning! We've had a broken air conditioner through at least 2 summers (never for the whole time, usually only for a few weeks) and I am praying every day ours does not decide to go legs up until at least fall this year.

Today has been such a good day besides the muffin mistake. Oh, and poor Esther Rose did fall off a chair, but she's okay. Being two is hard!

We started the day out by making muffins, only they went wrong somehow and tasted like soap. I think it is these reusable inserts. Anyway, we didn't figure it out until we served them at a friend's tea party. BUT luckily I figured it out first and threw them away before everyone tried one. Still a bit embarrassed about it if I'm honest! Of all the things! 

Regardless of the muffin-soap problem, we had a lovely tea party with my friend Emily and her kids. Anyway, recently I learned that there are more rabbit books about Peter and Benjamin bunny, and I had no idea! Emily read one at the party and then her son read a different one that I had never heard of! There is one about Benjamin who is married and has a slew of kids that almost get bagged by Mr. McGregor! And apparently there are more! I need them all for Esther, Peter Rabbit is her favorite book.  

After tea we went straight to Becky's piano lesson. It's her last lesson before the recital on Saturday! She's picking out her dress and we need to clean her shoes. 

Then we went home to lunch. Brian made curry and forgot to tell me he put honey in it, which as a diabetic I avoid. My blood sugar was 145 an hour after eating which isn't terrible but I wish he had let me know before I went back for seconds.   

Reuben's turning 10 soon so we planned a little birthday party for him and invited all his favorite people. I hope some can come! Summers are busy travel times for many families. But I'm so excited. We are doing a home party and I'm going to make lunch and he just wants to hang with his friends. I hope he has an excellent birthday. 10 is so big! He's been reading this summer and I love it. That was my favorite summer activity. His is swimming! He really wants a cotton candy machine for his birthday. This health-loving mama isn't sure if he will get one. 

We are having leftover fried rice for dinner. 

Grandma came over after Esther's nap and entertained the kids for a hour while I did laundry, cleaned the living/kitchen room, and wrote this post. I'm so happy she is able to come and hang and give me a break sometimes. I'm beyond grateful.

Brian's work office is still closed due to no air conditioning. I'm elated to having him working from home, seeing him for lunch is so fun. It feels special every day to look forward to him popping in and out to grab tea or use the bathroom and getting a 45 minute chunk with him for lunch is special. I know he has to go back whenever they fix his office, but I'm going to enjoy it while I can!

Summer Break Week 7, Day 1

Finally time to slow down after the crazy camp weeks! I highly doubt we will do any camps next year. 

Anyway, I finished Rachel Ray by Anthony Trollope. It was such a good lighthearted romance novel! Not like romance novels of today, I'm talking akin to Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice. But actually the heroine (Rachel) reminds me mostly of Fanny Price from Mansfield Park, well, without much of Fanny's wit. Rachel is very timid. 

Rachel Ray is still a good novel and I enjoyed it. I kept it for the kids to read in high school but I don't think I will read it again.

Esther is napping by herself again! Today she did a short 45 minute nap by herself on the couch, and then she spent another 45 minutes contact napping with me. I'll take it. I'm so glad!! The 2 hour contact nap was literally sapping my energy. 

Anyway, it gave me time to read some of my new novel, The Castle of Otranto. First impressions: I'm so glad it isn't as long as The Mysteries of Udolpho because I stopped halfway through that book and I am not sure if I will ever pick it back up. It's too long. Maybe I should buy an abridged version. Anyway, I like the writing style of The Castle of Otranto. And I should finish it soon! 

I'm back to the gym today and my blood sugar is doing better, thank goodness. It was 110 one hour after eating lunch today. We had a salad (from fresh market) and ground sausage patties I made, roasted veggies and rice. I'm shocked! That's such a good number! I probably ruined it by having cake awhile later but I didn't check and what I don't see won't hurt me, right? Uh, I bet it's fine. It was a really tiny slice of cake.

We went to the park at 8am this morning to beat the heat--it's going to be 96 today and honestly we stay inside if it is above 90. It's just too hot. After an hour at the park it was already pushing late 80s so we ran to fresh market to grab a cake for tea time and also picked up some flowers and the salad. And I read books to the kids when we got home. It's been so long since I have had time to sit down and read to them it was so nice. Becky picked two Dr. Seuss books and Reuben only wanted me to read one book about the trinity and apples, called 3 in 1, A Picture Book About God.  Then I read All of a Kind Family to them.

It's been a nice day. I even put chili in the crock pot for dinner.

I'm working on beating the 2pm slump too. So, today we did the tea party after lunch when Esther was doing her couch nap, and then we did a drawing prompt from Raising Little Shoots. I love their nature prompts, they have a book with one for every day and that's what we use. I got mine bound by the Homeschool Printing company when I started homeschooling 5 years ago and I'm still using it today.

Can you believe I've been homeschooling 5 years? I need more chocolate. And applause. Wow.

Well, the nature prompt only took me to 2:25 so now I need more ideas. Thinking of doing a family game and more read aloud time. Trying to avoid screens for the rest of summer! Today the kids are only getting an hour of screen time and they used it to watch HopeScope on YouTube. I can't stand her videos. But my kids love them. To me it is either unnecessary clutter, followed by a lot of sugar. No issue with Hope personally, just her style of videos are not my jam. But they are definitely someone's niche because she easily gets 1-2 million views per video. Perhaps I should dye my hair pink and eat viral ticktock candy? No, I'd die, lol.

I also have chores, laundry and cleaning and many other things to work on today...including the last arm of my rainbow sweater! Maybe I can get a good chunk of that knitted this afternoon.

And that was my Monday thus far. Maybe I'll have time to add some this evening about the rest of our day when Daddy gets home. 

As of now, the kids are being extra loud so I need to go check on what they are doing...there is too much happy squealing going on for sure! 

Paper Sloyd: Wall Pocket, Picture Frame, Ribbon Box

I'm all caught up posting my old paper sloyd/modelling tutorials to the blog! It feels good. I've started filming more--here are more from year 2--the wall pocket, frame and ribbon box! Only one more sloyd creation to go, and I'll be all done with year two. Then to finish up the modelling videos! Onwards and upwards!

A bunch of complaining

The tail end of week 6 was really hard. We all got over the cold, whatever it was, but I have been dealing with some high blood sugar and it's very discouraging. Also my neck seized up causing me a day of mild pain, a day of severe pain, and today--another day of mild pain. Juggling all my heath issues is a full time job. 

I have to be so disciplined with when I eat and checking my blood sugar and making sure to take supplements and dry brush and all the other things I do. It's quite a lot. I'm praying for healing and peace and for God to be my comfort.

Everyone has stuffy noses from the cold--and we didn't swim twice this week, only once, but that's okay. Next week Becky has a piano performance! It will be so nice to see her play. 

I'm tired and worn out. Today we got chipotle's and my blood sugar was a little under 200 a hour after. I was quite discouraged. I went for a walk even in the heat. Exercising helps a little. And I took two homeopathic remedies! 20 minutes later my glucose was 144, which is less dire though still high. I'm doing intermittent fasting from 12-7pm. During that time I try only to have two meals so I potentially only have to check my blood sugar twice, but when it's high I check it more.

I am going to head out to see my naturalpath and get some advice. I don't want to go keto again. 

Esther hasn't been napping or sleeping well this week unless it's a contact nap which I am so over since she's two and we've been contacting napping forever....there was about two months where I got her to lay down but she quit and I can't figure out how to get her to sleep on her own. I'm frustrated, she's tired, everything is hard. It's a season.

In the picture above, it was around 4pm and she was just so tired she fell asleep for about an hour. Then was up until 10...which is not ideal. 

It's been a long season of sleeplessness in different ways for me, and I hope it's over soon. I need sleep, and so does she.

God is still good and we will all get through it. I believe I can heal from my type two diabetes, I just need to figure out how.

I've officially lost my trust in camps.

Last year Becky loved her Ballet camp but this year she's come home crying every day! It's been a real struggle. The class is triple the size of last year, easily. And she seems shocked by what she sees there. She said yesterday they played a song that was all about how girls are better than boys and there are two boys in her class, and she felt so awkward about it. She didn't know the name of the song so I am not sure exactly what one it was--I think it might have been girls run the world? I was loathe to just start playing songs for the sake of seeing which one it was...

The last two days have been a blur. Tuesday had piano class and I picked up a locker for our house from a friend that she was giving away for free...I love it. We need more storage, but I'm just not sure where to put our trash can--that's where it used to be. I had some debilitating fatigue on Tuesday as well. I don't know why--I was beyond tired. Esther has been waking up a lot at night but I'm used to that. This was another level of tired with anxiety to boot. Maybe I drank too much coffee or maybe my blood sugar was high, I'll have to remember to check if it happens again...

I love the locker!!

Something crazy also happened at my husband's work. I think I briefly mentioned he was working from home because the air conditioner is broken at his office and it's been getting up to 140f inside so they won't let people in--but something else happened that leaves me wondering if there are going to be some lawsuits filed. Anyway, they were installing a new air conditioner via a crane--and the building was thankfully empty because of safety and the crane dropped/or malfunctioned and the air con fell through the roof and into the forth floor where they have a kitchen, which is just a short walk away from where my husbands cubical is. It's like something out of a sitcom. I am so sure that the CEO of this particular building is not happy. I bet the company delivering the air conditioner is also not happy. I wonder if whoever was operating that crane still has a job.

It's been a melodrama. Anyway, both the air con and the hole in the ceiling have to be fixed before my husband and maybe 300 other people (?) [I have no idea actually how many people work at this office] can go back to work. And while he can work from home for the most part, the company he works for is losing thousands of dollars a day because most of the equipment and people he and others need to work with cannot be met with or moved. I'm sure many others got surprise holidays since you can't really do much HR work or Janitorial work from home, or work in the cafeteria that feeds the employees if there are no employees. 

the crane at my husband's work

It's just crazy. I keep asking him for updates but he doesn't have any. 

And I love him being home. It's a blessing to have him there for lunch and the kids love running out once a day to get hugs. I wish he could work from home all the time! But alas, it is not to be.

I haven't even gotten to Wednesday yet. Well, Wednesday Becky went to camp and I cleaned stuff and read more of Elizabeth and her German Garden, and boy do I have questions. I don't think Elizabeth and I would be friends. I also think she and her husband need some marriage counseling, but I think if I suggested it to her she would laugh in my face. The man of wrath, indeed. 

She says that it's indecent for women to garden!! I'm glad I didn't live 100 years ago. I love gardening. I guess woman of fortune did not usually dig in the dirt.

I wonder why Elizabeth loves gardens. The book doesn't really say. I think it's because she's avoiding all the stuff in her life she should be dealing with, like husbands and servants and her three daughters...

Anyway, I'm almost done with the book and it's not my favorite. It's well written but I find Elizabeth to be full of herself and a bit of a cynic. Maybe that's expected. 

Has anyone else read it?

Becky came home and I made sausage and roasted veggies and muffins for lunch. The kids watched a movie and I played yarn chicken and lost, so I'll have to figure that out...and then we went to piano group class where Becky started developing a sore throat and fast forward to dinner, where I took leftovers from the fridge and stir-fried them in buttter--Esther is getting sick too! It's a gnarly sore throat so I dosed with four different types of homeopathic remedies and gave Becky cough drops and tea (Esther is too little for cough drops yet) and well, that was the evening. We are in the cusp of a new illness and either it will get better tomorrow or it won't, and I'm glad I have frozen soup in the deep freezer. Sometimes I don't, and then we really don't know what to do.

Brian has tomorrow off for the holiday that I still don't quite understand what it stands for--he tells me and I keep forgetting, so I am so glad we might have two adults to care for the sick babies. Unless one of us gets it overnight. Then one adult (if one is well) will have an extra person to care for, which is never fun.

Being sick with small kids is on my list of top 10 least favorite life things. I think it's at number 2. It would be right under chronic pain, and right above car wrecks, childbirth, and green beans, in that order.

I really don't like green beans. 

Wish me luck and send prayers for a well household. And pray Becky will drink her tea, she is notoriously fickle at accepting sickbed care. I have one kid who does everything I say with religious regularity when it comes to medicine administration and strangely enough this kid always stays sick longer. And then I have Becky who fights me on everything but usually gets better in 24 hours. I don't understand it either. 

(Okay I do understand it; Reuben has chronic health issues and Becky doesn't....but still, poor Reuben who always follows all the doctors instructions and has to be sick for a week, and Becky who gets well and still eats ice cream...sometimes the world isn't fair, at least that's what Reuben says....we are working on healing him. God is good)

Oh, there's also Esther, who just wants to be held when she's sick. That definitely isn't helpful either.

I think I feel a tickle in my throat. I'm going to bed.

Sunflower Granny Square

This tutorial is for an easy sunflower granny square! It's a simple square I plan to turn into a cardigan when I make enough of them.

Written Pattern (made in rounds) I am using DK weight yarn and a 4.0mm crochet hook. 

R1: Using magic loop, ch 2. Do 11 Dc into the loop. Counts as 12 sts. Sl st and ch 1, break yarn.

R2: In between each DC, do 3DCtog (like a bobble st) ch 1. sl st and break yarn.

R3: In each ch 1, do 4 Dc.  sl st to first DC, do not break yarn

R4: 4 FPDC TOG, ch 4 in each petal around, sl st and ch1, break yarn

R5: working in the ch 4 spaces (3dc, ch 2, 3dc) (3hdc) (3hdc) around. end on a hdc, sl st to the nearest ch2 space

R6: (3dc, ch3, 3dc) (3dc) (3dc) (3dc) around. sl st, ch 1, break yarn. 

Hope you enjoy this tutorial!

Maybe they will eat it tomorrow

Sometimes as a mom I don't know who I am trying to be. It's like I'm just someone who makes meals or does laundry or watches 20-second reels and not a living breathing person. So much of motherhood is being a machine, because things need to be done...but obviously no human is a machine. Perhaps this is part of why we are all tired and depressed. Or maybe it's the reels. 20/30/40 second videos should be illegal. I can watch 10 of them and not remember anything I just saw. Seriously nothing good, or bad, is gained from a 30 second video. I don't know why I watch them. I try not too, but sometimes when I am particularly tired and bored suddenly I've watched 324 and my kids are melting down. 

Remembering to honor and cherish and care for the person inside myself is what I am trying to do, and that can't be done with Youtube or television or a motherhood podcast. Rest is so important. The mysterious soul that enlivens the body, the woman the mother was before she became that all-encompassing persona, needs to live. And living does include washing dishes, but also includes enjoying the grass and watching a sunset. 

Being a mother is amazing. But I'll be something after my kids grow up too. 

Anyway, I started reading Elizabeth and Her German Garden today but I only got three pages in because there was a lot going on. Just as I put my knitting down and picked up the book somehow Esther got kicked in the face by Becky and (she's fine) there was boo-boos to take care of and stress to calm down from and I never returned to my book. 

Today was crazy. I didn't know if I could do it all. We had bagels for breakfast and one kid just left theirs on a plate in the kitchen for hours...I finally threw it away around 3pm. Reuben had a dental appointment and he gets his arch expander out in October, which is a long way away but at least we have a date. Becky went to a little day camp for ballet but she said she missed me and doesn't want to do it next year...that's okay. There were a lot of kids there when I dropped her off. Last year there was about 1/3 as many and she had a blast! I think they overbooked this camp a bit and it made it too chaotic for my budding introvert who was expecting something different. Also, the camp was called Squish-mallow Ballet Camp and...Daddy and her designed a cape for her pineapple squish-mallow that she wanted to bring with her, which was so adorable. She spent all evening working on it with Daddy's help yesterday and was so excited to bring it to camp on Monday. 

If you've met Becky, you know she loves crafts. She's happiest painting or drawing or designing something and she loves to embroider too! So, the cape--she embodied "PINE" the back and I am just in awe of her! Anyway she said at camp she was made to dance 'hip-hop' and she wasn't allowed to bring her squishy mallow in to the dance room, which made her sad. Who has a camp named squish mallow ballet camp and doesn't let the squish mallow come? 

In unrelated news, I hate the word(s?) squish mallow. Why? Call it what it is, a pillow. Or a stuffed animal without arms/legs because that makes it easier, and definitely cheaper, to sew. 

Anyway, we wanted to go swimming today but it was overcast in the mid-70s, so I told the kids no at lunch. We had pbjs for lunch with grapes, leftover meatballs from yesterday, and pickles and hard boiled eggs. It was kind of a what's in the fridge lunch...the kids were bummed but they understood. I texted the three friends who had said they might be able to meet up but as I texted the last one she said she was still going, so I was like, why not? We'll still go. Maybe the pool will be empty and we'll have a blast even in the cold.

So we went. As I pulled up, a busload of children from a local summer camp was unloading. So much for the pool by ourselves, I thought. It's me, my friend, and 30 six year olds...but I mean, I can't be mad. It's a public pool and I don't own it. But I just had to laugh at myself and my very unrealistic expectations. 

It was cold, but we acclimated....and the kids had so much fun. I did too! We stayed for an hour and a half but I wanted to get home for Esther's nap, which she didn't end up taking...but I tried. Maybe she is done with naps. I can't tell. 

Since she wasn't asleep I let her watch bluey for awhile so I could knit and make dinner. The older two were playing Minecraft. 

I made chicken, rice and roasted veggies and... if you guessed that one of my children didn't eat my delicious healthily prepared food again, you'd be right. It was a different child from the one who abandoned breakfast. 

I saved it though. Maybe they will eat it tomorrow. Or I will. Food is too expensive to waste.

Then we had the adventure of Esther being kicked in the face that I mentioned above and the crazy roulette wheel of bedtime...I won't say bedtime routine. What we have is not a routine. We are all too tired for routines by 8pm. But now everyone is in bed and I think everyone, for now, is asleep but for me. I'm up realizing that I did not take a single picture on my phone today, so I don't have a picture for today's post unless I find one from a previous day...

Here's one from yesterday of everyone getting ready for bed and being happy, which generally we are unless someones hungry, too close to someone else, touching another persons toy, or suddenly realizing they have an hour and nothing to do with it. 

I'm being funny, but really. Motherhood is amazing, I am blessed, and I need more chocolate. 

Tonight I'll settle for this rose and mushroom tea. I know, it doesn't sound like it goes together, but it does. Trust me.

And that was summer break day 2, Week 6. 

Noses and Doors

This Sunday the regular nursery worker was sick, so I worked in the nursery again with Becky as my helper. I usually do the first Sundays of the month, so this was my second time in the nursery back to back! I decided to be really chill about it. I brought my phone and played piano music for most of the hour, and we did coloring first and then read books and then played restaurant. It was so fun! Right before pick up time we cleaned up and played I-Spy. I'm definitely going to try some of these ideas next month when I am scheduled for nursery again. I never thought about applying a routine to my nursery rotation, but it worked great. Kids love routine, why didn't I think of this before? 

Esther Rose was the only baby in the nursery so that made things extra easy. Besides her, we had a sibling set of 4 and a 6 year old boys and a sibling set of 7 and 4 year old girls, plus Becky (7) and Esther (2) who are obviously siblings too. Everything went smooth. I'm glad I was able to help out, and be the community my church needed this Sunday. So many times I am to busy or burnt out to help much!

I don't know why but everything went downhill from there after we went home from church. Reuben broke his nose on the trampoline, Esther got her fingers closed in a door, and Becky had a few meltdowns to boot. Somehow we made it through lunch and Esther's nap and wow, I'm frazzled. The kids had cereal for breakfast which we hardly ever do but Brian bought some so...I guess we are a cereal family, at least this week. We had meatballs, sourdough bread and broccoli soup for lunch. For dinner we had spaghetti with einkorn noodles. 

Reuben's nose. It's so awful! It looks so painful, swollen and tender and he says it hurts a lot. I really think it's broken but we didn't have a X-ray to confirm. The doctor said there was nothing they really do for broken noses that aren't misaligned so...we are giving him arnica and a few other homeopathic meds and applying salve and clay. I am so frustrated because we are working so hard on getting Reuben to breathe through his nose that this is a clear setback. It's okay. God knows. He is with Reuben and he has a plan. No one likes to see their kids in pain though. Please pray he heals fast and there are no lingering complications.  

Esther's finger is fine. Becky is okay too. Being seven is hard and she's still learning to control her emotions. 

I need some chocolate and a few minutes in the closet to get out of flight or fight mode. Kids, life and all the above....what a day.

I hope Brian had a great father's day regardless of all the crazy injuries. Becky made him a card and I tried to make his favorite foods. He said he didn't know what he wanted, so I guessed. He loves meatballs and spaghetti, and thus that's what I made! We love you Brian and all you do for us.

We ended the day with chores, knitting, and trying to play a family game. It always ends up that someone doesn't want to play and that kinda ruins it for the rest of us, somehow. It's hard to find a game everyone likes. And a game that doesn't have a lot of pieces because...toddler.

I can't believe summer is halfway over after this week. I'm ready. I'm not ready! Nothing is clean. Do I care?

I just want to lay in the sun and read more books to my kids.

I hope no one breaks anything else for the rest of the year.

Paper Modelling: Bookmark, Matchbox

Two Paper Modelling tutorials today! This is the bookmark and the matchbox. Enjoy! 

Summer Break Week 5

This week was Reuben's camp week! He went to Randolph College Tech Cats Kid's Coding Camp. He enjoyed camp so much! There was one problem we had to deal with: a kid who cussed non stop and wouldn't stop talking, loudly, about sex. According to Reuben he was a 9 year old going into 4th grade, so hopefully he did not actually know anything about sex? To me it sounded like this kid was watching, or had been shown pornography, which is so sad. Brian and I didn't know if we should talk to the staff, and Reuben really didn't want us to create any problems so we decided to just pray about it and give him some tools to deal with it himself the next day.

The second day of camp this kid ended up being sent home because he wasn't obeying, and then he was sick the rest of the camp, which was a relief. I'm praying for him and his family. Sounds like he might have a rough home life. 

But poor Reuben heard some really detailed descriptions about a few sexual acts that honesty he didn't need to know about until he was an adult! I guess it's just the world we live in, but my heart was grieved. 

As to what Reuben did at camp: they did scratch, python and Minecraft coding, went rock climbing, ate ice cream, did some tug of war outside and listened to some local engineers and scientists give short talks. They were also coding little cars to run mazes and complete tasks. I bet he did a million other things too, but as his mother I only get to hear bits and bobs of his day's narration. He had fun. I missed him. 

picking Reuben up from camp...

Becky, Esther and I had the best girls week. I tried to do something special each day before lunch. Monday we went out for coffee, grocery shopped and went to two thrift stores! Tuesday we got bubble tea and went to the park. Wednesday we picked up our raw milk, went to the library and got bubble tea again! Thursday we went downtown, walked, shopped and ate chocolate brownies and had hot chocolate and finished up the day by visiting a friend. Friday we did our regular swim day. It was a special time even though we really missed Reuben. In the afternoons we played a lot outside on the slip and slide, read books together and did chores. 

Monday and Tuesday Esther refused to nap. Wednesday and Thursday we did contact naps since I really needed her to sleep, and it was hard to go back when she had been laying down in her own bed for naps for weeks! I wanted to clean things and knit and crochet and she wanted to use me as a pillow. I had to let it go and be a pillow.

I've been having a hard week. My house feels cluttered and everything was a little overwhelming with all the driving to drop Reuben off and pick him up at specific times! I don't know how moms do this weekly! Chores have not been getting done on time and camp week is just abnormal. That's okay. I only made it to the gym once this week and that is bothering me too. I don't like to feel behind. Oh, well, I'll try again next week! The kids had a fun week and we got a lot done outside of the house. Here is to next week being more productive inside the house!

I'm still dealing with mourning the loneliness of motherhood and trying to love my past self who desperately needed some help when I had two toddlers and didn't have anyone to help. A lady at my church is due with her fourth and it's so exciting, but she has a mother in law who helps once a week and a neighbor who watches all three of her kids once a week. I had a mother in law who yelled at me for breastfeeding and didn't even bring me a meal. And no neighbors who ever helped but only got us in trouble for having a car parked on our property that was out of inspection (apparently you have to have a car cover for it--why couldn't they just tell us rather than sending the government? sheeesh) and neighbors who complained about our grass never being mowed. It makes me feel sad for myself who had to do that all alone, I wish I had help like that when I needed it with two small toddlers! 

I'm so glad I am in a better space now! I don't need childcare anymore, but I hope I can deal with the negative emotions that keep coming up and move on. It's not jealously. It's like I see them thriving but behind that picture I see myself crying and alone and wish I hadn't had to go through that. It's like I wish I could go back and give myself a hug and tell myself it's going to be okay. Well, it wasn't okay. And maybe that is what I need to realize.

But often when I see someone in a good headspace with babies/toddlers I have to grieve for myself all over again. 

Big deep breaths. I'm okay. I survived. God was with me, and that will have to be enough, until he can comfort me in heaven.

Brian also was able to work from home part of this week since the air conditioner was broken at his office! Hopefully it will be fixed next week. It was nice to see him for lunch, we all miss him terribly due to him working such long hours for us. 

Next week is the halfway week in our summer vacation!!

Summer Break Week 4 Day 6 and 7

Saturday we ran to the farmers market and I helped a church friend move which was good exercise. Brian mowed the lawn and did the grocery shopping. So much necessary chores going on.

I've had a bit of a sweet tooth recently and ate a donut after lunch! It was so delicious. I plan to have at least one or two more donuts this summer! 

I have just been feeling down lately and stressed over Reuben's summer camp. He leaves tomorrow for summer camp all week and I will miss him! It's not an overnight camp, but a day camp...He's so excited and I know he will have a blast! It will be weird to be without him... I can't wait to hear how much fun he has. He's growing up so quickly and he reaches my shoulder now! In two or three years I think he will be as tall as me. He is one shoe size away from being able to wear my shoes! 

Becky and Esther and I have a lot of fun things planned for just us girls. I'm going to keep things low key and relaxed.

Sunday, today--we went to church and I was tired. I did chores. Really, so exciting. Um, I'm going to crochet some. 

We spent the afternoon watching the kids have a blast on their slip and slide. 

I need another vacation. But since that isn't in the cards for us, I think I'll go have another donut instead. 

Behold, Our New Dishwasher! (Week 4, Day 5)

Let's just throw day 5 in the trash can, shall we? Either I tried to do too much, or everyone slept wrong, but it was a struggle. I made homemade buttermilk biscuits for breakfast and they were the highlight of the morning. At 10 we did go swimming, but one of my children cried almost all day before that. Then another one started up. It was like they took turns. My sanity was severely taxed. 

By lunch I was just done. We had leftover meatballs for lunch with homemade mac and cheese. I put the baby down for a nap and after a few chores, thought to myself, oh, now I can sit down and finally read some of my book. I kid you not, the last few times I have sat down to read I have only been able to read a few pages to maybe a chapter before getting interrupted by someone. Yesterday it was my husband who had the audacity to come home on time. Which was 5:30pm. It only happens 2-3 times a year because he is an electrical and computer engineer and usually works 1-3 hours overtime daily. Then there are the kids. I won't count the interruptions of the kids because I don't have enough fingers. We are working on asking mama to pause her reading before blurting out questions because I need a second to pull myself out of the 1700s and into the modern age before settling disputes and handling snacks. It causes me severe whiplash to hear constantly "Where is my _______? I need help with ________." Or my favorite, "I'm hungry can I have a snack?" Esther will literally come up to me and bang on me and go MOMMY MOMMY MOMMY until I give her attention. Then she smiles the biggest smile and shows me a book or a block or asks to nurse. Which is adorable, but also distracting. 

But there I was. Esther was sleeping. My older kids were having screen time. The world was my oyster! Uninterrupted reading, here I come!

I literally looked at the clock and it was hours before my husband was expected home. I remember thinking oh, now I can really relax!

I curled up on the couch and had my book and made myself a little bowl of ice cream when...my husband walked through the door. It was 2:30pm.

I stared at him in utter disbelief. God does not want me to read this book. Or relax. What was going on?

"I'm not fired," He said. (Always my first question when he gets home early, which has happened about 3-4 times since I've known him.) "I decided to take a half day to spend time with you all." 

Ya'll, I almost cried! Not from happiness, but from vexation. I love him coming home on time but he immediately wanted me to put down my book and give him my undivided attention and ALL I WANTED TO DO WAS READ. I got mad. I said, I just want to read my book! And he got upset because here he was all ready to spend time with me. It was not my best moment. Anyway we ended up compromising and he went out and played video games for an hour in his home office with Reuben and I read my book and felt like scum. Even my ice cream tasted like disappointment. 

Then, when Esther woke up we all spent time together while I still felt like I had ruined his gift...and then I got tired and grouchy and was sharp with the kids and had to apologize and it was just not the best day. I asked my husband to please not to surprise me with random days off but to text me in advance so I can pivot my plans for the day. He said he would try. Anyway it's fine now. By that I mean I am going to try to think about what is best for our family not about what I want in a given moment. But really, what a crazy day it was.

I'm not the best with surprises.

At least our new dishwasher is amazing, and runs so quiet I forget it's on and try to open it.

It just goes to show you that even when you have the best laid plans God's plans might be different and learning to love interruptions should be the 11th commandment.  

Paper Sloyd: Envelope

Just one today, the paper sloyd envelope tutorial. Enjoy! 

Pool Day (Summer Break Week 4, Day 4)

Today I woke up knowing we had a busy day. We had a planned nature group outing from 10-11:30 to walk on the Liberty University trails and then I had scheduled a lunch with my new friend Chelsea at Cava right after at 12:30. For some reason I also woke up feeling like I had been hit by a bus--life sometimes gives you lemons and those lemons means even when you should be sleeping your body decides not to, without your permission. Somehow even though I was in bed all night, I didn't sleep well and felt terrible this morning. Not terrible like sick, terrible like I needed eight more hours of sleep and a hot toddy. It was a struggle to get up and get dressed. The children were asking me things and I wasn't hearing them, much less responding. We had to leave in an hour in a half and I was still in messy-bun-pj mode and no one had been served breakfast.

Somehow I made some tea, scarfed it down, had a shower and dressed, packed for nature group and--

and then a friend I hadn't seen in a long time--her name is Morgan--invited me to a pool she is a member of, and I said yes. I miss her and her girls so much! Becky loves her girls, Amethyst and Jovie, and we hadn't seen them since December. And the pool! My kids love the pool. I told them I want to swim as much as possible this summer, so how could I say no? She also invited us right at Esther's nap time, from 1-4. But how could I let a little thing like a nap get in the way of fun? 

Well, we couldn't make it until 1:40 due to lunch with my friend, but I decided to go. Why not? I'm already tired. A day out sounds fun! The kids were thrilled--especially when she said they served snacks. They packed their swim stuff and so did I, and off we went (with bagels) to nature group. 

Nature group was so fun. If you can call walking through a very rocky and root-infested path while baby-wearing a 30 pound toddler fun. Well, it was fun, and hard work. I talked to other moms! I felt so whole after. That's one reason I love mom's group. Just being in community and taking about everything under the sun while watching our lovely kids run around in the trees. Perfection. 

It went so well. Then we went out to Cava afterwards! Chelsea ran late so we were only able to sit with her for 15 minutes but it was still awesome. She's due to have a baby in 2-3 months and I cannot be more excited. It's her first! 

We ran to swimming, and on the way Esther Rose fell asleep. I was so glad. She was going to get her nap! She's been my only baby who transfers well to the stroller. I transferred her right in and she continued snoozing. Win! And the pool was so much cheaper than the other one we have been going to! I was thrilled, my wallet was thrilled, and Becky and Reuben were thrilled. They immediately became less thrilled when I slathered them in non-nano sunscreen, but that is that--and what child likes sunscreen--I want them to have a chance against skin cancer so sunscreen it is. 

The pool is awesome. It has a diving board and we will for so sure be back! But the pool is unheated so it did take a few deep breaths to get used too! 

Anyway Esther Rose woke up about 15 minutes later and started crying so I put her in the pool quickly. She had fun, after we got over the cold water! She ate two ice pops, one orange and one purple. We don't do much food coloring in our family so it will be interesting to see how she reacts. She swam and clung to her mama who was also cold, but we all had a blast. It was so much fun to catch up with Morgan! I loved it. And her. Hope to see her this summer a lot!

We came home, showered, I did a bit of chores--popped on a movie and made popcorn for the kids--and peanut butter and jelly for dinner since Mama was tired and it was a Day. They watched Frozen. 

Can you believe I didn't take a single swimming photo? I will have to next time. Reuben jumping from the diving board. Becky practicing her swim. All the frolicking and fun! Ice cream from the little shop. So many good memories for summer. Esther trying to eat a freezy pop. I could go on and on!

If you can imagine it the forecast for next week is worse! Another day of rain added making 9 days rain forecasted in a row! Many people are going to have a very wet basement next week. We probably will not swim next week. A lot of inside time. But so much fun because we all love each other!

This week has been so very good and healing. It is good to say yes to things when I can! It's also good to say no. We were invited blueberry picking yesterday and I said no because it was an hour away, and also Reuben is allergic to blueberries. Life is good. I am content. God is good. Summer is going so well. Thank you God!

I'm going to slip into bed and read more of The Mysteries of Udolpho. Emily's aunt has earned my smoldering dislike.

Brian is installing our new dishwasher as I write this post. Yay!

Summer Week 4, Day 3

Brian woke up with a migraine today and still went to work, poor Brian. He said it was a little better at lunch which for him means it's still the same but he wants to be positive. Or, sometimes that he doesn't want me to worry. 

We had such a good day today. I started with breakfast of oatmeal with cranberries and coconut sugar which two of my children liked and one didn't. The one that didn't made himself eggs. I did the dishes, showered, dressed, and read books again. Reuben picked The Cookie Tree and Miss Twiggley's Tree and Becky picked The Curious Fish and The Land of Long Ago. After we read books my mom came over which was awesome and she played with the kids while I knitted for half an hour and watched YouTube videos. I felt so rested. Afterwards I hung out downstairs while the kids played some board games with her and I heated up fried rice leftovers for lunch.

I then put the baby to nap and set up the slip'n'slide for the older two while my mom went home. It was pleasant to have the house to myself for another half an hour though I didn't do much. It was a lazy sort of day. I did a bit of cleaning and read another chapter of The Mysteries of Udolpho. It's such a huge book I think it might take a month to finish! And in true gothic fashion it's already seeped in mysteries. What woman was St. Aubert looking at in his bedchamber and weeping over? What are the papers hidden under the floor that he tells Emily to burn? I'm dying to figure it all out. But its so long...I am tired of the paragraphs and paragraphs about the foggy woods and hawthorn trees! Ann didn't write for the modern audience with our 20-second video-short attention spans... But I'm going to keep going. I feel it in me that this book is going to be good if I give it a chance. It was one of the most popular novels of the time and I'm sure for good reason! But girl, why so many pages? Oh yeah, I think they were paid by the word back then. If you read Dickens you can totally see that he, at least, was paid by the word. And he knew how to milk it.

Around 2 the baby woke up and we nursed again and then I premade some meatballs for dinner. Even though it was 85f or something close to that we all went to the park and played for half an hour and then spent another half hour in the library before picking up our raw milk and heading home. I forgot to bring money to buy floss. I shall try again tomorrow. Yes, I buy floss and pick up my raw milk at the same place. It's not weird, it's convenient. 

I got the best picture ever of the kids at the park. It's perfect. 

I was exhausted when we got home. The kids watched Frozen 2 and I read another chapter from my book (and cooked the meatballs). Alas, they were too spicy! I felt awful! Good thing I had some leftover pizza in the fridge that the kids could eat! Brian loves spicy meatballs, he'll love them. Everything was great until I checked the weather. Why is there another week of rain? We had that last week! 

seriously?

Brian got home at 7 and tore out our dishwasher because we get a new one tomorrow and I'm so excited. We bought the quietest dishwasher. It's going to be amazing. And his headache was almost all better, he said. God is good!

Week 4, Day 2

I woke up Tuesday morning with zero interest in cooking or cleaning. When this happens it is so hard to get going! I tried to simplify. I showered, got dressed--then I asked the kids what they wanted for breakfast because I was out of ideas. They wanted sausage and eggs, so I made that and then I did all the dishes. We had leftover beef and broccoli in the fridge that I planned to heat up for lunch and I was so grateful to my past self for making extra on Sunday! After all that I did feel a lot better. We read books! Reuben picked I'm Trying to Love Spiders and Chirri and Chirri in the Tall Grass and Becky picked The Rabbit Children and Woody and Little Pip. Esther nursed one side through the first book and the other through the second book and then was a regular menace through the last two. She likes to grab the books or start singing at the top of her lungs while I try to read. Toddlers are wonderful but crazy.

We had a doctor's appointment for Reuben and Rebekah for Osteopathic Neuromuscular Manipulation after Becky's Piano class, so I told Reuben to pack the Nintendo switch because these appointments are usually long. But the last one wasn't long so I was hopeful this one wouldn't be. You can laugh with me later.

Anyway, the hour before piano I kicked the kids out of the house (nicely, I am nice...I simply told them they would be given a chore if they didn't go outside...) and I did a bunch of chores. Then we heated up the leftover Beef and Broccoli and I wanted everyone to eat outside but they said there were too many bugs so I let them eat inside. 

Piano in the summer is hard. I half forget to practice with Becky and sometimes I even forget we have a piano. I need to make it a priority because she has a recital coming up in 4 weeks and she's seven, so I am her motivation. We had three practices at home this week. It's slightly embarrassing to give the sheet to the instructor. It's like, here is evidence of my total failure as a mother. Please enjoy my ineptitude. 

Becky plays so beautifully and I love to hear music in our house! It's wonderful to dream that maybe she can teach her own children or play in church or whatever she wants to do with the gift of music. Sometimes it is quite the struggle for both of us, there are tears and often she wants to quit. If we wrote a memoir about it together it might be called Death by Piano or Things My Mother Makes Me Do. Okay, sometimes she enjoys it. But sometimes she doesn't. It's a good life lesson for both her and me. 

After Piano we had about 40 minutes to kill before our appointments. We went to Hobby Lobby and somehow I ended up spending $59. I got Reuben a lunch box for camp next week and a Bluey placemat for Esther that she loved and a squishy ball for her that she wouldn't put down and some beads to make a friend a necklace for her birthday and some chains that Becky wanted and some pipe cleaners Becky wouldn't put down, and somehow instead of that being 22.59 it was just shy of 60! Things really are expensive. And the beads were 50% off! 

We all left feeling happy. Retail therapy is good for the soul.

The doctor's office is right next door to Hobby lobby and we were there for two hours and twenty minutes and that was so long! It is worth it--we love the doctors over there and they have worked wonders for the kids, but it is a lot! Becky went first and there was a doctor in training who told me he thought she had scoliosis and I was worried for about 30 minutes before the regular doctor, Allison Bardowell, said she didn't. What a relief! THEN when Allison was working on Reuben he was having really bad pain in his neck (he fell out of a tree and landed on the back of his neck!) that she wanted to give him an X-ray to make sure he didn't have a fracture in his spine. He was stressed to hear that (and so was I but I was trying not to show it) when Esther fell off the stool right onto her head and started screaming at the top of her lungs. So then I had to pop my boobs out in front of everyone to nurse her, which was just great and awkward while holding a crying sobbing baby and trying not to cry myself. 

The X-rays (I wonder how much that will cost?) were thankfully clear, no fracture for Reuben. Both kids feel so much better after their adjustments and we finally got out the door and I bought everyone French fries from Chick-fil-a and Esther took one bite of hers and fell asleep holding it. Then I called my friend who lives only a mile from Hobby Lobby and asked her if I could stop by to pick up some homeopathic X-Ray in a 30c. She said yes because she's a gem and I don't deserve her, but it really made me feel better to dose Reuben after his electromagnetic bath. 

Anyway I felt like I had just taken a ride on the emotional roller coaster and by the time we got home I, and everyone else in the car, desperately needed a mental break. Thankfully it was hot and sunny and I was able to transfer Esther to her bed where she napped for an hour and a half, and the older kids set up their slip and slide and had a blast in the back yard. I cleaned the whole house and put away 3 loads of laundry and washed two more and made pizza for dinner. After dinner, Esther woke up and the kids all had ice cream and watched Rapunzel. I took the movie time to sit down to begin The Mysteries of Udolpho and was all ready to relax when daddy came home an hour early! That was nice but he had a migraine which was not nice. 

He woke up with an even worse headache and still had to go into work this morning, poor Brian. 

What a day. I can't even imagine what the rest of the week will hold...what a day, what a day. God is good, but what a day!

Summer Break Week 4, Day 1

The dreaded day--the end of vacation was here. I woke up only to discover that my cycle had come, and since we are trying to conceive I was a bit bummed for half a minute. Then I remembered to celebrate not being pregnant because pregnancy is hard, cumbersome and did I mention labor? God knows what he is doing and his ways are better than mine. Also half the time I am fine with the family size we have. 

I don't know what I want for breakfast today, I thought, much less if we should have another baby. But sometimes I really want one! For Esther to have a friend and for my husband to finally realize our house is too small for this many people. Because babies are cute and cuddly.

My mental health really doesn't need another small human to take care of. But, I'm almost 40 so if it's going to happen, the next two years are probably the best time for it. Before I declutter my maternity clothes? 

Today I made bacon, eggs, and chopped up some sourdough bread left over from the farmers market for breakfast. I also packed my husband a lunch. I can't always pack him a lunch so I felt really on point this morning. I may even have felt a little too good about it, so obviously God had a plan to humble me later.

Anyway, Esther Rose woke up around 7 which is a bit early for her so I knew she would have an early nap. Which was not great because we planned to go hang out at Jessica's house after breakfast and chores! I decided to make lunch right after breakfast and I am so glad I did. I made fried rice with chicken! And I packed some of it up for my husband's lunch tomorrow. Forethought is easy when we are on summer break and not homeschooling!

So, after reading some chapter books with the girls (Reuben was reading his own book in his room) we loaded up the car and went to see Jessica and Jeong! It was amazing to talk to other adults and let the kids play for a bit! We also watched a really old movie called Paddle to the Sea which was made in the 1960s and relates to the book I read to Becky this year. Paddle is an excellent book, and not so much a movie, though it was cute. They left out the best parts of the book and changed too much. Movie producers really should realize people love the book and thats 80 percent why they watch the video version--and they should stop changing and editing so much. Seriously. You have one job. Please stop thinking you know better than the author. 

Halfway through the movie Esther knocked over my entire cup of tea onto the floor! I don't know what I was thinking letting her get so close to my cup. Or filling it up so much! Hah, toddlers. On the way home Esther fell asleep in the car but I transferred her successfully into her bed where she slept for about an hour, I guess that's all I get today. We all ate fried rice while she slept and she had hers when she woke up. And there are leftovers! Yay!

Then we played outside, built a fort...but the fort was invaded by some wasps so the girls finished their tea party inside. We read more of our free read (currently All of a Kind Family) played playdough, made smoothies and snack plates...and then I took 30 minutes to myself while the kids minded Esther (15 minutes each, I pay them $1 each) By the way, Esther also spilled her full cup of smoothie all over the place! So many spills today. She was so cute. She went: what happened mama what happened? Two is the cutest age ever.

I've been on hold with the billing department for Esther's Pedi for about 10 minutes now trying to ask a question about her bill. She shouldn't have a bill. We had a 2 year check up a few weeks ago and those should be covered by her insurance? Hopefully they answer soon and we can get it all figured out.

A good full day where I didn't do near enough laundry! The house is a mild mess and that's okay. We do live here. I haven't even looked in the kids room and I think I'll keep it that way until tomorrow. Happy Monday! At least I brushed my hair today. 

I'm making sausage patties, roasted veggies and noodles for dinner! Send prayers everyone likes it. 

Summer Break Week 3

This week was so special. My husband had the entire week off! Strangely it was rainy and in the 60s--a little cold for summer! We spent the week relaxing, having ice cream, working on our siding, playing Minecraft and doing all the normal weekly things--but with hubby. 

My neck is much better but still hurting on and off. My taste (from when I had covid) is finally all the way back! 

The kids had their end of year co-op party where they put on a production of A Midsummer's Night Dream (The 30-minute version!) It was so fun. We went swimming the next day as a family. So many stay-cation memories. 

Esther still isn't sleeping through the night so I am still tired. My house is still behind on laundry and I am about to go do a bunch of it right after I finish this post. Esther is not napping today. We ate all the leftovers for lunch so I have to cook dinner. Next week will be back to work for Brian and back to normal for the rest of us! And back to 70-80 degree weather! 

Paper Modelling: Cart, Kite and Screen

Three more Paper Modelling tutorials for your homeschool fun! These are the cart, kite and screen! Enjoy!

Summer Break Week Two

We had a very busy summer break week where I said 'yes' to waayyy too many things outside my house and ended up burnt out and stressed at the end (and in bed for a day with a pulled muscle in my neck). Why don't I ever learn moderation? The kids had fun, nothing got done, and there was lots of driving. 

Monday we did four things. Four. Am I crazy? It would have been fine but Tuesday had three things and the fun kept on giving! Wednesday we rested like crazy and that was nice, followed by a crazy Thursday and Friday. Reuben made it to the playoffs for his little league flag football (I touched on this in other posts) but they didn't win. That's okay! They came in second which is a huge achievement! They did score a touchdown (I think the other team, the Commanders, scored four touchdowns) which was really nice and I know they did their best. 

Reuben with his team!

Friday we went swimming and to a potluck with our church. It was so cozy. Saturday was the farmers market where we bought too much sourdough bread (yum) and the day I had a pulled muscle...and here we are at Sunday again. My neck is better and I cleaned the kitchen and emptied the fridge of any leftovers that had overstayed their welcome and now my kids are running around with 600x energy and it's almost 8pm. Why do they have so much energy in the evenings and I'm running on leftover coffee and broken sleep? I'll never understand it. 

I got one sleeve almost done on my rainbow sweater!

I"m behind on laundry but that's fine. I'm behind on chores but it's fine. It's a season and I"ll be okay.

My husband found this old phone in a trashcan at his work and his boss said he could have it so he fixed it (which in itself is kinda amazing) and brought it home. The kids are obsessed. He linked it to his iPhone with bluetooth using something called Cell2Jack and taught the kids how to use it. The first time Reuben was confused how to hang up. Where's the hang up button, he said? We had to tell him you just put down the phone on the stand. That is what hanging up is. I was tickled. 

I'm so thankful for my husband yesterday who did both lunch and dinner while I laid in bed with a pulled muscle, in miserable pain. I'm also so glad it's better today and I hope it will be even better tomorrow. God is good.

Here is to another week--week three of summer break--that will start tomorrow! We have some busy days and some rest days but it's so much lighter than week two, I am sure we will make it through. Love you all!