The Saturday 7

Not sure I'm going to get to 7 this week. I spent all of last week planning a bridal shower, and all of this week planning for VBS. Not much else has been going on.

1. I'm co-leading the preschool room this year. In years past, I've done it myself, but I'm not sure how committed I can be this year with Levi. He'll go to nursery, but I'm going to have to leave to feed him, and probably put him to sleep. He's a tricksty little hobbit. So I have another adult leader that will be helping me. I'm planning and organizing almost everything, but she'll probably carry out most of it. Just how I like it. :-) Although it's a lot of work to get it all ready. I go through phases while planning:
1. I got this. No big deal.

2. Wait. It's in 5 days? Oh man, I better get to work.

3. What did I sign up for? I'm never going to get it all ready! Maybe I'll just throw some play doh on the table and call it good.

4. I wish my kids would leave me alone so I could get some work done!

5. Oh, I got this. Ooh, and maybe I can add this . . . and this . . .

2. I've finally gotten with the times and started using Google Calendar. I love that it syncs with my phone, so I can access it anywhere. And I like the reminders. After one too many forgotten bills (and subsequent late fees), I added due dates for our credit cards and student loan payments with a reminder the day before it's due. And my type A(ish) personality really enjoys the color coding. I should've been a teacher . . .

3. One day this week, I had to run a bunch of errands with the kids. We stopped at Steak N' Shake for lunch and the girls were so mad that I wouldn't buy them shakes. Then, we went to Toys R' Us to get Lucy a backpack, and I wouldn't buy them one of those huge wooden swing sets (that are like thousands of dollars!). As I was buckling them back into the car (for the 500th time), Lucy said, "Mommy, are we poor?" Ugh. First, I asked her how she knew what "poor" even was, and she said, "From Bible stories at church." Ok, I guess that's acceptable. Haha. Then I explained to her that we aren't poor. Poor people don't have money for what they need - like food and shelter and vehicles. We have everything we need. We just can't buy anything we want all the time. And I was careful to point out that we get a lot of things that we want, too - like restaurant food and new backpacks and a house exploding with toys. #lifelessons

4. I can't believe it's almost August. Summer is slipping away so quickly! Lucy's school actually starts before labor day, so it's now less than a month until the first day of school! I'm not ready yet! She's getting excited, but I'm already dreading the early mornings, and hauling all 3 kids to and from school every day this year. I'm also really sad that Lena is losing her playmate. The girls have played so nicely together this summer. Lena's not going to know what to do without Lucy! I really want to do a little bit of school with Lena. Hold me to that. I've been so lazy for the past year while I was pregnant/had a newborn. No more excuses!

5. Yesterday was Justin's and my 11th wedding anniversary. Wow. We're getting old. I still feel like high school was just 10 years ago. We didn't do anything too extravagant to celebrate this year. I can't leave Levi for longer than 3 hours, and we're trying to rein in our spending. So we just went to Red Robin (I bought a gift card at Meijer because there was an mperk for $5 off a $25 card . . . and then we forgot to pay with the gift card at the restaurant!!! I told you we're getting old . . .). We stuffed ourselves with amazing non-diet food and tons of Dr Pepper.

Levi came too so we wouldn't have to worry about rushing home. He loved the commotion at Red Robin and was so good while we ate.

Then we went to the mall to browse. I took my time looking at everything I wanted to at Barnes and Noble, then Justin looked at every fishing supply in Dick's Sporting Goods (while I sat in a camping chair and fed Levi). I also tried on a hundred dresses for my nephew's wedding next month, and was reminded anew why I'm supposed to be dieting. Ha. I was also reminded that I'm too old to be shopping at the mall on a Friday night. Too many teeny-boppers in their crop tops and leggings to make me feel old and frumpy!

We capped the night off with McDonald's ice cream, then rolled ourselves home and changed into sweatpants. #truelove

6. Not making it to 7. Here are the week's pictures: