The Saturday 7

1. Levi took off walking this week. He's been slowly gaining confidence and moving between pieces of furniture with no hands, but on Monday I noticed that he was walking everywhere! And he's progressed all week. He definitely walks more than he scoots now! If I see him scooting, I'll stand him up and he'll usually take off walking.

A weird quirk to remember: it's been hot this week, so he's been going shirtless a lot. When he walks he doesn't know what to do with his hands, so he honestly pinches his nipples half the time. Lol. I have yet to get a picture, but trust me - it's hilarious.

2. We had an appointment with Early On on Monday. She was impressed by the strides (literally - ha) that Levi's taken with his gross motor skills. He crawls, climbs stairs, can stand up in the middle of the room, and walks, so he's essentially "passed." She's mildly concerned about his verbal development, but I am most assuredly not. He communicates very effectively, even if he has few legitimate words. Although I do want to record here that he now says "ready, set, go" - or at least his version of it. Haha. I told the Early On lady that she doesn't need to come back (in a nice way! haha), so we're done with that for now unless his verbal skills don't kick in over the next 6 months or so.

3. Speaking of developmental delays . . .a quick potty training update. Lena is finally making some progress. She's super shy about it and has forbidden me from talking about it, so suffice it to say, she's making leaps and bounds and I'm feeling much better about school in the fall.

4. I read 4 books this week: Dangerous Minds by Janet Evanovich (I read it in 3 hours and loved it), A Matter of Trust by Susan May Warren, Love's Awakening by Laura Frantz (good, but not as good as the first in the series), and Beneath Copper Falls by Colleen Coble. I love Christian fiction because it's clean and redemptive, but I'm getting a little burned out by the same ole same ole. Justin and I are going away for our anniversary next weekend and I'm stocking up on a bunch of different-for-me books. We'll see if any of them are winners . . . (And those were all affiliate links, which you should know by now, but I think I'm legally required to remind you.)

5. This week was one of my favorite events of the summer: Town and Country Days in Sparta. Friday is Kids' Day when carnival tickets are discounted and there are free events throughout town for kids. We met up with some friends and watched a clown show, ran through the new splash pad, rode ponies, and hit up the carnival. Unfortunately, it was one of the hottest days of the year (isn't it always for Town and Country Days??). I don't handle heat well, and neither do my kids. Lucy was done after about an hour. She wouldn't even ride the ponies. She managed a few carnival rides, but after a while she was pretty sure she was dying. I do think she legitimately gets heat exhaustion. Her face gets all red and blotchy, she complained of a headache, and she can hardly function. It's just crazy that it doesn't affect anyone else that way. The other girls were hot, but fine. Kelly and I were uncomfortable, but not dying. Poor Lucy.

Lena was a little bit nervous, but as long as I walked next to her, she enjoyed it.

Levi in his cute new swimsuit.

First carnival ride. All smiles!

Second ride. Not as thrilled . . . Lucy hated this one. (Presley loved it - despite that face. Haha.)

The other girls loved it too.

Annual carou-selfie attempt! Lucy is next to me on the bench pouting. Lena is behind me in the polka-dots on the patriotic horse. 

Many thanks to Kelly for assisting me with my herd and to my mom and Niki for taking Levi off my hands while we did the carnival rides. He enjoyed pizza at BC in the air conditioning much more than he would've appreciated baking in the stroller.

6. Last night was the much awaited "Girls' Sleepover." My wonderful sister, Niki, has my girls and a couple others that she used to babysit over for a night of pizza, makeovers, nail-painting, movies, giggles, and staying up way too late. Lucy and Lena wait all year for the big event and have been counting down the hours ever since Niki set a date. They had so much fun last night and came home with fancy nails, belly-aches (Lena) and extreme grumpiness due to lack of sleep (Lucy). Justin and I celebrated our night with only one kid by going to Logan's for dinner. Said one kid broke his sippy cup by throwing it on the floor, refused to eat the amazing rolls, loudly exclaimed "hi!" to everyone in the restaurant, and ate fries for dinner. He was also strangely enamored with the overhead lights:

Lol

7. A few more pictures:

Lucy has a sparkly sequined pillow that was catching the light just right one night. Levi loved seeing the reflection on himself in my rear-facing camera. (Also of note in this picture: man-bun. :D) 

Friends at the parade today.

Levi hated the loud trucks at the parade (despite his usual love of trucks), but warmed up when the candy started getting thrown. ;-)