The Saturday 7

1. This week's drama was Lena's bug bite saga. Tuesday evening she started complaining about itchy bug bites. She was up every single hour all night crying that she was itchy and begging for "bug bite cream." I marched up and down those stairs with Hydrocortisone cream roughly 6,000 times. Wednesday was an absolute nightmare. She was covered in big red welts - arms, legs, belly, back, fingers, feet, and face. She did not stop crying all day.

I used half a tube of Hydrocortisone, a chunk of Vick's, and an oatmeal bath to no avail.

Finally, I wised up and gave the poor kid Benadryl. I've never given my kids Benadryl (I gave Levi Zyrtec for his hives), so I was nervous she would be one of those weird kids who has an unusual reaction. But she did exactly as expected:

I suggested that she lay in my bed and watch a movie during Levi's nap and she fell asleep within minutes. She slept for 2.5 hours and we all had a welcome reprieve from the scratching and the crying. I gave her another dose at bedtime and she only woke up twice. Thursday was almost as bad as Wednesday, but I couldn't drug her because she had school. Fortunately, school takes her mind off it enough that she wasn't totally miserable. By yesterday I only had to apply cream a couple times, and today she hasn't complained once. Finally!! I'm still not sure where she got all the bites. As they've healed, some of them have turned purple. Is that indicative of a certain kind of bug? Lucy has a few bites on her feet, but no one else in our house does, so I'm wondering if they got them at school recess? I don't care as long as they never come back. Oy.

2. I went on another dumb diet this week. I constantly vacillate between "Embrace the Mom-Bod" and "I am a Worthless Pile of Blubber." After my physical a few weeks ago, and seeing how much I weigh (more than ever non-pregnant!), I've been leaning toward "Worthless Pile of Blubber." My first step was to cut out Dr Pepper. I know. It was a big step. A big, sad, heart-wrenching step. I replaced it with diet cranberry pop, which I know is toxic and probably going to kill me, but I'm not ready for all-water-all-the-time, and I'm really not ready for kombucha, so diet pop it is. Ditching Dr. Pepper actually hasn't been that bad. I didn't have headaches thanks to my morning coffee, and I actually didn't crave it that much. I made it 5 full days without a sip, then treated myself to a glass today. I'm not cutting it out for good, just making major cutbacks on my consumption. I also tried to count calories, which was less successful. MyFitnessPal says I'm only allowed 1250 calories since I live a sedentary lifestyle. But I'm not joking when I say my usually daily intake is between 2000 and 3000 calories. So 1250 is way too drastic of a change. My goal has been to stay between 1500 and 1800 calories. The worst part is not snacking. Or eating healthy snacks. Gag. I like to binge. Especially after my kids are in bed - and by then I've used up my calorie allotment. I had to talk myself out of quitting pretty much every hour this week. I'm not sure how much longer the calorie counting will last, but I'm hopeful to continue with reduced Dr Pepper for a while.

3. I got to work in the girls' classes for the first time this year. Because it's a private school, parents are required to put in volunteer hours. Last year, I mostly worked in the library, but this year I wanted to get back into the classroom. I love getting to know the kids that my girls are surrounded by every day. I got to paint with the preschoolers, cut out laminated shapes, then help kids with spelling worksheets in the second grade classroom. Then I put in an hour at the library. Thanks, Mom, for watching Levi! If I can do that every week, I'll knock out those volunteer hours in no time.

4. I made my goal of reading 75 books in one year! I know I said last week that I was going to take a book hiatus, but I think I'm just going to be more mindful of reading only when my kids are in bed or watching TV. I think I'll make a new goal of 100 books by the end of the year . . .

5. It's been unseasonably hot this week - temps in the high 80s and low 90s, with heat indexes near 100. We didn't even have weather like that this summer! Fortunately, the girls' school has air conditioning, but our house does not. We do have a lot of shade, so it hasn't been unbearable, just very odd. Lena has a field trip to the apple orchard at the beginning of next week. When I went with Lucy a few years ago, we were all bundled up and freezing. This year, I'm just hoping temps will dip below 80! (Right now, they're predicting a high of 87. Yikes.)

6. Last night was a long-awaited Moms' Night out with my besties. We went out for dinner, then back to Missy's air conditioned basement to drink wine, eat chocolate, and chat until midnight. I realized this week that one of my mom friends and I have been friends for 25 years. We first met in second grade, and now we each have a daughter in second grade! (#circleoflife #wearesoold) Of course we forgot to take a picture, but we had so much fun together.

Selfie before I left.

 7. Pictures

We had a problem with our well this week that required a huge hole be dug. Levi was in his glories watching the digger directly outside the window.

The girls had a lemonade and cookie stand on Sunday when my siblings came over for dinner.

Levi has been playing SO nicely by himself lately. He can play with his cars for hours!

Lena has been BEGGING for weeks to make "the frosting and sprinkle cookies." I finally gave in and told her we could do it Saturday. Of course it's 90 degrees today, but we got them done by 11 am, so it wasn't too bad.

Painting fishing lures with Daddy.