The Saturday 7

1. If last week's storm wasn't bad enough, we got hammered with another one this week - this time in the form of ice. We had such a nice November and December with so little snow. I guess we're paying for it now. Apparently there's no end in sight, and another ice storm is expected Tuesday night! Those poor public school kids are going to be making up days into July if this keeps up! (And we're doing VBS the third week of June this year, so we need them to be done with school by then!) Life wasn't much different for us. We still did school. We were just trapped at home for another week. Either my Zoloft is really pulling its weight, or God is pouring out some major grace because I've handled the "cabin fever" without spiraling into depression. Thank you, Jesus! We were also very fortunate that we never lost power. My sister's power went out Thursday morning and still isn't back on!

Pure ice

Pretty trees. Can you see the icicles hanging off the bumper of my van?

2. I started reading the "Extreme Picky Eaters" book I requested from the library. Oh man. It is so Lucy. I finally wrote down everything that she eats. There ended up being over 20 things, but at least half of them are things like "chips, goldfish, donuts, cinnamon rolls, cake, cookies," etc. 🤦
I haven't made it to the part that tells me how to fix it yet. Although the first couple of chapters talk about reducing anxiety and pressure around eating. That seems like such a stupid millenial thing, but unfortunately I think it would help Lucy. I think a huge part of her reticence is that she doesn't want people to make a big deal over her. She doesn't want to try something and have everyone say, "Oh my word! Are you actually eating something new?! Do you like it? See? It's not that bad is it! I told you so!" It's equal parts pride and embarrassment. I'm interested to see what the rest of the book is like.

3. I've been obsessed with playing Free Cell on my computer lately. Like stupidly, ridiculously obsessed. I love that I can play while watching TV (my new binge is The Good Place on Netflix), and I can play a game here or there in the little pockets of free time that open up during my day. But then I also spend hours playing game after game late at night when I should be sleeping. What a stupid thing to stay up late for. Why can't I ever just enjoy something in moderation? I'm really good at it, though. I have a 77% win rate. 😁

4. Today was a crazy day. We made up for being cooped up all week by doing all the things today. Lucy got invited to play date with a friend from ACS. And Lena had a make-up class for the gymnastics class she missed this week (thanks to ice). After the class, Lena and I stayed for 2 hours of open gym since she got some passes for her birthday. It boggles my mind that she can jump and cartwheel and run and do handstands for 3 solid hours! Where can I get that kind of energy?!

5. After gymnastics-a-thon, we had a girls' shopping day. Lena had a gift card to Five Below from her birthday. She loved looking at everything and seeing how many things she could get for $10. When we got to the 10 cent candy and I told her 10 things would only be $1, she exclaimed, "This is the best store ever!" Lol. Then I got to go to some of my favorite stores: Daily Deals and Kohl's. One thing I don't have that I really want for the new house is a Keurig. So when I got a 30% off code from Kohl's in the mail, I decided to buy one online. There was also a code for $10 off a $50 home purchase, so I stacked that. Then they offered me $5 Kohl's Cash to pick it up in store. So I went to Kohl's today with the intent to find socks for Justin and pick up the Keurig I had bought I online. But . . . . their marketing ploy of getting me in the store worked hook, line, and sinker. They were having massive clearance sales, and I had that 30% off coupon burning a hole in my wallet. So I put Lena in one of the stroller carts with my phone (thank you, free wi-fi!) and shopped to my heart's content. I was thrilled to find this:

I told you I'm a sucker for the farmhouse style, and I've been eyeing all the command centers on Pinterest. I can't afford to buy anything full price, so I've been picking stuff up at thrift stores. And this beaut was on clearance for $12, which makes it $8.40! Woohoo! But my biggest steal at Kohl's was this bad boy:

Remember why I originally went into Kohl's? To pick up the Keurig I bought online. I bought the cheapest option on the website, which was the small single serve for $99.99. After the $10 off home purchase and my 30% code, I got it down to $62.99. I was pretty happy with that. But then I found a bigger and better version in the store on clearance for $75! I pulled up the $10 off a $50 home purchase coupon on my phone, and used my 30% off coupon, so only paid $45.50 for a better Keurig than I started with! Yessss! After I checked out, I went up to customer service, picked up my online order, then promptly returned it. Lol. Oh, and I didn't buy Justin the socks he wanted. They weren't on sale and I refuse to spend $24 on a 3 pack of socks. 🤷

6. We ended our girls' shopping day with groceries at Meijer, picking Lucy up from her friend's house, and meeting in the Family Fare parking lot to buy something from the facebook marketplace. The girls have been really into their LeapPads lately, and Levi gets so mad that he doesn't have one. Since his birthday is coming up and he seriously doesn't need any more cars, when I saw one for sale on facebook at a reasonable price, I snapped it up. It may be hot pink with a Barbie head emblazoned on the front, but he won't care! 😂 And I didn't even get kidnapped or murdered when I picked it up! Win!

7. A few more pics: