The Saturday 6

1. It was a big week in our family. My sister's long-awaited pool is finally swimmable!! The weather hasn't been insanely warm, but the pool is heated, and my kids will swim no matter what! They were so excited!

It is SUCH a nice pool and we're soooo thankful Niki and her husband are willing to let us swim in it anytime. You'll see many more pics from the pool this year!

One of the coolest parts of the pool is the "tanning ledge." It's a 6 ft. section that's only 6 inches deep. It's a big hit with the kids!!

Lucy's jumping off of the tanning ledge into the deep end in this pic.

2. I'm hoping that walking to the pool (about half a mile), and swimming for hours every day will be good for all of us. I've recently started keeping a food diary for Lucy, and it is so depressing. I seriously feel like a major failure when I realize how far I've let this "picky eating" thing go. But I have no idea how to fix it now. She's started saying stuff like, "I look so fat in this shirt" or "I only want to wear one piece swimsuits to hide my belly." I don't know what the world I'm supposed to say! And we never talk about looking fat at home - not about her, or myself, or other people. I'm pretty sure she's getting that talk from her cousin, but I honestly don't know how to dispel it. Ugh. Body image. She's way too young for this.

3. My friend Lisa pointed out last week that I haven't shared what I've been reading recently. I've actually only read 2 books in the past 2 weeks. 🤯 They were actually both recommended by one of my favorite authors (Pepper Basham). The first was The Matrimonial Advertisement by Mimi Matthews and the second was Kissing Adrien by Siri Mitchell. I really liked the first one, and was not a huge fan of the second. Part of the reason my reading has been slowing down is because my options have become more limited. At the beginning of the year, I had a free Kindle Unlimited trial, so I was tearing through books. But that expired right when we moved to our new house. Because it's in a different town, we had to switch to a different library system - and their online options are abysmal. So I actually have to check out paperback books from the library. I don't mind real books, but they tend to have a longer wait time than digital. I wish I could rationalize the $10 a month for Kindle Unlimited . . . Oh, and of note: I picked up the first Harry Potter book this week and intended to start it while I sat with Levi waiting for him to fall asleep. But he insisted on having all the lights off, and then I didn't feel like starting it once he was finally asleep. I keep saying HP is going to be my summer read, but I just can't pull the trigger on it. I don't like YA or fantasy, but everyone insists that I will love them. Soon . . .

4. After my whining last week about all the facebook drama surrounding abortion and gay rights, I couldn't help but wonder if I'm in the wrong. I know my privilege is showing by avoiding it as best I can, but I also worry that I'm being a coward. Should I be taking a stand for my beliefs? Is sharing pro-life articles really going to change the minds of my 10 pro-choice facebook friends? (10 is an estimate, but it can't be too far off.) I feel like I'd mostly be preaching to the choir. My pastor posted a blog article this week about why he writes (he keeps up a blog and is about to release a work of fiction). In his article, he asked a lot of the same questions I've been asking myself, but I was struck by something he quoted: "What if the apostle Paul decided never to write any of his letters to the churches? Where would we be?" Now, I don't claim that any of my writing is the least bit divinely inspired. Let's not get off on a theological tangent here. Pastor Chris's conclusion was this:

And I thought to myself, “What if you are supposed to say something and you decided not to because you let the opinions of others shut you down? Who would suffer?”

That's the crux of it for me. I'm terrified of being attacked. I'm terrified of having to defend my position. Even though I hold to it strongly and without question, I still don't feel prepared to articulately spar with "the angry left." I don't want to perpetuate the cycles of hate and division. And I also don't feel like I have anything new to say that would change anyone's mind. What say you? Is it worth it to debate on facebook? Is there a way to stand for our beliefs that is actually helpful? While we're on the topic, here's an image I actually hadn't seen until this week that was pretty profound to me:

It seems so absurd when you change the setting, doesn't it? 

5. And speaking of basements . . . my literal basement is seeing so much progress! Justin has been working his butt off all week, the electricians came on Wednesday, the plumber has been here a few times again, and this morning Justin's dad helped him start on the drywall. I seriously underestimated how involved this project would be. But we're finally close to the finish line!

Levi's wall isn't see-through anymore!

And he has a closet!

The bathroom is also all drywalled, but apparently I didn't take pictures of that. This is my inspiration for colors and the feel of the room. But our bathroom doesn't have any natural light and pretty low ceilings, so I'm worried it'll feel dark.

I'm trying to branch out from my standard "blue/grey/white" theme, but this dark green is pretty scary!

6. I might have to change the title of these posts to "The Saturday 6" because I can never seem to get to 7 any more. But I do have a lot of pictures to share:

Buddies enjoying being outside.

BFFs going for a walk.

I underestimated the power of the May sun. 

My sweet sister-in-law Esther took Lucy to get a pedicure as a belated birthday treat.

Levi got a much-needed haircut.

I had to try out the snapchat filter that's been all the rage lately. I look like my brother Luke without the Amish beard!

Levi and I went to Pinky's Place where we found this awesome locker/cage.

This just made me laugh. 😂