The Saturday 7

1. For the first time in many years we didn't have Memorial Day plans this year. We unofficially celebrated on Sunday after church with the fam at Niki's to break in the new pool.

But Monday was wide open. We did some cleaning and house projects, but then we noticed a ruckus at our neighbor's house. I've been vocal about loving living in town, but I'm realizing that I declared that while it was still fairly cold outside. Now that's it's getting warmer and we have our windows open and people are coming out of their homes, I've started to notice the smell of the neighbor's cigarette smoke, started hearing music being blasted, and then on Monday, we got to hear the couple next door fighting. Eventually the police showed up (!) and it became apparent that the woman was moving out abruptly. Her dad and brothers showed up with boxes and trailers and she moved out in the span of about 2 hours. But apparently the situation was a little volatile.

It's been quiet again now that she's gone, so hopefully that's the end of that! #yikes

2. We decided to get out of our house while the drama was going down, so we went to see my brother's new house! He just bought a house on a beautiful private lake. We did the house tour, then took the rowboat out for its maiden voyage!

There are only a few other houses on the lake. It is so peaceful!

Justin caught a fish and Levi wanted to hold it . . . until he realized how slimy and wiggly it was. Haha.

I'm telling you, having rich siblings in the best! 😉 (My other rich sister just bought a camping trailer that's big enough for her family plus ours, so we might have to take advantage of that soon too! My only contribution to this family is always being available to babysit. 🤷)

3. Weekly book report: I've been making my way through Dee Henderson's O'Malley series. This week I read the third book: The Truth Seeker. I also read a mystery that was not Christian. More on that later. And finally, I read How the Light Gets In by Jolina Petersheim. I immediately posted on facebook that any of my friends who enjoy Christian fiction need to read it in its entirety and then get back to me so we can discuss spoilers. It's one of the best books I've read this year, simply because it evoked a lot of emotion and then truly surprised me. I have the feeling it's going to be one of those "you love it or you hate it" books, but I personally loved it.

4. So about that mystery book. I wanted to read something on my Kindle, so I just searched for cheap Kindle books on Amazon. This one got good reviews and looked interesting, but it definitely had more sex than I was comfortable with, so I'm not going to share the title. The point is, as I got into it I realized it was about a serial killer kidnapping and torturing women. Of course, I started it the night Justin left for an overnight campout with the men from our church . . .

Having lived with my parents for 6 years before moving into this house, I truly can't remember the last time I spent the night "home alone." Fortunately, I'm medicated well enough that it didn't bother me. I locked all the doors and told myself, "No one has ever tried to break in while Justin is home. Why would they start now?" And then I stayed up reading until 1 a.m. so I was good and tired when I went to bed. I slept like a baby the first night. The second night, a round of thunderstorms blew in around 2, and both of the girls ended up in bed with me. That was not nearly as restful. Ha.

5. Friday night, I got together with a bunch of the other "Campout Widows" for a ginormous playdate. There were 24 kids under 10 in attendance. It.Was.Chaos. But it was loving, fun, hilarious chaos. And eventually, most of the kids went outside to play so us moms got to talk. Especially us moms who have slightly older kids. I've really been enjoying my newfound glimmers of independence as Levi gets older. I realized at the pool yesterday that I have finally reached a point in my parenting career where I don't have to get in the pool with my kids! I put life jackets on Lena and Levi, and can sit on the deck reading my book! I mean, I never get far in my book. I always have to adjust goggles and get drinks and kill bugs and find towels and wipe water out of eyes and "Watch this!" but we're on the precipice of real independence! I noticed it during the playdate too. Some of the moms have little kids they have to keep inside while the older kids go out, but I finally feel comfortable letting Levi roam (with the older kids - not by himself!). I still checked on him every once in a while, but I didn't have to keep my eyes on him 24/7! Woohoo! Now, to make sure I don't have any more babies and start all over! Lol.

6. The downside to our playdate was the onslaught of bug bites Lena came home with. She's my unfortunate child who has to wear sunscreen (Lucy and Levi never burn) and somehow attracts bugs like no other. And she does not handle them gracefully. 🤦 She spent the majority of the day today rolling on the floor crying, "I'm so itchy!!!!" I try to be compassionate, but it seriously drives me crazy. Look at this, though. Can you blame her?

7. Less disgusting pictures:

The view from Luke's deck

Lucy at the lake house

Sleepy selfies with Ruby

💖

I had to try out the baby face filter. Which one of my kids do you think I look like?

More late nights with Levi. This was Friday after we spent hours swimming in the sun, followed by hours running around outside with 20 other kids. Sigh.

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