1. Well I think we've officially reached fall. On Monday after school, it was 80 degrees and we were swimming in the pool. By yesterday, it was 64 degrees in our house so I turned the heat on for the first time and pulled out all our warm blankets.
Levi is continuing to gain confidence in swimming. Truth be told, he's a little overconfident. On Monday I stayed right by his side for the first half hour, but he was jumping off the diving board and going down the slide into the deep end with no problem. I finally watched from the side of the pool - still in my swimsuit in case he needed rescuing. But he's really getting the hang of it!
2. Another milestone worth noting: Lucy finally learned to ride a bike this week! I know, I know, we're terrible parents for letting her go this long without learning. She fell off and got all scraped up the first time she tried (years ago), and after that, she was done. She wanted nothing to do with it until this summer when we live on a street with sidewalks, and she watches Lena zip around on her bike. It was a long process and lots of patience on Justin's part, but she finally got the hang of it this week. Woohoo!
3. Lena did much better with school this week. There was still some whining, but no crying! We've continued to get up 10 minutes early for our morning snuggle, but she's been less clingy overall. She even survived the two days of constant rain that we had this week. Have I ever mentioned that she has a phobia of rain? Really, she's scared of thunderstorms, and she's certain that rain always precedes storms, so even rain makes her freak out. I prayed for her all day on Tuesday because it rained and stormed on and off. But she did fine, and I think overcoming that has given her more confidence that she'll survive at school without me. Thank you so much for your prayers!
4. Do you guys know what month it is? . . . It's birthday month!
GIF courtesy of my fellow birthday month twin Christina!
I'm too old and poor to celebrate in the fashion of my youth, but it's giving me an excuse for small splurges, like this one . . .
And large splurges like this one:
Happy birthday to me . . . let's go deeper in debt!
5. I had planned on driving my old van until it died. It runs rough, but it still runs, and it wouldn't be the first time I had to pull over because my vehicle died. The death knell came sooner than expected this week, when it started doing this:
Most of the vehicles I've owned always have some sort of warning light on, but this was the first time I've ever seen one flash. Haha. It started flashing Thursday morning on our way to school. I drove it there and back, then did some Internet research.
If there's anything that scares me as much (or more!) as bears, it's car fires. I have up to 4 kids in my vehicle at any given time - how could I possibly get myself and all of them out in case of a car fire?! That was the nail in the coffin for Ol' Rusty. That night, Justin and I started looking at vehicles online. We've always just bought whatever's cheapest, but I'm sick of all the expensive repair issues. Everyone and their brother recommends Odysseys and Siennas as long-running, good quality vehicles, so that's what we decided we wanted. We found one close-by at about exactly what we wanted to spend. It's a 2004 (which doesn't seem that long ago, but was actually 15 years ago!) and has less bells and whistles than Ol' Rusty (although half of Rusty's bells and whistles don't work), but it only has 127,000 miles on it. All the other Odysseys and Siennas I looked at in our price range had at least 180,000. The first 8 years of the new van's life were spent in South Carolina, so it doesn't have any rust and it's in nice shape. Justin told me to test drive it and buy it if I liked it. So that's what I did! My dad came with me yesterday to drive it and be my second opinion. I decided that I liked it and Dad didn't see any major red flags, so I told the guy I wanted it. I tried to text Justin while the dealer was drawing up the paperwork to let him know I was going to buy it, but I didn't have service, so I ended up texting him after the fact, "I bought a new van today!" Haha. Here's hoping this is the reliable vehicle I've been longing for! (P.S. Anyone want to buy a 2006 Town and Country with significant rust and major electrical issues? 🤣)
6. I've been waiting to share the grand reveal pictures of our basement bathroom project until every detail was finished, but that could be a while. Haha. So here it is with almost every detail in place. First, a refresher of how it looked before:
Very dirty, disgusting 2 piece bathroom.
Here it is now as a full bathroom (sink, toilet, shower/tub)!
Everything else in our house is shades of gray, blue, and white per my aesthetic. I decided to branch out and go for something a little more masculine in what is primarily Justin's bathroom. You'll also notice there's a bit of a fishing theme.
I knew I wanted an olive green color for the walls, but was worried that it would be too dark in our windowless, basement bathroom. So we left one wall white to balance it out, and just added lots of wood and black elements to tie it together.
This is my unfinished part. My grandpa painted that fish and I want it on this wall, but I have yet to find the perfect frame. The oar was an antique store find.
Hobby Lobby "Fishing Hole" sign and boat cleat towel hooks!
New view looking into the bathroom/laundry room
We ended up with a little "landing" of sorts between the bathroom, laundry room, and our bedroom that is perfect for a bookshelf!
Many thanks to Justin and his dad who spent countless hours re-doing this space and making it beautiful!!
7. More pics:
Let's play "name that rash." She's had it for months right by her mouth, but this week it started to spread up her nose. I took this pic on Sunday and it's actually gotten a lot better since then. ??
Ruby loves going for walks!
We started going to storytime this week. Nash is a big fan of snack time.
Levi was very precise with the Bingo dauber on his apple page.
Ruby didn't get to paint or have a snack (graham crackers have honey - she's too young), but she still loved it!
Crazy driver in the school pick-up lane!
The girls wanted to have a sleepover in Lucy's room last night. When I checked on them before going to bed I found Lena like this. She said she slept there all night!
Levi is continuing to gain confidence in swimming. Truth be told, he's a little overconfident. On Monday I stayed right by his side for the first half hour, but he was jumping off the diving board and going down the slide into the deep end with no problem. I finally watched from the side of the pool - still in my swimsuit in case he needed rescuing. But he's really getting the hang of it!
And large splurges like this one:
If there's anything that scares me as much (or more!) as bears, it's car fires. I have up to 4 kids in my vehicle at any given time - how could I possibly get myself and all of them out in case of a car fire?! That was the nail in the coffin for Ol' Rusty. That night, Justin and I started looking at vehicles online. We've always just bought whatever's cheapest, but I'm sick of all the expensive repair issues. Everyone and their brother recommends Odysseys and Siennas as long-running, good quality vehicles, so that's what we decided we wanted. We found one close-by at about exactly what we wanted to spend. It's a 2004 (which doesn't seem that long ago, but was actually 15 years ago!) and has less bells and whistles than Ol' Rusty (although half of Rusty's bells and whistles don't work), but it only has 127,000 miles on it. All the other Odysseys and Siennas I looked at in our price range had at least 180,000. The first 8 years of the new van's life were spent in South Carolina, so it doesn't have any rust and it's in nice shape. Justin told me to test drive it and buy it if I liked it. So that's what I did! My dad came with me yesterday to drive it and be my second opinion. I decided that I liked it and Dad didn't see any major red flags, so I told the guy I wanted it. I tried to text Justin while the dealer was drawing up the paperwork to let him know I was going to buy it, but I didn't have service, so I ended up texting him after the fact, "I bought a new van today!" Haha. Here's hoping this is the reliable vehicle I've been longing for! (P.S. Anyone want to buy a 2006 Town and Country with significant rust and major electrical issues? 🤣)
Happy birthday month!! It always stinks to pay for a new vehicle, but I bet it feels good to drive it!
ReplyDeleteI'm wondering if Lena has eczema maybe? A couple of my kids get that near their mouths occasionally, and it sticks around for a while.
Your new bathroom looks amazing!