The Saturday 7

1. We celebrated Memorial Day on Sunday with my family at the pool. It was one of the nicest Memorial Day weekends we've had in a long time (weather-wise), and Niki had the pool heat up to 85*, so it was an awesome day for swimming. 

Acrobatics with Tristan

Levi "playing" cornhole with the big boys.

We spent the day eating tons of food, playing cards, swimming, and talking - all of my favorite things!

We rounded out the evening with s'mores

When I put this shirt on Levi, he paused in confusion, patted each of his shoulders, then said with a big smile, "I like this kind of shirt!" Haha. Apparently he doesn't remember wearing sleeveless shirts in the past.

2. We had our first taste of real summer weather this week, with temps in the high 80s. I love the heat, but am thankful for central air!! And Niki's pool of course! Niki had to go back to work this week (😢), but we still got to hang out with some other family/friends.

Lena's friend Aubrey came over one day. The girls hadn't seen each other since quarantined started and were so happy to be reunited!

Lunch time with Nash and Ruby

Lucy got invited over to her friend Avery's house on Tuesday. Avery's mom told me to send along Lucy's swimsuit so the girls could play in the sprinkler. Later on, she sent me this picture. Unbeknownst to us, the girls have matching suits! 

3. Have y'all seen this meme?

It is so true!! Lol. And we don't even have birdfeeders! There's a tree in our front yard that is directly in my line of sight from the chair I sit in most of the day. A couple weeks ago, I noticed a robin had built a nest in it. Soon I started to see her feeding little babies! There's also a tree in the backyard with a robin's nest. We saw the eggs a while ago, and now there are little babies peeking their heads out. Yesterday, I held my phone up high and quick snapped a picture. 

I guess it was naptime. 

We've also noticed a pair of cardinals flying in and out of a bush in our backyard, so yesterday I investigated and found this:

Who knew our yard would be such a haven for birds?! (Or that I'd actually care enough to write about it/take pictures. Lol. #quarantine)

The reason I was tromping around in the backyard in the first place was to cut some of these beautiful flowers that have popped up. I think I said this last year, but I'll say it again: Thanks to Esther for planting all this stuff when she lived here. I have zero interest in gardening, and I put zero effort into the upkeep of what is already there, but I do enjoy the beauty that shows up every spring!

Irises?

Rhododendron, I think.

Lena made this lovely bouquet for me.

4. I haven't been doing very well reading that parenting book. I look at it every day and think, "I should really read some more of that." I even brought it to the pool a couple times! But that's as far as I've gotten . . . which is unfortunate since this was another rough week. It's just starting to become our normal, but that makes me horrendously sad. Lucy spends most of her life in her room (of her own doing). She even refused to go to the pool with us a couple times this week because she can't stand to be around me. There was an incident on Monday, prompted only by being told that she had to be done with screen time, that had me seriously wondering if I needed to call up the pastor to request an exorcism. It was out of control and kind of freaky. Once she had calmed down a bit, I went into her room, climbed into bed with her, and had a long chat. For once, she didn't plug her ears or cover her head with her blanket or violently shove me off her bed, screaming for me to get out of her room. She listened and responded to yes/no questions. I felt like we had a bit of a breakthrough. But the next day it was back to screaming and slamming doors and texting me from her tablet, "IHU." Sigh. One day at a time.

5. We're still technically on lockdown, but you can tell that people are done with it. 

Case in point: a church in our area went ahead with their annual rummage sale this weekend. I've never been before, so I don't know if it's busy every year, but I was shocked at how many people were there! Apparently I'm not the only one desperate to get out of my house and go deal-shopping!! I went Thursday night after making dinner for Justin, but they closed at 7, so I could only shop for an hour. So I went again this morning and BONUS: everything was half off! I left with a bag shoved full of clothes, shoes, books, and picture frames for $8! I've heard of a runner's high, but did you know there's also a bargain hunter's high? That's more up my alley! 

As I was driving home my mom texted me, "Do your kids want to come over and hang out this afternoon?" I didn't even give them an option, I just responded, "YES!" Lol. So I ran my kids out to my parents' house, then came back to town and stopped at the thrift store by my house. It just re-opened, and only 10 people are allowed in the store at a time, but there was no line, so I marched on in and shopped to my heart's content! I think I was there for two hours. Haha. My bargains weren't quite as impressive as the rummage sale and my price out of pocket was substantially more, but it was so refreshing to look at every single thing in the store and stock up on some summer essentials. 

Then Justin and I got Applebee's take-out and ate at home in peace! It was wonderful! I looooooove my kids, but Justin and I haven't had a date night in over 3 months! It was time!

6. I don't have much else for this week, so I'm going to use this space to record some funny Levi-isms of late. He created a new word that he uses all the time: tinesy. It's combination of tiny and teensy. And he usually uses it when he's begging for more screen time, "Just a tinesy bit longer? Pleeeeease??" He's also all about pinky promises lately. Again, with screen time, he'll say "Just one more episode. Pinky promise" and stick his little pinky out at me. Haha. He surprised us all this week when Lucy did something to make him mad and he responded vehemently, "That little rascal!" Lol. No idea where he got that! And no matter how many times we correct him, he cannot remember that the big floatie in Niki's pool is called a raft not a craft. 🤣

Speaking of funny kid-isms. Here's Lena's for the week:

7. Just a couple more pictures:

A couple of cuties playing games on their devices. I got Levi that soccer jersey from the rummage sale for 50 cents! It's too big, but I couldn't pass it up. And he insisted on wearing it all night. 

I was shocked by how long he concentrated on coloring in this book. He's usually not much of a colorer. 

After a few days straight in his swimsuit, Levi was having some chafing issues, so I let him wear regular shorts in the pool yesterday. He could not get over the hilarity of his air-bubbly pockets! Lol.

When you make a huge mess eating Cheez-Its on the couch, but you're terrified of the loud vacuum . . .

The "Sadie Section" at the thrift store. (And no, I actually didn't buy anything grey and white striped!!)

Your weekly Sadie/Ruby Snapchat selfie, wherein I filter my face to the point that you probably wouldn't recognize me in real life if this was your only perception of me! 🤣