The Saturday 7

1. Last official week of summer! 

How awesome is Lena's shirt??!! I found it in her size at Once Upon!

It was another hot week, so we spent much of it at the pool:

And inside our air conditioned house . . .

2. On Wednesday, we went to our friends' new house so Justin could look at their roof (he's going to help re-shingle it), and we could have s'mores. I knew they had a creek in the backyard, but I didn't realize how accessible it was, so I didn't bring swimsuits. That didn't stop the kids though. They had such a blast!

Justin even caught a couple fish!

Filthy boy eating his s'moreo (s'more made with Oreos!)

3. On Thursday, the kids had their "back to school open house" where they met their teachers, dropped off their school supplies, and got to see their classrooms. All three are "nervous-ited" (Lena's word for nervous/excited), especially since it's been so long since they've been in school - almost 6 months! Truth be told, I'm a little nervous-ited myself. It's been a long time since we've had a routine we had to stick to. Fortunately, watching Nova and Ruby has kept us from getting in the habit of sleeping til 10 or 11 all summer. Haha. But I have to get back in the swing of making lunches (and making sure I have the stuff for lunches!), remembering specials (who's wearing gym shoes today? who has to return their library book today?), and getting anywhere from 3-5 (potentially six after Ruby's baby is born!) kids in the car by 7:40 every morning! And try as I might to "let it go," I'm still having anxiety about Levi and his potty issues. He pees his pants multiple times every single day. We can't decide if he truly doesn't know it's coming, or if he really just doesn't care enough to stop what he's doing and go to the bathroom. Here's hoping for the latter!🤞 I also can't decide how he's going to act on the first day. I've always said that he's my least anxious kid and he'll be the one that will say, "Bye mom!" on the first day without batting an eyelash. But he's been clingier than usual lately, and he was very shy at the open house. It's going to be brutal if I have to peel him and Lena off on their first days. School starts Monday for the girls and Tuesday for Levi (he just goes 2 days a week). #prayforme 

4. I finally assembled all my paperwork for the colleges I applied to - including digging out my high school diploma! I mailed it on Monday, but still haven't heard anything from either school . . . which is totally stressing me out. Minnesota Tech actually started classes on Monday, so I feel like my window to get in is closing. Spokane Falls doesn't start til early September, but I'm still worried that they haven't gotten back to me. I need to start registering for classes if I'm going to make this happen! I'm so out of practice with this college stuff. 👵

5. Speaking of feeling old . . . Justin played in the ACS alumni soccer scrimmage today. It's old guys vs. the current varsity team, and Justin was the oldest by far. I'm not gonna lie - I feel a certain sense of pride that my 35 year old husband can still hold his own on the soccer field (which is stupid, since it has nothing to do with me), and a certain amount of guilt that I've "let myself go." Sorry, babe. You're still as hot as you were in high school, and I'm . . . a little flabby. (#3babies #donutsanddrpepper) I ended up talking to the gym teacher/athletic director for a while and he asked when we graduated (2003). He assured me that we're not that old, since it's still in the 2000s. But then he proceeded to tell me that he graduated in 2010. Oh my goodness. I'm so old!!!!! I do love these alumni scrimmages though. I love seeing Justin back on the field where we first fell in love (ok, not specifically on the field - but I spent a lot of time on those bleachers cheering him on - through wind, rain, snow, and sun!). I also love to see how far we've come when Justin's out there playing with our kids. That was my teenage dream: a husband and kids - and here it is. All I've ever wanted. 💗

#15

While they were still warming up (before they put on numbered shirts), Lena kept asking me which one was Daddy, and I kept pointing him out. Finally she said, "How can you tell which one is him? I keep getting confused!" I told her I've been married to him for 15 years and can tell by how he walks/stands/stretches/warms up. She was duly impressed. 

The kids loved watching him. Every time he touched the ball, Levi shouted "he got it!"

Circle of Life

6. The girls recently discovered the PicCollage app, and have been obsessed with creating collages of all our various family members. 

Lucy also figured out how to make video clips via Google Photos with awful names like "They Grow Up So Fast" set to sappy music. She kept trying to show them to me - all these montages of my babies growing up - and I finally told her, "I can't handle these. Stop showing them to me." Lol. #tooemotional 

7. More pics

Watching the aforementioned videos

Little Miss Tenacity - who tries and conquers things the rest of us immediately dismiss as too hard!

#kidsthesedays

One day this week, Levi climbed up on that chair and started flipping through Justin's Bassmaster magazine. He studied each page diligently, then dramatically exclaimed, "Mommy! Come look! I found what we should get Daddy for his birthday!" (which is not coming up anytime soon) . . .

When I showed Justin later, he heartily agreed with Levi. Lol!

We'll be camping next Saturday (#nobears), so, depending on my motivation there's a possibility next week's Saturday 7 will be up a day early! There's an equally likely possibility that it won't show up 'til Tuesday. 🤷 I like to keep y'all guessing . . .