The Saturday 7

Oops. Looks like I have two weeks to catch up on again! 

1. My mom signed up for Discovery Plus and lent me her login, so we've been binging on all the best HGTV shows lately - Design Star, Good Bones, Rehab Addict, Magnolia Table, Property Brothers, etc. In the same week, Niki signed up for PureFlix and let me have that login as well. I love being able to tell the girls, "You can watch whatever you want on this streaming service." Lucy loves all those sappy movies that make me want to claw my eyes out. Lol. I also enjoyed introducing Levi to Veggie Tales (the old school ones - not the fake new Netflix version!) and 3-2-1 Penguins. Sharing passwords is the best! 😁 (I pay for my own Disney+ and Hulu. I'm not a total freeloader!!)

2. I'm still chugging along on my college classes. They're pretty easy so far. The professor uploads an introductory video (that I watch in 1.75x speed because she's talks soooo slowly and says "um" 600,000 times - yay, technology!), then gives us a bunch of links to read through - mostly articles. Some of them are very easy reads, but some are so full of buzzwords and jargon that it makes my eyes bleed. I had to write my first "paper" last week. It was really just an essay, but I am woefully out of practice in writing academically - especially knowing how to cite Internet sources and whatnot. It was weird to realize that way back when I was in college, we still got almost all of our research from physical books. I have very little memory of ever citing a website. Thank goodness for Google! I feel good about the essay, but haven't gotten my grade yet. Stay tuned!

3. I watched the inauguration on Wednesday. Well - most of it. Those things are boring. I don't ever remember being so invested in politics until recently, and I wonder how much of my newfound interest is because of social media. Which also makes me wonder - is this election really so much more of a big deal than previous ones or does it just seem that way because we're constantly inundated by information about it via social media? People seem to have such strong opinions that I'm sucked in to figure out what the big deal is and to feel somewhat informed. My facebook feed is 90% conservative, so most of what I've seen has been dismay, but the liberal 10% are there too. It's disheartening to me that Biden immediately undid so much of what Trump worked for. And that's just the name of the game. When the next republican president comes to office, he'll undo what his predecessor did, etc., etc., ad nauseum. (Look at me and my Latin! That college education is really showing.) It seems incredibly futile. 

4. My big politics question of the week comes on the heels of Biden's executive order about gender identity inclusion in sports. In case you haven't heard (do you live under a rock??), his newest order seeks to protect people who identify as a different gender. That doesn't sound that bad, right? Until the order is extended to include sports teams - even of school-aged kids. So now boys that identify as a girl can participate in girls' sports. (I'm not even going to touch the locker room argument with a ten foot pole.) The important distinction is the word "identify." These are not boys who have undergone gender reassignment surgery or are taking any hormones or other physical steps to change their bodies. They simply feel like a girl - which is immeasurable and fluid. People across the Internet are crying out that this will end women's sports. And I'm baffled that our first female Vice President is on board with this. In an effort to support one marginalized community (which isn't a bad thing to some degree), you're marginalizing another that you've been fighting for for years! I know that 99% of my readers agree with me, but I'm genuinely curious how "the other side" feels about this decision. I have yet to come across an article that is pro-biological boys/men competing in girls/women's sports. 

5. In other sad news, Justin's grandpa had a massive stroke on Thursday. He's been unresponsive since then, and is currently under hospice care in the hospital. Fortunately, we're far enough along into this Covid thing that a select few visitors are allowed - so Grandma and their sons have been able to come say their good-byes. (And Grandma gets to stay with him.) He's 93, and has been in declining health for years, but it's still hard to accept the finality of it. Wednesday night, he was playing Wizard and eating dinner like normal. But by Thursday morning, he was pretty much gone. I have only known him for around 17 years, but I'm still very sad - especially for Grandma. They've been married for 70 years. Can you imagine living with the same man for 70 years and then suddenly being alone?? That's twice as long as I've even been alive!! It has been cool to read the memories all his grandkids are sharing on facebook, though, and to see old pictures. He was a godly, generous man with some of the best catchphrases. I was one of the first Baptists to marry into the previously very Christian Reformed family, and when he found that out, he said, "It's ok. I was baptized as an infant and immersed. I'm just covering all my bases." 😂 Please pray for a peaceful passing for Grandpa and grace and strength for those he's leaving behind. 💗

6. On to happier things . . . Today is Lena's 8th birthday! I already posted her 8 year interview and gushed about her precious personality, so check that out if you're interested. It's been a whole weekend of celebration. Yesterday was her "friend party." 

As I wrote in Lena's birthday interview, she's a major party planner. She picked a theme weeks ago (mermaids), made her own invitations, and had an elaborate "schedule of events" drawn up for the party. Last weekend, she and I went shopping for supplies (thank you, Dollar Tree!), and I had a few tricks up my sleeve for decorations. Let's be real - I am not a Pinterest mom. I have neither the money nor inclination to go to those lengths, but Lena gets some of her creative energy from me because I do like working with a theme and finding economical ways to make it fun. Case in point: I'm in a local "Buy Nothing" group on facebook where people post stuff they're giving away all the time. A few weeks ago, someone posted a bunch of paper "lanterns." I expressed my interest and was chosen to get them. They were white with black designs on them, but I thought they'd be fun for a mermaid party, so I bought a couple cans of spray paint and went to town in the garage. 

I didn't do a suuuuper great job of keeping paint off the floor, but it's not like it was in pristine condition to begin with! Also, side note: my finger/arm is soooo sore two days later from all that stupid spray painting. 🤦

Then I went to Party City and gritted my teeth through paying $3 for a mermaid-inspired tablecloth (they're $1 at Dollar Tree! But they didn't have any mermaid ones.) A few Dollar Tree streamers and a piece of poster board that Lena drew a mermaid on later, plus the free lanterns, and we had this:

Oh, I got the "8" balloon when Sparta Variety went out of business a year ago. Haha. Yet another reason hoarding pays off!

I also hung some of the lanterns over the dining room table, and made it "ocean-esque" with a few more streamers over the slider.

She invited all the girls in her class, plus our lifelong friends who are homeschooled. ACS had a half-day, so we had the party immediately afterward. My gracious friend Kelly picked up some pizza for us, so I could rush right back home from school. And we partied hard all afternoon!

Pizza

Presents

Decorating cupcakes

Pin the Tail on the Mermaid

Today is her actual birthday. We celebrated with breakfast in bed, presents, a Daddy/Daughter date (Claire's, Five Below, KFC), lots of games, and family movie night. 

7. More pictures!

My Cap-man wearing the hat Lucy made him.

Coloring with Grandpa. 💗

My friend Mandi found this at Goodwill and left it on my doorstep. It gave me a good laugh!

Sorry about the language, but for real . . .

I thought I was the only one!

I was just thinking this earlier this week! I despise wearing a coat (despite my deep aversion to being cold), so I usually don't wear a coat unless it's less than 30 degrees. Until this week, we hadn't had much of that this winter! #smallvictories

A random picture from one of my deals websites, but I think this guy looks so much like my dad! Secret beard model?? 🤔

#momperks

From my devotions this week. #nothingnewunderthesun