The Saturday "7"

1. Our January/early February are jam-packed full of fun, and this weekend was the kickoff. Lucy got to attend her first retreat with the youth group. She's not generally excited about attending church events, but she's been loving youth group on Wednesday nights, and was so excited for retreat. I hope it lives up to her expectations! Haha. She left last night and will be home tomorrow afternoon. I'm not going to lie that it is kind of weird being totally cut off from communication with her. She doesn't have a phone, but even if she did, she wouldn't be allowed to use it. The leaders have posted updates so I know they made it to camp and Lucy is alive, but it's weird not knowing anything beyond that! Haha.

2. Our other exciting event of the weekend was Lena's "9 Year Hotel Trip." When Lucy turned 9, I took her to a hotel for the night and Lena insisted that the tradition must continue. What Lena didn't know was that the impetus for a hotel date with Lucy was to get her out of the house for "the talk." I feel like Lena isn't quite as mature as Lucy was at 9, but decided to just go for it anyway. All the books I read say it's better to inform them younger than older, so I gritted my teeth, tried not to cringe, and took the plunge. 3 years ago when I did it with Lucy, she listened stoically and had zero questions. I knew I wasn't going to get as lucky with Lena. Lol. The best was, "You and Daddy actually do that??" 😂😂😂😂 And when I informed her about the things she has to look forward to as a female she said, "Oh great. Something else for me to be anxious about." Lol. Poor kid. Fortunately, if my genetics are strong enough, she shouldn't have to worry about that for many years! (This is the book I use for the talk, if you're interested.)

3. Aside from the cringe-worthy talk, we had a nice time together. She chose Golden Corral for dinner, we went down to the pool, but mostly hung out in the hot tub, we watched a lot of HGTV and Disney channel, and slept in this morning til 9:30! We got breakfast at the hotel, hung out in our room til it was time to check out, then shopped til we dropped. I never realized she was such a hardcore shopper! She had $25 to spend from Great-Grandma, and was absolutely tormented about how to best spend it. We ended up going to 5 Below, Michael's, and Claire's. She spent most of her money at Claire's, then went back to 5 Below to get $3 worth of 10 cent candy. I actually scored at Michael's. Their Christmas clearance was 70% off, and fall/Halloween was 90% off! I got a ton of stuff for $20. Woohoo! After a stop at Once Upon for their dollar sale, we got KFC to go at 3:00 p.m., then came home. My belly is not super happy with all the junk I ate all weekend. I used to have a stomach of steel, but the older I get, the more sensitive it is. Lame.

She bought herself these blue light glasses and can't get over how cute she is in them. Hahaha. #humble

4. At Mom's Group a couple weeks ago, my friend Megan mentioned something about Instagram and I said that I can't really handle Instagram because it feeds my envy issues. She said that she only follows Christian inspirational accounts, and a select few close friends. I thought that was such a great idea, I immediately followed suit. I started following Alistair Begg, Jackie Hill Perry, Risen Motherhood, Women in Apologetics, Mama Bear Apologetics, Tim Challies, Jen Wilkin, Jennie Allen, and Joyful Mothers. Of course, then Instagram suggests similar accounts that have also reeled me in. I've really been enjoying the change! I'm trying to be more intentional about immersing myself in Scripture and Christian truths. Of course, one of the stories (reels? I'm still an Insta-noob) someone posted this week was about avoiding "bite-sized theology in pretty Instagram squares." Haha. Don't worry. I don't get all my spiritual nourishment from Instagram. It just serves as a supplement. Let me know if there are any other good accounts I should be following.

We've been talking a lot about this idea at Mom's Group. It ain't easy.

This has been rolling around in my head all day. It even uses that phrase "be diligent" that I said was going to be my phrase of the year. I kind of meant it in the spiritual sense, though, not the health sense. Haha. Still mulling over this one. Is my laziness leading to sin?

5. Well, believe it or not, that's all I can dredge up this week. I have to go take a shower so my hair has time to semi-dry before bed, because I just bought myself these and I'm going to try them out tonight:

https://www.cozycurlers.com/ ---- Stay tuned to see if I got scammed.

6. Pictures

We got to go to Justin's grandma's on Sunday. There's a heated pool in the basement that the kids and Justin enjoyed while Grandma and I caught up on all the family gossip.