The Saturday 7

What a week! Buckle up!

1. Sunday was Mothers' Day. I've implemented a fool-proof system for getting the Mothers' Day I want over the past few years: be explicit about what I want and set my family up for success. I bought canned cinnamon rolls when I did my weekly grocery shopping and set out the pie pans before I went to bed because I knew no one would be able to find them in the morning. I told Justin what time I needed to get up in order to get ready for church on time. Then I stayed in bed until my surprise breakfast in bed was brought to me. 😂 We have a good team because Lena is a traditionalist who will never forget, Levi and Lucy love cinnamon rolls, and Justin is willing and able to help them get it all together in the morning. They all wrote in a sweet homemade card, Levi gave me a hand-painted pot with a flower in it, a painting, and a nice letter (all from school). He has also been conspiring with my dad for the past couple of weeks to get me a tree for our front yard. The old tree fell down a few years ago, and Levi got the idea in his head that we need a new one. Because my dad is the green thumb in the family, he got roped into picking one out, buying it, and planting it. Lol. Thanks, Dad!

Translation:

Favorite color: yellow or white or blue, favorite food: Wing World, cooks the best: waffles, always says: "take a shower," favorite thing to do to relax: lay down in a chair on our deck, always laughs: when she gets funny texts, like to play games together. . . . They were pretty spot on! Except for my age. 38, thank you very much. And I'm definitely not a fan of yellow.

Translation: When I need you you come as fast as you can. And you provide for us when we need it most. You're the best mom ever. 💓

2. On Tuesday I read a very interesting book: Domestic Extremist by Peachy Keenan. First of all, I hate that she hides behind a pseudonym. Secondly, it was indeed extreme. But . . . I liked most of what she says. 😬 I don't necessarily agree with her method (she's very snarky and combative), but I ultimately agree with her message. It's one of those books that I think is preaching to the choir - the only people reading it are the ones who already agree with her. Anyone who disagrees will probably throw the book away before they get to the second chapter. But it had some eye opening statistics and anecdotes. The one thing it convicted me about was the way we treat kids in our society. She talks about how motherhood has become this terrible burden and everyone is quick to say how hard and thankless and messy it is. In a culture that already treats pregnancy as a disease with abortion as the cure, is it any wonder that the birth rate is dropping? She made an interesting point about how our society serves the gods of pleasure and comfort. Kids are taught that their happiness and fulfillment are the ultimate goal. So it's a dramatic wake-up call when they suddenly have to become parents who need to put someone else's needs before their own. No wonder we have so many disillusioned young moms who are drowning under the responsibility! So my conviction was twofold: to raise kids who aren't slaves to comfort and leisure (I've failed miserably on this so far), and to speak highly of kids and motherhood. I want grandkids. And I want my kids to have the joy of raising kids and having a family. So I need to do a better job of pointing out the positives and stop saying stuff like, "kids are the worst." 😂 This was one of my favorite lines from the book. I think I'm going to start writing it in graduation cards. 😁 (For context: she was talking about the culture of transgenderism and extreme plastic surgery that causes people to change their appearance so drastically, and the bad choices college students make in the name of "being rebellious.")

3. This weekend was Town and Country Days in our little town. It always used to be in July, but they've had trouble getting the carnival to come in the middle of the summer the past few years. So they've been doing the carnival in May and the rest of the festivities in July. This year, they finally put them all together again. It's actually pretty annoying because May is already busy enough. But the one thing I was looking forward to was cooler weather. We always get heat stroke the weekend of the parade/carnival, and I figured in May we'd have nice mild weather. So of course it was 85 degrees today. 🤦 Fortunately, we did some of the other events earlier in the week before the weather got terribly hot. Thursday night was "Family Farm Night" - a petting zoo, little games, and kids' activities.

That cow was absolutely ginormous. I don't think the pictures truly show how freakishly big he is.

Cousin Crew! (Nova is holding her brother Brodie, who is three months younger than Lainey - who Lena's holding. Can you tell? 😂)

Red white and blue scorpion

Glitter butterfly

4. On Friday we hit the carnival. We didn't go until 7:30 at night because Nash had soccer practice, so it ended up being perfect weather. I actually wore a sweater most of the night! I forked over the big bucks for unlimited-ride-wristbands and the kids had a blast riding the same few rides over and over. Haha. At least they got my money's worth!

Lucy even joined us!

5. Then today began our day of madness. I realize this is a normal Saturday for you crazy people with multiple kids in sports, but it's new to me! Haha.

I got sick of explaining everything to everyone, so I streamlined the communication. Apparently Lena made some additions later in the day. Haha.

First up was Girls on the Run. This was Lena's first year participating and she absolutely loved it. The girl has a lot of natural athletic ability, and running is an anxiety friendly sport. No one is watching her specifically and no one is depending on her to succeed. She did great running during practice, but they never really focus on going fast or timing your run, so we weren't sure what to expect for the big race today. Girls on the Run encourages runners to have an adult "buddy" for the final 5K race, and I am so glad Justin stepped up to the plate for that one, because Lena definitely didn't get her running skills from me! Justin didn't train or anything. A 5K is nothing to him. He just strapped on some running shoes and a knee brace (because he is almost 40!) and went for a leisurely jog.

Before the race

I'm a noob and didn't have any idea what to expect as a spectator. I didn't think to bring chairs or to make Lena a cool sign. What a dummy. I also had no idea where the best spot would be to watch the race, so I just parked myself by the start/finish line. It didn't lend itself to great picture taking since there was a chain-link fence between me and the runners, but I got a couple and some friends along the way also snapped pictures for me!

Lena ended up doing absolutely amazing. They don't officially time them, but Justin kept track on his watch and she came in at just under 28 minutes! I didn't count every runner who crossed the line ahead of her, but she was definitely in the top 20! (Which is deceiving because she was in the first heat, so there were probably other girls that did the whole race faster than she did, but it looked good!) It was especially fun because she and Justin were a little behind the first finishers but well ahead of the third wave, so they pretty much had the road to themselves for the last straightaway!

She didn't even act like it was that hard! Haha. She's amazing. 😍

Later this evening, she came to me completely sobbing that she's so sad Girls on the Run is over. I tried to console her with the fact that she can do cross country next year, but she said it won't be the same. She loved her coaches and her team and that she got to run the big race with her dad.

6. We made it home from the race in time to change real quick then headed off to the next event: the parade.

After loading up on candy and free hot dogs, we hurried back to the car so we could book it to Levi's game. It was 80 degrees by then and I thought he would have a terrible attitude and refuse to participate. But he actually did really well and scored two goals! I missed the second one because I had to leave early to get Lucy to her friend's house to get ready for her big event of the day: her first dance! I think it's technically a dance for homeschoolers, but anyone is welcome. There were a bunch of people from both school and church who went, so Lucy knew quite a few people. I feel kind of bad that I didn't stick around to watch her get ready/take pictures, but she didn't want me to and I was whooped. Her friends' moms sent me some pictures. And it was just an 8th grade dance. I'll be more present for real prom. 😂