The 7

Sorry I forgot to post on Saturday. I was busy reading until 1:00 a.m. Oops!

1. We survived the great non-tornado of 2024. I woke up to the pounding of the rain at like 6:30. Lucy wasn't home, so I went upstairs to make sure her windows were closed. Levi woke up a few minutes later and met me upstairs. We sat by the windows and watched the storm for a while. Then the tornado sirens started blaring. I was watching the news, so I knew it wasn't an actual tornado, but I knew if Lena woke up to that sound she would panic. So we woke her up and went back to the basement to snuggle in my bed in safety.

I fell back to sleep and was shocked when the kids woke me up a little while later to tell me a tree in our backyard had fallen down. I don't know how we didn't hear it! It's not a dainty a little tree . . .

God really protected us by letting it fall that direction. If it had gone backward, it would've hit the deck/house. If it had gone to the right it would've landed on the fence. If it had gone left, it would've hit the other tree/garage. The top branches were touching the trampoline, but it didn't sustain any damage! The 25 year old playhouse was the only casualty (and Justin's been wanting to get rid of that for a while!)

Truth be told, I wouldn't have been too mad about getting some insurance money, but Lena's anxiety definitely couldn't handle a tree falling on our house. 

Justin spent a couple evenings chopping it up and hauling it out of here. The backyard is already back to normal - just minus one large tree. 

2. My back has been absolutely killing me this week. Ever since my weekend trip to Indy, it just hasn't been the same. I don't know if it was that mile walk in the heat, or riding in the car for so long, or sitting in uncomfortable chairs at the convention center, but I am not bouncing back like I should! It's my lower back, but also my hips and ribs? Work has been awful. The only time it feels ok is when I'm laying down. Oddly enough, I'm not allowed to do that at work. I'm not even 40 yet. I should not be falling apart like this!

3. We crossed a couple more things off our summer bucket list this week. Lena has been wanting to get back into gymnastics for a while. I finally decided to sign her up for a summer class, but I wasn't sure what level she'd be, so I called to set up an appointment for an evaluation. Of course, the only time they could do it was Wednesday at 7 p.m. while I was at work, so Justin took her. They rated her level 2/3, so I signed her up for a class that starts tomorrow! It also happened to be Open Gym that night, so they stayed for that and were able to cross it off the list. Lena is soooooooo excited about getting back into formal gymnastics. But I'm a little nervous that her tune is going to change when she gets there tomorrow and realizes she has to do this class with a bunch of strangers. I hope it doesn't and she has an amazing time. She has some serious talent, and I'd love for her to develop it more!

4. We spent the day at the pool again on Thursday. 

These three (Nova, Nash, and Levi) played so nicely together all day - making up games and swimming for hours!

My happy place

Popsicle time!

5. I actually watched the presidential debate Thursday night. I wanted to see if Biden could possibly perform without his teleprompter and ear-piece. Even though I expected him to fail, I was still astonished by how bad he looked and sounded. The poor guy couldn't even keep his mouth closed. And then at the end, they showed him shuffling toward the edge of the stage where his wife had to help him down the stairs, and someone from the camera crew hovered nearby ready to catch him if he fell! 

Of course, I fully believe this was all intentional.

But it's still a little terrifying to realize this man is currently running our country. 

Don't get me wrong. I'm not a die-hard Trump fan. While he was more cognizant than Biden, he's still an arrogant buffoon. ("I took three cognitive tests. The doctors said they'd never seen anyone score as well as me." 🙄🙄🙄) And again, I just wonder how these are our best options. 

6. On Friday, we checked another thing off the bucket list: Lewis Farms with the Cousin Crew. We all checked the weather on Thursday evening and were happy to see temps in the mid 70s and cloudy skies. Every time we've been to Lewis in the past, we've been roasting hot, so we were looking forward to slightly cooler weather. None of our weather apps warned us about the rain though! It actually ended up being downright chilly, and it rained half the time we were there! The kids still had fun, though, and we stayed 'til after 3:00, so we got our money's worth!

They're not going to fit in this chair much longer!

Lena braved the birds this time!

Matching swimsuits with a few unwilling participants. Lol.

Levi always wants to do this paintball game, but it costs money so I always say no. This time we walked over just to watch. The attendant asked if he wanted to play and I said, "Yes, but his mean mom won't spend the money." She said, "It's on me. Come on in." Levi was so excited! 

On the way out, these goofballs spotted the perfect picture opportunity and went a little crazy:

7. Tonight, we got to go to a wedding of a dear friend. I spent 45 minutes curling all my stinkin' hair, and this is the best I could do:

The wedding was beautiful, and the reception was so fun!

Lucy was wearing ginormous heels. She's not actually that tall. (And you'll notice my hair had already gone flat. Grr.)

My cute dad photobombing Ty and Rieley's picture.

Lena, Levi, Nova, Niki, and I had a blast dancing.

💓

I even got Justin to do one slow dance with me. Thanks to Brandy for getting photographic evidence. Although I don't know what we were talking about that brought out that face from me. Haha.

Inarguably, Levi's favorite part was the free photo booth. The poor attendant was probably so sick of him by the end of the night. Lol. But we got some really fun photos!

Whew! That's enough for tonight. I'll save the memes for next week. Thanks for reading to the end!