The Saturday 7

1. We finished our Summer Bucket List with hours to spare. I finally finished combing through 15 years worth of videos and compiled them into a presentation that I cast to the TV. The kids loved it. It was so fun to see how much Levi looks/acts/sounds like Lucy at his age. And Lena was a character. Lol. Funny story, though. On Sunday morning, before I had finished compiling, our Pastor mentioned in his sermon that he doesn't understand Bucket Lists - they're a selfish way to spend the last years of your life. Lol. Oops! Good thing it was just for the summer. I was still happy that we were able to check everything off, though. And I'll still probably do one next year too. 😂

Bam!

2. Monday was the first day of school! Everyone was excited to go back. On Sunday night, Lena said she was starting to feel really nervous, but she woke up Monday morning saying, "I'm hardly nervous at all anymore!" so I was relieved that we wouldn't have a repeat of the end of last year. I managed to curl my hair all by myself and everyone got up and ready with time to spare! 

First year with a locker!

3. Lena was totally fine when I left her to go to my library office. My first class wasn't until 9, so I did a few last minute things and was totally shocked with Lena appeared in my room at 8:55 with tears streaming down her face. All of a sudden, she was overcome by anxiety! 😭 I essentially told her to suck it up and hustled her out of my room before my class came in. As a 6th grader, she switches classes every hour, so I was very worried she'd be in my office every hour. But she made it through the rest of the day . . . begrudgingly. She started crying as we drove home from school and didn't really stop until I forced her to go to bed at 11:00 that night. 🤦🤦🤦 She begged me to homeschool her, said school is too hard and she misses me too much, she kept saying, "I can't do this all year!" And I was thinking, "Me neither!" Haha. The only way I got her to go to bed that night was by letting her sleep on the floor next to my bed . . . which she did every night this week. On Tuesday, she was in hysterics all morning, but after employing every tool in my anxiety toolbox and praying with her multiple times, she went to her class by herself. Every day after school she said, "School was fine. I felt better after second hour. But I don't want to go back." Friday was the worst - she went absolutely psycho at home - like it made me uncomfortable because she was acting like she was possessed. She was so terrified. But I know that I can't give in to her or it will never get better. She did breathing exercises the whole way to school, I prayed for her in the pickup lane, and she got out and went inside with tears streaming down her face. When I picked her up after school, she was happy and chipper. I asked her how long it took for her to start feeling better that morning after I left and she said, "Immediately." 🤦 At least she had the grace to say it sheepishly. 

After the first couple of bad days, I emailed her doctor to see about upping her meds. The Dr. responded that we could double her dose. 😬 I hate doing it, but it's still only 20 mg, and I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get her through this. She also finally agreed to counseling for the first time, so I've been filling out paperwork for that as well. She's been totally fine all weekend, but we'll see what happens when school rolls around again on Monday!

Reward for surviving the first week of school!

4. On Tuesday, I had to give a presentation to our deacon board at church regarding a project that I'm not sure is public knowledge yet. Haha. A couple friends and I have been working toward this for weeks, and Tuesday night was the culmination of all our research and preparation. My friends were extremely nervous, and I was amazed by my lack of nerves! I was a little nervous, because I always get tongue tied when I have to speak to an audience, but I was confident in the material we presented, and I know most of the men on the board personally, so they weren't that scary of an audience. I am also highly medicated, so thank you, Zoloft! 😂 The deacons were happy with our proposal and have approved us to move forward! Stay tuned . . .

5. Of course, Tuesday night was also Lena's last night of gymnastics. Justin was home and available to bring her, but she lost her ever-loving mind about me not taking her. She literally texted/called me (via messenger kids) 78 times in the hour and a half that I was gone. Justin convinced her to go to gymnastics with him, with the promise that I'd be there as soon as my meeting was over. I only missed the first ten minutes of her class and she was totally back to normal by the time it ended. 🤦

6. This morning I went to Embrace Books with some friends. It's a totally free used bookstore about 45 minutes from my house. It's only open twice a month, and I don't make it out there nearly as much as I'd like to, but I made up for it today. 😂

Then this afternoon, we headed to Justin's parents' friends' cottage to meet some new friends. Justin's parents are hosting a family that just moved here from Canada so the dad can attend seminary. They needed somewhere to stay until they can buy a house, and Justin's parents have the room, so they'll be staying for a while. They have four kids that are all younger than Lucy - including a 7 year old boy for Levi to play with and an 11 year old girl named Lina! Isn't that a crazy coincidence? Haha. My Lena is only four months older than theirs, and they immediately hit it off today. They're so excited to have other kids to play with when we go to the VKs' after lunch on Sundays!

7. Pics and memes:

I did some shopping on a less than reputable website this week (don't tell my brother), and I got a big kick out of some of the images I came across . . .

Not only is this shovel sturdy, it's also sturdy! And not afraid of the ground! 😂

If not for the crude language, I would've bought this shirt. It's been 14 years since my last kidney stone. I'm probably about due for another one. 😬

I feel like this is just asking for a fish pun. Let minnow if you think of any. 😂 🐟 #kneeslapper

This is never so true as the first day of school. I try really hard not to say, "I can't believe I have a 9th grader!" But really, wasn't I just in 9th grade??