The Saturday 7

1. More birthday celebrations for Levi:

With my family

Craig's Cruisers with his bff

He's finally tall enough to drive the indoor go-karts himself, and he was obsessed!

2. We hosted small group last weekend and I wielded my hosting power to make everyone play games with me. First up was this special edition of Apples to Apples that I made myself.

Then we played the "Not-so-Newlywed Game" (again, made by yours truly). We ended up taking home the trophy for best marriage, so maybe my creating the game wasn't 100% fair, but we've also been married the longest of the couples who came, so it's possible we won by merit!

3. I haven't been reading much. For a couple weeks, I was obsessively binging Night Agent on Netflix.  I've also been busy with work, and slogging through a fair amount of depression lately, which affects my reading time. I actually picked up a book a couple days ago that reminded me a lot of Night Agent - political thriller with a smidge of romance. Unfortunately, I didn't love the book. 3 stars for "not that bad, but won't read again." (Conspiracy of Silence by Ronie Kendig)

4. I saw this a few days ago and have been really convicted by it:

This is obviously an issue I've been on a soapbox about before - specifically involving kids and smartphones, but I'm coming to terms with the fact that my own smartphone usage is killing me. Hard truth alert: I've always said that my depression started after Lena was born. My hormones never recovered, and it's been a battle since then. But I recently realized that I got my first smartphone the year she was born. Could there be a connection?? Honestly, it's probably a little of both, but I think more blame can be laid at the feet off my phone obsession than my hormones. It's a stupid idol in my life, and I'm trying to be more intentional about putting it down and not letting it rule me. Wish me luck.

5. Lucy will be 16 in less than 2 months, and she reeeeeallllly wants to get her license on her birthday, but she doesn't have nearly enough hours in yet. So we decided to take a little Midwest road trip over Spring Break so she can do some serious driving. I've been researching locations and attractions and hours between cities for a solid week. Tonight we finally had a family meeting to go over everyone's priorities and try to do something to make everyone happy. Lucy admitted that she doesn't like anything, but she's especially averse to zoos and caves. She eventually said she wants to go to go to bookstores and a baseball game. Lena wants to go to Pigeon Forge to ride the Alpine Coasters and see the mountains/nature. Levi wants to do everything. Justin wants to do nature-y stuff, and I hate road trips but will deal with it if I can stop at some cool bookstores. So our itinerary is this: 5 hour drive to Columbus. All three kids agreed on Legoland. And there's an epic discount bookstore for me. The next day: 5 hour drive to Pigeon Forge. Alpine coasters and some easy hiking in the Great Smoky Mountains. (I'm hoping the trails will be super busy during Spring Break, so all the people will scare away the bears. Seriously, the things I do for Justin.) Next up: pit stop in Knoxville to visit McKay's Books, then 4 hours to Dayton for a baseball game. And 5 hours home the following day. Oh, we're also going to be sure to hit Buc-ees in there somewhere as well. The farthest our kids have ever driven is the Ark in Kentucky, near Cincinnati. They all seem to think they love road trips, but we'll see how they feel after 4 straight days of driving. I am dreading all the driving - especially with Lucy at the wheel. She's not a bad driver, just inexperienced, and that makes me very anxious. I will definitely need to stock up on xanax for this trip.

6. We're working on fundraising for our school, and Lena and Levi decided to make a video asking for donations. In true Lena form, it's not just a basic, "Please donate to our school" video, but a full-on scripted production. Lol. She wrote, directed, and edited it all herself then asked me to put it on facebook. 

Lots of people liked it, but no one donated. 😔 So if you want to make her day, feel free to donate here. 

7. I don't have much in the way of pics and memes today. Lo siento.