The Saturday 7

Oops! I got caught up reading my book and didn't realize what time it was. Gonna have to make this snappy.

1. After what has been a scorching summer, we got a bit of relief this week. Temps topped out in the mid to high 70s, and dropped to the 50s overnight! Our poor overworked AC was much relieved for the break (as is our bank account). I always panic a little bit when the temperatures dip and I feel that summer is waning. We get so little nice weather in Michigan. I feel like I need to cling to every last degree before the snow starts flying and the sun goes into hibernation. Despite the cooler weather, we still managed to go to the pool a couple times this week. Thanks to the pool heater, the water was warmer than the air.

This weather is that weird in-between, where when the sun is shining I'm sweating, but when it gets cloudy, the goose-bumps pop up!

2. By Wednesday, it had warmed up enough that Libby and I decided to take our kids (plus our nieces) to the Splash Pad. Little fearless Ruby, who loves the pool, the sprinkler, even the spray bottle, was scared of the splash pad! But she liked sitting on the sidelines eating snacks and laughing at the kids. 

This is as close as Ruby got to the water. Haha.

Levi was there too, but apparently I never got any pictures of him! Haha. (Lucy was at a friend's house.)

A little post-splash pad swing time

Lunch! This pic cracks me up - mostly because of Nova's "cheese" face, but also because it fairly accurately represents the chaos that doing anything with 5 little kids brings. It's constant, "Ruby, sit down. Nova, take a bite. Nash, watch out for Nova. Levi, stop stealing Nash's goldfish. Lena, can you go get that bag that's blowing away? Where did Levi go?" #exhausting 

3. I think the cooler weather also triggered my "back to school" preparation mode. When we prepped for the garage sale, Lucy went through her closet and drawers and culled 90% of what she owns, saying "It doesn't fit or I don't like it." After years of trying to understand her "style," I finally threw in the towel this year, took her to Once Upon and let her buy whatever she wanted (from the clearance section - let's not be crazy). She picked things I would never have guessed she'd like. (Shirts that say "Princess"? Black jeans with zipper embellishments?) I let Lena do the same thing (on a different day - one on one time for the win!) even though her closet and drawers are bursting with hand-me-downs, and there is another full tote of size 7/8 waiting for her to grow into downstairs. Thank goodness for clearance sections! I also took each girl to Wal-Mart for school supplies. I can honestly say that's the first (and hopefully last!) time I've gone school supply shopping with a mask on. What a crazy world.

4. Another part of "preparing for school" has been pep-talks with Lena. She's already freaking out about leaving me and I foresee epic meltdowns in our future. I've also been working on getting Levi to use the bathroom more independently. He is obviously the third-born/baby/boy/lazy bum because he has zero inclinations toward independence. In fact, he laid on the floor sobbing for half an hour one day this week because Justin told him he had to at least try to pull his own pants up. And then today, this happened:

Independence is overrated. Think I can convince his pre-school teacher to take him to the bathroom every hour and help him every step of the way? 

5. Speaking of school . . . I did something crazy this week and applied to a couple of colleges to finish my degree! I have all these lofty ambitions of becoming a school librarian, but that requires some specific schooling (not like in the olden days where you just needed to know how to alphabetize - it's a school, not the Library of Congress 🙄). Anyway, I've been talking about doing it forever, but keep putting it off. I finally decided I better get started since it will likely take a couple years. And I have no idea yet if it's financially feasible, but I wanted to apply just to get the ball rolling. The program I'm interested in is an Associate's degree. I already have 60some credits from my first attempt at college. Does anyone know if I combine my old credits with a new degree if that counts as a Bachelor's? I'd love to be able to substitute teach at my kids' school, but I have to have a Bachelor's. Hmmmmmm. 

6. I've been reading through the Bible chronologically this year for the first time in my life. And it is so fascinating. I understand that the men who canonized the Bible put the books together by genre (history, major prophets, minor prophets, etc.), but I feel like it makes so much more sense chronologically! Right now, I'm reading about the divided kingdom, the various kings, and the prophets. I love seeing which prophets were connected with which king, and where they fell in Israel's history. Today, I read Isaiah 8, which falls just before the Israelites are exiled. I know about the exile. I've had Bible classes since I was 5 years old. But I've never really considered it that much. Can you imagine? The country you've known all your life, where you have rich history, is taken over by another nation, and you're driven out of your home to a completely foreign place? They don't speak your language or have your customs. You're a slave with no autonomy or escape. And you live that way for 70+ years! An entire generation! It's all your kids will know. Anyway, this passage, set amidst the coming exile jumped out at me:

The phrase "conspiracy" caught my attention because of our current political/Covid climate. Every day, new "conspiracy theories" are shared on facebook. And I'm not saying that Isaiah's words to the Israelites thousands of years ago mean conspiracy theories can never be true. I was just struck by the rest of the chapter. Despite the conspiracy theories and the dread and the fear, we should be trusting in God, making him a priority, gaining perspective from him. We're whining about masks and having our freedoms taken away. These people were about to become slaves to a foreign nation. In one of the verses around this chapter, it talks about pregnant women being slashed open and entire cities decimated. I think we have it pretty good, all things considered.

P.S. Don't take this little "Bible lesson" as a #humblebrag. I'm using a "One Year Bible" plan for my daily devotions, and the chapters I read today were supposed to be read on June 17. I'm obviously not as devoted as I like to pretend I am. 

7. Pics

I laughed at this for like 20 minutes

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About time!