The Sunday 4ish

Sorry for the delay. We were out of town, and I didn't bring my computer with me. More on that later.

1. Levi has taken a sudden interest in the library - not because of the books, but because of the toys. Haha. I'm always looking for ways to get him out of the house and away from his screen on the days he's home from school, and the library is a hit for both of us! He can play to his heart's content with all their fun, new toys, and I can do my schoolwork. Conveniently, I'm heading into the end of the semester and have a couple big projects coming up. One of them is a thorough report on my local library. Win/win! 

2. In less exciting news about Levi, he paid his first visit to the principal last week. 🤦🤦🤦 Truth be told, our school has a new discipline process called the "Redemptive Thinking Process." It takes the pressure off the teachers to deal with each individual discipline challenge, and gets the kids out of the classroom to cool down, assess their behavior, and make a plan going forward. For elementary kids, this process happens to take place in the principal's office. Levi was ousted from gym class for refusing to participate in an activity, sticking his fingers in his ears when the teacher tried to talk to him, and running away when she wasn't deterred by the fingers-in-the-ears move. So . . . that's not embarrassing at all . . . Didn't I write last week about how he keeps me humble? Case in point. 

3. My sister-in-law challenged me to a "scroll-free holiday." The goal is to avoid scrolling on your phone while you're with your extended family during the holidays, or while you're with your kids from Thanksgiving to Christmas. Again, I wrote last week how I've been feeling convicted in my parenting, so this challenge seems kind of like a sign. I am always staring at my phone, and I honestly get a little panicky when I think about having to fill my time with something other than facebook, Pinterest, and Words with Friends. How pathetic is that? That panicked feeling alone is another reason to accept the challenge. So, even though it terrifies me, and I don't know if I have enough self-discipline, I'm going to try it! Anyone else want to join us?

4. This weekend, Justin and I got away for little mini vacation with our friends Bob and Kris. My wonderful mom took on the task of handling our kids, Lena actually did surprisingly well when we dropped her off, and we peeled out without looking back. Haha. We spent the weekend at a cute little bed and breakfast/hotel called "The Shack." As the name may imply, it's not exactly deluxe accommodations, but it was perfect for a couple days away. We ate so much food, did some thrift shopping and antiquing, watched a lot of HGTV and Food Network, soaked in the hot tub, slept all night without children in our bed, played games, attempted to do some puzzles, and laughed with friends. As a bonus, the Amish were there most of the weekend too!! They must have had some kind of convention going on. They practically took over the place and I loved it. Hahaha. 

Every night, the Shack provided free banana splits. They didn't skimp on the ice cream!

Playing a game in our very woodsy room. (The entire place is log-cabin-esque like this.)

The lengths I'm willing to go for cheap books . . . This was in the basement of an antique store and everything was half off. I didn't even buy a single one, though! 

5. That's all she wrote this week! I only have one picture to end with too! 

In another attempt to entertain the wild beast, I broke out the perler beads this week. He was so proud of this strawberry we made.