The Saturday 7

1. First week of summer break!

Marshmallows by the pool. Does it get any better than that??

We had a great first week doing lots of swimming, playing outside with all the neighborhood kids, and reading a lot. Of course, it wouldn't be summer break without my obsessive attempts at creating a schedule and enforcing routine! I know myself, and if I don't have a plan I will literally let my kids watch TV all day. I'll share my plan and you'll think to yourself, "Wow - this is them not doing screen time all day?" 🤷

The girls sleep in so late sometimes they don't even get morning screen time. (Don't ask me what time Levi wakes up.) And Lucy handles her own shower schedule. She doesn't need to be reminded like the other two!

This changes weekly and is meant to prevent the constant questions of "What are we going to do today?" or "What's for dinner?" Plus, I try to schedule some crafts or activities to keep myself accountable. I've also started scheduling new foods for everyone to try. More on that later.

"Red" is our robot vacuum. 😁

2. One of the events on our daily schedule is "exercise." Because we watch so much TV and do so many sedentary activities like reading and puzzles, I decided to mandate some exercise - for myself as well as the kids. We literally live a quarter of a mile from a walking track, so this week Lena, Levi, and I went down there almost daily. (Lucy doesn't enjoy our company, so she chooses to get her exercise on the treadmill.) I force myself to walk a mile, running the last quarter of one lap. It's a laughable attempt for most people, but if I don't ease into it, I'll quit. I'm so out of shape that even this is pushing it for me. It kills my feet, shins, hips, and back. Maybe by the end of the summer, I'll be able to run a whole lap! 😂

Sharing the earbuds on our walk to the track. They both love the Curious Kids podcast and enjoyed listening to it while we walked one day this week.

3. Another reason we need exercise is because the healthy eating attempts are going terribly. This week I made the kids try corn on the cob, cucumber, and taco salad (the lettuce makes it healthy, right?). Remember last week's debacle with the carrot? Well, it was repeated with the corn. Lucy and Lena each choked down a few bites, but Levi thought it was cruel and unusual punishment. He licked the corn on the cob and immediately recoiled, declaring it disgusting. So I cut off a few pieces and said he had to at least chew and swallow a couple bites. I put 6 kernels in his mouth. He gagged and spit them out. Then I gave him 4 kernels. Same thing: gagged and spit them out. Finally, I told him he just had to swallow one kernel. I told him that his initial reaction would be to gag, but he had to power through and swallow anyway. I put the one kernel in his mouth, he gagged . . . and puked violently all over the place. 🤦🤦🤦 I just want to scream. I want to rail at everyone who's ever said or implied that all my kids eat is junk. I want to lay on the floor and cry. How am I supposed to help him make healthy choices when he can't even swallow a single kernel of corn?!?! Where do I even begin?! The next night he allegedly bit a piece of cucumber, but I'm not convinced he actually got any in his mouth. We did have a minor success with taco salad. He swallowed one miniscule bite. But is it really a success if they force down one bite and then say, "Can I make macaroni now?" None of this taste testing results in finding new foods. Ugh. I can't keep thinking about it. It depresses me so much.

4. Speaking of depressing . . . my last living grandparent died this week. My Grandpa was 96 and has been living with my parents for the last year and a half. But he's been on a downhill slope with dementia and didn't really know who I was the entire time he lived with my parents. We've never been terribly close, and he was very confused and in a lot of pain, so it's a blessing for him to go home, but it's still sad to see a life end. It's sad for my dad to lose his dad. It's sad for my parents to have to deal with end of life care. It's sad to see a once vibrant artist and man of God slowly lose his mind and fade away. We're thankful that he knew and loved Jesus and is seeing Him face to face in heaven.

With baby Lucy 12 years ago

5. On to more exciting things . . . as of this afternoon, I am officially done with college!! I submitted my last assignment today. The semester ends on Thursday, and I should get my diploma in the mail sometime in the next few months! It only took me 5 years, but I finally have my associate's degree! 😂 I'm extremely grateful that thanks to grants I was able to attend these last two years at no cost. I enjoyed most of my classes, but I'm glad to be done. Maybe someday I'll attempt to finish that illustrious Bachelor's Degree, but I'm in no hurry!

6. Today was another day full of excitement. Justin and Levi went fishing bright and early. Levi lasted longer than I expected him to, and actually caught a couple fish!

Justin caught some too.

While they were gone, I went to a garage sale of a retiring teacher and bought $26 worth of books. 😁 (I would've bought more, but only had $26 in cash. 😂)

Then we went to an open house for one of Justin's soccer players. Levi loved this jumbo Connect 4 game:

Finally, we rounded out the day with a Whitecaps game. The kids each had two free tickets for completing the reading program at school. It was the perfect night for it - not too hot, not too cold, with a nice breeze. We got there a little late, but it was probably for the best. Levi wouldn't have been able to sit through an entire game. Haha.

He literally walked up and down the stairs throughout the game just because he couldn't stand sitting still.

Our seats weren't too shabby for being free!

I think he made it to the 8th inning before we had to break out the phone. (This is the only picture I got of Lucy, but she was there too! Haha.)

Watching the fireworks. 💓

The Whitecaps won on a walk-off, which is something good I guess. Justin enjoyed that. The highlight for the rest of us came after the game, though, when we got to witness a human cannonball be shot out of a cannon! Lena was actually super nervous for him the whole time he was setting up. Lol. Once he explained that he's done this over 8,000 times though she felt much more comfortable.

7. More pictures