The Saturday 7

 1. Welp, Lucy officially turned 16 on Monday. 

Her main gift was the long-awaited cell phone. I have always said my kids would have to wait until they turned 16 to get a phone, and reading The Anxious Generation only confirmed that, so we actually stuck to our guns and made her wait. That said, I did immediately install the Bark app on the device, so I still have some insight into what she's using it for. I can track her location, and Bark will alert me if she sends, receives, or searches for any questionable content. But I can't read every text or email. I did a lot of research and liked that this one let her keep some privacy while still keeping me in the loop. I'm also able to block social media apps, because the second rule in our house is no social media until 18. Oh, and I made her read The Amazing Generation (the Anxious Generation for kids) so she could see for herself some of the statistics about how phones, and social media in particular, can be so incredibly damaging - especially for teen girls. 

2. The second big milestone of the week was today's driver's test! We practiced parallel parking with cones in the school parking lot twice this week to help her get the hang of it, then I sent her off with Justin this afternoon and made him text me updates. Haha. She passed! She's officially a licensed driver! I already have plans for her to help me with soccer transportation this week. Hahaha. We're still working on getting another vehicle. I found one I like, but the dealership's interest fees are outrageous. We decided to finance through the Credit Union instead, but there are so many hoops to jump through, the dealership is 40 minutes away, they close at 6 during the week and 2 on Saturdays. Justin has practice until 6 every night. And this week we have four games. 🤦🤦🤦 I just can't even. 

3. Today was the parade for Town and Country Days - a time honored cousins tradition. 

The weather was perfect and the candy selection was top notch. Plus, Brodie was super fun to watch since he's in his truck phase right now. 😂

"Wook-it! Wee-ooos!"

We usually do cousins night at the carnival, too, but this year Libby and her fam were busy, we were slammed with soccer, and the wristband price went up to $30! I'm buying phones and vehicles and teenage car insurance over here. I can't be spending $90 for an hour of entertainment!

4. I read two books this week. Well, one and a half. I finally got to finish the audiobook I wrote about last week. Unfortunately the last half was not nearly as good as the first. It took a very dark turn that I did not appreciate. I do not recommend it. The second was a book that got donated to the church library: The Winter Guest by Pam Jenoff. She's not a Christian author, but I'm always up for some good historical fiction, so I decided to read it on the off chance that it would be clean enough to add to the shelves. It was not. Lol. It wasn't outrageously spicy, but too much for the church library. And oddly enough, it also took a dark turn toward the end that ruined the whole book for me! So it wasn't a great reading week. But I'm up to 31 books for the year! 

5. My responsibilities at school are starting to wind down. I only have a few more weeks of library classes, and all the big development events are done for the year. We do have one summer fundraiser that I'm getting started on, and I've already started making plans for the November auction! Of course, as things slow down at school, Soccer Camp planning really kicks into high gear. I actually pawned off a few of my responsibilities because last year almost killed me, so I'm feeling good about this year. Even if I'm so over soccer. Lol. I should've known better when I married Justin. #worthit

6. Pics and memes because I'm sleepy.