5 on a Friday + a NaBlo plan

 I don't know if I can do NaBlo, you guys. I mean, it's not that my life isn't riveting enough to write about it every day (lol lol lol). It's that I am in WAY OVER MY HEAD here. 

Turns out that 5 kids is a whole freaking lot of kids. My god.

Here are a few things that made this week great:

Ghost buns (she drew the ghosts herself)

Spooky read from the new neighborhood LFL

Perfect fall weather

A Ben-is-home date a day earlier than usual this week

A downtown run

If I can keep it together for the whole month, here's the plan for 30 posts in 30 days ** gulp**:

📸 5 Snapshot Sunday (11/1, 11/8, 11/15, 11/22, 11/29)

🧠 5 Mindset Monday (11/2; 11/9; 11/16;11/23, 11/30)

🔥 4  TrendingTuesday (11/3; 11/10; 11/17; 11/24)

😩 4 Wednesday whines (11/4; 11/11; 11/18; 11/25)

📝 4 Throwback Thursday (11/5; 11/12; 11/19; 11/26)

✋4 Five on a Friday (11/6; 11/13; 11/20; 11/27)

🎤 4 Soap Box Saturday (11/7; 11/14; 11/21; 11/28)

Thursday office

 One of my favorite bloggers, Kelsey Wharton, published a great post in 2021 about the midweek untidy house phenomenon that she called Thursday house (is her name an appositive phrase? Should it be set off with commas? Don't I help write one of the largest college English placement tests in the country, and shouldn't I be able to answer that question?). Thursday house is a thing that happens despite tidying rhythms and good intentions; it's the accumulation of clutter and dissaray as the week unfolds faster than we can keep up with it.

And I mean, sure, I live in a Thursday house at the end of the week. But right now? I ALSO HAVE A THURSDAY OFFICE.

I don't see how to avoid this phenomenon, but somehow, noticing and naming it really does help.

This really is the Thursday of the semester. My goodness. 

Weekly drinks date when Ben gets home

Swim team practice-- firt meet on Sunday!!

She left her jacket on the playground overnight, so it needed a wash, and her name came off. She was excited to use a Sharpie to write it again.

Hot yoga. Yesssssssss.

Pop

 I know I am beating a dead horse here, but the dance placement thing (or, um, lack of dance placements, I guess) is making me foam at the mouth. All I want to do is PLAN MY AFTER SCHOOL life, and... I can't.

I have tried a million different ways to look at this as a positive, and... not finding them. Maybe it's another lesson in control what you can control? Dorothy is stressed about it from a what-team-am-I-on perspective, but we have been with this studio long enough t now that the season will be great no matter what-- I just want to get my carpool on.

The kids finally all went back to school, and I am not going to lie, I am relieved.

Do you love Minnie's bob? I definitely do!!

Before:

During:

After:

Annabel is bereft, but I am loving the quiet house-- might be worth the morning scramble and the terrible drives to and from campus, actually. So far life with 3 kids is incredibly easy, even by myself.

Our internet was out on the penultimate day of summer break (meaning NO TV!!) so we bought some coloring books because we had to delay pool plans while we waited on the internet guys.

A mouse(?) chewed through our fiber optic cable... somewhere? and they hooked up a new one.

The only concerning thing about that (because we have seen mice in the yard and on the school prairie recently) is that the other day when Ben and I came back from walking Annabel-- a walk during which we left the garage door open like IDIOTS-- a weasel you guys omfg was sauntering into the garage as we came up the driveway. DID A WEASEL WEASEL HIS WAY INTO OUR WALLS AND EAT OUR INTERNET?  

Ben and I only communicate with each other via weasel GIFs, BTW.

Friyay

 The prairie is so lovely right now. A tiny bit past its prime (I can relate) but still full of rustling and humming with dots of color and a rainbow of greens. We hope to take advantage of this brief but light-drenched and lush epoch and take last minute family photos tonight-- THE LAST NIGHT we will all be together until THANKSGIVING. What.

One more day of welcome week for this week you guys!

Still a few more pool nights.

Press-on nails! Maybe her favorite bday gift.

Did the teenagers in your life take advantage of unicorn treat weekend at Starbucks last week?

The air conditioner crisis is over at my campus, and I returned to my office at last! And found it covered in dead flies. No stress.

Pooooooooool

JACK IS REALLY LEAVING YOU GUYS.

What can I say? More pool.

Minnie got to take her supplies to school and meet her teacher. She is READY for first grade.

The youths have convinced me to try a slick-back-- jury is still out, but I am working it in to my messy bun rotation.

Things that worked well for this mini season so far:

Leaving the house really early (8am for a 9:30 start). I will not be able to do this during the semester because kids need to go to school. But I CAN have a regular leave time that will work OK, and I think it might be smart to leave at the same time every day even if I don't always need to be on campus at the same time

Powering through my morning routine: I have been reading, doing some relaxing with my coffee, cleaning bathrooms, and running SUPER EARLY. Then I make Minnie breakfast, lift weights and do either core or yoga, tidy various bedrooms, and GO.

Cooking 3 large meals and coasting on leftovers

BTW-- the bday party was perfect!!

Awegust

 

Oh, August! The kids** have NO SCHOOL this month, and Dorothy wraps up her dance team try outs on 8/20. Cooper has the entire month off from diving (new club starts 8/31), and Minnie has suddenly declared she wants to be on a club swim team, so she's doing some tryouts this month to prepare. Harry doesn't start class until 9/2, and he doesn't move in until the very last weekend of the month.

**JACK THOUGH DOES have school this month because Illinois is early. He moves to Peoria on AUGUST 16 you guys that is so soooooooon.

I have registered the 3 k-12-ers for school. We have a attended a high school sports kickoff meeting and joined the booster club (yes we did have 2 other varsity athletes. No we never did either of these things before-- Coop is ALL IN).  High school registration happens next week with a sports physical, an ID picture, and a schedule, and I assume the other schools will be in touch with back-to-school events-- because of course they will.

My summer class ends today, and we are going to spend as much time doing THIS as is humanly possible.

Yesterday was our TWENTY-FIRST anniversary and we WON bar trivia as a team of two!!

Cheers to August and onward to Minnie's 6th bday!! NEXT WEEK!!!!

Quantity Time Mom

 Summer me is definitely a quantity time mom, not necessarily a quality time mom.

But! I have gotten dressed every day! (In a sweater no less because we had a day in the FIFTIES, which, to me, was heaven-- such a good run, even though I got rained on)

And! We nailed our theme days (I am writing this before Minnie has selected her first FUN FUN FRIDAY option from her paper lunch sack of destiny, but I am pretty sure that was fun, too)

(even though Fridays are work days for me, and I have a pretty intense Fun Fun Teams meeting scheduled for most of my morning)

(also I really hope she pulls "go to the movies" because I need some TOY STORY 5 in my life)

We baked for Make it Monday, went to a park bright an early for New Park Tuesday, stopped by Crumbl on the way to pick up the dive kids for Sweet Treat Wednesday, and signed up for our library reading program on Library Thursday

Normally, Dorothy would be LIVING THE LIFE during her ONE WEEK of summer break not dominated by dance, but she was in a terrible electric scooter accident with (dance) friends last weekend and is resting her horribly bruised (but not broken!!-- she got an xray) knee in advance of Friday's all-day rehearsal calendar. Thank god everyone was wearing helmets. She also has petty bad road rash and may miss the very first day of convention classes at nationals but should be good to go for day 2 of classes and her comp days (doc said stay off of it for a week, and she is taking that seriously-- will plan to ice it in between runs at rehearsal and not go full out). Sooooo she has been spending lots of time working on her novel.

Minnie continues to take her workbooking very seriously. She is working through a rising first grader workbook (spelling, phonics, language arts, and reading), a kindergarten math packet, a rising first grader math packet, and a first grader math packet. Phew!

(If this is what it is like to have kid who does not have ADHD, wow it is a new and wonderful experience)

Summer is the beeeeeest.