Last week, we wrapped up Jacob’s birthday celebrations among other things, and we are officially in our last week of summer break as you’re reading this. Sigh. It has been such a fun summer, and I’m really not ready for it to be over, but alas, the time has come.
Monday, July 21
Monday morning, I woke at 7:45 and I did my morning routine – breakfast, unload the dishwasher, water the outdoor plants. We didn’t have anywhere to be, so I stayed in my PJs all morning and it was glorious!
After my morning routine, the kids were just getting up and getting going. They both headed downstairs to eat breakfast and watch some TV, and I had a verrrry productive morning. A few items on the list that I tackled…
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Threw a load of laundry in the washer
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Changed my orthodontist appointment since it
conflicted with another event
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Organized my photos that I’d moved from my camera to
my computer on Sunday
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Flipped the laundry to the dryer and threw in a
second load
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Started editing photos for my blog post on Thursday
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Got dinner in the slow cooker
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Laid out laundry from the first load, flipped the
washer to the dryer, and threw in a third load
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Worked on my blog post for Thursday some more
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Put away the first load of laundry
It was a productive morning!
A girl was supposed to pick up an item that I’d sold on a private local Facebook group Monday morning, but I didn’t put it out on the porch early enough. I got through putting away that load of laundry and saw that I had a message from her saying she was at my house and didn’t see it sitting on the porch, so she was asking what to do. The message had been sent almost 10 minutes before I saw it, so I flew down the stairs to the front porch, and she was already gone. And for some reason our cameras didn’t go off, so we were wondering if maybe she had gone to the wrong house?? Either way, I felt SO bad, so I messaged her back immediately, and then proceeded to stalk my messages for the rest of the afternoon until she finally saw my message hours later. More on that later.
Late in the morning, the kids and I got ready for the pool, and we had a quick, early lunch before meeting my friend, Khristina, and her son at the pool. I brought the item I’d sold on Facebook with me so the girl could have the option to come get it from where we were and I had also told her I’d meet her anywhere that was convenient for her since it was my fault for not getting the item out there on the porch. I seriously felt so bad, y’all.
The kids played in the pool for several hours while Khristina and I chatted the whole time, and it was nice because we had the whole place to ourselves.
The kids and I headed home after that, I threw all of the pool stuff in the washing machine, Olivia showered, and then I changed into workout clothes. I knew I was going to go out for a walk and get all hot and sweaty right after dinner, so it was silly to take a shower only to take another one a couple of hours later.
The kids played video games for a bit after that, and I worked on a blog post for the rest of the afternoon.
For dinner, I tried a new recipe from Emily Ley’s cookbook. I’ve had the book since April, but haven’t gotten around to making anything from it, so I was excited about it. the recipe was for chicken squares – shredded chicken with some other stuff rolled up and baked in crescent rolls – and they were good. They definitely needed a little more flavor, in my opinion, though. I did LOVE that the chicken was cooked in the slow cooker, though, because that makes it so easy! I paired them with some steamed broccoli, and it was a quick dinner. And the kids ate it, too, so that’s always a win.
Tuesday, July 22
Tuesday morning, Brian had to be at work a little after 4 AM for a special project he’s working on, so he was long gone by the time I woke at 7:45. We had another lazy morning at home in our PJ’s. I had to get final verification done for the kids for school and that always takes a while, so I settled in with my hot tea and got to work. While I was on my computer, I also got caught up on both email inboxes, and then I got showered and ready for the day and knocked out another load of laundry.
The school supply boxes for the students were expected to arrive at the kids’ school Tuesday, and we were on standby to help organize and distribute them to the classrooms, so we needed to be ready to roll at a moment’s notice.
Lunchtime rolled around, so the kids and I ate together, and I was sure by the time we were done with lunch that it’d be time to go, but we never got the call. While we waited, I got some more laundry put away and then Olivia and I worked on her Wicked puzzle together. Jacob also worked on one of his coloring books with all the little boxes you color by number.
We had several carts, so we sorted the boxes by grade, got the carts loaded up by grade, and then delivered them. I had to be extra careful because of my neck adjustments – I’m not allowed do much manual labor right now, so I was very careful the whole time I worked. The kids and I delivered boxes to Pre-K3 on the other side of campus first, and then we delivered some to the lower school hallway and the middle school hallway.
Our campus is large, and it’s all connected indoors, so we wouldn’t normally have to go out in the rain, but since we had the rolling cart, there was one point that we had to go outside since two of the buildings are connected by stairs. There was a break in the storm at one point, and it was only drizzling, so I thought it was safe to go outside, and I swear to you, I got halfway up the very short sidewalk to go in other door when lightning struck, and thunder boomed simultaneously. I could see that it was literally right there on top of me and it was so close that the hairs on my arms stood up when it struck. It scared me to death.
Thankfully, the kids were inside so they could let me in the building since it’s
locked at all times, and they weren’t outside when it struck. Olivia was SHOOK, though, and she couldn’t
stop talking about it… she was so relieved because she thought that I had
gotten struck by lightning. And I was,
too. Haha.
We worked for an hour and a half and my upper body was wiped since I haven’t been able to do any kind of upper body workouts for months, so I was relieved when we were told that everyone was going to call it a day and finish Wednesday morning. Wednesday was Jacob’s birthday, so we didn’t go back, but I was happy we got to help them get most of it done.
The kids and I were wet from the rain and super sweaty by the time we left, so we chugged water and turned the a/c on full blast all the way home. The left side of my neck felt a little “off” right after we left, and it felt like I’d had an axis adjustment, so I was convinced that my axis had come out of alignment, but thankfully, I found out later in the week that everything was still in place. Whew.
When we got home, I did some work while the kids had some screentime, and then when Brian got home, we made breakfast for dinner. I ended the day with a two-mile walk, a shower, America’s Got Talent with Brian and the kids, one last hug from Jacob as a 13-year-old (waaaahhhh), and an episode of Paradise with Brian with a Manhattan in hand.
While on my walk, I was in an area of our neighborhood where there aren't many houses, and I saw two police officers leaving their car (that was parked far down the street) and walking quickly towards me. I started looking around wondering what was going on, and for a hot second there, I thought they were coming for me since nobody else was around. Lol. As they got closer, I realized that one of them was carrying a giant snake and he was relocating it in the woods. GROSSSS. I stopped to chat with them, and I told them that I didn't know they made house calls for snakes, but he said that he "loves those little guys" and that he didn't mind. Haha. It turned out that one of our neighbors had seen it coiled up on their back porch, and they thought it was a rattle snake (it wasn't) so they called 911.
Wednesday was Jacob’s actual birthday, so I let the birthday boy plan the day! I was up at 7:45 and then I woke Jacob per his request… I guess he wanted an early start! I made some homemade waffles for the three of us (also per Jacob’s request), and then the kids played video games for a bit while I worked a little and got ready.
Mid-morning, the three of us headed out, and the first stop was Target because Jacob had received some Target gift cards for his birthday, and he wanted to check out their Lego section. He ended up not finding anything that he really wanted, but we were successful at finding a planner for Olivia for school.
My girl had been looking for planners for a couple of weeks, and she wanted something that a) had a monthly spread as well as a weekly spread, b) had the weekly spread divided by school subject (most are divided by day, so the subject planners are hard to find!), and c) it had to be “pretty” because she is exactly like her momma. Haha. Five Star makes a planner that has all of those requirements, but the only color it comes in is black, so Jacob found his planner immediately. Olivia, however, wasn’t going to settle for a plain black planner, so she kept looking.
Our Target ended up having one planner that fit all of her needs, and it had beautiful stickers inside, so I think it was to no one’s surprise that it ended up being a Simplified Planner. <3 I’ve been using SPs for seven years now and they’re my all-time favorite by far, but I had never seen a student planner on their website. They DO, however, make student planners for Target, and they are beautiful, but with a much more affordable price point, so Olivia couldn’t grab this one fast enough! She loves it so much! What she is not amused with? Her brother photobombing her photoshoot. Hahahaha.
After lunch, we headed to my friend, Khristina’s local bookshop to get her to order a book for me, and while we were there, we browsed for a bit and took pictures with the best skellie I have ever seen... she is a MIRRORBALL SKELLIE AND I NEED ONE!
He ended up selecting one of the boxes and purchasing it with his own money, and then just for fun, he wanted to swing by Barnes and Noble so see if they had anything. They didn’t.
By the time we were done there, we were all ready to head home, but we did swing by the kids’ old art teacher’s new bakery on the way home. She has had a bakery for several yeas now but she recently moved into a new, bigger location, and Jacob wanted to pick out his birthday dessert there since her stuff is so delicious. He ended up picking out a small cookie cake that was the perfect size for our family of four, and she wrote a birthday message on it for him. Olivia isn’t a huge fan of cookie cake (or cake or cupcakes), so she selected a triple chocolate brownie that was amazing, too.
We took the treats home, and then Jacob settled in to play video games for a bit while I wrapped his gifts (LOL – it’s not like me at all to wait ‘til the last minute to do stuff, but I sure did wait ‘til the last minute to do this!).
Brian got home from work a little early, and Jacob wanted to open his gifts before dinner. His main gift from us was the soundtrack to the video game Tears of the Kingdom (Zelda). He loves soundtracks and instrumental music, and the TOTK soundtrack is MASSIVE with 300+ songs on it. The only way to purchase it, though, is a limited-edition box of CDs (crazy, right?!), so we got that for him. I have no idea why they won’t offer it digitally or streaming, so we had to go old-school and buy CDs and Brian is going to rip them for him so he can put them in his music library on his phone.
One small surprise that Brian did – when the kids went to see the new Superman movie the previous week, they had stuffies of the dog from the movie for sale at the movie theater. The kids asked Brian if they could get one and he said no, so the next day he went back and bought two. We wrapped them both up together for Jacob’s birthday, and Jacob was the most surprised when he saw those… especially since there were two. He immediately handed one to Olivia, and she was elated because she got a gift on Jacob’s birthday, too. Hahahaha. Those faces are priceless!
Thursday, July 24
Thursday morning, I was up at 7:30, we all ate breakfast and got ready, and we headed to our church’s outreach center to volunteer again. This Thursday was busier than the last Thursday we served, and the kids made bags of toiletries and loaded shopping carts for two full hours while I assisted them and served people in the drive through. The busyness tapered off dramatically at 11, so we ended up leaving around 11:15 as we weren’t needed any longer.
Jacob had piano lessons, but Olivia’s guitar teacher was out of the office, so he had moved her lesson to a different week. We all sat in on Jacob’s piano lesson and he played more Minecraft songs along with a couple of songs from his lesson book.
When we got home, I worked more on my blog post for Friday, and then I headed downstairs to get dinner in the oven (Emily Ley’s foil packet dinner – beef, potatoes, and green beans), and while it baked, I finished my blog post.
After dinner, I headed out for a walk and watched a big storm roll in as I was walking. I got home just in time for it to start POURING down rain, and Brian had already come in from mowing. He had to cut his mowing short as I had to cut my walk short.
Friday, July 25
Friday morning, we were all up and out the door by 9:30 for my upper cervical chiropractic appointment. Brian and the kids all came with me.
The doc said my “wavy lines test” (as I call it) looked good and my leg check was perfect, so there was no need to adjust my atlas or my axis. I was so happy (and so surprised) since I had helped move those boxes earlier in the week and thought I had pulled my axis out again!
Since my orthodontist shaved in between my bottom teeth and put that chain on my bottom teeth a couple of weeks ago, my bite has drastically changed again, and my top teeth are now overlapping my bottom teeth the way that they should be… the way that they were after I did the rubber bands the first two times… which is GREAT. (I guess that’s all that needed to be done to make them stay like that!) But – because of the rapid jaw shifting, it has caused me to start clenching again in my sleep.
The upper cervical chiropractor had me lay down on the table and he put his fingers on my jaw joints and had me open and close very slowly several times. He told me that my left jaw joint wasn’t opening all the way, which was causing my mouth to slightly shift side to side when it opens. Whether or not that was the cause of the right jaw popping/pain issue, or whether it was caused by the right jaw issue is something he cannot determine as it’s a chicken/egg situation, but he did tell me that he can fix it.
I was like whaaaat?! I have literally had this jaw popping issue for 15+ years?? Maybe longer?? And nobody has ever told me that my left jaw joint gets stuck and doesn’t open all the way… and I can’t even tell that it does that… probably because all of my focus is always on the right joint that pops since that’s where all the pain is.
But anyway, he used the same tool that he uses to adjust everything else, and it he did five taps to my left jaw joint. Then he made me open and close my mouth again. The five taps didn’t fix it, so he pushed down really hard on my chin and told me to close my mouth very slowly. He told me that my jaw might pop (which FREAKS ME OUT), but thankfully it didn’t. He then did five more taps to my left jaw joint, and then it was able to open fully… it was no longer stuck. OMG!!
After that, I rolled over to my left side so he could work on my right jaw joint. He did a few taps to that one and then massaged all the muscles around it because he could tell that they were inflamed. It felt so good but hurt all at once, and then when I sat up my mouth felt amazing. No popping. Everything was symmetrical. It was truly a miracle.
Aaaand unfortunately, as with everything else, it’s going to take some time and future adjustments to get it to stay, because within two days, my left jaw joint was right back to getting stuck again and causing my right joint to pop and flare. Sigh. But at least somebody knows how to fix this now!!!!
After we were done there, we drove down the street to a big Lego store that we never knew was there until a blog reader told us about it, and the kids were in heaven. We ended up staying there for a good hour browsing, and Jacob was so excited because he got to see this Lego Technic set in person. He has wanted that green one forever, but it’s soooo expensive.
By the time I got home, I felt exhausted. Apparently, jaw adjustments mess with my nervous system, too. I guess they are in the same vicinity as everything else, so it totally tracks. So, I went to lay down and I ended up napping for an hour or so. I didn’t sleep well, and I was in and out, but I felt so much better when I woke up.
After that, I had a few minutes to spend in my office, and then it was time to get freshened up and ready for poker night. My friend, Jeannine, and her husband hosted, and James had made super yummy barbecue sandwiches with all the fixings. We all ate first and then the adults sat around the table all night talking and laughing… oh, and playing cards. Haha. Half the time we’re all talking so much that we get sidetracked and forget who’s turn it is to check or bet, and that’s why I love it so much! We always have the best time!
Saturday, July 26
Saturday morning was Jacob’s birthday party with his friends, so we all met at the local arcade at 10 AM. Pro tip, parents, if you want a super easy birthday party idea, just get your child to round up their friends, drop them at the local arcade, bring your own cake, and order pizza while you’re there. It’s easy peasy, you don’t have to pay for the actual “birthday party fee” and the kids LOVE it. Plus, you don’t have anything to clean up when it’s all said and done. And when the kids get old enough, you parents can just sit at the table and chill while they do their thing!
Jacob had invited five of his friends from school and three of his friends from my friends group (our poker night group), and two of his friends from school couldn’t make it because they were out of town. So, we ended up with six kids + our two kids. We gave them each an arcade card, and I milled around to keep an eye on the littles. Brian staked claim on two tables in the back, and then we ordered pizza at 11, so it would be ready just as the kids were finishing up with their arcade games.
They ate pizza, had cake, opened gifts, and then the parents all came to pick up at noon, and we were outta there! Jacob had a blast, and he said it was one of his favorite birthdays yet!
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I tidied the whole kitchen
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Jacob got his gifts put away
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The kids did their laundry
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I did a load of towels
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Jacob tried on his suit for my niece’s wedding, and
it was a WIN!
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I put the laundry away from earlier in the week
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I watered the outdoor plants
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I made the bed
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I paid a few bills
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I added lots of upcoming events to my calendar
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I cleaned out my email inbox
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I bought my Daddy’s birthday gift
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I changed a few lightbulbs in my office
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I ordered Jacob’s shoes for the wedding
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I got an Amazon return ready
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I got the towels folded and put away
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Aaaand I checked several other random tasks off the
list that aren’t even worth mentioning here
By the time I finished with all of that, it was time to change clothes
and go to Mass. After Mass, Momma,
Daddy, Mama Cass, and the four of us all went to our favorite local barbecue
place for dinner. We got home so early
that I had time to squeeze in a quick power walk before it got dark, and then I
showered and meditated while I lay on my new neck contraption.
Sunday, July 27
Sunday, we had nowhere to be from start to finish, so after homemade waffles for breakfast I got lots of stuff done and we tackled more projects around the house…
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I watched my sermon
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I got my planner ready for the week ahead
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I got my planner ready for August, looking ahead at
all school events
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I started (and eventually finished) my blog post for
Monday
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We got some string lights hung in Olivia’s bedroom…
she’s been begging to have some in her room like the ones in my office, and we
finally got some hung in there for her. Since
she has a ceiling fan, we couldn’t drape hers across the room, but we went
around the perimeter and did a small drape at the end.
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Jacob worked some more on his math summer homework
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I fixed a few blog typos that Brian had caught
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We tidied the whole house
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I tidied my office
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I got some things filed in the kids’ keepsake boxes
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I moved photos from my phone to my computer and got
them organized
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I shopped for Olivia’s dance shoes for the upcoming
year… we’re getting her nice ones this year since she’s getting older, so the
sizing is crazy different for each pair of shoes. She has to have five different kinds of shoes,
and all of them tell you to size differently, so it was kind of a cluster, and I’m
hoping they all fit!
She was so sweet Sunday evening, and she hugged me and thanked me multiple times for her lights (even though Brian technically did most of the work), and she also told me just how happy she is right now (in life in general) and how excited she is for middle school. If that didn’t make my momma heart just EXPLODE. Motherhood is so tough sometimes, but my goodness, the rewards outweigh the hard parts a million times over.
Once it cooled off – and by cooled off, I mean the temp had sunk to a balmy 92 degrees – I went for a 2.41 mile walk. I came back drenched in sweat as usual, so I headed straight to the shower when I got home.
My goodness, I’m going to miss these slow summer days when the kids go back to school next week! We’ve gotten more sleep, had more fun, and delved deeper into the parts of my to-do list that I thought would never see the light of day than ever. What a rewarding summer break it’s been!
And now for some current things…
Currently
Reading
In July, I read 3 books! I read 15 Summers Later by RaeAnne Thayne, and it was just okay – 3 stars. After that, I read Nora Goes Off Script by Annabel Monaghan and I LOVED it so much. I thought it would be too Hallmarky for me based on the synopsis, but it was just so good and I keep finding myself wishing there was more – 5 stars for that one! Next, was Husbands & Lovers by Beatriz Williams, and I really liked that one as well. It was a solid 4 stars.
I’m also still reading my devotional for 2025 – Everyday Gospel by Paul David Tripp. And, of course, I’m hoping to get back to my Bible for the second time around, along with my new study… The Bible in a Year with Father Mike Schmitz. I’ve been so careful with my neck that I haven’t been doing anything where I have to look down for long periods of time – which means reading my Bible since I can’t hold it up and read it. But now that my neck adjustments are holding well for long periods of time, I’ll definitely be getting back to it!
Currently
Watching
With B: In July, Brian and I started and finished Train Wreck: Poop Cruise (so gross, but fairly entertaining), we started and finished We Were Liars (SOOOO GOOD AND OMG THE LAST EPISODE WILL WRECK YOU), we started and finished The Four Seasons (really good), we started and finished season one of the show Paradise on Hulu (another great one!), and we started the new and final season of The Summer I Turned Pretty (EEEEK!). We also started and stopped the Trophy Wife documentary, and we’re still watching The Chosen.
With the Kids: In July, we finally saw Hamilton with friends, and we watched Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and Harry Potter and the Half-Blooded Prince + we finished Lego Masters + we’re still making our way through America’s Got Talent. Oh, and Brian took them to see How to Train Your Dragon (the live action version) and the new Superman movie at the movie theater, both in 3D, which is why I didn’t attend either.
Alone: I’m still listening to music 99% of the time but still watching The Wedding Planner every Sunday afternoon that I work in my office. :o)
Currently
Listening To
Nothing has really changed from last month… it’s been a whole lot of shuffling my favorite playlists, and I’m still listening to a ton of DMB and a lot of Taylor Swift, some Zach Paradis and Abe Parker, some 90’s R&B, Teddy Swims, and I’ve also been listening to Brandon Lake’s new album to get ready for our concert in October!! EEK!
Happy Wednesday, y’all!
