Our Week - The One with Belle’s First Vet Visit, the Back-to-School Social, and the First Football Game of the New Schoolyear

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Week three of school + week 1.5 of having a new puppy are in the books, and Belle is settling in nicely.  She’s much less mischievous than she was when we first brought her home, she’s having fewer accidents in the house, and she sleeps like a champ, so we’re on our way to having a well-trained pup!  I’m sure it’ll be a while before she’s totally there since she’s still just a baby, but I’m grateful for the progress she’s made so far!  (And don't get me wrong... she's still not totally there.  As I'm going back and proofreading this post on Monday before it goes live tomorrow, she has been soooo naughty this afternoon, getting into everything!  Haha.)

Monday, August 17

Monday, I was up at 6 AM and Brian got up right after I did to take Belle out.  She was such a good girl, and she pooped outside for the first time since we’d brought her home!  She stayed with me in the bathroom while I got ready and she was very well behaved the whole time (every other morning she was very curious and getting into everything) so that was progress, too.  Towards the end of getting ready, I let her out in our bedroom and I couldn’t find her anywhere for a minute or so.  She had gone straight to the piles of dirty clothes I’d put out to wash, and she blended right in.  Haha.

While I took the kids to school, Brian stayed home with her since he works from home on Mondays.  Then, when I got home, I took her outside and tried to feed her some breakfast, but all she wanted to do was sleep.  She jumped up on the couch and fell promptly to sleep, so I left her there to get some work done. 

While she slept, I finished my blog post for Tuesday, I started the laundry, ultimately doing four loads that day, and I did some blog housekeeping.  I stopped around 10 AM to get her up, but she didn’t want to wake up so I just left her alone.

I finally got her up at 11 AM because I didn’t want her to have an accident, and we went outside.  I tried to feed her lunch, but she didn’t want to eat, so I left it for her while I got dinner in the slow cooker.  She hung out with me in the kitchen while I did that, and then Brian and I had lunch together.

After we were done eating, I sat with her on the floor and coaxed her to eat some food.  The weird thing was that she just wanted dry food, and not the wet food mixed with dry food that we’d started giving her when she got home.  She did finally eat well, so I was happy about that.  They’d told us to watch her closely because many dogs will stop eating while they’re adjusting to their new environment, and little dogs are prone to hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) if they don’t eat, which can be dangerous.

After lunch, I started putting away some of the laundry and she hung out with me in our bedroom while I did that, and then I put her in her room for some alone time while I got ready to go pick up the kids. 

After school, the kids greeted Belle with lots of hugs and kisses and then they got snacks and started their homework.  I got two Bible studies done, I did my devotional for the day, and then I drove Olivia to dance.  Jacob watched Belle while we were gone and she did great.

When I got home, we put Belle in her room again so we could get some stuff done while she had quiet time.  I finished putting the laundry away, I watered the indoor plants, I made chocolate chip muffins for Olivia to have on hand all week and Jacob made cinnamon muffins for himself.

We turned on the diffuser with some fall oils, and I put on one of the Rod Stewart Songbook albums while we baked muffins and made dinner, and it was the coziest little evening despite the fact that it was (literally) 100 degrees outside.

Brian picked up Olivia from dance and then we all sat down to ranch chicken pasta, steamed broccoli, and muffins, and Brian and I each had a glass of wine since we’d had an open bottle that had been sitting on the bar cart for a while.

We’d let Belle out of her room to roam while we ate dinner and she was really good.  Then, after dinner, Olivia got her to poop outside again, which was another huge win.

I cleaned up the kitchen after dinner while Brian ran to Walmart to grab a couple of things and start mowing the lawn, and the kids played with Bellie.  It was SO HOT last week, so I avoided going outside as much as possible.  I opted for a stair stepper workout instead of my usual walk because it was just miserable.

The kids showered, and then Olivia and I went out in the back yard and ran around with Belle at dusk so she could burn some energy when it wasn’t 1000 degrees.  Then we all watched two episodes of Friends together before the kids went to bed.  Belle fell asleep while we watched, and then we put her in her crate in her room for bedtime.  She cried longer than usual (about 15 minutes) but then she finally went to sleep on her own.

Tuesday, August 18

Tuesday morning, I was up at 6 AM, Brian took Belle out and she pooped outside again (!!!!), and then we did our usual morning routine before taking the kids to school.

I had a Home and School open meeting after dropoff, and we had a full room of parents who wanted to get more information about volunteering this school year.  I also had to do some planning for our upcoming Grandparents Day that I’m chairing.  Then, I headed home to hang with Belle.

I played with her for an hour and a half when I got home, and she was back to being her extremely curious (and naughty) self.  Haha.  We had barricaded her from getting in the dining room, but she quickly figured out a way to get in, and Brian had placed gates and pillows around the kitchen to keep her contained, but she is an escape artist and she figured out how to shimmy underneath the side table.  That girl!!  I added another pillow underneath, and that solved that… until she learned to crawl over the pillow on the right side.  Sigh.  Haha.

After playing with her and *trying* to tire her out for a bit, I put her in her room for some quiet time and I got to work.  On the list for Tuesday was:

 

-       Doing some blog housekeeping

-       Finishing my blog post for Wednesday

-       Getting the last load of laundry done

 

I wanted to do more, but my neck was killing me, so I had to lay down for a few minutes. 

At noon, I let Belle out of her room, and I fed her lunch while I ate my lunch.  We played fetch for a while after that, and then I put her back in her room so I could start my blog post for Friday and then freshen up before I had to get the kids from school.  Getting a new puppy in the dead of summer when it’s 84,000 degrees outside and sunny every day is not ideal because then you have to stand out in the 84,000-degree heat to wait for them to pee and poop.  Haha. 

I let her out one last time before I had to leave, and then I put her back in her room while I went to pick up the kids.

When we got home, the kids played with her for a bit while I got the other things done that I wanted to do earlier in the day:

 

-       Catch up some emails

-       Do some planning for Grandparents Day

-       Catch up on a few things in my planner

-       Correct some blog typos

 

And then, I did a Bible study and read my devotional.  Olivia and I both had to eat dinner early on Tuesday because she had dance and I had to be at the school for Middle School Parent Night.  I put Belle in her room while we did that and then I got all the dishes loaded in the dishwasher and freshened up, and we left.

I dropped Olivia off at dance and swung by the office while I was there, and then I headed to the kids’ school.  At Middle School Parent Night, the parents can go walk their kids’ schedules and learn what to expect for the upcoming school year.  They do an abbreviated schedule, giving parents ten minutes in each class + two minutes after the bell to get to the next class.  The teachers go over expectations for the year ahead, and it gives us a little overview of what the kids will be doing.

That took an hour and a half, and I was out of there at the perfect time to pick up Olivia from dance.  She and I headed home after and Jacob was on Belle duty because Brian was finishing up mowing.  He had texted me when I was on the way home to share that Bellie had fallen asleep right next to him.  So sweet!

Both kids still had to shower when we got home – but first some puppy snuggles for Olivia – so I ran out for a very quick walk around the neighborhood.  It was already getting dark, so I didn’t make it very far, but in that short amount of time, I’d gotten crazy sweaty because it was still so gross and hot even though it was after 8 PM.

When I got back, I watered the outdoor plants, and then we watched one episode of Friends with the kids before watching a tiny bit of Scarpetta after they went to bed.  Our TV watching these days has dwindled because the kids are staying up later now that they’re older.  But Brian and I are still trying to go to bed at our usual time so we can get adequate sleep now that school is back in session.  Throw in a new puppy and things have been extra crazy recently!  Haha.

 

Wednesday, August 19

Wednesday morning, I was up at 6 AM, and Brian came in a few minutes later to let me know that Belle had pooped in her crate sometime during the night and, of course, she had gotten some on her.  Waaaahhhh.  That was the first time she’d had any kind of accident in her crate, so we were bummed about that.  And that also meant that I had to get ready extra fast because I needed to give her a bath before I took the kids to school… there’s nothing like waking up to a poop alarm early in the morning!  Haha.

I got ready in record time and then headed downstairs to give her a bath in the kitchen sink and then I cleaned out the sink while Brian cleaned up her crate and started the laundry.  She’d gotten a little bit on her Biscuit, but we just threw it in the washing machine with her blanket, and it cleaned up perfectly with no issues.

After her bath, the kids kept her occupied while I ate breakfast and unloaded the dishwasher, and then we strapped Belle in the car using her new seatbelt because I had to take her to the vet after I dropped the kids at school.  The seatbelt is great because it allows the dog to move around a bit, but it gives me peace of mind knowing that she can’t jump down or get all the way in my lap, and I was also able to pick her up by the belt and move her back into her seat if she tried to move around too much.  The majority of the drive there, she lay like this, draped over the console.  Lol.

We planned to take her to the same vet that we had used for Maui since we loved them so much, but the place where we got her has a deal with another local vet (that has been around forever), and her first vet visit was free if we took her there.  I ended up going there and I was very impressed.  Everyone was so nice and they were quick, so we were in and out in 45 minutes.  (And it would have been faster, but we had to wait for results from the tests they ran.)

They weighed her first, and we found out she is six pounds, which is exactly what I estimated she weighed!  She did have to get one vaccine and then they did a fecal test to make sure all was well there and it was.  She has had a little cough every now and then since we brought her home, though, and the doctor happened to hear it while we were there, and he diagnosed her with kennel cough and sent us home with some antibiotics that we have to give her for ten days.  They also sent us home with a sample of some flea, tick, and heartworm medication since all puppies have to take that.

On the way home, she laid in her own seat all the way there, and when we got home, I spent a lot of time with her outside.  I’d talked to the doctor about crating her vs. putting her in the bathroom with the baby gate up, and he told me that while we’re potty training, it’s best to crate her fully every time we put her in there.  And he told me that crating her throughout the day even while we’re home is exactly what we’re supposed to do.  He said that teaches her that the crate is her safe space, and eventually she’ll love going in there on her own (which is exactly what Maui always did). 

Once she is fully potty trained, he said it’s okay to leave the door to her crate open and just put up the baby gate, which is what we always did with Maui when she was little.  And then Maui eventually had full reign of the whole house while we were gone, but she always seemed to stay in her crate.

When we got home from the vet, Belle had been up for three hours, so I put her in her crate for nap time and I headed to my office to get things done.  On the agenda Wednesday was:

 

-       Finishing my blog post for Friday

-       Catching up on emails

-       Responding to 170+ blog comments (I was soooo behind)

 

After that was done, I got Belle out of her crate, and she was so pitiful from her shot.  She didn’t want to eat or go to the bathroom or even go outside, and instead, she climbed up on the couch to sleep.  I let her stay there for an hour and a half since she was so drowsy, and I ate lunch, did all the dishes, tidied the first floor, and started my blog post for Monday.

I woke her up after that, and she finally peed outside, but then she went back inside and crashed again.  Haha. 

I spent some time with her and then I put her in her crate again so I could pick up the kids from school.  Wednesday is the one day of the week this school year that we have nothing after school, so we were all looking forward to an evening in.  The kids played with Belle and got her to poop outside again, I worked on my blog post for Monday, and I did two Bible studies and read my devotional.  Belle was also lazy and continued to nap in Olivia’s lap.  So sweet.

I headed downstairs around 5 PM to get some fall oils in the diffuser and turn on some jazz, and then Brian and I made breakfast for dinner when he got home from work.

After dinner, we cleaned the kitchen, Belle ate dinner (we discovered that she doesn’t like the metal bowls we have, and instead, she likes Maui’s old ceramic bowls), and then we all hung out downstairs for a bit.

I really wanted to walk, but it was nearly 100 degrees again on Wednesday, so I waited a little later to go again.  I got in two miles and then did eight minutes of strength training, and then I got showered. 

When I got back downstairs, the kids already had Friends queued up and ready to go, and Brian was working on making margaritas.  He’d gone to the store earlier in the week and picked up some limes because he wanted to try to perfect his recipe. 

We have a favorite Mexican restaurant at the beach that has the best margs we’ve ever had, and they told us what they put in them, but they didn’t have measurements since they make them in giant batches, so Brian has been attempting to duplicate their recipe for months.  After three tries, he got really close Wednesday night!

We watched two episodes of Friends after that, and then Brian and I watched a few minutes of Scarpetta before going to bed.  It’s taking us, like, 3-4 nights to watch one episode now.  Haha.

 

Thursday, August 20

Thursday morning, I was up at 6 AM, Bellie had been a good girl all night, the kids got her to pee and poop outside, and she ate her full breakfast first thing, so I was able to give her a dose of her antibiotic before everyone left.  It takes two of us to get her take it (because it tastes disgusting, I’m sure), so I had to get the medicine in her before everyone left.  She also has to take it with food, so if she refused to eat, we wouldn’t have been able to give it to her.  So, I was happy that everything worked out smoothly. 

I got the kids to school and then headed straight home, and Belle was ready to play.  After a lazy day Wednesday, she was a ball of energy, and she was into everything Thursday morning.  I played fetch with her a little, but she was more interested in getting into anything and everything that she could, so after an hour of playtime, I put her in her crate for some quiet time.  I also turned on the 90s station on our Alexa, too, so she could have some background noise.

While she napped or had quiet time or whatever she did in there, I worked on my blog post for Monday, I read some more emails, and I started on this post and got it all caught up to present.  I also had to take a few minutes to lay down because my neck was bothering me yet again and I had a bad headache that ibuprofen nor caffeine would get rid of.

Just before lunchtime, I went downstairs to get Belle out of doggie jail, and I ate lunch and spent the next hour trying to get her to poop outside.  I could tell she needed to go, but she was stubborn and kept trying to come in the house.  After 45 minutes of me sweating my butt off, she finally did it.

I put her back in her crate for the next 45 minutes after that, and I caught up a few things in my planner and lay down on my neck pillow for a bit before getting ready to pick up the kids.  One thing that I didn’t have on my Bingo card for getting a new dog was how much havoc it was going to wreak on my neck / dizziness.  I still have to be careful how quickly I move, so chasing after her when she’s about to have an accident has been making me incredibly dizzy, and having to constantly scoop her up is killing my neck.  I keep telling myself that Belle won’t need constant supervision like this forever, and hopefully she’ll get the hang of everything soon so I can stop undoing all the good work my upper cervical chiropractor is doing.

I freshened up after that, I threw a load of cleaning rags in the washer, and I headed to pick up the kids from school.  They had music lessons right after, and I sat in with Jacob while he worked on tweaking Clair de Lune.  He is getting close to perfecting it and he sounds incredible.  I will never not be impressed that this human we created can play as beautifully as he can.

When we got home, the kids took over with Bellie and they played with her and took her outside.  Olivia had to get ready for dance and eat an early dinner, and while she did those things, I did two Bible studies and I read my devotional. 

I dropped Olivia off at dance later in the afternoon, and then I headed home.  Jacob was on Belle duty while we were gone, and he texted me with updates while I was gone.  She was so well behaved for him!

Brian was already home when I rolled up, so I got to work on dinner – pizza quesadillas!  The first time I made them, B was out of town for work, so he missed out, and he wanted to try them.  While I was making them, Belle kept trying to climb on the arm and the back of the couch, and at one point I had to call Brian in there to get her because I was scared she was going to fall off.  I got a picture of her the first time she did it, but I wasn’t able to get one before Brian had to get her.  She about gave me a heart attack, though.

While we ate dinner, Belle ate her dinner, too, and then she took her medicine for her kennel cough.  I finished folding and putting away the laundry from earlier in the week and I also flipped the cleaning rags (that I’d forgotten about) over to the dryer.

Belle had been out of her crate for nearly three hours by then, so we put her in there so we could all get some things done.  Brian wanted to work out before he had to pick up Olivia, I wanted to go for my evening walk and do an arms workout, and Jacob wanted some lazy time playing video games.  She ended up crying most of the time she was in there, but sometimes it be’s like that.

When I got home, I jumped in the shower and got ready for bed, and then I took Belle out of her crate.  She peed and pooped immediately when we got outside… the crate training thing really, really does make a huge difference when house training a dog, y’all.

We went back inside after that, and Jacob and I hung out on the couch together for a while and Bellie chewed on her toys.  When Brian and Olivia got home, I put some nuggs in the oven for her while she showered, and Bellie got the zoomies.  She started trying to climb up on the arm and the back of the couch again, and at one point she fell off the arm before one of us could get to her.  We could tell it scared her, but she was fine, and she was right back up there again about two minutes later.  I guess she does not yet know how to learn her lesson.  Hahahaha.

She finally passed out on the couch next to me after that, and we all watched an episode of Friends before the kids went to bed a little later than usual.  Brian and I made hot toddies after that because my throat was feeling a little questionable (thankfully, it never turned into anything… it was just allergies), and then we watched some more of Scarpetta before going to bed.  Belle was so exhausted that she didn’t make a peep after we put her in her crate.  And just look at that sweet, sleepy pup.  Having her sleeping peacefully in my lap just totally erases all the mischievous stuff she does all day long.  Hahahaha.

While Brian and I were shutting everything down before bed, Belle pulled the blanket down from the couch and tucked herself in like she was going to bed.  Haha.

Friday, August 21

Friday morning, I snoozed an extra time, but a thunderstorm had awakened me at 5:30 AM, and I never went back to sleep because I was worried that Belle was going to be frightened.  She never made a peep, though, and I’m grateful that so far it appears we’ve been blessed with another dog who is not afraid of storms.  We have friends who have pets that are, and I know it can be really tough.

I got the kids to school and then went home to Brian and Belle in the kitchen.  She’d been an excellent girl while I was gone, and I took over for Brian so he could go for a run.  I brushed her hair and played with her for a bit, and then I did some of the dishes and tidied a couple of things in the kitchen.  After that, we went outside to play fetch.  She loves playing fetch and I just think it’s so funny because I’ve never known any small dogs that do. 

When Brian got back from his run, Bellie and I went inside, and I put her in her crate for a long morning nap.  She’d already peed and pooped outside, eaten breakfast, taken her medicine, and played really hard for a long time, and she must have been all tuckered out because she went in there without a fight and she only cried for about 30 seconds before settling down for the next three hours.

While she slept, I started tackling my to-do list for the day:

 

-       Sent an email for our photobooth for Grandparent’s Day

-       Sent an email to potential volunteers for Grandparent's Day

-       RSVPed for all Jacob and Olivia’s grandparents

-       Caught up on both email inboxes

-       Caught up on two weeks’ worth of blog reading (that took most of the morning)

-       Worked on this blog post

-       Did some blog housekeeping

-       Paid a bill

-       Send a room parent email

 

After a very productive morning, it was time to get Belle out of her crate, let her out, feed her lunch, and eat with Brian.  I played fetch with Belle outside after lunch, and then, I took her up to my office to try to give her some freedom while I got a few more things done, but she decided right away that she needed to poop on the floor (bleh), so I took her right back downstairs and banished her to the kitchen while I cleaned up.  Haha.

After that, Brian watched her for a bit until his meeting started, and I went back to my office to tie up some loose ends (mostly blog housekeeping) and start Wednesday’s blog post before it was time to pick up the kids from school.  

The kids had picture day at school, and I got this picture of Jacob and all the kids in his religion class that the teacher had taken on the way back to the classroom.  So sweet!

When we got home, the kids were on Belle duty, so I grabbed a cup of tea and one of my favorite protein bars and headed to my office to work a little more.  I corrected some blog typos that Brian had found, I started looking for Advent calendars (they’re not out yet but the ones I want sell out quickly), I installed an app that my friend recommended for all things college (SOS, I’m not ready to start thinking about that yet), I made a Belle file in my cabinet to keep all her papers and medical records, and I started getting all my papers ready for Home and School Advisory Board.  Then, I talked to my Momma on the phone for a bit so she could fill me in on a few things.

Unfortunately, she got some very sad news about one of her best friends, and we also got some sad news about my cousin who has been battling cancer.  If you pray, please send up some prayers for both of their families.

We fed Belle her dinner and let her out and then it was time to crate her so we could head to dinner before the back-to-school social and first home football game.  We decided to grab food from our favorite pub near the school and on the way there it POURED down rain.  Thankfully, it completely cleared before we got to the school, and the biggest bonus was that it was about 20 degrees cooler after that!

The kids immediately found their friends when we arrived at the social, and we didn’t see them again until we left, other than when Olivia came to ask us for money to get snacks.  Haha.  The kids all got free gourmet icies as a treat from the Home & School Association, and the rest of the evening was spent hanging out and chatting with all our school family and watching football. 

We’d originally told the kids we needed to leave at halftime to get home to Belle, but they ended up delaying the game 30 minutes due to the weather, so we ended up leaving after the first quarter since everything was running late.  We didn’t want to leave Belle for too long, and I was soooo tired and I couldn’t wait to get in my pjs!  ;o)

We got home around 9 PM, and we all got in our pjs and watched an episode of Friends.  Bellie was a wild child while we watched since she had a bunch of energy that was bursting to get out of her after being in her crate for almost four hours, so we ended up pausing about 10 times to let her out / stop her from chewing things / chase after her when she went in another room / etc.  Haha.

Towards the end of the episode, she finally calmed down and fell asleep on the couch, and then Brian and I made toasted marshmallow old fashioneds and watched Ted Lasso after the kids went to bed… a sleeping pup curled up next to me, a toasted marshmallow old fashioned in hand, comfy pjs, a big blanket, and Ted Lasso on my TV… ahhhh life is good.  :o)

Saturday, August 22

Saturday morning, Brian got up at 7:45 AM and instead of lying in bed forever like he usually does, he went downstairs and let Belle out.  I slept until 8:15 AM and then made my way downstairs around 8:30 AM.  Olivia was down there with Brian and Belle, so I sent her upstairs to shower and get ready since she had to be at her very first Velocity gathering on Saturday morning.

Belle had already gone to the bathroom outside, had the zoomies, and played fetch for a while, so she was already pretty chill by the time I went downstairs.  She kept me company in the kitchen while I made waffles for us all, and I gave her breakfast, too.

After breakfast, Olivia finished getting ready and Brian drove her to the gathering while I unloaded the dishwasher and finished cleaning up the kitchen.  After that, I made a cup of coffee and Belle and I hung out together on the couch.  I sipped my coffee (in my Maui mug), I browsed some fall things for inspiration, and I scrolled through social media while Belle slept peacefully all curled up against me.  We’re gearing up for college football, and I can’t wait for many, many more of these lazy Saturday mornings soon!

After Brian dropped Olivia off, he stopped at Walmart to pick up a couple of things, and then he swung by the liquor store, and I finally stopped being lazy around 10:45 AM because I knew I needed to get some things done.

I went to my office to do a few things for the blog and order the kids’ school pictures while Belle was still asleep on the couch, and then I went to shower and get ready once Brian got home so he could keep an eye on her.

After I was ready, I got lunch ready for the boys and me, and then Jacob got his laundry in the washer and went to get showered while I headed out to pick up Olivia and attend the parent meeting for Velocity.

I sat with her best friend’s parents and a few other parents from the kids at our school and we all chatted while we waited for the parent meeting to start.  It lasted for about 20 minutes and then we were on our way!

Olivia talked my ear off all the way home saying that she’d had the best time and that she was really looking forward to being a part of it this year, and I’m just so happy that she’s happy and thriving in middle school!  Two of her best friends are joining her, so I know they’re going to have the best time and hopefully they’ll make some new friends from other schools, too, since it’s a city-wide organization.

When we got home, Belle was asleep on the couch, but she got all riled up when she saw Olivia, her favorite playmate.  ;o)  So Olivia played with her a bit and then we put her in the crate for the first time all day so she could have some quiet time.  We all had things to do and none of us could watch her as diligently as we needed to. 

The kids had some chill time, Jacob finished up with his laundry, and I sent a couple more emails to volunteers for events at the school, I worked on this blog post for a bit, and then we let Bellie out of her crate after about an hour.

Olivia played with her for a long time and I worked some more on my blog post for Wednesday, and then we got ready for 5:30 Mass.

After church, we went to our usual Mexican restaurant for dinner, and then we rushed home to Bellie to get her fed, and to let her out to play for a bit.  We all went out in the back yard and ran around with her for a while.  The sun was down at that point, so it wasn’t 8,000 degrees, so it was much more pleasant than it is during the day.

Once Belle was worn out, we took her back inside.  By then, she had gone to the bathroom x 2, she’d eaten dinner, she’d taken her medicine, and she’d run all around the backyard forever, so she was content.

We were able to watch three episodes of Friends while she chewed on her actual chew toys, and she was such a good girl the whole time.  She is really settling in and learning the rules now, so things haven’t been quite as chaotic the last few days.

After the show, I meditated and lay on my neck pillow and vibration plate while the kids got ready for bed, and then Brian and I watched the rest of Silo that we’d started the night before + a little bit of Scarpetta.  Belle slept on the couch while we watched, but she was super restless… it’s soooo funny how restless she is when she sleeps. 

We got her in her crate for bed Saturday night, and she went right to sleep again.  I think she was just waiting for us to put her in there!  Haha.

 

Sunday, August 23

Sunday morning, Brian got up with Belle again (he always wakes up earlier than I do), and then he left Belle with Olivia (since she was already up, too) to go pick up some Pokemon donuts from Krispy Kreme before they were gone.  Jacob had been asking daily for them, so we decided Sunday was the day!

I got up at 8:15 AM and I fed Belle, unloaded the dishwasher, and tidied the whole kitchen and living room while B was gone.  Since Bellie came along, tidying has really taken a back seat, and it has been driving me crazy.  It felt good to get the house back in order again!  (Aside from all the gates and pillows everywhere to block her from getting out of the kitchen.  Hahahaha.)

The kids loved the Pokemon donuts, and I was thrilled because pumpkin donuts were BACK, so I got those instead.  There’s just nothing like that first bite of pumpkin donut at the beginning of fall!  (And yes, I know we’re still a whole month away from actual fall, but when the kids go back to school, it’s fall in my heart.  Haha.)

After breakfast, the kids went upstairs to shower, and Olivia had to do her laundry since she’d been gone most of the day Saturday.  They both settled in for some video game time after that, and I played outside with Bellie for a long time.  We played fetch until she got tired of it, and then I checked my emails while she roamed around on the porch.

Around 9:45 AM, it was time to crate her for her morning nap, and she only whined for about 10 seconds and then settled right in.  I went upstairs to my office with a cup of coffee and got to work.  On the to do list Sunday morning was:

 

-       Getting my planner ready for the week ahead

-       Making my to do lists for Sunday and Monday

-       Cleaning out both email inboxes (I got my personal account down to ZERO and my work account down to only a few that I’m leaving in there to reference later)

-       Getting Olivia signed up for Crochet Club at the school (she is THRILLED that they’re offering this for the first time this year, and they’re going to be crocheting scarves and hats and blankets for cancer patients, and that makes my momma heart want to burst with sadness for all those patients and with gratitude for our school that offers these wonderful ministries for the kids to participate)

-       Transferring photos from my phone to my computer from the week

-       Organizing photos (and not finishing because my phone and computer were up to their shenanigans again and half the videos didn’t transfer so they had to be manually sent)

 

We all got showered and ready to go to lunch at my mother-in-law's and step-father-in-law's, and we loaded Belle up and hit the road.  She got to meet them for the first time on Sunday along with my sister-in-law and brother-in-law and both nephews.  She was a perfect little angel the whole time we were there… she stayed in the kitchen patiently while we ate and she didn’t even whine even though we had to gate her in there.  Then, she slept for some of the time there, too.

When we got home, Belle went to sleep in the living room while the rest of us had some quiet time.  I got some blog work done in my office and I also finished organizing my photos.  The kids played video games for a bit.  And Brian hung out in the living room with Belle while she slept.

My mom had planned to cook, but my dad wasn’t feeling great, so they ended up canceling, and instead, we had a lazy evening at home.  I was having a rough time with my neck and shoulder tension and headaches + dizziness, and I also felt exhausted for some reason, so I was worried I was coming down with something (Olivia was sniffly and her throat was gravelly for some of the week and Covid is also running rampant in our city right now), so I lay down on the couch with Belle for about 30 minutes in the early evening.

I’d planned to throw a pizza in the oven since I had nothing to cook since we were originally supposed to go to Momma and Daddy’s, but when I went to put the pizza in the oven, there was no pizza in the freezer.  Whoops.  Haha.  Instead, we made the kids’ favorite… hot dogs and mac n cheese.  Hahahaha.

I put on some jazz, I put some fall oils in the diffuser, and we had a cozy evening in.  I made our meal plan and grocery list while the food cooked, and then we all ate together.  Thankfully, I felt a little better after resting for a while, too.  And Belle was so good Sunday evening… she was calm and not getting into everything and we were able to leave her out with us while we ate. 

The kids had already showered earlier in the day, so after dinner, we all got in our pjs and watched three episodes of Friends.  Belle got the zoomies halfway through, so I took her out for a few minutes and then Brian took her out for a bit.  When Brian was out there with her, she got the major zoomies, and she was tearing all around the yard.  She even started barking at Brian (the first time she’s ever barked!) and he got the whole thing on video.  I was laughing so hard when I saw it.

When she came back inside, she was good to go, and she passed out on the couch for the rest of the evening.  After the kids went to bed, I meditated, neck pillowed, and vibration plated (yes, I know those are not real words – haha!), and then Brian and I made cocktails and watched a few more minutes of Scarpetta before calling it a night!

And now for some current things…

Currently Reading

Well, y’all, I started Our Perfect Storm by Carley Fortune at the beginning of the month, but I just couldn’t get into it.  For some reason, I just couldn’t connect with the characters, so I gave it up.  I would have pushed through if I’d had more time, but there was a line behind me at the library, and I knew I couldn’t get through the whole thing before it was due back.  And then we got a puppy, so I haven’t picked up another book since!  Haha.

I am still reading my new devotional for the year, though – Called by Name: 365 Daily Devotions for Catholic Women by Kelly M. Wahlquist along with my Bible and The Bible in a Year with Father Mike Schmitz. 

 

Currently Watching

With B: In August, Brian and I are still making our way through the newest season of Silo, and we finished season one of Every Year After.  We also started the newest season of Ted Lasso (EEK!) and we started Scarpetta.  Oh, and we started and quit The Hawk.  It was terrible.

With the Kids: In August we watched a whoooole bunch of Friends.  We started it in July and we’re already nearing the end of season five!

Alone: I really haven’t been watching much, but I did watch How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days for the millionth time on Sunday while I worked.

Currently Listening To

I’m still listening to the podcast The Swiftie and the Scholar as new episodes come out.  And I’ve been shuffling my pop music genre in my library.  I rarely shuffle by genre, but I’ve been enjoying it because there are so many songs that I have in my library that I’ve forgotten about!  Oh, and we’ve been listening to a whole lot of jazz in the evening because fall is coming.  ;o)

And if you made it this far, hats off to you… it seems that my already long-winded weekly recaps have gotten even longer since we brought our cutie Bellie in the picture!

Happy Tuesday, y’all!