Everything You and Your Tiny Dancer Need for Ballet, Tap, and Jazz

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Olivia just completed year three of dance back in May, and I feel like I finally have a pretty good grip on dance and recital life.  If you’ve ever had a kiddo in dance, then you know exactly just how much stuff they need to get through the dance year and the crazy long recitals at the end of the season.

We are heading to Olivia’s dance studio today to get her registered for the new season, and classes start August 9, so I thought it’d be the perfect time to share all of our favorite items for ballet, tap, and jazz + a few bonus items that we love to have on hand for recitals and competition. 

1 – Garment Bag

Olivia only uses this garment bag one time per year – recital weekend – but it’s worth every single penny to be able to keep all of her stuff organized.  During recitals, the kids have lots of different outfits and accessories, and they often have to get changed SUPER fast in between acts.  Each class only has 1-2 room parents to help 7-8 kids get changed in between acts, so the kiddos need to be self-sufficient and be able to locate their own stuff quickly.  This garment bag is perfection because it holds costumes on hangers up top, and then it has five pockets to hold shoes (ballet, tap, jazz), extra tights, hair pieces, makeup, and other props and accessories.  It’s small enough so that Olivia can carry it herself, it has a nametag slot so she can locate her bag quickly, and the entire bag is clear so she can see everything at-a-glance.  At just $13.95 it might just be my favorite dance item we’ve ever purchased. 

 

2 – Ballet Shoes

Every ballerina needs a good pair of ballet shoes!  We’ve bought the Freestyle by Danskin ballet shoes from Target for the last three years and they’ve been great year after year.  Dance runs from the beginning of August until the end of May each year, and every pair we’ve purchased has lasted through the whole entire year.  We highly recommend them!  Once Olivia is a little older and even more serious about dance, we’ll probably start buying nicer ones, but for now, the ones from Target are perfect.  And so is the price.

 

3 – Dance Bag

Dance classes at our dance studio are combined, so Olivia takes ballet, tap, and jazz altogether in one long class.  That means she has to bring ballet shoes, tap shoes, and jazz shoes for each class.  We bought this backpack three years ago and it has been the perfect size to hold everything she needs.  She can toss her ballet shoes, tap shoes, and jazz shoes in and there is still room to spare for her leg warmers, her skirt, and a little cosmetic bag that holds a brush and elastics.  It also has two outside pockets (one on each side) to hold her thermos.  Olivia has been using this one for three years now and it still looks brand new!

 

4 – Leotard

Olivia’s dance studio requires girls to wear a leotard, tights, appropriate dance shoes for whichever particular class they’re taking, and then they have to have their hair up and out of their faces.  Girls 6+ have to wear royal blue leotards, and the littles wear ballet pink leotards, and we love these.  This one comes in lots of different colors including ballet pink and the royal blue shade that Olivia has to wear.

 

5 – Wide Hair Pins

Olivia is required to wear her hair in a bun for all recitals and performances  Buns have never been my forte, but I’ve learned some tricks of the trade from the other moms along the way, and one of the best tools to ever be recommended to us were these WIDE hair pins.  They’re not standard bobby pins… those are too thin to use in a bun, but these wide hair pins are perfect for sticking into the side of the bun as you weave the hair around the outside.  They work like a charm every single time and we are never without them during dance recitals.  You can never have too many on hand, so we always buy extras.

 

6 – Jazz Shoes

We purchased these jazz shoes for Olivia last year for her first year of jazz, and they held up beautifully the entire year.  Olivia said that they’re comfortable, too!  We’ll be buying another pair for the upcoming year.

 

7 – Smoothing Brush

This smoothing brush is a miracle-worker for creating a sleek ballet bun… regular brushes and combs just don’t work as well as these do!

 

8 – Thermos

Olivia carries a water bottle to class each week and she keeps one on hand during recital weekend.  We just recently started using these Yeti water bottles for kids and they are PERFECT.  They keep hot drinks hot and cold drinks cold for at least 12 hours, they’re leak-proof, and they’re dishwasher safe.  The best part is that they don’t have a bunch of little pieces like most kids’ water bottles have.  This one comes in six different colors and it’s under $25 which is great considering it’s a Yeti!

 

9 – Ballet Skirt

Olivia’s dance studio doesn’t require the girls to wear a skirt, but she wanted one for the first couple of years.  She doesn't wear one for class anymore, but she keeps this one in her bag in case we need to run errands after class.  It slips on quickly and acts as the perfect coverup.

 

10 – “Invisible” Plastic Earrings

Dancers aren’t allowed to wear any jewelry whatsoever during recitals and performances, so we bought some of these clear plastic earrings to slide in Olivia’s ears on those days.  She had her ears pierced nearly two years ago, but her holes are still very quick to close, so it makes me feel better to have something in them during those all-day recitals.  These are just $5.80 for 50 pairs.  This was another tip that one of the other dance moms taught me.

 

11 – Ouchless Hair Elastics

Olivia isn’t required to wear her hair in a bun for class, so instead, we typically pull it up in a ponytail.  Our very favorite elastics are these ouchless elastics by Goody.  They don’t have the metal pieces in them so they’re comfortable, and they have just the right amount of stretch.  These are always in her bag for class, and they are the only ones I use, too. 

 

12 – Tap Shoes

We’ve been using these Freestyle by Danskin tap shoes from Target for the last three years, and just like the ballet shoes, they hold up beautifully throughout the entire year.  They’re made very well, they’re comfortable, and best of all, they have a hook and loop Velcro closure, so Olivia doesn’t have to deal with laces coming untied during class. 

 

13 – Wrap Top

During fall and winter when it’s colder, this wrap top is perfect for Olivia to wear over her leotard to keep her warm.  Because it’s a wrap, she can take it on and off easily without messing up her hair… totally necessary during recital weekend when she has her fancy bun!

 

14 – Warmup Boots

These warmup boots slide on over ballet shoes to protect the shoes and keep feet warm.  We haven’t bought a pair of these yet so I can’t speak to the quality, but they have 4.8 out of 5 stars with 870 ratings.  I’ve had these in my wish list for Olivia and will likely buy a pair for this coming year… it’ll be so much easier for her to just slide these on over her ballet shoes rather than to change in and out of tennis shoes.  Most of the time she just walks through the parking lot in her ballet shoes, but I’m pretty sure that’s frowned upon.  Haha.  When we start buying nicer ballet shoes, we certainly won’t be doing that anymore as they could get damaged.

 

15 – Giant Bag for Mom for Recital Weekends

This Barrington bag isn’t something that your tiny dancer needs, but it’s something you’ll definitely need for recital weekends.  I don’t know about y’all, but recital weekends are hard-core here, and I’m usually at the venue with Olivia for 20+ hours any given recital weekend for rehearsals, dress-rehearsals, and performances.  That means I have to carry a LOT of stuff with me, so I need something big to put it all in.  Brian bought this Barrington bag for me for Mother’s Day this year and, y’all, it is the best thing ever.  It’s HUGE, it opens super wide, it has a few pockets inside, and the entire things zips closed.  I’m able to fit all of my normal purse stuff in there like my wallet, phone, keys, etc. plus I still have ample room for an iPad, a book, my 32 oz. Yeti thermos, snacks, and a sweater since it’s always freezing in the venue.  It has become my main purse and I could not love it more.  The best part is that you can customize your bag… they have tons and tons of colors and patterns to choose from, you can choose your own leather color, you can customize your monogram in lots of different ways, and by the time you’re done, you’ll have a one-of-a-kind bag.  They’re pricey, but everyone I know who has one says they hold up forever, so they’re worth the money.  And actually, just for today until midnight, everything is15% off with the code HOHOHO as they're running their Christmas in July sale!

 

16 – Tights

I always buy this two-pack of tights at the beginning of the year, and it usually gets us through the entire year.  They are thick and sturdy so they hold up well.  Olivia is really rough on everything (she is known to break/destroy things constantly) so the fact that she’s able to rotate the same two pairs for ten months really says something about the durability of these tights.  We highly recommend!

 

17 – Bun Making Set

And finally, this bun making set is going to be your very best friend if you don’t know how to do hair!  I am terrible at doing any kind of hairdo, so the first time I had to make a ballet bun for Olivia’s recital I was so nervous.  I bought this bun-making kit on Amazon and watched a two-minute YouTube video, and y’all, I’ll be darned if it didn’t end up being the easiest thing ever!!  This kit comes with everything you need – bun donuts (four different sizes so you can decide how large you want yours to be), thick elastics, wide hair pins (similar to the ones I already mentioned earlier in this post), and hairnets to go over your bun.  With this kit, the smoothing brush, and a can of hairspray, you can easily create the perfect ballet bun in ten minutes or less!  The bun donuts are everything, y’all.  Everything.  Makes things so much simpler!

 

In addition to all of these things, your tiny dancer may also want to have a good pair of leg warmers during the colder months, and it’s also good to keep some of these no-iron labels and a Sharpie permanent marker on hand.  During recital weekends, all of the kids are in dressing rooms and there’s an explosion of stuff everywhere, so we are required to label every single thing in case items get mixed up among the girls. 

These Avery no-iron labels are AMAZING and I use them for everything.  (You can read how we used them to label the kids’ masks for school last year here.)  As I already mentioned, you don’t have to iron these on… you just stick them straight on to shirts, pants, jackets, shoes, etc. and they’re washing machine and dryer safe.  You can wash them over and over and they never fall off.  They are awesome. 

And that’s it, y’all… everything you need for your tiny dancer to have a successful year of ballet, tap, and jazz!

*Linking up with My Glittery Heart, The Other Side of the Road, and The Sirois Family for Hello Monday.

Happy Tenth Birthday to Our Jacob Brian!

Dear Jacob,

Today you’re ten!!  Two hands.  Ten fingers.  An entire decade old! 

At ten, you’re slowly growing out of your childhood and growing into a tween, and watching you grow into the person you’re becoming is both rewarding and heartbreaking all at the same time.  It’s pretty cool to watch you learn and experience and try new things, but on the flipside, it’s so hard to think that you’ll never be little again.  I’ve seen fewer and fewer glimpses this past year of the baby you once were, and that is tough.

This past year has been another great one for you!  You excelled in school, getting straight A’s the entire year (with the exception of one B that was only a B by one point), and that is really something because fourth grade is not easy!  You sure did make it look that way, though! 

Not only did you excel academically at school, but you were chosen for Student of the Month for all of fourth grade in the month of May for demonstrating the school’s four core values of faith, honesty, loyalty, and respect.  I think I’m even more proud of you for that than your grades!  Character is everything, Boo.  I hope you remember that.

You enjoyed another two seasons of baseball, shocking us all when you started showing an interest in pitching, but proving yourself to be pretty darn good at it!  You made some new friends on the teams and you made many more wonderful memories that I hope you tuck away in the corners of your mind to revisit every now and then as you grow.  

In addition to baseball, this year you also tried golf and tennis for the first time (just for fun with Daddy) and you turned out to be a natural at both of those as well.  On your most recent golf outing (and only your second one ever), you made par on one of the holes and you bogeyed on another… it’s making us all wonder if maybe you should try playing golf for sport…

The first time Daddy put a tennis racket in your hand was only a few months ago, and on that first day, you were returning serves and volleying back and forth with Daddy like it was nothing.  Hmmmm… maybe you should try playing tennis for sport, too?

Your besties are still Jack and Julian from school, but your number one fan happens to be right here at home… my goodness your sister adores you so much!  The two of you are still as close as ever, and also as mischievous as ever.  You do, of course, bicker every now and then, but ninety-nine percent of the time you get along… well, maybe ninety-five percent.  ;o)  I hope your friendship continues to flourish as you both grow.

While you haven’t found many good fiction books to get into lately, your love for non-fiction has grown exponentially this year, and you have devoured many a library book this summer – dinosaurs, marine life, architecture, the human body, animal friendships, weather, random facts… nothing is off-limits!

Your most favorite thing to do in all the world is still to build a new Lego set from start to finish.  There isn’t a Lego set that you can’t or won’t build, and your bedroom is basically a Lego museum.  You’ve taken on Minecraft sets and Super Mario Brothers sets and 1,200+ piece sets and sets for ages 16+ and sets with light kits.  Whew.  You love every single bit of Legos and you can’t get enough.  It’s literally the only thing you asked for this year for your birthday.

You love spending time with others, but you recharge and thrive on your alone-time.  You often retreat to your room to take a break from the hustle and bustle in the house… AKA OLIVIA.  Haha.  You have no issues entertaining yourself, and you rarely proclaim that you’re bored… although we have heard it a few times this summer. 

You’re still an early riser most days, but you’ve slept in a little more this summer than ever before… probably because you’ve been staying up a little later than ever before. 

You still love video games, and your favorites are Minecraft, Super Smash Bros., and Super Mario Odyssey on the Nintendo Switch.  Your taste in TV shows and movies has also evolved a bit this past year, and you’re mostly interested in live action stuff rather than cartoons.  You and Olivia started watching Walk the Prank on Disney+ earlier this summer, and you can’t get enough!

You’ve also started showing an interest in magic (watching it and performing it), you still love figuring out how things work (and explaining it all in great detail), and you still love to draw and create.  You have started drawing some things from memory and it blows my mind how accurate most of them are… I suppose that means your photographic memory is still going strong!

You love music, often turning on your clock radio in your room to listen to some tunes when you’re in there by yourself.  I mean, it would be hard to live in this house and not appreciate music since your Daddy and I love it so much and listen to it constantly. 

You’re still my shy guy, only coming out of your shell when you’re warmed up and comfortable, but you’re as goofy as ever when you’re with your people.  You’re a typical kid in that you love burps and farts and butts and all other things tacky, and you and Olivia are constantly laughing your heads off at gross stuff like that.  But on the flip side, you do still love your stuffed animals.  ;o)

You’ve grown a couple more inches this past year but, unfortunately as you’ve grown, your taste for healthy food still has NOT.  Sigh.  You will barely touch a vegetable and there aren’t a ton of fruits that you’ll eat, but you will tear up a 1/2-pound burger… my goodness, you still love a burger… especially from Five Guys.  You also love chicken nuggets, fish sticks, hot dogs, grilled cheese, corn dogs, mac n cheese, and all of that junky stuff, but you do love watermelon and honeydew… and that’s how we do get some healthy foods into your body.  I’m hoping one of these days you’ll outgrow your pickiness, but until then, burgers it is, I guess!  Haha.

You still like for everything to be fair and balanced, structured, and for everyone to follow the rules, but I think we all know that the world doesn’t work like that.  I just hope one day you can be at peace with that.  If you’re anything like your momma, you will struggle with this daily, probably forever.  Haha.

You are serious, thoughtful, inquisitive, and tender-hearted, and I have enjoyed every single second of watching you grow these last ten years.  Daddy, Olivia, Maui, and I all love you so very much, and we’re all so grateful you were born!

Happy TENTH!  Now let’s go celebrate!

Love,

Mommy

Our Week - The One with Summertime, Week 8 (Lunch Date, Elbow Therapy, Play Date, Dinner Out, Swimming, and Golf)

I feel like we’ve been so busy this summer nursing a broken elbow, doing summer homework, and going to appointments that we haven’t squeezed in as much fun as we normally do.  Well, I’m happy to report that last week we made up for lost time and we squeezed so many fun things into this one short week!  Settle in, friends, because this is going to be a long recap!

Monday, July 12

Monday morning was an early morning Publix run followed by breakfast and morning routine with the kiddos.  The rest of the morning was spent putting away groceries, doing laundry, and catching up on some blog reading. 

Since B was home working for the day, I took full advantage of being able to leave the kids at home and I met my old supervisor for lunch.  He and I had gone to lunch a few weeks before everything shut down back in March 2020, but I hadn’t seen or talked to him since then, so 16 long months had passed since the last time we’d chatted.  My gosh, it just blows my mind that it had been that long.  We had lots of catching up to do obviously, so we stretched lunch out a little longer than usual.  He’s retired now so it was nice that he didn’t have to rush straight back to work like most everyone else I meet for lunch. 

On the way home, I swung by Chick-Fil-A and grabbed lunch to take home to B and the kids, and by the time they were done eating, it was time to leave for day one of week two of swimming lessons.  It was another successful day, and Olivia swam across the pool several times.  It poured down rain yet again, but thankfully, there was no thunder and lightning, so they were able to complete their entire lesson.

When we arrived back home, the kids got settled in with their video games and I headed to my office to work.  One of my very old friends of 20 years who I hadn’t spoken with in years texted me and told me to call him to chat about Disney.  He and his family go to Disney all the time, and they’ve gone three times during the pandemic alone, so I’d been wanting to talk to him so I could get an idea about what to expect since we’re going in October… I’d say it’s pretty likely the pandemic won’t be over by then.  Sigh. 

He and I hadn’t talked in, like, 16 or 17 years aside from seeing each other out a couple of times and exchanging a couple of brief social media messages, so we ended up talking about Disney for a few minutes and then spending the rest of the time catching up on each other’s lives.  We’re friends on Facebook and Insta, of course, so we both knew the highlights from the last 17 years, but there was so much other stuff to catch up on since so much isn’t shared on social media.  He hasn’t changed a bit these last two decades and it was so easy chatting with him, like no time had passed at all.  Before we knew it, almost 40 minutes had passed, and he had to get back to work.

By the time we got off the phone, it was almost time for me to make dinner, and a huge, cozy storm blew in just as I got in the kitchen.  I turned on some music and put some yummy oils in the diffuser, and then we had leftover burgers from the grill and spent the whole evening inside because of all of the rain.

All of us watched an episode of Breaking Bobby Bones and then an episode of Walk the Prank, and then B and I watched two episodes of Atypical after the kiddos settled in for yet another sleepover. 

Tuesday, July 13

Tuesday morning was spent at home, and then mid-morning, we stopped by the library to return some books and grab a new book for me.  My friend, Jeannine, was there working, and she showed the kids a new Snap Circuits set that had just arrived.  Unbeknownst to us, our local library has educational toys that can be checked out… I can’t believe I’ve never known that!  The kids were thrilled to be able to take home the Snap Circuits set, and they have been playing with them ever since.

After the library, Olivia had her first occupational therapy visit for her elbow.  While we were there, we got to see Jacob’s old friend’s mom since she works there.  Jacob was best friends with Cait-Cait from the time they were infants all the way through Pre-K3 and we hadn’t seen them since everyone had moved to new schools for Pre-K4. 

Olivia’s occupational therapist was wonderful – so kind, so good with Olivia, so helpful, and just a really wonderful lady!  Olivia is able to fully straighten her arm already, so it’s the bending part that she needs help with.  The therapist measured her bend, and she’s able to bend it at 120 degrees, which the therapist said is great.  She said even if her arm never gets past 120 degrees, she’ll be able to live a full life with no limitations – she can do her hair, put in earrings, do cartwheels, dance, cheerleading… whatever she wants to do.  But she said she’s confident we’ll be able to get her to 140 degrees with therapy, and that is full range of motion.

The therapist showed me how to bend Olivia’s arm, bring it to the point of discomfort, and then hold it there.  She said that she has to sit and hold it in the discomfort because that’s the only way it’s ever going to loosen up.  She also showed me how and where to massage the inside of her elbow to work the tissue because it’s the tissue that’s causing it to stay tight. 

Olivia has a big dimple in her skin where one of the pins was put in on the inside of her elbow, and the therapist said that will also go away once we break down all of that tissue.  The therapist wants us to do Olivia’s exercises/massage three times per day every day and then we’ll be seeing her again in a couple of weeks.

I have to say, y’all, when she told me I was going to have to learn how to do this therapy with Olivia at home and massage her elbow tissue and stuff, I might have wanted to crawl in a hole and die.  I still have PTSD from the accident and I still see her arm dangling after it broke sometimes when I close my eyes at night to go to sleep.  I know that sounds really gross, but y’all, the truth is, it was really gross.  I cannot get that sight out of my head no matter how hard I try, and I wish I could.  I’d never make it a single day in the ER… I don’t know how those people deal with all of the traumatic things they see every day.

Olivia’s arm is still pretty banged up – you can see all of the pin holes, her incision still looks fairly raw, and the whole inside of her arm is still bruised – so it looks incredibly delicate even after all this time.  But the therapist just got right in there and started working it all out, and it gave me the heebie jeebies.  Haha. 

When she showed me what to do, she could tell I was struggling with it, so she gave us a sleeve that we can slip on over her arm, so I don’t have to look at it.  Lol.  That way I’m less afraid I’m going to hurt her.  She also uses a very cheap vibrating massager to work out all of the tissue, so I got on Amazon right then and there and ordered the same one since it was only $8.99.  Amazon for the win!

The appointment was fast – just 30 minutes from start to finish – and then we headed home where the kids immediately pulled out the Snap Circuits.  We had a quick lunch, and then they went back to the Snap Circuits.  It was another rainy day, so we were stuck inside.  We have had so. much. rain. this summer.

After Snap Circuits, the kids read in their fort for a while, and then at 2, we headed out for swimming lessons.  Olivia had another successful day.  She got to jump off the diving board for the first time and she was thrilled.  She swam halfway across the pool, and then climbed out at the ladder in the deep end.  All of the kids did that over and over and Olivia was swimming like a fish the whole time. 

When we got home, the kids played video games and I tried to get some work done… I swear, last week was the most unproductive week for me ever.  It’s not like me to not have my ish together, but last week I just could not get it together. 

I headed downstairs to cook dinner Tuesday evening, and I made a new pasta recipe with all of the tomatoes we’d gotten from my mother-in-law’s and father-in-law’s garden.  It ended up being so delicious, and it was light for summer… and easy, too.

By the evening, the rain had cleared up and the yard was dry enough for B to mow, and while he did that, I spent some time relaxing and listening to music while the kids played.  We ended the day with an episode of Breaking Bobby Bones, and we started AGT, and then B and I watched some of The Bachelorette and an episode of Atypical.

Wednesday, July 14

Wednesday morning, I did my first Pilates workout ever.  I liked it okay, although, I wasn’t super sold on the instructor.  I’ll have to keep hunting and see who else I can find. 

After Pilates, I showered and got ready for the day, and then the kids and I did our morning routine – breakfast, unloading dishwasher, watering plants, vitamins, devotional, cartoons, blog reading, etc.  I also got caught up on the laundry.

At 11:15, I had an appointment with my therapist, and we decided to get together in person for the first time in 16 months since we’re both vaccinated!!  It was so nice to be back in her office!  I feel like I get SO MUCH MORE out of my appointments when we’re face-to-face… sometimes Zoom just doesn’t cut it, y’all.  I’m hoping that we can continue our visits in-person from now on.

After my appointment, I swung by the eye doc to pick up my trial pair of contacts, and then I headed home to make lunch for all of us.  By the time lunch was done, it was time to leave for Olivia’s last day of swimming lessons.  Day seven was more jumping off the diving board, and then swimming the entire length of the pool, only stopping to take a breath halfway.  Olivia did great, and she was rewarded with a popsicle at the end.  We said goodbye to Mrs. Marty, and that was a wrap on swimming lessons for 2021… maybe forever??

On the way home, I swung through the Chick-Fil-A drive-through to surprise the kids with milkshakes.  They were so excited!!  We also grabbed one for B since he was working from home.

The rest of the afternoon was spent working and playing video games, and then I got dinner ready.  I’d been cooking chicken in the crockpot all day for tacos, and I made some homemade guac, and it was soooo yummy! 

After dinner, B finished mowing, and then we all played Cornhole in the back yard for the rest of the evening.  The kiddos got showered, and then we watched some more of AGT and then the kids had a sleepover for, like, the seventh or eighth night in a row.  We got them in the bed early enough Wednesday evening so they could read for 20 minutes because we’re a little behind on our summer homework and we need to get caught up!

Thursday, July 15

Thursday was the first day in a while that we didn’t have an appointment or swimming lessons, so I used the whole morning to get caught up on a bunch of stuff.  I finally had Jacob try on his new uniform pants and shorts from Old Navy and I got those washed and put away, I bought all of Jacob’s birthday gifts and his card, and I finalized details for his birthday celebration with my family and got his cake ordered.  I caught up on some emails that had been neglected for far too long.  I ordered my year supply of contacts.  I ordered my Bath & Body Works lotion that I’m almost out of.  It was a productive morning… finally!  While I worked, these two came in to visit and make silly faces.

The kids and I ate lunch together midday, and then afterward, we knocked out another hour of summer homework – IXL for Jacob and another AR test for Olivia since she’d finished another book + 45 minutes of IXL for her as well.  A huge storm blew in out of nowhere right as they were finishing up, and we all watched the trees blow sideways through the windows.  It ended as quickly as it began and then the sun came out like nothing had ever happened.

After the storm, we tried on all of the kids’ masks that we’ve collected these last 16 months, because I wanted to make sure we didn’t need to buy new ones for the school year.  Our school announced Wednesday that they will be following CDC guidelines that everyone who is not fully vaccinated needs to wear a mask indoors.  They will not be mandating it (unless cases start to rise in our area again), but they are very strongly urging everyone who isn’t vaccinated to wear one.  We have been masking all along and we fully support the school’s request for all unvaccinated people to wear masks, so our kiddos will be wearing their masks again when school starts since they aren’t old enough to get vaccinated.

We weeded through all of the masks and tossed some that were broken, donated a few that were too small (even though I’m not sure that they will accept masks for donations, but I hated to throw them out), and moved some from Jacob’s stack to Olivia’s since he’s outgrown a few of his.  Both kids still have enough to get through the school year, so that’s one less thing we need to buy.  Woo hoo!

After all that, I settled in to work for a bit while the kids played video games, and then when B got home from work, we made breakfast for dinner.  After dinner, it was super cloudy, but it wasn’t raining, so we were finally able to walk around the neighborhood together.  We have a walking trail in the woods in our neighborhood, and our HOA recently added a new bridge and repaired one of the broken bridges, so we were finally able to use the trail in the woods again after not using it since last summer.  There is still one area that needs a new bridge since a tree fell on it last year, but that one should be built sometime later this year.  It’ll be nice to be able to do the whole loop again.  It’s so much nicer walking through the woods during the summer rather than the sidewalks and streets… it’s so much cooler!

We got in 1.5 miles and then when we got back home, we settled in for the rest of America’s Got Talent and Walk the Prank.  I got in some light weight-lifting, while we watched, and then the kids had another slumber party.  They still weren’t asleep by the time B and I headed up to bed after 10 (too much goofing off), so we split them up and made them sleep in their own beds for the night. 

Friday, July 16

Friday morning, I got in a cardio workout and then got ready, and then the morning was spent doing Jacob’s birthday interview and catching up on Home and School Association stuff for the school.  I’m going to be on the committee again this year, and I had a couple of lengthy emails as well as some paperwork to look over and respond to for the coming school year. 

B and the kids and I all had lunch together, and then shortly after we had my friend Jeannine’s kids over for a playdate for a couple of hours.  The kids played with Beyblades, Legos, and Duplos for a bit, then they played Mario and Minecraft for a bit, they had snacks, they played Cornhole outside, and then they ended the day playing in the fort Jacob and Olivia had made in our front sitting room.  It was a whirlwind of a two hours trying to squeeze in all the fun things, and none of the kids wanted them to leave when their dad came to pick them up.  They all had the best time together!

Friday evening, we met Jeannine, James, and the boys again for dinner along with their friends Natalie and Seth and their two girls.  We tried a new local pizza place and the food ended up being really good.  We haven’t eaten out much since the pandemic started, so it was a nice treat to be out and about.  The restaurant is pretty small, but everyone stopped in just to grab to-go orders, so we had the whole restaurant dining room to ourselves nearly the entire time.

After dinner, our fam headed back home to watch a couple of episodes of Walk the Prank and then the kids headed off to have yet another sleepover while B and I stayed up a bit longer to watch Atypical.

Saturday, July 17

Saturday morning, I made homemade waffles, started some laundry, and got a few things done around the house, and then mid-morning, we decided to go to my parents’ neighborhood pool since they’d finally gotten the new key to get in the gate.  The kids were thrilled, and they ended up having an absolute blast.  Jacob hadn’t had swimming lessons since 2019 and he’s had very minimal swim time since then, but fortunately, he picked it right back up.  I guess once you get to a certain point it’s like riding a bike and you never forget.  I’m glad he’s reached that point!

Olivia also swam like a boss the whole time since she was fresh off of her swimming lessons.  She and Jacob were both so comfortable in the pool and it’s nice that we’ve reached the point where I don’t feel like I constantly have to hover over them in the pool.  That said, they both do need more practice and more time in the pool before they’re 100% safe in there.

Since I didn’t get a workout in before we left, I ended up swimming a bunch of laps around the pool as my workout.  That was the first time I’d used my Apple Watch in the water… I’ve always been too scared it would break.  Haha.  When you do a water workout, the watch goes on water lock, and once you stop the workout, it prompts you to turn the digital crown so it can eject all of the water.  So cool!  Now that I know you can legit take the watch in the water, I’d love to start doing more swimming workouts… I forgot how amazing a swimming workout is… my whole body felt like jello the next day (in a good way)!

My momma came down to sit with us at the pool so we got to chat for a bit, and then we finally dragged the kids out at 1 so we could go get some lunch.  We decided to swing by Bojangles on the way home to pick something up per Olivia’s request, and then we ate it at home. 

We spent some time tidying the house after lunch, and then I headed to my office to download a few songs that have been on my list while the kids played video games.  We didn’t have much time before it was time to get ready for church!

We sat with my momma and Mama Cass at Mass, and then afterward, our family of four picked up Mexican from the local place that we usually frequent after Mass when we’re not in a pandemic.  We poured some margs at home, and then we all snuggled up on the couch to watch the first episode of The Mysterious Benedict Society on Disney+.  I fell asleep about halfway through thanks to my marg (dang it), and now I need to go back and watch it again, so I’ll know what’s going on the next time we watch!  Haha.

After that, the kids headed to Olivia’s room to sleep in sleeping bags on the floor for the 84 billionth night in a row, but not too long after they turned the lights out, Jacob came down and told us he couldn’t sleep.  He headed off to his own bed for the first time in forever (aside from the night that we made him), and we just left Olivia on the floor since she was already out like a light.

B and I watched a couple more episodes of Atypical Saturday night and then we headed off to bed, too.

Sunday, July 18

Sunday morning was cinnamon rolls followed by some lazy time.  B and the kids watched cartoons and I headed to my office with a cup of hot cinnamon tea to plan the week ahead.  After my planning session, I got in a really good cardio workout to test out my new running shoes, and I LOVE THEM SO MUCH.  Ugh, the ones that I bought last year suck compared to my new ones, and I’ve torn up my body this last year wearing them. 

I was a cross country runner back in junior high, so I know the importance of having good running shoes, but last year, I decided to buy the lesser expensive ones and I regretted it shortly after I started running in them.  This time, I splurged and got the best ones, and they are AMAZING.  If you’re a runner, DO. NOT. SKIMP. ON. SHOES… your body will thank you for buying the nice ones!  I’m still nursing a toe injury as well as some sore knees from my last pair of (cheaper) shoes, but I can already tell with the new shoes that my toe and knees are grateful… I felt so light during my workout Saturday!  Hopefully my body will heal quickly now so I can get back to running, or at least fast-walking. 

By the time I finished working out, it was lunchtime, so we heated up some leftovers and made various different things for everyone, and then B and the kids headed to the golf course.  Golf is not in my wheelhouse, nor do I find it interesting, and since I’ve already seen the kids play once, I decided to sit this one out and enjoy a nice, quiet, empty house instead. 

While they were gone, I showered and got ready all leisurely and then I photographed a ton of clothes to list on Poshmark… all while blasting a bunch of my favorite music that I can’t play when the kids are around AKA hip-hop and 90’s R&B.  :o)

When they all got home, B said that both kids had done great, probably even better than the first time we took them.  Jacob made par on one hole (B said his first shot landed on the green!) and he also bogeyed on one hole.  He said Olivia did great, too… almost as good as Jacob.  And the best part was that her elbow held up and it didn’t hurt her arm to swing the clubs at all!  Woo hoo!

By the time they got back home, it was time for our usual afternoon quiet time, so they headed to the playroom to play video games and I headed to my office to work.  At 5:30, we headed to my parents’ house for Sunday dinner, and my Mama Cass and my littlest brother joined us. 

Momma made one of my favorite old chicken dishes from my childhood + mashed potatoes, green beans, and squash, and the night was complete with a homemade pound cake and a bottle of wine.  Oh man, it was good… she definitely outdid herself! 

We ended the weekend with the season two finale of Atypical and the first episode of season three… because it’s too hard to go to bed on a cliffhanger.  ;o)  And that was our wonderful week!

Happy Wednesday, y’all!