Around Here: Week 27 2024

 {June 30-July 6th}

This is a mini-brands tiny book. I ordered a few of them on Amazon. 
Carly loves them for her Barbies.

{Carly playing doctor}
"Ocsgin (Oxygen) 120  78
Test bladder brain"
She's so cute.

Attending... counseling. I am still somewhat getting to know my new counselor after my previous counselor (whom I've been seeing for four years) deployed to Africa. Thankfully this interim counselor has a lot of wisdom and she's been great. 

Watching... Unexpected after my sister told me there were new episodes. It's like a knock off of Sixteen & Pregnant and it's such good reality TV drama. (It's also opened some conversation with my teenage boys making sure that they don't have the same ignorance I see in the people on the show.)

Proud... of Jack for working for people in our neighborhood, hauling boxes and dog sitting. I love it!

Making... lemonade from scratch (a little begrudgingly) after Carly asked if we could. But it actually ended up being both easy and delicious!

Practicing... 5 speed with each of the boys in Logan's new car. I am honestly so impressed with how well they did. Josh says that driving their dirt bikes has helped them to understand how a clutch works and all that. I just remember what a nervous wreck I was when my dad taught me. Thankfully he was a very patient teacher!

Loving... when the boys like my Instagram stories. Connecting with them on social media has been a fun sort of perk now that they're old enough. 

Hosting... a fourth of July party at our house after Josh's sister, brother and nephew had to leave their campground due to a wildfire in the area. I made a fruit salad and Josh got all the stuff for a cookout. We swam and had so much fun! My favorite part was visiting with my sister-in-law Julie and her wife Erica. We even decided to start a book club and I can't wait! Any excuse to spend more time with them will be fantastic!  Carly enjoyed the pop its I bought and read "On The Fourth of July" out loud to everyone on the porch. She's so cute, I can hardly stand it. 

Cousin... Play Day!!! We had Romy over for the day and she and Carly had so much fun together. They have the cutest ideas and love to play.  Honestly, having her over makes it feel like there are no kids here because they play so well. 

Laughing... at Carly playing with her American Girl dolls and playing doctor. She had one girl leaving a urine sample (haha!) and she was taking x-rays and oxygen levels... I just love it.

Proud... that Carly set up a romantic sunset date at the beach for her Barbies, and the people on the date were two girls. I am so grateful she has grown up knowing that love is love. 

Starting... Carly on using deodorant daily.  I remember starting Wyatt on it and teasing him that if you don't know who the stinky kid in class is, it's probably you. haha! I've also been teaching Carly how to wash and rinse her own hair in the bath. She's doing so great! It's really bittersweet, her growing up. She makes me so proud, but I also can't believe she'll be in third grade in the fall!

Singing... lots of Taylor Swift with Carly. Especially "Could've Would've Should've" which we both love. I love that she sings with me with  no holds barred.  My prayer is that she will sing with her mama forever. 

Receiving... my dehydrated sourdough starter from Ballerina Farms. All I ordered was a wooden sourdough spatula (which has been amazing!) and an "add on" Weck jar for $10. But they sent me an entire Sourdough Kit- a sourdough starter, two baskets, and a bench scraper- for no extra charge! I was VERY (very!) intimidated by the whole process, but I finally told myself, just do Day One. So I mixed some starter with water & flour (following the amazing step-by-step process in Ballerina Farms' Sourdough Recipe Booklet) and left it alone. The next day I followed the steps for Day Two, and so on. Taking it a day at a time made it much more manageable in my mind. Hopefully in the next week or two we'll have some bread!

Snuggling... with Carly a lot and enjoying seeing her snuggle up with Josh as well.  Those two together just melt my heart. 

Reading... Summer of 69 by Elin Hilderbrand and loving it! Oh, just classic Nantucket summer reading from her. It was so good!  Then I moved on to The God of the Woods, about a girl who goes missing from camp. 

Completing... summer school! Way to go, Logan Henry!  Three classes completed and credits accounted for. Woohoo!

Taking... Logan to get his license now that he's completed his summer school courses. He was so thrilled to get it and is dying to drive anywhere any time. 

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Josh sent this to the boys.
This is why I love him.

I found these slides on 
Panic Attacks vs. Anxiety Attacks

really useful: