'what's up' weekly.

Hey girl.  You know what's up.

Weekly, that is.

It has been the most relaxing, wonderful week around here.  We have about three weeks' worth of schoolwork left in our year-round homeschool schedule, so the kids and I have decided to do a "one week on, one week off" schedule for the rest of the summer.  This way, we're still finishing up our work at a nice leisurely pace, but also not leaving a huuuuuuge, long stretch of break to navigate in which the kids fight nonstop and forget everything they learned during this last school year.  We're all pretty happy with the plan, and this week marked our first break week.

I did, like, nothing.

It was also finals week for the college students, so all of my meet ups with college gals were cancelled.  Well, I take that back - I did still meet up with one girl, but she just joined me in the waiting room at Atticus' speech therapy appointment, so it didn't really take up an extra space on the schedule.

The rest of the time was spent truly enjoying the slow, slow, slow pace of our days.

But let me back up.  A few things were going on last weekend; most namely, Todd bought the kids blue ice cream.  Like, bluuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuue ice cream.  (Their poop was blue for a full four days after eating it.  It was heinous.)  I admit, at first I was annoyed - in my head, I was like, "That's a nice thought and all, but FOOD DYES!  AND SUGAR!  AND FOOD DYES!"  I thought the gesture was sweet, but I just really couldn't get past the fact that I would never choose something that color to go into their bodies.

And you know what?  That's why it's good for my kids to have two parents.  Yeah, I never would do that, but perhaps the kids gained something really valuable from knowing one of their parents thought of them at the store and bought them something thoughtful.  Maybe their blue poop for days afterward reminded them of how kind their dad had been to them.  And if I was calling all the shots all the time, they'd be robbed of that.  Todd and I are often on the same parenting page, and we did have a talk later about how we (together) feel about stuff like this moving forward, but I was challenged to stop acting like I have a monopoly on good parenting when we make different choices for the kids.

In other news, I got curtains hung in the dining room!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   I have been working so hard on getting Callista's room pulled together, and I'd ordered some curtains for in there that just didn't end up working... but they looked so stellar in the dining room.  I was in this serious quandary about whether or not I wanted to keep them - most of the money for any decorating I do comes out of a small blow fund Todd sets aside for me each month, and I've been saving up for close to a year.  I didn't want to spend my Callista-allocated money on stuff for the dining room.  Todd was so sweet and told me to keep the curtains without worrying about using my personal fund.  So the dining room has curtains!!!  Now I just need some colorful art in there... (Actually, I have the art already; I just need a frame for it.  Story of my life.)

This little bugger turned 2 1/2, which just blows my mind, because it means he's now closer to his third birthday than his second.  HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?!! I DEFY YOU, FATHER TIME!

Um, what else?  Here are a couple of party pics from last weekend, for your viewing pleasure:

1 (in which the kids go nutso at breakfast time):

2 (in which Finneas and Todd sleep exactly the same way at nap time):

Todd was up much of the night on Sunday with horrible tooth pain, so he called in sick to work on Monday.  He was in a lot of pain throughout the day and just plain exhausted.

On Tuesday, he had the day off to take Atticus to Kansas City to have his orthotropic appliance installed.  Basically, Atticus' teeth are coming in really janky, but instead of simply making them straight with braces (orthodontics) and acting like the problem is fixed, we're pursuing orthotropics, which encourages proper facial and jaw development, which in turn allows the teeth to come in where they're supposed to.  But beyond this, it prevents TMJ problems, jaw clenching, airway/breathing issues, speech delays, headaches, reverse swallowing, poor posture, snoring, etc., etc., etc.  The doctor is even working with both our chiropractor and speech therapist for a whole-body correction.  It really is amazing, and we're hoping the helps correct the developmental issues that led to the crooked teeth in the first place.

Before leaving KC, they stopped at Walmart and Todd bought Atticus a WWII movie ("The Longest Day," starring John Wayne).  Atticus was riveted for the entire drive home.

On Wednesday, the kids and I took our normal trip up to the Amish, and one of the Amish gals and I hit up one of the greenhouses.  I got tomatoes, peppers, bean seeds, and some herbs.  Then, at our stop at the bakery, there was a group of Amish children playing, and my kids got to play with them while I filled up the milk bottles.  It was so fun to see them having so much fun with kids who didn't even speak their language, and from such a different lifestyle than our own.  Kids really make friends so easily, without worrying about stigma or cultural barriers.  They just have a huge 'want-to' factor for liking each other.

Wednesday afternoon, we planted our seedlings in the garden and have been diligently watering ever since, since it's been in the mid-nineties this week and the garden can use all the help it can get.



This girl has been an absolute pill.  I think she may be teething.  But she's so cute at the same time that I honestly don't mind the extra cuddles she's been demanding.

And speaking of cuddles, this girl is the best big sister I've ever witnessed.  She is so selfless and kind and caring.  She loves her siblings to death.  One day this week, she took Rocco out to play in the yard, and we looked outside to see this:

Later, this is how we found them playing:

And this is how she spends time with Callista:

She is constantly saying how much she loves babies, and they adore her right back.


Anyway.  That was our full-to-bursting, simultaneously-relaxing week.  I'm looking forward to so many more of these over the coming months!