'what's up weekly': the week of unmatched fun!

This week has been the very best.

We kicked off last weekend with the door installation that made life worth living again.

While Todd installed the door, I took the girls to the mall to see if the nail place would take walk-ins.  I had told Penelope that if she would stop biting her nails, I'd take her for her first manicure, and she had finally kicked the bad habit and grown her nails out pretty long.  When I told her we could go that afternoon, Laurelai of course wanted to come, too, so we made a girls' day out of it.  But the wait time at the mall was over an hour and a half, so we left and instead just stopped at the candy machines to drop some cha-ching (well, we spent a quarter, so maybe that's just dropping some 'cha'?  That sounds like a drug reference, though, so we'll stick with calling it cha-ching).

We made an appointment at a place closer to the house for tomorrow afternoon, so we'll go then.  The girls are getting both their fingers and toes done - it's all very exciting.

On Sunday, the kids and I stayed home from church.  Whatever cough virus thing the kids had been dealing with all week was on its way out, but it was still breaking up, so it sounded awful.  I didn't want to subject other families to that, so we sat out yet another week.  Todd brought home barbecue from a local drive-through place, and we all ate in our varying states of clothing-slash-pajamas.

On Monday, we kicked off the Week of Unmatched Fun with a turtle delivery: some of our friends were getting rid of their three-legged pet box turtle, so we are now proud pet owners.  We promptly named the little guy Stumpy, and all I hear from Rocco all day long is, "I hode Dumpee?  I touch Dumpee?  Where Dumpee go?  Dare he is!  Tiny towdle guy!  I love him SOOOOO much."  Rocco + Stumpy = True Love Forever.

Tuesday was the Day of the Brand New Sprinkler.  We had one last year, but the kids had broken it less than ten minutes after unboxing it, so I was kind of skeptical this would be a lasting gift, but so far it has held its own.  Probably because I've threatened the kids, on pain of having to come inside and do Grumble Jobs, that They'd Better Not Touch The Sprinkler Or Else.

Rocco chose to participate vicariously in the sprinkler shenanigans.

Wednesday was packed full of unmatched fun: first, we baked strawberry shortcake together.  Then, we ate it for lunch.  Then, when the kids complained that they didn't really like it, I didn't make them finish it.  (In their defense, it was grain-free and sugar-free, and only okay at best.)  Aren't I an indulgent mom?  Then, for dinner, we went to a barbecue at a friend's house, and the kids got to spend the evening playing in their pool.  As it was also the 74th anniversary of D-Day, we brought frozen eclairs, to honor the Europe that we fought so valiantly for.  (Ironically, the Europeans would probably look down their noses at our pitiful frozen snack foods, but I didn't tell Atticus that.  He still thinks they respect us over there.)

Yesterday's Activity of Unmatched Fun was an hour spent swimming in a friend's pool.  A fantastic time was had by all.

Finneas found a frog in the pool drain.

This sister just sat by me.  She was NOT interested in getting wet to any degree.

And today, I'm planning on surprising the kids with a trip to a local frozen custard place that's supposedly all the rage.

And in other newsy tidbits, Atticus turned nine and a half and is, apparently, all legs.

I organized my linen closet, which had been looking like a magpie nest for the last year and had been driving me bananas.  I can now finally look at it without wanting to burn the whole thing to the ground, which is a step in the right direction.

I've been feeling outrageously nesty lately, so I also spent quite a bit of time working on Callista's room, drawing up plans for a family closet, and getting my crafty on to make a free wall hanging out of some leftover cotton rope and a stick I found in the yard.  Callista kept me company while I worked on stripping the bark off the stick.

And the kids spent inordinate amounts of time playing outside.  I just love seeing them play together!

This was taken right before Finneas yelled, "Hey Mom!  Check out my magic trick!" and proceeded to pull massive, billowing plumes of dust out of his shorts pockets.  Eeeeexcellent.

That was our week!  It was fun, but it was tiring.  I'm looking forward to a more low-key, structured, predictable week next week!

In case you missed it:

Check out my new, amazing basement door.

Here's some dumb stuff I did in college, and how it relates to our current Week of Unmatched Fun.

If you've ever wondered how hard it is, really, to manage a large family, this post is for you.

Or, if you'd rather watch the Facebook Live I did on the same topic, check it out here.  (I cover my laundry routine, toy rotation, and more.)