A Day of Indulgence

We spent the morning at home, and even indulged in a game of "Sorry!" (clearly playing a board game with my children is not an ACTUAL indulgence...right this moment I'm vowing to play more board games during the week). I had to take a picture because we took a break halfway through the game and it was likely at least one person in the house would destroy shift the board and require us to start over.

This afternoon Sydney and Lorelei, separately, came in the house from outside proclaiming how HOT it was, and that I should come outside and "lounge." There were dishes in the sink and things out of place; I bucked the system and took my book and hot lemon tea (literally just hot water with 1/4 lemon squeezed into it) and sat on the porch. I had four different neighbors join in the sun basking, while we also watched the children use watercolors to paint rocks.

(If you look VERY closely, you can see small pop-up tents across the street, in which Ford and his friends were playing.)

Happy Friday, my friends! I hope your Friday was JUST as indulgent!

Thursday on a break week...

This week we have a break from meeting with our homeschool community group, which means I'm not scrambling around on Thursday evening to prepare.

It's glorious.

Every six weeks we have a break week, and as a tutor this year it is MUCH NEEDED. This week I've done my best to actually relax, and not get involved in TOO many random projects (there have only been a couple). (By random projects I mean rearranging the things on the kitchen counters, including the microwave, and reorganizing all of our medications. IMPORTANT STUFF, PEOPLE. Last night Chet said, "You know we're moving in 3 months, don't you?!")

I didn't announce to Sydney and Lorelei that we're on a school break though. They know we're not meeting with out school friends tomorrow, but had I mentioned the term "break week" to them it might have been challenging for them to complete their math assignments. We've used this week to reimplement regular piano practice (they recently switched piano teachers), as well as extra practice for the oral exam Sydney is studying for at the beginning of April.

This is the only recent picture I have to share:

The morning after Chet got home from Maryland he went into full fun-dad mode and made laminated IDs for Sydney and her friend. (And Lorelei and Ford.) Sydney has a Hogwarts ID, her friend Ben has a Northwestern ID (where his mom went to school), Lorelei also has a Hogwarts ID, and Ford has a "Daily Bugle" ID (the newspaper where Spider-Man works). I'm glad our children have at least one fun parent (what on earth am I going to do during deployment?!).

Right now I have buffalo chicken in the crockpot (this recipe, but halved), Ford is at his friend's house across the street, Sydney is playing in the field across the street, and Lorelei and her next-door-neighbor bestie are in charge of Ruthie somewhere outside. I honestly have no idea where they are or what they're up to. These are the perks of living on a Navy base.

Happy Thursday, friends!

Happy Valentine's Day!

How have two weeks already passed?

My mom was in town visiting last week (Chet's first week out of town), and obviously she was a huge help, but I also happened to have several random appointments and events scheduled during which she was able to hold down the fort. I couldn't have gotten through the week without her!

Didi left Sunday, and I learned this week that deployment (during our next duty station) with four kids will be MUCH different than deployment was with 0, 1, and 2 children. Ahem.

Anyway, here we are, Valentine's Day, and Chet comes home tomorrow night. We can't wait.

Before I share some pictures, I want to say there have been years where I've been SO good about sending Valentine cards -- to grandparents, aunts, uncles, non-family members. I really, REALLY want to do that every year, but it doesn't always work out. Please know that we LOVE you, and that we're thinking of you, and that we LOVE receiving YOUR Valentines. It means the world to us.

Breakfast of champions:

I spent about 12 minutes creating these Wednesday night, right before falling into bed. Do you think Hallmark would be interested in commissioning me?

Sydney had wet hair and was dressed like a cowboy. Also, Costco purchases sitting on the dining room table, because where on earth am I going to store so many boxes of macaroni and cheese?!

Our piano was VERY festive this year:

We had some crazy weather this afternoon, and please notice the yellow and red roses that the cashier at the grocery store gave to Ruthie and me:

Ruthie ate candy during the crazy weather:

Then it cleared up and she and I went outside to sweep mulch:

And that was our Valentine's Day! On to Easter (via Ruthie's birthday)!

Welcome, February (Goodbye, Birthday Season!)

I love the beginning of a new month, and with birthday season behind us (mine was yesterday, wrapping up the FOUR January birthdays in our immediate family), I'm more than ready for February and, soon, spring (no polar vortex here in California!).

I'm also glad it's Friday, because I'm feeling very tired after this week. Normally when we get home from our homeschool community group on Fridays I unpack everything and get organized as quickly as possible so I can properly relax and recharge over the weekend. Today I DID unpack and get organized, I just waited until the late afternoon/early evening to start, which wasn't a great idea. Maybe it's all the leftover birthday cake making me feel sluggish and affecting my judgement.

Didi flies into town tomorrow, and Chet flies out of town Sunday. We're all itching to see Didi, and really glad her visit coincides with the first half of Chet's two-week work trip. Also, I'm contemplating not getting out any of my Valentine decorations. Is that bad? I feel like I'm "over" decorations right now, what with all the birthday hooplah.

Happy Friday, friends!