5 random things

1. I’ve been crocheting stuffed animals. I found a site with super cute, free patterns. I’ve made a unicorn for Bumblebee. I named him Edward, which seemed appropriate since baby’s middle name is the same as my dad’s first, and Edward was my dad’s middle name. Then I made a giraffe for Dragonfly since that’s his favorite animal. With a little help from his brothers, he decided to name him George. A second unicorn is on my hook now; it will be a gift for Grasshopper’s “girlfriend” (a girl in one of his dance classes who has a huge crush on him; with everything being canceled, they miss each other terribly, so we’re making her a gift.)

2. Bumblebee (19 months) got his first major haircut this week. As I posted on Instagram, I turned my baby into a little boy. Always a bit of a bittersweet moment, but he wears short hair well.

3. We’re doing pretty well, despite the statewide quarantine. Will saw a decrease in business the first two weeks, but now things are practically back to normal. We miss going out to our favorite restaurants, but this new normal is at least not destroying his business.

4. He’s doing so well, in fact, that he was able to buy me a Louis Vuitton handbag. Two years ago I couldn’t imagine having anything other than a Walmart-type purse; today I have many luxury handbags. 

5. Dragonfly (4 years old) is learning to read! I was assigned a review that I didn’t think would work for him, but (without giving too much away before the official review goes up later this month), I have been surprised by him. 

Bonus random thing: I recently perfected a recipe for ground beef sausage, so I hope to get that posted soon.

Blessings,

1. During the time I’ve been reading Jacob De Shazer: Forgive Your Enemies to the boys (we finished it today; look for a review later this month), I’ve decided/realized that reading together is my favorite way to do homeschool with them. For this reason, I think we’re going to try out Ambleside Online for our curriculum next fall. I’d start now, but the timing for that would be a bit weird considering it’s almost June 😉
2. My Aqua Zumba class got canceled due to lack of participation. The pool claimed that our class wasn’t making enough to pay the lifeguard, much less the other expenses involved with us being there, so they canceled the class. Despite the fact that this has been in the works for several months, it’s still frustrating on a variety of levels. First, I’ve been doing the class for a year and a half, and we’ve consistently had the same number of people. It wasn’t until January that they started making noise about canceling it. Second, the Zumba class isn’t the only thing going on at that time, but apparently it was the only one responsible for paying the bills. But whatever. Life goes on. (No bitterness here, can you tell?)
3. There is, however, an Aqua Zumba class in the town we moved to, so I’m going to start going to that one instead, effective tomorrow. It won’t be quite the same (different pool, different teacher), but I’m familiar with the teacher here because she subbed for my other class a few times. She’s good, so I’m confident the class will be just as good as my other one.
4. Munchkin has been drawing nonstop. He’s getting quite good. I’ll try to remember to share a few of his pictures next week.
5. We’re living with my in-laws temporarily. The interpersonal part of that is going pretty well, but the location is a bit frustrating. The town they live in is really far from any of our normal activities, so everything takes way longer now.

Have a great weekend!

Blessings,

1. Baby Dragonfly celebrates his first birthday this weekend. Instead of doing a big party, we’re having a series of smaller meals for the grandparents. Tomorrow night, Will’s dad and stepmom will join us for tacos; Sunday at lunch will be my dad and his fiancee for spaghetti, and Sunday dinner will be my mom and stepdad for… well, I’m not sure yet (probably pork chops, though). I know it sounds like more work, but the big dinner parties (that we have for the other boys) kind of stress me out, so I think this will be better. Plus that way, baby gets to celebrate his birthday three times instead of just once! (Not that he knows anything special is happening, but even so…)

2. I’m not unhappy about the election results this week.

3. I got some new clothes yesterday. Will saw them at Target and thought they looked so classy on the mannequins that he wanted me to go back with him and try them on, so I did. It’s a black pencil skirt and three tops to go with it. I like how they make me feel 🙂

4. I’m making good progress on those kid sweaters I’m knitting for Christmas. One is down to just sleeves, and I’m partway through the body on another one. That leaves me just one more completely undone, but I want to get these two done before I buy yarn for the final one.

5. I’ll be back tomorrow with a review and giveaway for more Kwik Stix paint sticks, so make sure to check in for your chance to win a set!

Blessings,

1. It seems that summer is really over. Our house has been about 65 degrees when we wake up each morning this week. It warms to about 70 inside by the end of the day, but today it’s only supposed to be in the upper 50s. This means that it’s highly unlikely the inside of the house will warm up, so we have a fire going in the fireplace so that at least one room is warm.
2. I’ve been busily knitting sweaters for Christmas gifts (a more specific post on that is drafted for next week). So far, I have one for my dad and one for each of my nephews. I probably won’t have time to make them for everyone else (that would be four more adults and our four nieces), so we’ll have to come up with other ideas for them.
3. Baby Dragonfly is up to size 12 month clothes, and into the last outfit from the baby shower that still fits him. We bought him a pair of jeans yesterday – the first clothes we’ve had to purchase for him ourselves.
4. In a previous post, I lightly touched on the fact that we got Munchkin a Kindle e-reader for his birthday. Well, he absolutely loves it, just like I knew he would. I’m so glad we got it for him. He’s currently working his way through the complete (original) Wizard of Oz series; I think he’s in the 6th or 7th book.
5. I quit biting my nails about a month ago. This is a huge thing for me – I’ve been a nail biter since I was about 7 years old (I remember the exact moment that drove me to start). I don’t like having long nails, so I’ve been clipping every week or two, but not biting. I’m so proud of myself 🙂

Blessings,