Day 2147 | Last Day of School

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We made it through the 2020-2021 school year. Man, that was intense. There have been some lovely highs along with my some tough lows, but we’re here now and we’re more than ready for a summer vacation. Lake life, we’re coming for you!

In case you’re curious about what school looked like for the boys this year, check out this video I put together as a year-end gift to the school. I’m pretty proud of it. Click here for the video.

Day 2146 | Therapy

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Have you heard my exciting news? I started therapy a few weeks ago. That's right, the mental health variety and I'm super pumped about it. It's been on my to-do list for years but I just didn't have the space in my life or the extra motivation needed to find someone. When Chase went back to school four days/week, I decided making a phone call was the least I could do as a bit of self-care. I did a good bit of research and ended up practically cold calling a local therapy clinic. I gave the receptionist a little info about who + what I was looking for and she matched me with someone who is really great. I've had three sessions so far and she seems like the perfect fit for me.

It's so interesting to go through the exercise of really thinking through my relationships and to start weeding through how and why I make decisions. For someone who internalizes a lot and questions herself constantly, it's been really lovely to hear a complete stranger validate some of my feelings but push me into answering tough questions, too.

I'll keep you posted as my journey continues.

Day 2143 | A Graduation

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My niece (and goddaughter!) graduated today. I remember being at the hospital when she was born and today she graduated. That’s crazy, right?

It was such a beautiful day filled with family (some of which we haven’t seen in quite some time), yummy food, and everything celebrating Skylar. I haven’t fully processed that she’s leaving in the fall, but we’ve got a few months for that to sink in.

I’m so proud of this girl. And I can’t wait to follow along on wherever her journey takes her.

Day 2142 | Culture Fest

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The boys’ school typically does a big Culture Fest every year where the kids form groups and do a ton of research on a specific country or continent. There are posters, and videos, and presentations, and games. It’s an amazing event.

Unfortunately, Culture Fest, in its full form, couldn’t happen again this year, but Robbe’s teacher decided to put a mini classroom version of Culture Fest together. And Robbe loved every second of this project. No group work this time around so Robbe did all the work you see in the photos himself over the course of about a month. He made the poster, created a 9-minute video, and made two 3D visuals. Since families couldn’t attend this year, Robbe set up his presentation at home to show Chris and Chase (I was subbing today so I actually got to see it in person-woohoo!). Robbe was just so proud.

Thank goodness for teachers who can still motivate and challenge these kids after the year we’ve all had.

Day 2139 | Living the Dream

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The weather app didn’t let us down! We had such a lovely summer-y day at the lake house yesterday and it was everything I wanted it to be. There was swimming, fishing, paddle boarding, pontooning, reading outside, napping in the hammock, gardening…it doesn’t get much better in my opinion. I can’t wait to reenact this weekend over and over again this summer.

Day 2136 | Weekend Excitement - Round 3

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The final piece of exciting news from the weekend? We planted the garden at my parents’ lake house. I’ve been more and more intrigued by a “real garden” for some time and now we’re going to have one! Hopefully. We planted potatoes, green beans, peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, squash, pumpkins…the list goes on and on. It’ll be a learning year, that’s for sure, but I can’t wait to see what works and what doesn’t. Hopefully something does! I’ll be reporting back, don’t worry.

Day 2135 | Weekend Excitement - Round 2

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My nieces had their dance recital yesterday. And for two of them, it was their last-ever. Sniffle, sniffle.

Dance has been more than just an extracurricular activity for them. It’s been such a big part of their identities and now that chapter has come to an end. To say we’re proud doesn’t even cover it. We’re thankful to have been local for the last five years to be able to experience so much of their passion in person. Congratulations, ladies. You were beautiful on stage—as always.

Day 2134 | Big Weekend

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There’s so much to report from this weekend! Since I don’t usually have much to share during the week, I’ll spread out the excitement, but I’ll start with the biggest news of all: I have a new nephew! The boys have a new cousin!

This is what meeting a new family member looks like in 2021. I can’t wait to meet this little nugget this summer but for now virtual hangouts will have to do. We’re sending all the love and hugs we can their way. We’re just so excited!

Day 2133 | Substitute Teacher

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Have I told you I’ve been substitute teaching at the boys’ school on and off for the last several weeks? I’ve enjoyed being back in their school more than I can say and it’s been fun to see how excited the boys get about me being there. Let’s just say, however, I don’t think I missed my calling. There’s no way I could do what teachers do. Today I was with a group of 4th and 5th graders (those grades are combined at our school) and it was rough. So many were so kind and thoughtful and helpful, but a challenging handful soured the experience for me and probably everyone else in the class. Overall the day was fine and I’m so happy to have given that teacher a break. That makes it all worth it.

Think an extra happy thought for a teacher in your life right now, would you? They need it.

p.s. Yes, that’s a Coke bottle on a desk. It was for a science experiment, I swear!

Day 2132 | Back at the Library

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It’s been a long time since we’ve stepped foot in a library. We’ve been doing holds pick ups for months now but we actually got to walk in and browse books yesterday. It. Was. Glorious.

Our library is in a temporary location for the next 15 months (give or take), so we couldn’t walk there this time around, but I’ll take it. The three of us enjoyed reuniting with our old friend, the library, even more than I can say.