Summer 2019 (Week 4) - Swimming Lessons, Projects, and Girls Night

Another busy week has come and gone, and I can’t even believe that we are already four weeks deep into summer.  Only seven weeks remain!  Here’s how we spent this week…

Monday, June 17

Monday we were up bright and early for my follow-up at the dentist for my TMJ issues.  During the school year I schedule all of my appointments during the day while the kids are at school, but since they’re out, they had to tag along.  They weren’t too excited about it, but they did get to see some geese just outside the building and they loved that.  My appointment was pretty quick – only about 45 minutes – and at first, the kids kept themselves occupied by watching the other pack of geese who were hanging outside the window of our room, but things quickly turned sour. 

They both grew bored pretty quickly and started arguing and fussing and fighting and OMG I thought I was going to lose my mind!  The rest of the day was like that, too.  They did nothing but bicker and act crazy all day long, so needless to say, it was Monday.  I texted B around lunchtime and told him I was going to lose my mind, and then he responded with a picture of the full moon that just so happened to be that night.  Yep, our kids are radars for a full moon!  It is just so crazy how they always act up the day of a full moon!  Why, tho??

We had swimming lessons again this week, and Monday Olivia was miserable.  She cried non-stop and wouldn’t put her face in the water and didn’t want to do anything they told her.  She ended up waking up in the middle of the night complaining of ear pain.  We gave her some ibuprofen to get her through the night, and then I stayed with her until she fell back to sleep. 

Tuesday, June 18

First thing Tuesday morning I had a look at her ears.  She was still complaining about not being able to hear out of them, so I assumed she had some pool water stuck in them.  I got out the Swim Ear that we keep on hand, and put a couple of drops in her left ear.  When I put them in her right ear she started screaming bloody murder, so I knew then that she probably had an ear infection.  And then I felt terrible for making her suffer through swimming lessons the previous day.  She had been sick for a week at that point, so I should have known there was a possibility that an ear infection was present.

I called the doctor’s office the second it opened and they were able to get us in for a 9:20 AM appointment.  Sure enough, the PA said that she had a nasty infection in her right ear.  She sent us home with some Cefdinir (the only antibiotic that ever works for her when she gets ear infections) and some ear drops.  The PA also told us that she wouldn’t be allowed to go back in the pool until she was pain free for at least 24 hours, and she also recommended we get some ear plugs for her when she does.  Dang it.

We headed home to have lunch after that, and then we headed to CVS to pick up prescriptions and ear plugs on the way to swimming lessons.  Olivia sat out with me while Jacob did his thing and I went ahead and gave her the first dose of her antibiotic while we were there.  I wanted to get it started ASAP.  The dosage is too much to give her in one sip, so I made the mistake of giving her about a third of it to start, and she. went. nuts.  She screamed and cried saying it was nasty and that she didn’t want anymore, and she threw a massive tantrum right there at swimming lessons.  Sigh.  I finally bribed her with the promise of gum if she would just take the freaking medicine, and eventually that coerced her… but not without another fight. 

Jacob rocked swimming lessons yet again, and then we made it home just in time, because the rest of the afternoon was a complete wash-out.  I put on an afternoon movie for the kids and retreated to my office for a much needed break, and it was just the coziest little afternoon with the thunderstorms and pouring rain outside.  It gave me all the fall vibes – which I’m already looking forward to!!  And it also calmed my nerves after a couple of rocky days.

I started dinner around 5, and Olivia passed out on the floor… being sick and throwing massive tantrums will wear you out, I guess!! 

Fortunately, the rain had passed by the time dinner was over, so I told everyone PEACE OUT and I ran to the gym for a work out.  I usually go before dinner, but I didn’t want to get out in the storms, so I was glad that it had cleared up so I could have some me time.  After hearing nothing but arguing and tantrums for the two previous days, I needed to burn some steam. 

I ended up working out for 40 minutes which is a few minutes longer than I normally do, and then I made it back home just in time to say goodnight to the kiddos.  B had gotten them all ready for bed while I was gone.  Amen.

Wednesday, June 19

Wednesday morning was the first morning in FOREVER that we didn’t have anywhere to be, and it was another dreary day, so I curled up on the couch with some coffee and my book and I read while the kids watched a couple of morning cartoons. 

After the TV went off, Jacob and I worked on his multiplication tables.  We haven’t done any math all summer, so it was time.  He already knows so many of them and can work out most of them in his head, but I want him to know them backwards and forwards immediately so he can do well on the timed tests they have at school.  We went through all of the x0, x1, and x2 to get our feet wet, and I was satisfied with his quick answers, so we filed those in the “Mastered” section and moved on to the x3.  While he knows all of those, he can’t recall them as quickly as I would like, so we’ll be working on those again. 

After that, Jacob worked on some mazes while I dealt with another Olivia tantrum over her ear drops, and then she passed out on the floor again (bless her heart, she has been so pitiful) and I got a few things done around the house until it was time for lunch. 

We headed to swimming lessons yet again after lunch, and Olivia sat out again.  Jacob got to learn something new – diving!!  I thought for sure that he would be too scared to try diving, but he just went right in and rocked it!  He dove over and over and over again, never tiring of it.  He looks so comfortable in the water now!  It’s a great thing and it gives me such peace of mind knowing he’ll be safe when he’s in the water.

The rest of the day was spent hanging out at home.  B had a tennis match Wednesday evening, so the kids and I stayed home and caught up on some library books and AR reading.

Thursday, June 20

Thursday morning my little nuggets requested homemade waffles – green ones! – so they helped me throw those together for breakfast.  After breakfast they watched a couple of cartoons and I used that time to decorate a little for 4th of July (pictures coming soon!) and set up my new oils shelf.  Now I can finally see everything that I have and I can find each one so easily!!  And yes, I totally arranged them in ROYGBIV order instead of alphabetically because that’s so much more fun!

The rest of the morning was spent playing a couple of rounds of Olivia’s Disney Princess Cupcake game… Jacob even played with us!  And then it was time for lunch, the medicine struggle (or tantrum), and swimming lessons yet again.

Olivia was back in the pool that day and her ear plug worked like a charm.  She was a total boss, swimming all around, putting her head underwater, and jumping in.  I was so happy to see her back to her jolly little self! 

Thursday evening was my BFF’s birthday dinner, so my girlfriends and I headed downtown for dinner and drinks.  We had dinner at the upscale barbecue joint that we love so much, and afterward, we headed out to take pictures by Kelsey Montague’s angel wings together. 

Adrienne and I weren’t quite ready to head home when all of the other girls did, so she and I walked around downtown for a bit, and then headed to our favorite bar for a night cap.  We had a round of Moscow Mules over some girl talk, and it was nice to have some one on one time with her.  I just love all of my girlfriends so much and I treasure each and every one of my relationships with them. 

Friday, June 21

Friday I was feeling refreshed after my girl time – plus it was FRIDAY! – so I woke up ready to seize the day!  Jacob worked on some summer math homework for school and Olivia watched the videos with him and wrote down her own numbers while listening to the videos.  He has 42 assignments to do this summer, and he was able to knock out 10 of them in about 40 minutes!  And hopefully Olivia is just soaking it all in and learning right along side him (even though I’m not sure how much she actually understands at this point) so she’ll be good at math one day, too!

While the kids did that, I worked on a project I’ve been wanting to do for months now – painting my grandmother’s old mirror.  We had to put her in a nursing home a few months ago, and my parents brought her old mirror to me after they cleaned out her old apartment.  The mirror is made of cherry wood, which isn’t really my taste and also doesn’t match anything in our house, so I wanted to paint it.  I decided to go with my favorite spray paint – the chalky finish spray paint – and I taped it up and got to work.  After only 15 minutes and a few coats, the mirror completely transformed and it looks gorgeous!!  If you missed the finished project, you can see it in my “Projects 2” highlight on Instagram, or you can come back Friday to see it here on the blog. 

Before swimming lessons, (and after yet another freaking medicine tantrum – LAWD), we headed to the 24 hour library to return some books and check a couple more out.  They just opened these little 24 hour library kiosks in several locations around town and it’s awesome to be able to check one out whenever you want!  This was our first time using it and it will definitely not be the last!  The kids also found a painted rock there, which is still going strong in our city all these years later!

Brian joined us for swimming lessons since it was the kids’ last one of the summer and both of them did great again.  Jacob did lots of diving and Olivia was swimming like a boss.  She did a have a couple of tears towards the end, but they were short-lived and then she was done!  They dove for coins (their favorite part!) and got ice cream sandwiches as their parting gift and then it was time to say goodbye to Ms. Joni until next summer.  Olivia will be back, but Jacob will be sitting with me next year!

Friday evening the kids requested to eat at our favorite local Brew Pub downtown, and B and I weren’t going to say no to that, so we headed there for dinner.  B and I had a round of IPAs and we shared some spinach and artichoke dip and a pizza for dinner.  The kids had some frozen yogurt across the street after dinner, but B and I were too full for dessert at that point.  We walked around for a bit after that, and then B and I grabbed Kilwin’s.  He and I LOVE their S’mores ice cream – it’s legit the best ice cream I’ve ever tasted – and they’d been out of it at the Kilwin’s at the beach, so we had been longing for it. 

We stopped at a couple of the hot picture-taking spots on the way back to our car, and naturally, the kids needed to get a picture at their favorite picture-taking spot – the graffiti wall.  Lol.  It's also worth mentioning that Jacob said, "Mommy, take a picture of me standing up, so the angel wings will be on my booty."  Lol.  #BoyMomLife

We ended the evening kicked back on the couch at home with a couple of episodes of Better Call Saul.  If you’re a Breaking Bad fan then you’ll love it!

Saturday, June 22

Saturday, I got started on another project.  See that wall décor below?  Well, I only bought it because I liked the size of the board and the frame.  It’s HUGE and it was on clearance at Hobby Lobby for a mere $13.79 and I’m hoping to get rid of the current design on it and turn it into a piece to put over our master bed.  I’ve never done anything like this before, so wish me luck!  I’ll let y’all know how it turns out.  Ha!

The sun peeked out for a bit in the afternoon so I lay out in the sun with my book while the kids played water guns.  Before I knew it, it was time to get ready for church, and we joined the rest of our family there followed by dinner at another one of our favorite pubs.  My brother and sister-in-law were in town again, so they joined us, and then it was back home to be lazy on the couch all evening again.

Sunday, June 23

Sunday morning was another lazy morning, and then we headed to my in-law’s for our first Sunday lunch in over a month!  We’ve been out of town and they’ve been having their floors redone for the last few weeks, so it had been forever since we’d seen them.  Olivia was excited to explore the garden after lunch because the fruits and veggies are popping up in abundance now.  She and Jacob even got to pick some radishes.  Also, I snapped a pic of my MIL’s 4th of July décor because I just love how she always makes this little area of her kitchen so festive for every holiday!

The afternoon was spent blogging (this post!  Hiiii!) while B and the kids played video games (their Sunday afternoon tradition), and then we headed to my parents house for Sunday dinner… our favorite way to cap off a great weekend! 

This week the kids are at VBS in the morning, so Momma gets a little break for a couple of hours each day!  Woot!  If you need me, I’ll be at the gym getting caught up on all the workouts I’ve missed since they’ve been out of school!  Ha!

Happy Monday, y’all!

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