Our Week - The One with a Day Off and Baseball Tryouts

Spring baseball season is approaching rapidly now so we’re trying to hang on to every bit of downtime that we can.  This past week was another relatively quiet one and I’m just trying to enjoy it while it lasts.

Monday, January 20

Monday was MLK Day so B and the kids were off, and we had a nice leisurely day together.  We spent the morning in our PJs which I was especially thankful for since our Sunday morning plans for being lazy were interrupted by an acute care visit for Olivia’s Fifth Disease.  Sunday evening I had started feeling slightly itchy but didn’t see anything on my body, so I chalked it up to sympathy itching since Olivia had been itching from her rash, but Monday morning I woke up and realized that I had gotten it, too.  Womp womp.  Haha.  Fortunately mine hasn’t been too bad, and I’m typing this on day six, so I’m hoping that it’s about as bad as it’s going to get!

Olivia had a 100 days of school project to work on, so she and I spent some of the morning working on it.  She was required to decorate a shirt with 100 items on it and this was what we went with…

Monday afternoon we decided to step out into the frozen tundra that was Georgia and we grabbed Five Guys for lunch.  We wanted to take the kids somewhere to do something fun so we opted for indoor miniature golf at a local arcade.  The temps were maxing out in the forties and there were some icy winds whipping all day so we thought it’d be best to stay indoors.  As usual, B whooped us all at mini golf, I came in second, Jacob came in third, and Olivia came in last.  I did get a hole-in-one on this round, though, so I was excited about that.  B got one, too, but whatever.  Haha.

We were done golfing mid-afternoon and it was just so darn sunny and gorgeous (aside from the cold) that B and I could hardly say no to the kids’ request to go to the park.  We all bundled up and went back to the newest park we’ve been going to, and the kids had a blast playing all afternoon.  For the first time since we’ve been going to that park, the zip line wasn’t crazy crowded (probably because most people had abandoned the place due to the cold), so B and I tried out the zip line just for kicks.  The kids thought it was hilarious. 

The rest of the day was spent playing video games in the warmth of our home and cooking up the second Whole 30 meal of the month which brings me to a funny story.  I had never cooked with butternut squash prior to last week, so I had no idea what to expect when I went to Publix to find one.  When I got there I didn’t see anything that remotely resembled the pictures I’d googled, so I asked the produce manager if they had any.  He said he’d have to grab them from the back, so he left as I waited patiently.  Next thing I know, he’s walking out holding two of the biggest pieces of produce I’ve ever seen in my life.  Lol.  I ended up walking away with the smallest one they had in the store, and it was still a five-pounder.  Omg. 

Monday evening I had to google how to cut it because I was completely clueless.  I ended up making this Bruschetta Chicken recipe with it and it was soooo delicious.  B and I both enjoyed it.  The kids, not so much, but I’d expect nothing less.  Haha.  And to answer the question that you’re probably asking – yes, I ate leftover butternut squash for lunch every single day for the rest of the week.  So much butternut squash.

Tuesday, January 21

Tuesday I spent the whole morning at the kids’ school helping out with raffle ticket data entry.  We’ve been getting together once a week to get them all in and we only have one more week to go!  The rest of the day was spent getting a few things done around the house and then lounging around watching This is Us and drinking hot tea after the kids went to bed.

Wednesday, January 22

Wednesday was a gym morning.  I was only able to make it one day last week, but I did hop on my stair stepper a couple of times, too, to make sure I got in my workouts.  After the gym I had a couple of errands to run as well as an appointment, and then I had a really productive afternoon before I had to pick up the kids.  I got the house photographed for my Valentine’s Day Home Tour that will be up tomorrow and I also put together a gorgeous Valentine’s Day charcuterie board and got it photographed as well.  You can see that post here if you missed it.  Here’s a little behind-the-scenes shot for ya! 

Wednesday evening after dinner I sat around the kitchen table with the kiddos watching them draw and color, and Olivia decided to play “school.”  Every morning her teacher does a morning message where she writes a short letter to the class and then the class works together to dissect the message, locate the capital letters and punctuation, count the words, count the sentences, and recognize the nouns and verbs and such.  Olivia decided to do her own version of the class letter and I thought it was the dang cutest thing ever.  I played school constantly when I was little, even going as far as to ask for school supplies one Christmas when I was in third grade.  She reminds me so much of myself at that age and I love that so much. 

Thursday, January 23

Thursday was the 100th day of school and Olivia got to wear her shirt that we made.  Jacob’s all grown up now so he had no 100 day project to show off, but his class did get to participate in some fun 100 Day activities throughout the day at school.

Thursday evening, one of my little artists decided she wanted to draw her favorite stuffed animal, her beloved Sheepie, and she asked me to take a picture of her with them.  Not gonna say no to that!  Sheepie is one of the most special things in our entire house.  When Jacob was two and I was very heavily pregnant with Olivia, we took him to Toys R Us to let him pick out a gift to give to the new baby, and he chose this precious pink sheep.  She’s had it right by her side since she was born and I just love that it was a gift from her big brother.  She takes that thing everywhere and it makes me so happy.

She also drew a picture of me that evening complete with my grey striped sweater and pink rain boots… she even remembered to draw my dark roots.  Hahahaha. 

Thursday night we resumed bible study after a long break during the holidays and it was so nice to get back together with my girls.  Jessica had some yummy mini quiches and pastries for us to snack on and we all opened a bottle of wine.  Just as we were getting settled in, one of the other girls came in late holding a cake carrier that I’d recognize anywhere – my mom’s that she’s had since before I was born!  My momma works at our church office and she had made one of her famous Death By Chocolate Cakes to celebrate one of our priest’s birthdays.  There were leftovers, so Kimberly (who works with my momma in the church office) had brought them so they wouldn’t go to waste.  It was like having a little piece of home right there at bible study.  It was just one more reminder of how grateful I am to be a part of our wonderful church and school family… we’re all connected.  <3

Friday, January 24

Friday I had nothing on the agenda for the first time all week and I was happy about that because the weather was so yucky.  I dropped the kids off first thing at 7:30 and then I was back home in this cozy little spot with my hot cinnamon tea and my fuzzy blanket by 8 AM.  I spent all morning working and then I spent the afternoon cleaning out our bathroom cabinets.  I got rid of lots of old expired medicines and other junk, and now our medicine cabinet is nice and organized!  Side note, Brian is now hoarding even more Chap Stick than he was last year when I cleaned out this cabinet.  Hahahaha.

Friday evening B picked up veggies from Cracker Barrel for dinner and then we opened a couple of our favorite beers because apparently Friday was National Beer Can Appreciation Day.  Lol.  Don’t really even know what that is, but I’m not going to say no to an excuse to celebrate!

After dinner all of us snuggled up on the couch and we watched Honey I Blew Up the Kid.  Honey I Shrunk the Kids was one of my favorite movies growing up, but I’d never seen the sequel.  We all enjoyed it so much!  After the kids went to bed B and I got caught up on A Million Little Things – so glad it’s finally back! – and then we watched a couple of episodes of Gossip Girl.  Can’t stop won’t stop. 

Saturday, January 25

Jacob had baseball tryouts Saturday at 1, so we headed to the park at 12:30.  They changed the birthday cutoff to September 1 a couple of years ago which meant that Jacob was supposed to move up to Player Pitch this spring, but we wanted him to have one more season of Coach Pitch under his belt before moving up, and fortunately, they approved to let him stay in Coach Pitch for one more season since his birthday is so close to the cutoff.  Whew. 

His fall ball coach was there along with many of his old teammates, so we’re keeping our fingers and toes crossed to be on the same team with as many of them as we can.  Tryouts lasted about an hour… the coaches watched the kids bat and run and scoop up grounders at second and throw to first, and Jacob did really well.  I’m hoping we’ll hear something this week about the teams!

Saturday afternoon we met someone who bought my old desk chair on Facebook Marketplace (check it off the list!  Woo hoo!) and then Saturday evening we went to 5:30 mass as we always do.  This week is Catholic Schools Week and the kids’ school always lets them wear their uniforms to church to kick off the week in exchange for an out-of-uniform day.  You can bet they were all over that!  All of my fellow private school graduates, y’all know just how coveted those are!! 

After church we went to our favorite Mexican place with my mom’s whole family.  We’ve been getting together with my grandmother and aunts and uncles and cousins after church for several weekends in a row now and I love it!  We were all poking fun at my Uncle Greg for sporting his Click It Glasses, so I tried them on and, of course, had to snap a picture.  Haha. 

Sunday, January 26

Sunday, B and the kids and I all went out to lunch at Panera and then we took the kids to Target to pick out Valentines for their friends and teachers.  I wanted them to be able to choose while they were still fully stocked, so we went ahead and checked that off the list early!  Jacob opted for Mad Libs cards with pencils (soooo cute!) and Olivia opted for Frozen 2 cards with tattoos.  Shocker.  Haha.

We dropped B back at home so he could head to his tennis match, and then the kids and I headed back out to the library to load up on AR books.  Jacob checks out books at the school library each week, but we like to keep others on hand so we don’t have to worry about him getting behind on his AR goal.  They have some pretty aggressive reading goals at the kids’ school so we fly through some books in our house!

Speaking of which, Olivia’s teacher just informed us earlier this week that after testing last week, her reading level moved up to 2.1-3.1 and she’s now reading on a second – third grade reading level… in kindergarten!  She takes after her momma and she always has her little nose in a book (when she’s not playing school or coloring, that is) and I just love my little book worm!

Jacob picked out seven new books and Olivia chose three, and then we headed to the 24-hour library to grab a book for yours truly.  I’ve been waiting to read City of Girls for months, and I was finally able to snag it which is nice because it’s the choice for our February book club meeting… my first one!

On a completely different note, check out this SUV that was in the library parking lot.  I've officially seen it all.

Jacob was thrilled about one of his books – I Survived the San Francisco Earthquake – and he adores the entire I Survived series, so he started reading his in the car on the way home.  By the time we got home, he was about a third of the way into the book and then he spent the next 45 minutes finishing it.  His AR level is currently fourth – fifth grade level, so he’s about to outgrow the series (with regard to AR testing), and he wanted to get them all in before his level increases too much.

B got home from his tennis match later in the afternoon and he and the kids played video games while I worked in my office for a bit.  I am notorious for having all kinds of technology issues, and my latest issue that I’ve been having for about 2-3 years, is that my laptop that has 400 GB of storage on it, has been saying that it’s full.  I looked high and low through all of my files knowing that there was no way I had 400 GB worth of data on my computer because I store all of my pictures and videos on external hard drives.  B has also looked through my computer several times over the last couple of years and has never been able to find what was causing the problem. 

Well, he downloaded some free program this weekend that will show you where are all of your storage is being allocated, and he was able to see that almost 300 GB were tied up in some weird temporary file.  Turns out, there was some kind of issue a couple of years ago that caused my computer to run loads and loads of backups, and all of them were stored on some hidden file.  They’ve been there eating up almost 300 GB of my storage ever since.  The reason why I wasn’t able to locate them myself when I went through my computer file by file was because they were all hidden since they were behind-the-scenes files.  Argh. 

B was able to delete all of them and now my computer is running amazingly and I now have space to store all the things and I’m not constantly struggling to take the pictures/videos off of my phone.  Prior to this, I only had 3 GB of storage available so everything I tried to do was a struggle.  For like, 2-3 years!  Anyhoo, I’m rambling, but I just wanted to bring this to everyone’s attention in case you’re having a similar issue.

Sunday evening we did dinner at my parents’ house and my momma made a new pork chop recipe that was so, so delicious.  I need to get the recipe so I can try it myself and post about it! 

Happy Tuesday, y’all!