We had another great week, and now we’re heading down the homestretch with just two weeks left of school and extracurricular activities. The only thing that’s standing in our way of summer break is 9 more days of school, 4 more baseball games, a baseball tournament, 4 dance classes, a recital rehearsal, a recital dress rehearsal, 2 recital productions, 2 end-of-the-year class parties, a special middle school moving up ceremony, and 2 end-of-the-year awards ceremonies. And did I mention that I also have a girls’ dinner and two out-of-town concerts in the middle of all of that, too?!
Y’ALL.
Could these next two weeks BE any busier?! Haha.
Before we get to all of that, though, let’s recap last week. It wasn’t quite as busy as these next two weeks will be, but we still had quite a bit going on…
Monday, May 2
Monday was a day to run errands, and I also had another physical therapy appointment for my neck. Monday was the first time I visited where my neck had stayed totally loose since the previous visit. I only had one joint that had tightened this time, so that shows that we’re making progress. My physical therapist has been treating my entire kinetic chain, and it’s amazing how doing some tweaking in my legs, pelvis, and lower back has also helped my neck. It’s all connected, of course!
After my appointment, I headed home, had lunch, got some blog work done, and I finished up some of the laundry I’d started that morning before heading out to pick up the kids.
Jacob and I dropped Olivia off at dance, and then he and I headed over to a local music and dance school to get them both signed up for music lessons. Jacob has been begging to take piano lessons for a few months now, and Olivia has been begging to take voice lessons, so we thought we’d start them both off during the summer so they can test the waters and see how they like it. With baseball and dance, we’re just too busy already and couldn’t squeeze anything else in unless it was on the weekend, but I couldn’t find anyone to do lessons on the weekend.
The place where we signed them up is five minutes from our house, so it’ll be super convenient, and they were able to get Jacob’s and Olivia’s lessons back-to-back on the same day, so we won’t have to be there at different times and days during the week. Each of them will be taking private lessons, and each lesson is only 30 minutes, so that should be a good start.
While we were there, the piano teacher who Jacob will have just happened to walk through, so we were able to meet him and he was really great – super nice, personable, and really great with Jacob. We also got to meet Olivia’s voice teacher, and she seems awesome, too. Both of these babies love music, and we want to encourage them both to pursue their dreams whatever they may be, so I’m hoping this will be great for both of them.
After we were done there, I swung Jacob home, got a couple of things set up for teacher appreciation week, and then I left to pick up Olivia when Brian got home. Olivia was BURSTING with excitement when she came running out of the dance studio because she had a big ol’ bag full of dance recital costumes!!
She has asked me no less than 25 times these last couple of weeks when the dance costumes would be in, and she has literally been counting down to this day for nine whole months… since the first day of dance class back in August. Haha. Needless to say, she is thrilled that her big day(s) is almost here!!!! Somebody get her on stage, pronto!
When she and I got home, she joined the boys outside for some basketball while I whipped up some turkey and cheese biscuit sliders, green beans, and strawberries we’d picked from the strawberry patch, and we all sat down for dinner together.
When Brian had gotten home from work (right before I went to pick up Olivia), I was alarmed because he had big red rings around both of his eyes and his eyes were also a little bit swollen. He also had a rash on one of his arms. He’d cleared a bunch of brush from our back yard on Sunday, and apparently, he’d gotten into some poison ivy or Virginia creeper or something horrible, and he started having a reaction Monday afternoon.
Weird that it took almost 24 hours for it to come out, but I guess that’s how it works?? He was careful the whole time he worked, and he’s never had an issue like this in the 12 years we’ve lived here, but apparently there was something that he came across that didn’t agree with him.
The kids had helped him some in the yard, so I checked them both over after dinner, and thankfully, I didn’t see any rashes or blisters. I can’t even imagine how horrible it would have been if they had gotten into it… y’all know kids… they’re constantly touching their faces, picking their noses, and sticking their fingers in their mouths, so they would have had it EVERYWHERE. I cringe even thinking about it. Ugh.
Anyhoo, after dinner, all Olivia wanted in the entire universe was to try on all of those beautiful costumes, so we did just that. This year, she’s taking ballet, tap, jazz, and lyrical, so she will be in four acts in their recital, and therefore, she has four costumes. They have all of the costumes made for each individual girl based on their measurements, so each one fits like a glove. If she grows even one millimeter in the next week, we’re gonna be in trouble. Haha.
When B woke up on Tuesday, his eyes were AWFUL, y’all. AWFUL. His left eye was so hugely swollen that it was totally closed, and he couldn’t open it, and his right eye wasn’t closed, but it wasn’t too far from being that way. The rash on his arm had also blistered up, and it was also all over his neck, legs, and hands, so it was time to go to the doctor.
Since he could only (barely) open one eye, he couldn’t drive, so he rode along with the kids and me to drop them at school. I also had to drop off some stuff for teacher appreciation week, and then I drove him straight to acute care. He was the first one in the door, but since those places take forever, I headed home to get a few things done while he was being treated.
I had just enough time to get all of the outdoor plants watered, get the laundry switched over, and drink my tea before he texted and said he was ready to be picked up. They were able to give him a shot of Benadryl as well as a steroid shot, but they told him he needed to go see an eye doctor immediately, so he had already called and made an appointment by the time I picked him up.
His appointment wasn’t until late morning, so he and I headed home, and both got some work done (although I’m not sure how much work he got done with one eye), and then we headed back out just before lunch. Thankfully, the eye doc isn’t too far from our house, so I was able to drop him and go home again.
I ate lunch and got about 45 minutes of work done, and then B called to tell me he was done, so I headed back there to pick him up. Thankfully, the eye doctor said his actual eyes were fine, and that he didn’t have anything to worry about. He gave him prescriptions for a couple of different kinds of drops and a cream that’s safe to put around his eyes and sent him on his way.
When we got home, I had another hour to work, and then it was time to leave yet again to pick up the kids from school. Y’all, I don’t think I’ve ever left and returned to my house so many times in one single day. Haha.
We headed straight home after school because we only had about 45 minutes until we had to leave again to get Olivia to dance, and since Brian couldn’t drive, Brian and Jacob had to come with us. We dropped her at the dance studio at 4:30, and then I drove the boys to the ball field because Jacob had a 5:30 game.
After I dropped them off, I headed back to the dance studio, Olivia got changed out of her dance stuff, and then she and I headed back to the ballpark for the game. Fortunately, we only missed about five minutes of the game, and I was glad because Jacob played a great one.
He got a triple/RBI and he was walked the second time, and then he caught a pop-fly and he also scooped up another hit to throw a kid out at first. His offense and defense were both on point Tuesday night. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to pull off the win to keep their winning streak alive, and they ended up losing their very first game of the season 11-5 which means they’re no longer undefeated. Such a bummer. Their record is now 12-1 with only a few more games to go, and that’s just incredible!
After the game, I drove us all through the Chick-Fil-A drive-through to pick up dinner (where else?) and then we ate at home. After dinner, the kids got showered, and I squeezed in another stair-stepper workout while they did that. I hadn’t intended to work out Tuesday, but I was so close to closing all of my rings, I took the opportunity to get it done. Once the kids were in the bed, B and I watched This is Us before calling it a night. I was pooped, y’all!
Wednesday, May 4
Wednesday, I had nothing on the calendar all day and all night – PRAISE! – so I dropped the kids at school and then headed home to work my booty off. I worked on the blog most of the day, did some laundry, got various gifts ready (Mother’s Day, graduation gifts, etc.), and I also caught up on all of my blog reading and emails. I typically do those things every day, but they’ve been put on the back-burner repeatedly lately because it’s been so crazy around here.
Brian’s eye swelling was even worse on Wednesday despite all of the shots and creams and meds and drops he’d been using, and the blisters on his arms and legs still looked about the same. All of the swelling above his left eye had moved down underneath his eye with the swelling that was already there, and it looked so, so uncomfortable. Since he was still in bad shape, he worked from home again.
I left to pick up the kids from school at 3 and then we headed home to relax and hang out… it was our one night that we had nothing going on. The kids played basketball for a long time, I got all of the laundry put away, I cooked dinner, and then the kids played out in the back yard for the rest of the evening. Once they headed inside to shower, I got in a 3-mile walk/run, and then we all sat down and watched some more of American Idol together.
Thursday morning, I dropped the kids, got some gas, and then headed home to work all morning. Brian’s eyes were still terribly swollen and the blisters on his arm looked worse than ever, so he worked from home yet again. Thankfully, his body finally made big strides all day on Thursday to kick that allergic reaction to the poison ivy to the curb, and by the end of the day, the swelling around his eyes had gone down significantly and he was finally able to drive us to baseball as his vision was no longer obstructed.
After lunch, I met my parents at Red Cross to donate blood again. I've been donating for nearly two years now, and my momma has started coming along with me, and we also recruited my dad this time. ;o)
That said, the other team was on fire all night, nearly every single one of their players getting huge hits all night long, so they played well and deserved the win. As for our team, they struggled with their fielding and there were many, many errors made. Jacob had two groundouts, so it wasn’t his best game offensively, but defensively he caught another pop-fly which he was really excited about.
Since the game had gone to max time, we didn’t get home until after 9:30. Olivia had already showered before the game, so all she had to do was change into PJs and brush her teeth, and then she collapsed into bed and was out like a light within seconds. Jacob had to shower, so he didn’t end up getting into bed until 10, which meant B and I were up much later than usual, too.
We were all on the struggle bus for our 6 AM wakeup call on Friday, but we got up and got to school on time, teacher appreciation gifts in tow, along with some flowers for the May Crowning Mass at school.
We had severe weather expected late Friday morning throughout the rest of the day, so I wanted to get my Publix shopping done first thing to get it out of the way. I was only in the store for 20 minutes, and by the time I came out, it was pouring down rain. By the time I got home, the wind had started picking up, and it had to have been gusting at 40 mph. All of the trees in our back yard were swaying violently and the power kept flickering off and on. Thankfully, that only lasted about 20-30 minutes and the power stayed on. Whew. Ours is known to go out at the drop of a hat here, so I was surprised it didn’t.
I spent the whole morning working on blog stuff, and then after lunch, I dusted the whole house and deep cleaned all the floors before heading out to pick up the kids.
Brian had left town Friday morning to play in the state tournament with his tennis team, so he was gone all day Friday and half of the day on Saturday.
By the time I grabbed them from school, it was totally a different day weather-wise – perfectly sunny with bright blue skies – but it was still crazy windy. Olivia asks almost every single day when I pick them up if we can stop by Dairy Queen to get Blizzards, and the answer is always NO – haha – but Friday when she asked, I said, “YES!” and she and Jacob were both so excited.
They ate their Blizzards in the car, and we headed to Dollar Tree to find some supplies for Olivia’s end-of-the-year luau that I’m planning with the other second grade room mom. We ended up finding lots of good luau-themed stuff. We grabbed some cute luau plastic cups that the kids can eat their popcorn in and take home as party favors, and we found the cutest luau-themed banner, along with lots of colorful island flowers that I’m going to hot glue around a big frame to make a photo prop. Total success!
After we were done there, we went home and spent the afternoon outside. Jacob played basketball, Olivia drew with sidewalk chalk, and Maui sat in my lap while I read for a little bit.
The three of us headed inside mid-evening to pop a pizza in the oven for dinner, I cut up some kiwi for the kids to eat with it, and I indulged in a small glass of wine. After dinner, we got the kitchen cleaned up, and then I talked to my mom on the phone for a long time while the kids got showered and ready for bed.
I headed upstairs around 10 and ended up getting so deep into my book that I didn’t stop reading and turn out the lights until 11:30.
Brian used to travel a lot (a TON at some points) for work, but travel all ceased for Covid, and he hadn’t been out overnight anywhere without the kids and me in years. I was worried I wouldn’t sleep well while he was gone, but thankfully, I slept like a baby, and woke up earlier than usual for a Saturday feeling great.
I made homemade waffles for the kids and me, and then I read some more while they watched TV. I hadn’t planned to spend so much time reading last weekend, but I got an email from the library on Friday saying that someone else was waiting for the book I had, so I had to return it Monday. At that point, I was only, like, 25% of the way through, so I knew I needed to get cracking.
Mid-morning, I finally put the book down, got some laundry started, got in a cardio workout, and I deep-cleaned all of the countertops to complete my deep-cleaning for the month. I typically deep-clean everything once a month, and then just do light-cleaning as needed in between. Although, the kitchen is deep-cleaned way more frequently, obviously, since food is prepared in there.
Late in the afternoon, I spent a few minutes in my office while the kiddos played video games (the usual afternoon routine) and then we all got ready to go to the school’s spring social.
The weather was absolutely perfect for an outdoor event, and we spent the evening eating dinner from the food trucks, watching the kids play on the bouncy slides, and hanging out with friends. And Olivia is wearing shorts under her skirt in the pictures below. ;o)
Jacob and Olivia had both been begging all week for us to bid on that as they both wanted to be their teachers for the “kids rule the school” day, so B and I set a limit that we were willing to spend. Unfortunately, when we went on to bid, the bidding was already above our limit for Olivia’s teacher, so we ended up bidding for her to be her teacher’s assistant for the day. Both of our kiddos ended up winning and they’re both soooo excited to be their teachers for the day next Monday!!
The social ended at 8:30, and on the way home, we swung through the DQ drive-through to get Blizzards for B and me. The kids had already gotten icies at the social, so they didn’t need anything else.
When we got home, the kids got ready for bed, and once they were out for the night, B and I enjoyed our Blizzards while watching an episode of A Million Little Things and an episode of The Flight Attendant.
Sunday, May 8
Sunday morning, we were awakened by the lovely sound of one of the smoke detectors chirping at 3:30 AM. It stopped after one chirp, but then started up again a little after 6 AM. Sigh. B ended up having to get up and change the battery right then because at that point, it wasn’t stopping. I was able to fall back asleep eventually, but then I started having all of these weird, bad dreams, so I finally got up earlier than usual to make them stop. So much for a good night’s sleep!
Since Sunday was Mother’s Day, B had already snuck out of the house to pick up donuts, and then we all enjoyed them together when he got home. After breakfast, I found my cards that the kids had made for me and hidden, and then I opened a gift from B and the kids.
The four of us snuggled up on the couch to watch an episode of Is It Cake? after that, and then I sat down and planned out the week ahead. That was soooo important since this week is going to be so crazy!
I squeezed in a few more minutes of reading after that, and then I had to get showered and ready for lunch at my mother-in-law and step-father-in-law’s house. My sis-in-law who lives out of town was visiting for the weekend with two of her three kiddos, so we were able to spend some time with them, too.
We enjoyed a delicious lunch that included carrots, asparagus, and peas fresh from their garden, followed by dessert – homemade cookies and ice cream with fresh strawberries, also from their garden. Everything just tastes better when it’s grown in the back yard!
The kids played ping pong foreverrrr with their cousins while all of the adults hung out, and then we headed home mid-afternoon.
When we got home, I spent a few minutes in my office, and then it was time to head downstairs to cook Sunday dinner. I made baked ziti for the main course, my Momma brought a salad, and then we also had five grain baguettes, fresh pineapple, and wine.
The weather was incredible yet again on Sunday, so we had dinner on the back porch, and my parents, my littlest brother, my Mama Cass, and my uncle were able to join us. When we first got out there, I started having pandemic flashbacks since we always had to eat at our house on the back porch to be cautious when things were bad. I have to say, eating outside is soooo much nicer when you choose to do it just because you want to, and not because you’re worried about spreading Covid germs! Haha.
After everyone was done eating, my dad threw the football with the kids for a bit, and then we had dessert. Brian had made a dirt cake since it’s one of my very favorite desserts ever, and it was so, so delicious.
It was the perfect day celebrating all of the mommas, and I’m so grateful to have so many strong, kind, wonderful women in my life. They’ve all helped shape me into the momma I am today.
Happy Tuesday, y’all!
I had that happen to me when I was 12 with my eyes swelling shut from poison ivy. The steroids helped but it was not fun! Happy Mother's Day!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun week! Seriously, MAY is INSANE!!! We are so ready for summer over here!
ReplyDeleteWow it sounds like you have a very busy two week stretch coming up! Glad Brian's face/ body finally cleared up. Those mother's day photos are all so wonderful.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteOh, poor Brian and his eyes! That is just terrible! I am glad it is doing better now. May is just so busy! She is so cute trying on her costume! Autumn just finished her last (#4) dance competition and now we have dance team tryouts, picture week, recital rehearsal and the recital. Nathan's last full week of school is this week and he's already missed 2 days with a cold! Boo! He was sick in April too! I am really looking forward to a relaxing end of this month! :)
ReplyDeleteCarrie
curlycraftymom.com
Oh man - poor Brian! Wow - it's amazing what plants/shrubs/the outdoors can do to a person. I'm so glad he's feeling better and that his eyes were/are okay. Oh and guuuuurl, yes - this month is sooo busy. I'm behind on reading blog posts and I'm still attempting to blog every day which is proving itself difficult, but dang - I'm trying! It's awesome Jacob will be taking piano and Olivia will be taking voice. I signed Henry and Eliza up for piano during the pandemic and it's been sooo good for them. There are days they don't want to do it, but once they get the song down they end up feeling so proud of themselves and now they play the piano at school for their music enrichment class and I truly believes it makes them feel so good about themselves that they acquire the skill of playing a piano! Lastly, it sounds like Jacob is still rocking it at baseball - even with those darn losses! Go, buddy, go!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad to hear music lessons have been good for them! I'm hoping the same for our kiddos!
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