The End of July

July felt kinda long and really really busy this year! Sean was swamped at work and saw more than double the number of patients he usually sees in a month. He will usually see about 220 patients throughout the whole month and in July he saw 440! They did tons of corona virus testing as well as caught up on a lot of normal visits that people had put off because of Covid. Matt and Mary moved out and into their home. We helped them with loading their truck and went and saw their new house. It is a great house, we are just so happy for them. The kids wasted no time in moving back into the basement. I put all the toys down there and it has helped keep the other rooms in the house cleaner. We did a few more projects for Munga Punga which was fun, although we lost a little of our steam at the end. Brett had one more week of swim lessons and earned his Green belt in Karate.

 Lev are Charlie hung out with us while Matt and Mary took the first load out to their house, Lev was so concerned when he went down to the basement and it was basically empty. We made them stay up with us so they wouldn't get more stressed =)

 I moved all our books down to the basement so we can use them for school and so they are not constantly all over the floor in the girls room. We still have some books in their room but just not all of them =)

 These hammock swings are awesome! My mom and dad have two of them and the kids are all obsessed, I think they might be fun on our front porch.

 We bought these cute little crocheted otter pop holders from a girl in our neighborhood and Alana turned her mermaid tail into a mermaid on her hand.

 Brett wanted to make a minky pillow so we pulled out some scraps. I wear a mask when I sew because the minky fluff gets in my nose. Brett decided that was a great idea.

 The kids tried to make a barricade so Oreo couldn't break their magna tile creations. It didn't work!

 Art is fun!

 My dad is so handy and made this gorgeous wall in my parents bedroom. They asked for some help painting so we came one Saturday morning and let the kids watch a movie while we painted away! They bought an extra gallon and we are going to paint an accent wall in the kitchen. The color is so pretty!

 Brett has been growing up again and isn't as interested in the toys he was playing with. He has never been a huge toy person, but it seems to be getting worse. He doesn't know what to do with himself when a friend can't play and when we tell him no more switch. I took him to hobby lobby to look for some new hobbies and we decided to try looming. He is really enjoying it and Alana has started doing it too! We had a great time wandering the store and chatting together! I can't believe this little man is almost 9!

 We decided to homeschool this year and it has been a roller coaster of stress and emotion as I've tried to research things and figure out whats best for our family. We are still not all set up, but we know what we need to do and are working toward getting all the curriculum ordered and a nice space set up in the basement for school. I thought I would never do this, but have found that I am actually pretty excited about it! When I was at the peak of my stress, Sean brought home flowers because he is amazing!

 The kids had to create their dream pet for Munga Punga:

 They usually do a ceremony for the belt advancement, but with covid they basically just toss them the new belt. We are just as excited regardless! Brett has now moved to the advanced class which is from 7-8 and fits our schedule a little easier which is nice.

 Kaden and Alexis invited us over for a water day and we had a blast playing in all the pools and water. The boys quit before the girls so they could play some switch, but the girls played till the very end.

 Oreo had a birthday and turned 1! He is the cutest, sweetest, craziest, smartest puppy and we all adore him!

 Creature Creations for Munga Punga. The farting/tooting animals fit the jokes our kids enjoy these days.

 Lizzie loves to tell me she's cold and needs hot chocolate! The she spoons out the powder and get chocolate everywhere!

 We had a really relaxing chill 24th of July. We made homemade pasta and had spaghetti for dinner with strawberry short cake. We watched the Disney Channel movie Smart House while waiting for fireworks then did tons of pop its and little fireworks.

 The kids decided to dress in Sean's old clothes and pretend to be daddy.

 Alana's loom:

 Brett's loom =)

One of the things we have all missed is going to the movies! Especially Dad P =) Mom and Dad decided to rent out a theater for a showing. We got to pick between some options and went with Zootopia. We all had a fun time eating concessions(that were way discounted) and watching a favorite movie!

 We decided I could add a new band to my wedding ring. It was so fun to go pick it out and it only adds to the beauty of my original ring. I love looking at it. It represents a lot about Sean and all the love and support he always gives me unconditionally! I have gone through a lot of soul searching and changing in regards to my self image and body size over the past year. I gave up diet culture and began to trust my body and myself and repair my relationship with food and my body. It has been a long and difficult journey and I still struggle daily to discern the difference between health and diet culture, but whenever I want to jump back on board with diet obsessed culture and vain concerns about my size and appearance, Sean holds my hand and reminds me that life is about so so so so much more than looking like what society tells us we should look like. When my ring was getting tight this summer and I was panicking because it meant I had failed to keep my finger the same size it was 12 years and 3 kids ago, I was devastated. Sean encouraged me and told me it's not a failure and that I should size it to fit me now. It seemed like a great time to add another band as well =) This is all very personal and there is so much more I could add about how much my life has changed for the better by focusing on my children, parents, family, passions, hobbies, and interests instead of numbers on a scale or in a my fitness pal app.

 Our zoo membership was about to expire on July 31, so we decided to go one last time. Rebecca, Kaden and Alexis joined us. We had a great time seeing all the animals, eating a great lunch, riding the carousel, and riding the train.

 The brown bears were right up by the glass and I loved their paws!

 The Saffrons came to visit, Alana is such a sweet little mother!

 Book reading is the best!

 Alana and I decided we needed a date night, so Friday when Sean got home from work we ate dinner then headed out to Farm Country. Alana was so excited about it all day long and was so cute when we got there. She had no fear of any of the animals and ran right up to each of them and snuggled their faces. She loved touching and petting all of them and trying to feed them grass she found on the ground. We both loved the goats, especially the babies and the pregnant mommies. She came home with so many exciting things to share. I think her favorite things was that she got to touch a goats horn!

 Today we went to Lincolns baby blessing and I had to take a picture of Afton and Lizzie with their matching masks =)

 Sean made a yummy cake for us to enjoy today with our homemade hamburger buns, air fried french fries, and sautéd green beans fresh from our garden. It was a feast =)