Summer so far: salads, splash pads, and…
We’re almost to the halfway mark of our summer break from preschool. Which both feels like a miracle and a blur. Some days have…
We’re almost to the halfway mark of our summer break from preschool. Which both feels like a miracle and a blur. Some days have crawled on one episode of Paw Patrol at a time. But mostly, we’ve been soaking up the sunshine and playing outside, meeting friends for playdates at the park, and having adventure days near and far. And in between that, I’m trying to squeeze in a few hours here and there with completing projects for my part-time job.
How has your summer been so far? Any big adventures? Highs and lows? What have you been eating and drinking?
One of my favorite things to eat this summer has been some variation of the salad shown above. Our strawberry plants really showed off the whole month of June, gifting us the sweetest, deepest red berries you can imagine. We were picking about a pint a day. My kids are berry monsters, so most were grabbed by them out of the basket and eaten standing right over the patch. Of the ones that made it inside, some were tossed with lettuce from the backyard, whatever nuts that I had on hand, bacon, a cheese (usually blue or goat), a diced apple, apple cider vinegar, and a tiny sprinkle of this lemon zest salt.
Isn’t he a beaut? My son brought home some tiny sunflower plants from preschool months ago. They slowly, slowly grew in our backyard until suddenly one day, their blooms started opening. The cheerful yellow sunflowers make me smile every time I see them. My grandsunflowers!
How do you beat the heat? This article and the comments — always the best part! — has a lot of good ideas on how to keep cool. Is this my sign to finally order these linen pants (in olive) that I’ve been eying for a while?
This video makes me want to plant peonies all over our backyard.
Made me laugh.
My next craft project?
And a quote that I loved: “Hello, sun in my face. Hello you who made the morning and spread it over the fields...Watch, now, how I start the day in happiness, in kindness.” by Mary Oliver.
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What’s new with you?
How are you? This month has somehow both zoomed by and plodded along in equal measure. Something really exciting happened earlier this month when…
How are you? This month has somehow both zoomed by and plodded along in equal measure. Something really exciting happened earlier this month when…
We took our first airplane ride with two children under the age of 4. And while there were certainly some moments of white knuckling and utter exhaustion and frustration, I think that overall the trip went much more smoothly than I had imagined. I did a lot of prep that I think helped, and I’ll try to write a post on it soon.
It was a lot of fun seeing my family and watching my children play with the same toys that I did as a kid at my Mammaw’s house. We had beautiful weather and lots of good company that made up for the lack of sleep!
Here are a few other things that have been on my mind lately, if you’d like to know:
We came home after our trip to discover that our refrigerator had broken. It was not quite the warm greeting we’d hoped for. After trying a few fixes, we went ahead and ordered a replacement. But that meant spending almost two weeks eating from the freezer and keeping our refrigerated items in a cooler. I’m so thankful to have our new fridge and to be getting back to some normalcy, including our weekly family movie night and Friday night pizza.
I recently finished You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith and I couldn’t read it fast enough, staying up late and waking up early to breeze through pages while my children were still sleeping. Some stories were so heart wrenching that they took my breath away, but I would say even so that it’s still a very hopeful book. I’ve put a few more of the author’s writings on hold through the library. | ThriftBooks link
Another great read that I recently finished is I’m Sorry I’m Late, I Didn’t Want to Come by Jessica Pan. As someone who is an extroverted introvert, I found a lot of the author’s antics relatable. It was an easy, pleasant read and I thoroughly enjoyed it. | ThriftBooks link
This one is for all of my busty pals: I think I’ve found my new breast friend. This bra is affordable, supportive, and — dare I say? — makes me feel kind of perky! I would recommend trying on in person if you can as I should be an XL according to the chart, but found that a L fit me best. I’m adding this item to cart so that I’ll be notified when it goes on sale and then I’ll stock up.
I enjoyed some solo time out of the house this morning and went to my favorite place: the library, of course. And I was dismayed when I arrived at my usual spot to find my favorite table missing. In its place was a seed library! My initial disappointment quickly turned into excitement as I took a peek at the seeds on offer. I wish I had known this last week before I bought seeds for our garden! Even so, I was able to find a different varieties of beets and chard. What a fun discovery! Public libraries truly are a gift.
I thought that this article was interesting.
This reel is eerily accurate. What’s the weather like where you’re at? Seen any blue birds lately?
Have a fantastic weekend!
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Advice for when you feel like you’re failing at motherhood
Can we talk about finding beauty in the mess of things for a second? We all know that the internet can be an awful place. But I’ve also found so many wonderful things there, too…
Can we talk about finding beauty in the mess of things for a second? We all know that the internet can be an awful place. But I’ve also found so many wonderful things there, too…
For one, my IRL mom friends. We met on a local Zoom parenting group when I was a first time mom. And these cute shoes that I just ordered. But I also love the community of friends that I’ve found on Instagram of all places. We don’t know each other in the sense that we can grab a coffee at our favorite shop and complain about the weather and lack of fences around local playgrounds for little kids — city planners: WHY?? — but so much of life is the same no matter where you live.
And part of that is finding a way to get through the day as a mom when you feel like you just cannot any more. One of my Instagram pals recently shared this wisdom when I asked about surviving that hour before dinner that I thought was particularly helpful, and I’d pass it along to you:
“I have to say, as a mom of four who is now through this phase, it’s just hard, but it will end… I was so drained by nap time, I needed a break! It was a hard time, and looking back I would have done some things differently, but I’m also thinking of those things with the capacity that I have that I didn’t have at the time. We’re all doing the best with what we know and have capacity for. Hang in there, momma! This too shall pass!”
Isn’t that the kindest? Here are a few other things that warmed my heart this week. In case you could use some perking up, too.
We borrowed a sweet book called Bear with Me from the library this week. And I couldn’t help but notice that the mom (above) is a total fox. Usually in children’s books, the mom looks tired and haggard and like she’s two seconds away from the smoke detector is going off because dinner is burnt.
This article about Edith Ceccarelli turning 116 years old was truly delightful. What a life worth celebrating!
I finished Demon Copperhead a few days ago, and I’m going to be chewing on this one for a while. The writing was something to behold. I was hooked from the first sentence! It was sad and truthful and uplifting somehow all at the same time. It made me want to check out more of Barbara Kingsolver’s books because it was a masterpiece. A few chapters were a little slower going for me, but still 10/10. No notes.
This home makeover has me rethinking neutrals and being so scared of a color beyond blue. Wall papered ceilings! Pink armchairs! Who am I even these days?
This made me laugh so hard. And got me to thinking what props would I use? Maybe my Kitchen Aid mixing bowl? haha
This week’s book recs from Instagram are: Bride, The Unbreakable Code, The Friendship Study, None of This is True, Iron Flame, The Body Keeps the Score, and America Fantastica.
Have a fantastic weekend!
Note: If you buy something through my links, I may earn an affiliate commission, at no cost to you. I recommend only products I genuinely like. Thank you so much.