I can't believe that it's almost the end of August! The speed with which our summer flew by scares me, but hopefully that means winter will fly by too, haha. Likely not, but a girl can wish.
Today will be a high of 91 degrees and very humid. It's our last summer day, I think. After this it's going to be a rapid descent into fall weather. I'll be so sad to lose the pool as such a great summer activity for kid energy! Anything fun we do this fall will require lots more involvement from me. And we all know I'm steadily trying to work my way out of a job over here. 😂✊✊
The kids are not looking forward to the return of school, but I'm looking forward to the routine again, along with the cooler weather and *me* actually enjoying being outside more. We have plans for some fall camping, visiting state parks, etc. Everyone go back to your distancing work and school so the homeschoolers can have all the fun space in safety again.
Kellan found the couch cushions in Jonas's office while he was still figuring out how to transport it downstairs. Finn made a fort, and Kellan gladly played in it and ate Finn's snacks in there.
That afternoon Kellan got his first haircut in 5.5 months. It's still not safe, I'm not kidding myself about that. But Finn was able to sit still for a haircut outside, and Kellan just isn't able to do that yet. Kids Hair is SO fast with cuts, and Kellan wore his mask the whole time he was inside, so hopefully that 10 minutes sharing the same air doesn't end up being something I regret soon! Jonas took him.
Look at how much older he looks after that cut! My baby.
The younger 3 kids and I went for a morning walk a while back, before it was too hot to be outside in the mornings...
He likes to stick close to me, this little one...
Kellan has pretty long staying-power for playing with quiet things. He loves the Melissa and Doug puffy stickers that are resuable. I imagine lots of use coming from these sources when school starts, but we all know that's not going to work like I plan, right? Hahahah.
He likes to do anything the big kids do, like copying Cora with some painting time.
My dear friend Stacy, who I used to teach with, has a lovely home with a pool in Eagan. She invited me to bring the kids over to use her pool, and BOY did they love every minute of that. Our backyard pool is awesome, and effortless to use, but it was really fun for them to have this time. Like going to Disney! 😂 (And we will NEVER, EVER take them to Disney, so this is all they are gonna get, haha). They were really well behaved and did all the right things while there, so she invited them to come back again "anytime." The kids looked at me with big eyes, and I immediate said "Guys, she did NOT mean anytime! That's just something nice people say. What she likely meant was one more time this summer." Hahahah. Oh my gosh. It's been a while since she had little kids I think. Anyway, we went back again about 5 days later, and they loved it just as much. Hooray for generous friends and safe outdoor play!
I am so grateful to belong to a church that really prioritizes safety and looks for other ways to meet the needs of the congregation other than simply doing what they have always done. We have to be flexible and change and adapt in these times, right? I have really enjoyed the 3 book clubs we have done together this summer, both outside doing social distancing and online on Zoom. These are the three books we read, and I enjoyed each one immensely. I am delighted to belong to these people and the gospel work they are doing!
The church did 2 outside services this summer, and everything else has been online. At the last outdoors service Jonas played violin, because it was a bluegrass inspired service for the music. I didn't bring the kids--of course they can't control social distancing well, and there are too many vulnerable adults to risk exposing to anything, but I'm glad Jonas was able to help and participate in this way!
And last, let me share a new website I've found that's helping me declutter books. The only thing that is really hard for me to let go of when it comes to eliminating in our house is books...I'm sure that's a holdover from my own childhood, and how highly reading was prized in our house, along with the impulse to keep books for homeschooling purposes. But there is really no need to keep ALL books, especially with such a great public library system nearby. So I found this website called sellbackyourbooks.com. I started going through all my books and have so far sent them 2 big boxes of books (they pay for shipping through FedEx or USPS) and they have paid me almost $60! It's great. I don't get any prizes or commissions for telling you about this either, haha...just wanted to share the love if you also have a hard time parting with books. I could always sell them online, but I do NOT want to sell one book at a time to flaky CL people who haggle over a $3 book. So this is a win-win for me!!
