Week in the Life {Sunday Dinner, New Wheels, Nephew Graduates!}

Here we are, almost halfway through July.  Some days just absolutely drag for me with no school to teach, but the weeks are flying by.

On Sunday, July 5th, we had Sunday dinner at my mom and dad's.  It's been 4 months since we got to do that together!
Get up, Evie, it's time to go to Grandma and Papa's!

Andrea made us berry mojitos!  So good to be together again!

Snuggles....

My first nephew - taller than me and graduating high school!

 
These buddies played and played and played...

...and going to "rest."

We sat outside in the shade and visited while the kids played in water.

Uncle Lance brought fireworks to share!  We socially distanced those kids for sparkler safety.  LOL.

All the younger ones had a sparkler buddy!  #fire

Evie wasn't a bit scared of fireworks!

 

Love these two so much...

We were dog tired when we got home but it was worth it!

The rest of the week was interesting.  Almost "busy" after not being busy in forever.

Monday, July 6th
Doing a little summer reading with my girl...

Nothing cuter than a baby with a big slice of watermelon.

 

Tuesday, July 7th

Oatmeal face...

Evie was quite out of sorts this week (wonder weeks leap 7).  She was a poor sleeper, so many mornings she was back down for nap by the time the others were ready for breakfast.
Two dozen oatmeal pancakes for my big kids!

We started our bird unit and day 1 is as far as we got!  Hopefully we're conquer more of it soon!  Summer vibes!

Burrito bowl for supper.

Wednesday, July 8th, I got up and conquered my morning.  Mike came home before noon so that I could ride along with my dad to deliver some meat that had been processed to my cousin.  I got to have a nice visit with my cousin and her family and my aunt, too!

On Thursday, July 9th, Mike and Natalee were up and at 'em early to drive into the city for an orthotics appointment.  I saw them off and then visited with the birds.

As soon as they got home, Ev and I went down to Missouri to run some errands - the big kids played on campus outside while Mike hung security cameras.  See what I mean about busy after not being busy?

Friday, July 10th
Mike was up and out pretty early again to meet my dad to go look at a van for us. The birds and I said good morning.

Evalynn was a grump, as per the theme of the week.

Passing the day.

While Evie took a late afternoon nap, I read in the hammock and watched the older 4 swim.  While we were outside, Papa Curtis showed up with our old caravan, and shortly after Daddy came!  I had told the kids that Daddy had bought a van but it wasn't very big and we all just needed to be thankful and good little soldiers.  I wish I'd had their initial reactions on camera when they saw him.  It's not little, it's HUGE, Mom!

The previous owners were pet owners so I vacuumed the van out before we put car seats in.  (Anyone have tips for getting dog hair completely out of van carpeting?)  Dad took Papa back to his motorcycle in a neighboring town while Xavier and I vacuumed, the younger two helped out however they could, and Natalee babysat Evalynn.  I ordered a couple of pizzas for Mike to pick up when he came back into town because we were hot, sweaty, and busy.  Natalee got the kids all fed for me, while I finished up.  Mike took out the jump seat when he got back (so technically we ride with only 11 seats) and then we all loaded up for a ride!

We were late to bed Friday night, because we were out cruising till dusk.

Saturday, June 11th
We loaded up early to head down to Missouri for Colby's high school graduation.  Everyone was excited for our first trip in the new van.  Natalee was not in tears when we arrived because her legs weren't sore.  By removing the jump seat and putting her in the back, she had plenty of space to stretch out.  Everyone was so happy traveling!  However, even with all those seat options, they sat in pairs beside each other.
The family dropped me off at graduation and I went in alone.  We are still hesitant in situations where there might be crowds, to take all our troops.  As it was, I sat over in a chair with my folks and Lauren away from the crowds.  It was a nice ceremony, especially in light of year it's been, and we're so proud of Colby!

He is going to electrician school next year and he's going to do great!

Bonus picture of me with my beautiful niece.

After Colby's graduation, we stopped in town at Mike's family's large yard sale and visited outside with them for awhile.  As the heat started picking up and the kids started drooping, however, we loaded up our crew and came back to Iowa.  All the children fell asleep on the way home.  Mike did a couple of upkeep things to the new van when we got home, and I made a good supper and let the kids just play. 

We're looking forward to another beautiful week coming up and praying for a bit of rain.