Maycember

Hi =)

I've decided to start blogging again. Once a week. On Saturdays. That doesn't mean it's going to happen. That's just the goal. Currently, I'm barely surviving Maycember. They call it that because it's just as nuts as December. But no gifts at the end. 

But we do get summer. I love summer. As long as there is a beach, a pool or AC. Then I love summer. I love sleeping in, not doing school drop-offs and pick-ups, not helping with homework, not fighting with kids about outfits, lunches, showers or getting out the door on time in the mornings. And no more friend drama for a couple of months. Just sibling drama =) 

I love floating in the pool, sipping on a beverage. I love going to the beach and looking for dolphins. I love camping with my family, staying up late, watching movies and eating popcorn & sourpatch kids. I love all the rules that don't exist in the summer. Bring on summer.

My role as a mom has shifted quite a bit now that the kids are 11,12,15 & 16. I've gone from micromanaging 4 little people to being pretty hands-off. I'm mostly just an advisor now. I love it. The driving thing is stresesful, however. Didn't really think about that too much until it got here. Now I'm realizing how many ways there are to get into an accident. None so far, fingers crossed and knocking on wood =) Oh, I forgot about PMS. There's a lot of that these days with 3 girls and a mom. Pray for Dan & Angus. 

Heard around here: 

Mya: Sometimes when I’m really bad, I go to the garage fridge and steal a sip of orange juice straight from the bottle.

Mya: Mom, I'm washing all the brushes. You want me to wash yours? 

Mya: Addie, come back! I want to talk to you about organizing your life!

Angus: Having zero dollars is kind of embarrassing.

Angus: I'm going to skip college

Me: And do what? 

Angus: You know, a job.

Me: What kind of a job? 

Angus: Maybe a farmer.

Me: Where's your farm gonna be? 

Angus: Maybe Africa or something.

Angus: When I grow up I'm moving to La Quinta

Me: La Quinta? 

Angus: Yeah, La Quinta!

Me: Umm why, La Quinta? 

Angus: It just looks awesome.

Me: Where did you hear about La Quinta?

Angus: An ad. Apparently, the fun never ends there! 

Me: Did the ad tell you that it's really hot there?

Angus: Dangit!

Me: Check out this picture of a guy I used to date, Winter. (showed her a pic of Brad Pitt, who she's never seen or heard of)

Winter: Haha, imagine.

(I don't understand why she doesn't think I could get a guy like Brad Pitt 😄)

Look how Winter decorated for my birthday in 5 mins before she left for school. She's usually running behind so I'm not sure how she squeezed this in. I was already gone, dropping off the littles. 

But I love how she didn't let the streamers hang. Do you want to know why? She knows I hate stuff hanging down in that opening because I have to push the decorations out of my way as I walk through 1,000 times during the day. But I hang decorations (streamers/sparkly curtains) there every time the kids have a birthday because they love it. That's what moms do. 

Fisher says hi =)

Dan made me fish tacos for my birthday because that's what I requested. Dan makes the best fish tacos. He even makes salsa with mango in it. He also bought me vegan coffee-flavored ice cream for dessert that I didn't even know existed. It's been years since I've mentioned that I love coffee-flavored ice cream, mostly because I can't eat it. Ice cream hates me. But he found vegan coffee ice cream. 💖

I love that my family knows me so well =) That honestly means more than gifts from my Amazon registry, even though I love those too of course.

I guess I should say something about Addie since I mentioned the other 3 =). Addie is amazing. She's confident, social & uber smart. Most of her grades have an A+ next to them. When there's just an A with no plus next to it, Dan asks her, "Addie, what happened here?" just to mess with her =) She's still so tiny. Mya always comments when we drop her off on the side of the road (across from her school) that she exudes so much confidence as she's walking away. She's always amazed that she just gets out of the car, says bye, and doesn't look back like she doesn't care that she's all by herself, so tiny, walking down the street toward her crowded school. =) And she doesn't. She's all good.

Things I've learned lately - (just one thing actually)

I've learned that when looking for hotels and airline tickets, the best plan is to look at one of those 3rd party sights like Cheaptickets or Priceline for the cheapest price, BUT don't book it through them. They've done the work for you by finding the best price. Now you just go directly through the one with the best deal at the moment.

Book it directly through the hotel or airline. The customer service is WAY better. Getting a refund through a 3rd party is really hard. And you end up actually saving money because those 3rd parties charge you hidden fees so you end up paying the hotel/airline PLUS fees you didn't know about for the 3rd party. This is just my experience. Feel free to disagree =)

I've decided to leave book recommendations each week, or each blog. Let's be honest, I don't think I'll be able to keep this up each week. 

I listen to audiobooks all the time. (I use the free library app, Libby) I listen to them while I do laundry, dishes or food prep. I listen to them in the car on my way to pick up or drop off kids. I listen to them on my walks. So yeah, I go through quite a bit of books. Here are my most recent ones:

Sorry, some of these may have language or sensitive subject matter. I don't remember which ones, specifically. If you're sensitive to some things, you may want to ask chatgpt about it before reading =)

The Favorites by Layne Fargo - I give this 4 out of 5 stars. It was well written. It wasn't in my top books of all time. It comes highly recommended by book accounts on social media, however. Great story. I would recommend it. Kind of a "whodunit" vibe. I liked all the voices in the audiobook.

This Book Made Me Think of You - I give this 4 out of 5 starts too. I liked it a bit more than The Favorites. Totally different writing styles. This had a cozy vibe to it. It takes place in a small town in England and involves a little bookshop. Very cute. The plot is a little sad and it was a bit predictable but I kind of like that sometimes =)

Every Summer After & One Golden Summer by Carley Fortune - I loved these books and I plan on reading more of hers. While reading these, I found excuses to put my earbuds in and listen more. That's how I know it's a good book =) 

The Nightingale, The Great Alone, The Four Winds, & The Women by Kristin Hannah - I love everything Kristin Hannah writes. She's such an amazing storyteller. I give them all 5 stars. I can't do two of her books in a row because they are very heavy and often depressing, but they are all based on real events like the Vietnam War, The Great Depression (Dust Bowl), The Holocost etc. I like these books because they are all from the perspective of women. These books made me mad and even cry sometimes but they always end on a good note. And I learn so much about the time period they were written about.

Great Big Beautiful Life, People We Meet on Vacation, Beach Read, Funny Story, & Book Lovers by Emily Henry - I give all of these 5 starts. I will read anything she writes. These are good books to take to the beach or on vacation. They are light and fun.

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt - This is a lovely book and the movie is now on Netflix =) Also lovely. I highly recommend both. Five starts.

Okay, that's all for now. I think that's a good start =)

Happy Maycember! To all the moms with school-age kids and to all the amazing teachers, we got this! Five days to go! (in Glendora)