Photo Journal - Josie Boettcher

It was a slow but good day with Lena and Megan. We got up around 8, I made a big breakfast, and we kind of just sat around on our phones for a couple of hours. I felt like ‘we should be making the most of our time together!’ But Lena was really like I just want to be together. We don’t have to be doing anything special. Eventually, we went to the Tuttle Mall and got some Ohio shirts. I did not need any but bought two anyway.   Then we went to Starbucks and I offered to treat and promptly forgot to treat. They’re both really struggling financially and I SHOULD have remembered. What is wrong with me and my forgetful brain?!? We came home and watched a movie and then Ben grilled us dinner. He’s been kicking butt this whole weekend, doing all of the responsible stuff so that I can really enjoy the visit. I appreciate his sacrifice so much! Literally in tears thinking about it.  At night, we played cards, had a couple drinks, and reminisced. It was a really fun night. They hea...

Lena and Meg got here today, but not until several hours later than I expected. I was thankful for the extra time to clean and have dinner with the fam! It was a relatively relaxed day for this crazy week. We did have to go to Clemi’s gymnastics performance, but it was so cute! I loved it and Clemi obviously loved every second of these classes. The girls got here around 7 and we went to Grandad’s Pizza for dinner. It was yummy and we had fun. I got all caught up on Meg's life (which is absolutely crazy) and we had a few drinks. It’s so good and so weird to see them both!

Phew! Today was a long one. I did talk to Lena about some of my anxiety and she reassured me that she has no expectations for the weekend, other than just getting time with each other. She also didn't care that we're just going to stay at my house. She seemed a little relieved, honestly!  One more day of camp and we'll finally be done. I've been moving furniture and organizing like a mad woman the last few days. The study is starting to look good. Of course, Clemi has been jealous and upset constantly about Ruby and Ollie getting "all new things" and her having to use "boring, crappy old things". She'll survive. 

I'm getting so, so anxious about Lena and Megan's visit. I talked to MJ for advice on how to handle it and she suggested I just cancel. 🤦And while that is super tempting, I don't think I should do that! I feel like it would basically ruin our friendship, which is only now getting close again. Another suggestion she made is that I don't do anything at the hotel, which makes me feel a lot better. I think I'll just be way more comfortable at the house, in my sweats, being in my own bed.  Me, Jenny, Brit, and Kaitlyn had a play date today at the same creek as last week. It was a good time. I was not in a great mood. The summer camp thing has been taking a lot out of me...plus, I think I'm just at that point in my cycle when I'm grumpy all the time. Being a lady is such a blast. It was good though! We didn't stay for too long, but I just feel like that little spot is so magical and beautiful. I love it. I can't wait to go there when it's less oppress...

We went to Jenny's this morning and then dropped the kids off at camp this afternoon. Having morning plans when we have afternoon plans kind of threw us off! We didn't get to do our French lessons and chores didn't get finished either. It was kind of an eat breakfast and leave morning, and Clem didn't have time to do anything in that short window of time she had before we left for camp either. Oh well. It's just a week! I spent many, many hours putting together IKEA furniture today. It's very satisfying to have that part of the study done! It really helps to start getting all of that organized. HOWEVER, I still haven't figured out the curriculum. I really need to talk to one of their advisors to help me figure things out, but I need to be home during the day and allocate time to work on it. GETTING SO STRESSED! And Lena will be here starting Friday, so I won't be able to work on it all weekend. AND I have to get their room cleaned and ready, which will t...

Jonas and Clem started their afternoon camps this week. It's crazy how much harder the days seem when we have that deadline looming over us. We took the morning easy: did chores, ate, did French, and then we headed out in the afternoon. After dropping the kids off at camp, I took Ruby and Ollie to Brit's for a visit. We had a really good time and then went to get the kids again! I let the girls play at the playground while we waited for Jonas's camp to finish (he's done an hour after Clem) and it started POURING while we were out there. We got Jonas and came home for dinner and that was the day! I need to make my final decisions on curriculum or I won't end up getting them delivered in time for the school year to start. I'm starting to stress out! I stayed home from HC and spent hours poring over all of my choices. I was up until 11:30pm trying to figure it out and still don't have it settled now. This part is stressful!  The kids played really well together...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO BENNY!!!  Today was a good day. Other than all of the cleaning. 

We got up and headed to the Pope's for breakfast this morning. Such a fun time! I kind of hated getting moving first thing, but it was worth it. :) Alex cooked and seemed to be really excited that everyone enjoyed his food. Kaitlyn was there, along with the Torellis. I left feeling lots of gratitude for our community and I think Ben did too. He seems to be doing a lot better with his negative feelings about things.  We were supposed to go to IKEA today, but Ben decided at the last minute that it would be too crowded and that he didn't want to go. So we went to the Guardtower instead. :) haha He was very excited about that! The afternoon was pretty chill. We went over to the Albinos and the kids played on their waterslide in the back yard. They had a lot of fun.  We headed out to dinner at BWW and grabbed some groceries in the evening and then I came home and started panic prepping for the last-minute dinner that Ben decided he wants to have tomorrow! It looks like he's plan...

Ever since Ollie saw a little girl with purple hair in Cherrystone, she's been begging me to dye her hair. That's kind of my thing, so I told her I'd do it. However, I would have really preferred to do it in my own time. Like, sometime that wasn't all hot and sweaty. Alas, the children wore me down. The idea became contagious and every single one of the kids decided they want their hair dyed and, this morning, I finally did it. It took hours to get all four of their heads of hair dyed and rinsed and dried. It was a little after lunch time by the time we were done! After lunch, we headed to Christine's to hang out. It was a good time, as always. I really enjoy spending time with her and the kids have a good time together too...usually. 😅 They often disagree, but that's kids for you. I guess that's all people, really. Around dinner time, Ashley and I went to pick up dinner and have some drinks together. We got into the hot tub and talked for hours. It was rea...

What did I do today?? I visited with Jenny this morning. It was really good to hang out for a while. It's been too long! We had to talk about some of the negative feelings Ben and I have been having/had about HC, but that's life in close fellowship. Better to get it out than to hold it in and let it fester. But it would have been nice to just have a fun visit instead! In any case, it seems like Ben is starting to cool down a little, which I'm really grateful for.  Afterwards, we started our cupcakes, I picked up my grocery order, did French, and then the kids had quiet time. I did not work at all today. I probably should have at least signed on, but I didn't! Oh well. One more week to go!  It was pizza and a movie night and I made homemade pizzas today. I think they turned out really delicious. The crust was pretty good. Not as chewy as I like, but it did have a good taste. The cupcakes were fun, although I started to lose my ish a little when Ruby accidentally dumped o...

I got up early, packed lunch for our play date, got everyone ready to go, and headed to my Oasis staff meeting. I have a little bit of residual guilt from leaving early. Nathan seemed bummed. But, man, I hate meetings.  The park today was PERFECT. It was really great! The playground part was just meh, because it was so busy, but the natural play area was amazing and the creek was so relaxed and fun. I had a really nice time visiting with the ladies and my kids had tons of fun with their friends. It's days like today that remind me how awesome community can be.  After we got home, we had quiet time and then went to Target to get the last of Ben's birthday presents. Sadly, Ruby did not find what she wanted to get there and spent a bunch of time crying. We'll have to figure something else out! 

Today flew by. We got up, I showered, we did morning chores, we did our French lesson, and then I was out the door with Clemi to an eye doc appt. She's been complaining of blurry vision and making sure she has the seat closest to the TV lately, so I took her in for a visit. She is having myopia (that was a new word for me!), but not enough for glasses yet. Did you know that they have a treatment for vision loss now??? I was blown away. Apparently, if we started her on this prescription eye drop now, it would slow down her vision loss by 50%! I'm saying vision loss because I don't know how else to say it, but basically it would help her to see better for longer. I wasn't sure I wanted to start her on them right away, but Ben thinks we should just start her before she needs glasses...which does make sense. I'm going to think about it a little more and ask Clemi if she'd be open to getting eye drops in every night.  After the eye doc, I took the kids to the big po...

Not a bad start to the week! I got to sleep in until almost 8, the kids did their chores (begrudgingly), we did French, and I got to visit with Brit. Pretty great! I spent a lot of the day cleaning and doing laundry...and cooking. Still a good day though. I put in my 2 weeks notice with Jane today. It was very uncomfortable. I told her I'd work until the end of the month, but within a couple of hours she basically dismissed me starting tomorrow. So weird. I guess I'll try and figure out if she wants me to continue working until the end of the month or not.  Ben and I went to HC tonight (we brought snacks) and I thought it went well, but Ben is in a really bad place with church stuff right now and that brought me down. He's just so negative about everything that I wish he would have just stayed home. Fun times! While we were taking this pic I heard someone say, "Ok, I guess we're raising our hands for some reason." 😂

Gosh, it is so good to be home and SO nice to wake up in my own bed! Anne offered to cover for me again this morning and I cannot even express how thankful I was to her for that. The last thing I wanted to do was get up and go to CT this morning, after that drive yesterday. Thanks to her, I didn't have to! Today was wonderful. Yes, there was a lot of unpacking and laundry. Like, so much laundry. Eight loads so far and I'm still not done. BUT. It was relaxing! Nothing reminds you of how comfortable your own home is like camping does. :) There's just so much space here!! I did go out and skim and vacuum the pool, and clean the filter in the morning so that everyone could get in. It's a bit hot, but not terrible compared to VA. Lots of video games and reading and gardening! It was a good day. 

WHY does the drive home have to take so long??? We left around 8:35am and got home right around 8pm. So many hours of driving. And Ben actually made me do some of it this time! We were both so sleepy from hanging out at Zach's fire last night that we both thought we might not be able to stay awake at times. Ben typically doesn't ever let me drive.  Man, Zach was super drunk. I was seriously worried he was going to fall into the fire several times. He kept screaming at the people walking past to join his fire party and had a whole bunch of teenagers there, which was super awkward. There were probably a dozen kids under 18 at the fire when I got there...and Zach is 24. So uncomfortable and inappropriate. ANYWAY, Ben and I thought we'd stick around, if for no other reason than to make sure things didn't get any worse. (The teenagers seemed to feel uncomfortable and slowly filtered away.) Zach was really emotional at one point, talking about Bryan and how he has no parents ...

It was supposed to rain all day today, so we got all of our outside stuff completely packed up last night. When we woke up though, it had not actually rained at all. And then we spent the rest of the morning/early afternoon waiting for the rain that never came. It was really frustrating. Like, this weird mental game, where were in the mindset to sit inside in the air conditioning and were not prepared to hang out outside, but then felt forced to be outside because it's our last day and it's not actually raining.  We went to the pool early, but didn't have anywhere to hang our wet stuff, because we packed up the drying line, so I had a cottage full of wet clothes and towels. To break the monotony, there was a cornhole competition in the afternoon, which was a lot of fun. Ben and Jonas were a team and were kicked out in the first round, but we had family in nearly every game so we watched to the end. Noah and Nolan won!  After that, we had a quick dinner with Dad and MJ and t...