Photo Journal - Josie Boettcher

Today had its share of ups and downs. Things started pretty well. Everyone got their chores done with minimal grumbling. We all had breakfast and me and the girls got out of the house when I wanted to. We hung out at Anne's, and I had a great time visiting, while the kids had so much fun together. We left there just in time to get home, grab Jonas and Aveen, and head to see the new Spiderman movie. It was so good! BUT I honestly didn't get to watch it much. Between trips to the bathroom and Ollie acting like a total butthead, I missed a lot. She's normally good at the movies, but today, she WAS NOT. She was out of her seat for the majority of the time and kept asking me why she can't run around and play, like she hasn't been to more than a dozen movies in her little life. ANYWAY, that kind of set off my annoyance...which affected much of my afternoon.  We got home from the movies, and I started making dessert for pizza and a movie night. The girls ate popsicles and ...

Well, today wasn't quite as great as the last two days. 😂 Not surprising! They can't all be gems. The morning started great, honestly. The kids are being total bad-asses and taking real responsibility for their chores. We ate breakfast, hung out for a few, and then headed to Anne's...after stopping at Starbucks (oh my gosh, I've been missing Sb SO MUCH). The hangout was fun and then we headed to my staff meeting. That went well too! It was really AFTER the staff meeting that things started to fall apart a bit.  We went to Home Depot to pick up a few things for some frames I need to make and kids just started wannddddeeeerrrring around, whining, lagging behind, and being pains, in general. We got that over with, I squeezed in some work, and we had to head back out. The whining really got out of control at that point. We dropped Jonas off, went to Target (whining), went to get some food at Panera (whining), and then we went back to Calumet so the girls could play and I c...

Another good one! Literally, no complaints. We hung out with Jenny and kids in the morning, then went to the pool as a whole family over Ben's lunch. He could only stay for 45 minutes, so we drove separately and I stayed with the kids for another hour and 15 minutes. I got sucked into a 30-minute catch-up with a bus stop neighbor I haven't talked to in a while that I desperately wanted to not have (only because I wanted to read) and THEN got trapped in a very awkward situation that I caused on my own. My friend Jen's mom was there with her two boys...the one who passed away several years ago. I miss her a lot and I didn't want to just pretend I didn't know who they were, so I said hello and introduced myself. We chit-chatted for 15 minutes or so and I told the nanny we could get the kids together sometime. I'm hoping Daren will feel loved by that, but, in truth, I don't really want to do it. I don't know that her boys and my girls will even enjoy hanging...

Well, the first REAL day of summer break went great! I started the day with a family discussion about how our summer is going to look and how things will be different. The main differences are going to be a huge reduction in screen time and huge increase in chores. I told them I'd create a daily schedule and chore chart and, for my type-A, desperately need boundaries kids, that made them super excited. To my two kids who don't enjoy structure as much, it wasn't such great news. 😅 But, in general, we're scheduling in learning time, meals, time to move their bodies, and reading time, but they'll get no screens until all of their daily chores are done. I honestly have no idea if I'll be able to stick with this. Only time will tell!  But it was a really fun day. We went to the library in the morning and did a scavenger hunt and a craft and then grabbed a few new books to bring home. We're participating in the summer reading challenge, so I wanted the kids to ha...

It is finally over!!! The first day of the Oasis new year is done and it went SO WELL. Every room went smoothly. EVERY SINGLE ONE. Or the volunteers hid the chaos very well. I spent almost 3 hours having long conversations with many, many people and it was entirely exhausting, but I felt good coming home and knowing that God answered so many prayers for this day to happen the way it did. Yes, I do have a list a mile long of things that need to be taken care of/acquired, but I'm thankful that I have volunteers who are invested and willing to come to me about the things they think would make this program better.  I am very strongly considering quitting BrandSwan. Okay, let me backtrack. On the way home yesterday, Ben asked me if I'm happy with my life and motherhood. My hackles instantly raised, but I paused and considered. Yes, I'm happy. So, he asked, why don't you ever seem happy? He said that I always seem put out by the kids and like I just want my time with them to ...

Well, we made the WHOLE drive today. It was a long one, but it went about as well as it could have. No traffic, very little complaining, decent moods. It wasn't bad. These drives are just draining. It's a whole day, just gone. But it's better than flying! Or at least cheaper. :)  After we got home, there was, of course, lots of unpacking and whatnot, but no time for anything else really. Ben and I watched a show and then went to sleep. Woo! 

Last day at the beach! *sad emoji, excited emoji, crying emoji, content emoji* I didn't feel like searching for those actual emojis, but you get the point. I can't wait to get home, but I'm also sad that vacation is over. However, I've had the new Oasis year looming over me the whole time I've been here, which has really put a damper on things anyway. I don't know. I'm having a lot of conflicting emotions lately! I'm pretty sure I'm hormonal because of my upcoming period. I seem to PMS pretty hard the week before my cycle. Gosh, I LOVE being a woman.  Today, we squeezed in a bunch of the beach vacation stuff we've been putting off: mini golf, Whales horrible souvenir store that costs way too much money, and ice cream. We also went down to the pool, but were deterred by the rain. Not a bad day though! Ben is frustrated that I've been in a bad mood on and off, but I swear, it's not really my fault! I'm not actually in a bad mood. I don...