Happy birthday, Logyyyyyy!!!!!

 If you're reading this, I'm probably dead by now for calling Logan by his pet name.  Moving on.  Logan's birthday is normally spent at the beach with family, but last year and this year had to be different due to unprecedented times.  (insert eye roll)  K'lyn was able to come out the day before his birthday and celebrate birthday dinner with us.  I received a text during dinner asking if anyone was up for tubing.  It was a lady from our homeschool group.  We said yes right away because even though we've lived here for a year now, we haven't really explored much of what's around us.  

Logan is an extreme introvert just like his mama, so the thought of tubing with essentially a bunch of strangers didn't sound pleasant.  As his mama, I have to push him out of his comfort zone and make him do things I wouldn't.  ;)  Logan didn't even have a bathing suit, so we had to run to the store and get one.  The morning of this birthday, we found out the tubing was a go.  Because I expect my kids to do these things that I wouldn't, I decided to go.  I shocked even myself.  Normally I just send Kevin along on these escapades, and even though I didn't have a bathing suit either, I sucked it up.  I think Logan appreciated it.

We had THE BEST TIME.  Well, I'm not much of a water person, so all the bugs and such weren't great.  When we got into the river, we thought everyone was breaking up into groups because everyone was spread out.  A lot of kids from our homeschool group ended up coming.  We headed out and stayed together as a family.  Logan and Marz were swimming out ahead, so we had to paddle to keep up.  The river was pretty shallow in some places, so there was lots of standing.  We brought a bag to hold everyone's flops and t-shirts, so I pretty much stayed in the tube with it on my belly to keep it dry.  We didn't bring our cell phones, so I have no pictures to prove it even happened.  Anyway, when we looked back at everyone else, they were all together!  Then we felt like we just anti-socialed ourselves, but there was no swimming back.  We ended up back together for the bus ride back to the cars. 

Afterward we were famished, so we grabbed some pizza on the way home.  I think he had a good birthday.  I hope he did.  We told K'lyn all about tubing, so she's planning on coming out for us all to go again.  Hopefully this time I'll have a bathing suit.  Wet clothes are no fun.  Marz reminded me that I need to do the "Five things you don't know about..."  for Logan because I forgot it for Rory.

FIVE THINGS YOU DON'T KNOW ABOUT LOGAN

1.  He wears a uniform everyday.  It's a Koala hoodie in one of several different colors.

2.  He gets along better with girls (maybe from having all sisters), so almost all his friends are girls.  We joke and call them his harem.

3.  He wants to be a Marine Biologist/Chef so he can cook up any new sea creatures he finds to see if they're tasty.

4.  He loves seafood.  At Olive Garden he'll order the seafood alfredo and not eat any of the noodles.  It drives us crazy!

5.  He could have a career as an audio book reader.  He reads aloud to us whenever we go on long trips as a family.  He read the whole Percy Jackson series and now he's reading Unwanteds.  He's really good at it and does all the different voices for characters.  He has a mic and such to record his reading, but he needs the computer for it, and sometimes that clashes with when he's allowed to have the computer in his room.  He normally puts up a sign so everyone knows he's recording and we need to be quiet, but that's pretty much impossible for this family.  

Happy birthday, Logan!!!!  I love you so much!

Streamer tradition

K'lyns card which Marz was going to get, but she changed her mind probably because she doesn't like bacon.

He got a Virtual Reality headset for his birthday.  I think he likes it!

Logan doesn't like cake, so I made him a chocolate pie to celebrate at my parents.  We didn't put a candle in it because it was still soft set, but we made him act like there was one.  I think everyone had pie which is crazy and makes me think we should make it for everyone's birthdays from now on.  

Sorry, Logy!  I had to do it!

July in Pics

 I was doing pretty well there for a bit.  Sorry about the absence.  We have been BUSY.  Rolling pics because I know that's what you want to see rather than read my ramblings.

Kevin's worst nightmare

Some father's days pics.  Kevin, Rory, and Logan were on a retreat, so just Marz and I made the trip.

Headed to Dallas!

The Big Bass Pro Shop there

They had an arcade shooting range inside.  Everyone played.

Rory joked that she was like a guy that had just gone fishing.  We told her that guys don't stand like that.  

Logan trying on sunglasses.  We got a pic of his smoulder.  :)

Marz bought a bun maker, and Rory put her hair up in it.  She looked so grown up!

The BBQ joint

I was coming back from the bathroom by myself and ran into a member of the cast, Little James!

He was gracious enough to take a family pic.  This was before he was mobbed.

We also met the creator of the TV series The Chosen.  He and his wife signed Marley's book that they wrote together.  It was an awesome time!

We got to spend more time with Little James again, so we asked for a silly photo. 

They had a couple of sets up that they use for filming.

I found this at Bass Pro Shops and came home with it for Kevin.  You can never have too many mugs.  ;)

We celebrated Rory's graduation with my parents.  

My mom got her a beach bag with all sorts of fun things in it for her trip.  

This girl can literally pull off any look!

Marley's prized pumpkin patch that is taking over the backyard.  

I think these will eventually turn orange.

Watching fireworks

Boone Bucy the newest member of the family.

Now that we're all caught up again, stay tuned for a birthday blog later this week!

June Daybook

 Outside my window...

It's sunny, hot, and loud from all the cicadas.  We're finally getting them here, but they're sparse.  In one tree and not in another.  Summer is on the way.

In the schoolroom...

We're having a leisure week before we hit some summer work.  Aren't I nice giving the kids one week off.  We just have to go over some math, Latin, and geography.  It won't be anything too major.

From the kitchen...

I've been working hard at meal planning.  Sometimes I'm on and sometimes I'm off.  Kevin does most of the cooking honestly, so there's that.  I'm grateful but meal planning in general is hard with this brood.  Marley is becoming quite the gardener and has tried her hand at homemade pesto using some basil.  She tried to grow some, but ended up just buying basil plants and now she's trying to grow the leaves back.

I am creating...

a new living space.  We've officially been in this house one year.  I ran out of steam and am getting back to finishing some projects.  This includes bathrooms and walls being painted.  Slow and steady wins the race.

Before

After.  I still need to change the lights because it's pretty dark in there from the dark blue, but I love how it turned out.  I did all those white dots myself.  Kevin did the wood.  It was a lot of trial and error for both of us, but I love peeing in there now.  :)

This is the before pic of the other bathroom.  I didn't get the mirror over the vanity, so you won't be able to see that change, and you can't tell, but there's white wallpaper with navy blue distressed anchors on the walls.

This is after.  Kevin took down the wallpaper, and I painted it a country white.  I spray painted the gold mirror over the vanity to silver.  That's the first time I've done anything like that.  I still need to change the lights, but it looks tons better.  The bee painting over the toilet was an end of the year gift from our old school.  You can't see but all the colors of the painting match the colors of the curtain and rugs.  

I don't even want to forget...

how blessed we are to live where we live in the house we live in.

I am working on...

a new school plan for next year.  The kids are trying something different, and I'm trying a new level of the curriculum I've been using for my teaching.  We'll see how it goes.  I should be more needed than I have been as far as my kids are concerned.

I am reading...

a couple of spiritual books.  I pick up something different each time I have time to read.

I am praying...

for a friend of mine whose funeral I attended today.

I am hearing...

Kevin on the phone, the washer and dryer running, and Marley's voice in the distance.

Around the house...

like I said, catching up on finishing some projects.

One of my favorite things...

Kevin and I get up in the morning and pray together before we start our day.  Sometimes we sleep in and we can't pray together because he's running late, but it happens most mornings.

A few plans for the rest of the week...

well, it's Thursday, so there's not much week left.  Tomorrow is Mass and Adoration for first Friday, a meeting, and I think that's it.  Saturday is Adoration and a birthday party.  I think we'll try to get some things around the house done too.  

Time for pic and tell...

This is the rocket that kept being delayed and such.  Kevin knows more about it than I do, but he didn't get to see it.  Logan and I watched it from our street.  It was cool.  It just appeared and then disappeared.

I can get used to teacher gifts like this.  

Marley went to Starbucks and got a cake pop.  It was shaped like a unicorn.  She was a little excited.

Rory being recognized for graduating this year.

My new steal from a local eclectic vintage store.  She across from the dining room since her colors match the dining room colors.  

Rory loves sparkling pink lemonade, and this is how she drinks it.

My dad has no leaves to blow since it's spring, so he gathers all the cicadas instead.  This pile has grown exponentially.

Last day of school pic.  The high schoolers went a week longer than the grade schoolers, so I had Marley stand in there anyway.  Look at the height on Logan!

This was my view the other day.  Relic knows that Rory is a messy eater, so he sat down the step to the living room and patiently waited for her to drop something.  

This is Logan's happy place, shrimp for days.

This is Logan's other happy place, falling asleep reading.

We took our priest on a pilgrimage to the grotto at our old stomping grounds in Maryland.  I told him that the girls were not fond of cicadas, but he said it would be fine.  I think they interrupted a lot of people praying with the screaming and running.

This Crucifix is at the top of a stairway.  I snapped a pic while someone else was praying.

This is at the bottom of the stairs while Logan's praying.

They tell you not to throw money into the fountain but to put it in the donation slots because they have no way of getting the money out of the fountain.  There's tons of dollar bills along with a bunch of change.  This is also where you fill up on holy water, but we didn't bring any vessels to fill.

This is a statue of St. Mother Teresa.  She's going to be Marley's confirmation saint, so we snapped a pic.

This is also a teacher gift I can get used to.  I'm not a big fan of apple pie, and there are nuts on top that I'm sure would send Rory into an anaphylactic shock, so I'm giving it to my parents.  It's in the freezer, and I've forgotten it the last two times I made the trip.  Ugh.