A Peek Inside the Crazy

Remember when I did seven quick takes? I loved those, but life just hasn’t afforded me that kind of time lately.

Back that up. It has afforded me time, I’ve just been choosing to do other things with it. I do feel like there’s a bit of catching up to do, however, and summer sure seems like the right time to do it.

First things first. PRAISE JESUS FOR SUMMER. I used to be the mom that sort of dreaded it. What in the heck was I going to do with kids at home, all summer? {insert panic attacks} Now, I’m the mom who counts down the days. With so many of them in the house now who can fix their own breakfast (of if they can’t, a sibling can), enjoy a playdate with a sibling or entertain themselves, it’s divine. I even threw out our to-the-minute schedule I used to craft.

Yes, I really used to do that.

It’s a fun new season.

Okay, refocusing.

Field day at school is always fun. I always chuckle a tiny bit at the kids whose moms remembered to pack dry clothes. Nope, not the Whitaker mom. She just lets ’em be wet all day. They eventually dry. I like to think it builds character. And lightens my laundry load. The thing I’ve come to love most about this day is visiting with other moms that I might not get a chance to get to know otherwise. God allowed me to have three, really beautiful, conversations with two moms and a teacher. What a fantastic gift that was. Oh, and yes, Luke was the only kid that photographed. Sorry, everyone else!

I like to call this one, “our nuns are cooler than yours.” #kickballboss

The end-of-year at school was fabulous, too. Although, no family photo documentation of that. The groans were so loud from the kids when I mentioned it, I just decided to cut my losses and take them all to Sonic. Parenting win. I did grab this one of Luke that I adore.

We jumped right from end of school, straight into state 4-H competitions at State 4-H Roundup. To the layperson, it’s our roundup of almost all the state-level contests for our projects. It’s a huge event, with 4,000+ in attendance, and we had four competitions between the two older boys. Mama was busy. Our days began around 6am and ended after midnight. Y’all. I am too old for that. Thank the good Lord for Dr Pepper and sweet tea. I should really do a longer post on it this week (coming right up), but here’s a few highlight photos I loved.

We rolled into town juuuuust in time for my birthday. It’s no secret those are my jam. We did it up right. I slept until 9 (what?!), got to enjoy a fabulous lunch at my favorite place of all time, buy my 1/2 off Kendra Scott jewelry with Clare, get a manicure, enjoy happy hour at Sonic and end it with a nightcap with our neighbors. I even busted out a new dress. When I put it on, I was like, “I don’t know if I’m young enough to pull that off.” But the beauty of being in your 40s is you stop listening to that voice. I got it from *the* cutest online shop. Here’s your $20 off {affiliate link}!

And, ending a really fabulous two weeks was VBS. Also known as the week I realize that VBS tired is a real thing. We sang “light light, light of the world,” ate some great snacks (hey, day 4), took some fun photos, enjoyed an awesome VBS Mass and fell into an exhausted heap everyday at 12:30. Totally worth it. It’s my favorite week of the summer. In the miracle of all miracles category is sweet Gianna. She LOVED her time in the nursery. She’s usually my third leg, but there was only one day of tears (the last day!) and none of us could believe it.

With that, I think I’m going to sleep for a week and then head to the pool. It’s SUMMMMMMEEEEEERRRRRRRRRR!