Mabel was the happiest girl in this moment when Bella gave her a good rub/scratch. It was also a beautiful day to spend outside, and we did a lot of that.
She likes to find those sunny, warm spots. I don't blame her.
The boys had their Mid-Hoosier Conference track meet. We missed them high jumping (they had the boys go first instead of the girls, which is not typical), but were able to see Curtis run in a relay.
The boys team came in 2nd of 6 (I think) teams!
Mabel turned 9 on May 20th. None of us were all home at the same time that evening, so her birthday didn't get celebrated that very day. Thankfully, she has no idea.
The boys had their end-of-year band concert. Mr. Klinger always does a nice job with his song selection. They played music from Wicked and James Bond.
Salty makes himself right at home these days. I had to buy a pet hair roller for all the fur he leaves behind on the couch.
The boys had their track sectional on May 22nd. It's a really difficult sectional because we are up against lots of bigger schools. A few of the boys advanced individually, but as a team, we did not.
A family at school gifted me this new Vera Bradley lunch bag. I used to just go home for lunch every day (when you have a 30 second commute, you can easily do that even when your lunch is only 30 minutes). Obviously, when we moved 15 miles away from school, I had to start bringing my lunch. My motto since Andy left the church (and our income decreased) has been, "Use it up. Wear it out. Make it do. Or do without." I saw that somewhere and it just stuck. I wanted a cute lunch bag, but couldn't justify buying one when we still had the one Curtis used in elementary school. It was the perfect lunch tote for an elementary boy, but not really my aesthetic. Still, it worked, so there was no need to buy a new one. So, when I opened up this gift, I was SO thrilled! Now I have a cute lunch bag! I took a picture of it to send to Bella since she is also packing lunches for her summer job. (You can get a glimpse of my school office in the background).
The boys' last commitment for the 24-25 school year was to play in the band for Hauser's high school graduation.
Our summer Sunday mornings have developed a really nice rhythm. We are still doing family church, but instead of in our living room, we've been going to different locations. One Sunday it was to a park. Last Sunday it was Starbucks. We read a few Bible verses and discuss them. Then we follow it up with an activity. One week it was tennis. Last week it was a family walk. I had to chuckle a little this past Sunday when we were waiting for our drinks at Starbucks. I looked down and all three kids were on their phones. In their defense, they were all playing a game with each other - so I guess they were having some form of connection.
The trail we walked had lots of workout stations every quarter mile or so. These were kind of fun.
My brother rented a beach house in Texas and my parents were down for a visit. They sent this photo of my Dad and brother and I just love it!
