Update

There's not much to talk about. This summer is going by fast and I don't feel like I have anything to show for it. We haven't really done anything. Oh well. Haha. I went to Pocatello for a few days for a work conference. I wasn't looking forward to it but it ended up being a lot more fun than I thought it would be. It was 2 days of workshops with other FCS teachers from the state and I clicked with a few teachers and had a great time. I had my kids last week and we didn't do a lot but they like to chill so it's not like they have been complaining. We went swimming at Gabe and Christy's and they also went to Roaring Springs with their new step family and had fun doing that. My job with Shelly is going well. I'm so glad I have it. I got my first paycheck and it makes a huge difference. I was trying to be so strict with the grocery budget last month and this month we doubled our expenses because I felt like we could. It's so nice to be able to buy a damn watermelon. My Israeli family is doing okay. They are hopeful that this will be a good thing for Israel, who knows, it seems that Israel is not a place that will ever have peace. Shahar is practically crawling. She's getting so big. It was John's birthday on Wednesday so he came over and we had homemade pizza and cobbler. I need to get out and do a few more summer things. I'm going paddleboarding tomorrow so yay for that!

I found a Ted Lasso game! John was a good sport and played it with me.

 

Gabby's Driving!

Gabby officially has her driver's permit. She has to drive 50 hours over the next 6 months before she can test and be official, official. She is doing well. Poor Corbin being the first always gets the worst from me  I am more calm this round AND I do think Gabby is a bit more cautious than Corbin was. I did some real yelling and had to apologize after some Corbin some of his drives. Haha. Driving is so dangerous, it's stressful! 

We had a pretty chill week and didn't do anything much. We went swimming a few times and went and got pineapple dole whip. I had John come over and eat dinner with us for the first time. We also played some games just to help break the ice a bit. Piper wasn't quite ready so she hid out in my room, which was fine. 

The caretaking job is going well, I'm super happy to have it, life is expensive! Corbin got to go to McCall with Gabe, Spencer, and Benett, he loves that!  Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there.  

She's growing up!

 

Kitchen Table Situation

I had a very busy week last week. I like to stay busy especially when I'm not working and I don't have my kids, otherwise that makes for a very long week. I decided I wanted to repaint my kitchen table. I painted it two years ago and the color was perfect but it needed a facelift and I wanted a change. I have been thinking about a kelly green table for awhile so I went for it. I found the exact shade that I wanted and boy did I not like it. I had no idea Corbin had strong feelings about my table but he said it was perfect before and he of course hated the green. I gave it two days and decided it was a no go. I painted it a darker blue and I really do like the color and I think it looks good. The mistake I made was using the gloss polycrylic seal I already had in my garage. I think I forgot that I bought it last time and didn't like how shiny it was and went and bought the satin finish. Whoopsie. This table is shiny. It really makes all the brush strokes show but oh well! I'm over painting the table. I'm mostly happy with it and will really try to remember to use the satin finish next time. I really was ready for a change so here we go! 

I decided to try Door Dash for a side hustle. I became a dasher for a whole three days and boy oh boy was I bad at it! For $4 I had to run into the middle of the mall to get some Jamba juices and I forgot where I parked and had to panic run through the entire perimeter of the mall until I found my car...I was on the complete opposite side. All while trying to not spill my melting frozen drinks and not pee my pants, full bladder after 5 kids is no joke. I found my car and drove to the destination and it took about 45 minutes. Oh boy. Another order I got had the wrong address but I found the food anyway and grabbed a giant bag of 6 stacks of burrito bowl situations. I put it in my car and took my first turn and swoosh the food tried to go, I frantically grabbed the bag and it ripped in half. I had to turn around, park, run and get new bags and restack the bowls. I picked up the bowls and they almost dropped, the lids didn't fit. I tried to put the lids on tight and they wouldn't seal. I stacked the unsealed bowls ever so carefully and drove to the destination, that dash was for $4.75. I did get a bit better after that but had to drive all the way to Kuna for $11.75, my car does not get good gas mileage by the way. I earned a total of $44 last week. LUCKILY the caretaking job I'm doing pays much better and is much easier AND they are giving me more hours. Huzzah. My dasher days are done! 

I wanted to take John for a quick overnight trip to Arco. I wanted to show him  my hometown and have him meet my parents. We had my favorite dinner from my mom, mashed potatoes with gravy and roast beef. We played some pool, went for a bike ride to the cemetery, chatted up my parents and Kelsey and Justin, played Barbie Queen of the prom and called it a night. The next day we went to the swinging tree and then we drove home. It was short and sweet and perfect. I had a great time and I think John did just fine meeting some more of my family. It's so big, it's nice to break it up. 

Alright, well that's all. I have my kids this week, yay! 

Before

Mistake green

Shiny Blue and done

Update

The first week of summer break has flown by. I just love hanging with my kids so much. I think I extra appreciate it since I have more limited time with them now. We didn't do anything big. I tried not to spend any money. I am really trying to live off just my teacher income and it's not really working out so I'm trying to cut spending as much as possible and do some side gigs. I started a caretaking job today with Christy's friend Shelly who is in a wheelchair and needs 24/7 care. I will start doing a weekly shift with that. She's mostly independent and just wants some company so we played some games and watched some Lifetime movies. I can totally do that! I am going to try doing Door Dash but we will see how annoying that is. Anyway, I got sidetracked. Corbin played a lot of basketball with his friends. Gabby was busy taking driver's ed classes all week. Piper was sick with the flu most of the week (poor girl). Ryan went to his favorites the dog park and skateboarding park. We also went swimming at Gabe and Christy's. It was a short week because they went to help their dad with the move to Nampa. I went to a girl's night at a friend's house and hang out with John any chance I get.

Poor girl, at least she has Charly.

Drumsticks, a summer favorite!

We made homemade tortillas this week. They are SO good!

Summa Summa Summa

I asked the kids to summarize the school year, Corbin said, "it's for Facebook, it's a trap." Gabby said, "thumbs up." Piper said, "stressful and overstimulating," Ryan said, "it was fine." So there you go! I think overall Corbin had a good Junior year. He was in mountain biking club, got his first girlfriend, all A's and one B (including two college credit classes), took track for the first time. Gabby was a Freshman and took choir and started dance again. She was in mostly honors classes and college speech (all A's), she also did track for the first time. Piper didn't flunk 7th grade...I don't think! So far it looks like she might have only failed one class but it might not be updated and that teacher is the worst. We are all very happy that Piper mostly went to school and mostly handled it. I really hope school is not as hard for her next year. She is very smart and talented but she gets stuck in her head and frozen. She also did dance and is very happy away from school. Ryan had to do a lot of hard assignments this year in 5th grade including writing a research paper and creating a PowerPoint. He graduated from 5th grade with honors. I didn't get fired! That was my baseline goal for starting out at Borah pregnant as a surrogate. I'm so glad to have the first year under my belt but overall it was less stressful and less difficult than I thought it would be. It was still a lot. I can do hard things. Now it's time to enjoy summer!

I was supposed to go to Israel with Christy on Tuesday but the airlines canceled our flights which was good news in that we should get a full refund even though we booked through Expedia (still haven't seen the money yet though). We might still try to go later in the summer or possibly at Thanksgiving we will see. I do want to see the that family and squish Shahar. 

Last day of Junior Year.

 

Last day of Freshman Year

Last day of 7th Grade.

Last day of 5th Grade.

Beautiful Shahar at 4 1/2 months.

Dance Recital and 5th Grade Graduation

 It was a busy week. The girls had dance rehearsal and their dance recital on Monday and Tuesday. They did a great job! I'm so glad this dance studio exists. Most places don't offer classes to older girls unless they are on some type of intense competitive team so I'm really glad these guys offer a once a week dance class just for fun! It's really great. My girls have enjoyed it and they did a great job! Ryan graduated from 5th grade. Now he is going to middle school! Crazy. I've had kid(s) at Summerwind for 12 years. It's so weird to not have ties to that school anymore. We all have one more week of school/work we can do it! Well I'm not 100 percent Piper can do it. I'm not quite sure what happens if you fail out of the 7th grade but we might find out! She is definitely on the struggle bus and I'm trying to figure out how best to help her. I wish it wasn't so hard and stressful for her. Parenting is hard. My trip to Israel is canceled? Postponed? Not really sure, we are hearing conflicting information so we will see. It is a war zone after all. 

Cute Cuddling Charly.

Ryan loves to take Charly to the dog park.

Cutest girls.

Gabby got me a belated mother's day gift. Ahhh.

My students made the cutest bulletin board posters. I had to hang them up.

Cute nursery rhyme posters.

Ryan got invited to a B-day party.

He was very slow and cautious. That's alright by me! 

Cute, smart, sweet boy.