1. Our New Morning Routine
On Monday, we started our official Summer Schedule. For a long list of reasons, we decided to have a pretty strict Morning Routine as a family. We’re a week in and I’m happy to report that it’s going really well.
We’ve had a few bumps here and there, but overall, it’s been so good to get up and get so much accomplished before 8:30 a.m. You can read the details on our Morning Routine here.
Need some encouragement for setting up your own Morning Routine? Read my post on How to Set Up a Successful Summer Routine. You can also read about our Summer Routine for last year here.
Psst! Beginning on Monday, I’ll be doing a series called 5 Days to a Better Morning. Stay tuned for that!
2. A Q&A Budgeting Scope with Jesse
Jesse and I did something out-of-the-ordinary this past week: we recorded a Facebook Live video on budgeting.
Clearly, as you can tell from the video, we are still newbies at this. But it was a lot of fun to do it together and to get to take your questions live. I’m trying to convince Jesse that we should do this more often. 🙂
3. A Quiet Day at Home
This summer has been full. Full of good stuff and wonderful time with friends and lots of fun activities for the kids, but still full.
So I was so grateful to have a quiet day at home all day today. I didn’t need to go anywhere and didn’t have any big projects or to-do’s I had to accomplish. It felt SO nice!
Instead, I cleaned the house, did some organizing, watch the Olympic trials, hung out with my family, did some research for some upcoming blog projects, did some fun blog-surfing, and just enjoyed a completely laid-back PJ day!
4. My Birthday Girl
Kaitlynn turned 9 this week and we enjoyed some special birthday celebrations — including a Mother-Daughter date to get manicures and a fun afternoon at the pool with friends.
Still on our list of birthday plans: A date with me to the mall to go to Sephora (she’s been begging to go check out Sephora for a few months. That’s my fashionista girl!)
This girl brings so much life, beauty, and creativity into our home and I cannot imagine life without her!
5. Watching the Olympic Trials
For months, I’ve been counting down to Rio and I couldn’t be happier that it’s almost here! This week and next week, we’ll be watching the Olympic trials like it’s our job. {Yes, I’ve roped my kids into being just as enamored with the Olympics as I am!}
Alicia says
1. Washable markers (it should be illegal to buy non-washable markers if there’s a toddler in the home)
2. The 40 lbs of cherries we just froze (they’re like little candies!)
3. Reading aloud with the kids
4. Planning for the next school year
5. Listening to the Chasing Francis audiobook (thanks for the recommendation, I’m loving it!)
krista says
I’m excited to check out your morning routine! I’ve been trying to get our family into a better routine this summer but so far haven’t been successful! I’m off to check out what you’re doing!
Suzanne C says
I took my 9 y/o niece with me yesterday to Sephora. We barely got in the door before she started saying how bad it smells. She is definitely not my fashionista, lol! Although she has a very strict hair product routine for her daily ponytail. 🙂
Amy says
Your birthday girl is so precious! That smile!! <3
5 things I'm loving this week:
* Doing MOYE
* Laying out all the clothes the night before. That's making such a difference!
* Sunshine.
* My hydrophobic son's new bravery and excitement about swimming
* the Olympic trials!! With you on that one!
Abby @ WinsteadWandering says
Do you y’all have cable/satellite? We don’t, and even though I’m SO excited to be on maternity leave during the the Olympics, I’m wondering how I’ll be able to stream it. I’d love tips (I’m an Olympics junkie, too)!
LG says
I watched the swimming Olympic Trials live today on my computer on NBC Sports. It was easy to figure out, but still trying to figure out how to stream it on our smart tv. No cable at our house.
Abby @ WinsteadWandering says
Thanks, LG! I’m wondering if all the events normally shown on TV will be streamed online. And I’m with you- I’m really hoping I can get to watch them on the TV, not on my laptop. We don’t have a smart TV, but we do have a Roku. My husband has promised to make it happen, so we’ll see 🙂
Crystal Paine says
We don’t have cable or satellite. However, based upon past Olympics, I can tell you that NBC will likely have a LOT of coverage both on TV and online. They usually have almost continuous live-streaming online (well, it depends upon the time differences between the US and where the Olympics are held) and then every afternoon and evening they’ll usually have coverage of all the highlights + real-time coverage of some of the biggest events — like swimming, gymnastics, diving, etc.
It’s usually a total of 4-5 hours of coverage per day and you don’t miss that much not having cable. It also depends upon the time difference whether they show stuff live in primetime or whether it’s tape-delayed.
You can usually find all of the details on coverage at NBCOlympics.com and also find highlight videos and live-streaming there.
[email protected] says
I have loved watching the Olympic trials this week. We were so lucky to have the diving trials here in Indianapolis, but I am most excited about the swimming today. My son has two swimmers from his club that will be racing for a chance at an Olympic spot.
Leanne says
the five things I’ve loved this week were our five days at Life Action Family Camp… we lost power on Monday and it didn’t come back til….FRIDAY! the main things we needed were on generator (the dining hall and the gathering spaces)… our cabins had water (although not HOT water)….so, we had to figure out how to get warm showers (shower house!) and totally just deal with it…and it was totally WONDERFUL… it forced a lot of us to realize we CAN live without being connected all the time… it was so powerful without the power!! I thought you might appreciate hearing that, since you went last year!
Crystal Paine says
Oh wow! I can’t imagine the power being off all week! What an adventure!
Victoria says
I am taking my daughter shopping to spend her birthday money this week too.
5 Things I am loving this week
1. Sunshine!
2. Lounging on my pool while reading (and sometimes napping) 🙂
3. Getting back to longer runs.
4. A bike ride with a friend for donuts. (which my friend is insisting become a weekly thing while she is off from work for the summer and I am not going to argue).
5. A last minute night away with my hubby. The kids and I convinced him he needed to take a bit of time off for his birthday. My teens volunteered to take every task he threw out there as an excuse not to rest (makes this mama proud). He is now enjoying sleeping in as I type this and I have no plans to wake him.
Crystal Paine says
I love the biking to get doughnuts idea! I am SO down with that! 🙂
Cassi says
We love the Olympic too! With two boys on swim team, summer Olympics are our favorite. We watched some of the diving trials last night and Sunday we travel to Omaha to watch four days of the swim trials in person! I still can’t believe we are going! My husband and I have a life goal to one day go to watch the Olympics in person.
Theresa says
Hi Cassi! I didn’t know you read Money Saving Mom too! It was fun seeing you today and hilarious finding you online!
Cassi says
Been read it for years-I even have a guest post from a few years ago on here 🙂 Too funny!
Crystal Paine says
So, so fun you’re going to Omaha!!!
Cassi says
I just realized that I said Sunday when I meant Wednesday but yes-we will be going to Omaha and it should be great. Because the tickets are expensive, we gave them to my oldest son as a birthday present. It helped us not feel so bad about the cost. We only bought 2 sets of tickets which means my husband and I will take turns taking him to watch the trials so that we can all see it without having to buy more tickets. I think my oldest will be willing to give up one session so my middle son can go and watch as well. It is only 3 hours away for us and we have family there so it dramatically cuts down on the expenses!
Sally H says
1. Taking a break from my boys’ usual extracurricular classes this month. They are very diligent (piano classes for a few years now), but this 4 week break has been good for all of us! And I love hearing them tinker on the keyboards just for fun. ?
2. Getting back to counting my macros/calories. No more excuses and it’s felt good.
3. Watching my boys do their first in-town-mission for the homeless.
4. Seeing my middle child finally “click” with reading.
5. Finding a great yoga routine to strengthen my back.
Crystal Paine says
4-week breaks can be SO nice!
Davonne @ The Tidy Mom says
You sound so refreshed this week! My five things:
1) Three days IN A ROW to hang out with my kiddos, with very little planned. We feel so refreshed and calm right now from this!
2) Fresh summer produce.
3) Making time to work on my blog again (your encouraging email blessed me SO much recently!). Nothing new is posted yet but I’m so excited about what I’ve been working on and can’t wait to share it with my readers!
4) Wild blackberry bushes we just found in a public place in our neighborhood!!!!
5) My husband going on a little trip with a friend. He rarely takes time for himself so I’m thrilled that he jumped on this opportunity to do something just for fun!
Crystal Paine says
You sound so refreshed, too!! Yay for a great week!