happy weekend

I love summer. I love not having a schedule to keep. I love our slow mornings. I love not making dinner (cereal for dinner forever!). I love telling my kids when I tuck them in at night that they can read as late as they'd like.

On non-school nights, Elliot and Mabel switch beds so that she and Oliver can stay up late together talking. I hope they are always such good friends! It has tightened the bond between Stella and Elliot, too. This means that all summer long, Elliot is in Mabel's bed, and she is in his. Sometimes I wonder if they should just switch permanently, but I don't want to redecorate. :)

We are anxiously awaiting Mike's return for Father's Day this weekend. He has been away working as the cook for our ward's young men campout this week and we miss him (and Oliver, too). I loved this instagram about fathers from the LDS church that I saw this morning. My favorite part was when the dad said, "We fall short. We second-guess. We struggle. We hurt. We mess up. But, here's the real truth: We love. We cherish. We honor. We care. Not because we made ourselves that way, but because we have inherited our best traits and our greatest characteristics from the Father of us all."

Sometimes I think dads get a bad rap, but they are so important! And I know they try harder than we give them credit for.

I am feeling extra grateful for my own dad today--for his constant support and unconditional love. He has always wanted the best for his children and moved heaven and earth to get it for them. And I'm thankful for Mike, too, who takes his role as father so seriously. We'd be lost without his inspiration and direction and support.

Let's give our dads a big squeeze this weekend, if we can. Have a good one!

the family computer

For years our computer has been in a spare bedroom that serves as an office/sewing room on our main floor. But lately I've been feeling like it needed to be more visible, so I moved it to the kitchen. There is no ideal place to put it in there. We have to stand in front of it now or pull a chair up to the cabinets and bump our knees, but I don't care. I think moving it to the kitchen will keep my family safer. We have some strict computer rules already (like, unless you are doing homework, you have to have a buddy, no computer when the parents aren't home, etc.), but I like having it out in the open, too.

Summer is a good time to take a break from the computer, anyway. My kids keep asking to use it and I keep saying no. And they complain for a minute and then they find something else (better) to do. Ha!

the best pie

Ok, this really is maybe the best pie ever. It's a chocolate chess pie and was totally worth saving up all of my sugar during the week for a slice. It poofs up like a soufflé in the oven, but then deflates as it cools. After chilling it in the fridge overnight, I served it with freshly whipped cream after Sunday dinner. It is rich and dense and so delicious.

Two notes: I halved the recipe and only made one pie. While I regret this, I am glad that I don't have a whole other pie to avoid as I am back to not eating sweets during the week. And I left out the coffee extract and I can't imagine that its omission lessened the deliciousness.

I don't think I am overstating things when I say that I might never make another kind of pie again.

happy weekend

We have reached the point in our summer vacation where I don't know what day it is anymore. All of our days pretty much look like this ^^^. Lots of swimming. Lots of reading. Lots of sleeping in. It has been wonderful.

We have some fun things planned for this weekend, like a neighborhood carnival to help support our friend, Jeff, who was just diagnosed with colon cancer! If you are local, please come on Saturday night. There will be carnival games, food trucks, a humongous silent auction, and more. Here is the Facebook page and the Instagram account for more information. It is going to be a great night for a really good cause.

This is the kind of neighborhood effort that makes me really grateful to live where we do.

I felt so good last summer/fall when I was limiting my sugar, so I am trying to do it again, but it is so hard. And this pie has been calling my name. I think I'll make it for Sunday dinner. If I can get back to having one treat a week at Sunday dinner, I think I'll feel better. I've been feeling sluggish lately and it's time to make a change. More sleep and less sugar. That's the plan.

Stay cool out there and have a happy weekend!

a habit shift

We spent yesterday cleaning out our garage and shed. Why we chose to do that when it was 107 degrees outside, I don't know. But when the urge to purge hits, you have to follow through. That's what I've learned, anyway.

Our goal was to make room in the garage for our bikes. Because all of a sudden it feels like we have a million bikes!

Another thing I love about Mike is that when he decides to do something, HE DOES IT. An example: We have decided that if possible, we will ride our bikes instead of driving our car. Luckily we live where it is very flat (it's not called Mesa for nothing), and most of our life happens within a very small radius of our home. This is something I happily support. But Mike didn't stop there. No, he went above and beyond, like he always does, and found us electric bikes!

Oh man, they are a major game changer. Once you start pedaling, the little electric motor kicks in to assist. Every bike ride becomes a leisurely bike ride, even though you are zooming down the road. (Since our children don't have electric bikes, we kept our old bikes for family bike rides. Thus, the million bikes now crowding our garage.) The electric bikes make his commute to work and school, date night, and trips to the store so much more fun.

Sometimes it is hard to shift our habits. It takes effort to think about jumping on my bike to run an errand instead of jumping in the car. It takes some planning, too. That quick trip to the store might not happen, but maybe that's ok? Maybe it can wait. And sometimes habit shifts require going against the norm a little bit. My gut tells me that this shift is a good one, odd as it may seem to others. I've noticed that when I get home from a trip on my bike, I am happy. There is something light and peaceful and quiet about it. I am glad that Mike pushed it, and that it fits into our life easily.

(We got Juiced bikes and love them.)

biking to the store

Something I love about Mike is that he always has a new idea. He is constantly trying to improve how we do things around here. He'll research all the things, weigh the options, and then move forward. I am more apt to keep things the same, even if they aren't working terribly well. For instance: I've been riding my bike to the grocery store every week, but I could only fit so much in that teeny basket. I would have kept dangling grocery bags off my handlebars til the end of time, but he ordered a bike trailer. And now I can fit all the groceries! Hooray!