currently - look at my giant face - link up

The deal: Use our themes or use your own - just let us know what is 'currently' going on with you! Be sure to stop by and say hello to the other bloggers linking up - especially to my amazing co-host at Harvesting Kale.

This week's themes: learning, making, loving, reading, smelling

So that big face photo is coming atcha live from me writing this post. Black and white because no makeup and cuz BW makes my dirty windows look like fairy magic. I did the unthinkable and moved my laptop from the downstairs desk. Right? I am actually a genius. Gone portable. Blogging from bed. Forgot to bring beer up. Still, this feels pretty rad.

This week I have been Learning that bucket lists really do come true. Especially if you have a super boring bucket list like mine. One of the things I've always wanted to do is become jigsaw puzzle enthusiasts with my kids and always have a puzzle going in the house. Well that has begun! We have a 550 piece Mario Kart puzzle officially started on the kitchen table. Otto's into it enough; I plan to feed that fire until his puzzle enthusiasm bursts from his core like rays of sunlight. Anyways, we're doing a puzzle and it's like I'm living in my own fantasy.

Loretta has been Making airplanes full of innocent people duck for cover as she threw a series of crackers up and behind her, single file, hand over fist, so fast I could barely pin her little hands down. It was raining crackers, so that was fun. She also peed on me while at the airport and dropped a deuce while in-flight and ladies and gentlemen all I can say about that is that I deserve about eleven merit badges for traveling with my daughter, who is wonderful, and hilarious, but seriously a pain in the ass.

Otto has been Loving spending this week at home with his dad and sister. Summer camp will start for him next week and this week it's just been all kinds of park walks and outings and yard popsicles. I'm pretty sure Rob lets him sneak-watch "rough" shows like Ninja Turtles. He's living the sweet life.

The Ladies Who Book Club has been Reading How Remarkable Women Lead and I'm not sure our chapter/week pace is the best thing for this book but still, I'm feeling pretty inspired by it. We'd love to have you in this group, join us! And we have big plans to start reading a less self-helpy book next for a change of pace, so potentially we'll be reading Wild starting sometime next month. Excited!

Smelling is one thing I haven't been doing much of this week. Allergies have brought me pretty low and my neti pot has been all like, "Lindsey, dude, back off." I was so sure I'd escaped my annual chronic cough this Spring and then bam, I'm disgusting. So hopefully this gorgeous rainy night is washing away all the pollen and I'll wake up feeling like a million bucks.

That was this week and here are next week's themes:
managing, missing, thinking, creating, looking 

these are the good old days

Vacationing with this many little peanuts is about the funnest, craziest thing. We've got a 0, two 2s, a 4, and a 5 on our hands. All of them are lunatics. So loud and bossy and they have no idea what's going on but they want what they want and will holler about it! And it's awesome. But thank goodness for kid naps and beer.

This has been just the best. Why do vacation days fly by so quickly? Why don't I tan, ever? Why do we have to live so far from these people?

currently - californiaaaaaa, here we cooooome! - link up

The deal: Use our themes or use your own - just let us know what is 'currently' going on with you! Be sure to stop by and say hello to the other bloggers linking up - especially to my amazing co-host at Harvesting Kale.

This week's themes: watching, wearing, wanting, waiting, winning

Dudettes, we are on vacation! That's pretty much unheard of so yeah, kinda freaking out in a good way. I'm so happy to report that we're currently spending time Watching our kiddos best friend it UP with their cousins. There is nothing like it. There is nothing like being the grownups in this kind of scenario either. Drinking beers, barbecuing, sunshine, and 5 happy kiddos all aged 5 and under running around like little crazy animals. It's awesome.   

Hmmm, while we're in Cali I am Wearing the most unimpressive beach wardrobe that ever was or will be. I don't look like a dog or anything, but we aren't currently in a time or money situation where investing in vacation clothes was going to be an option. Luckily my style is pretty messy to begin with so I'm feeling all right except UGH I wish I'd remembered to deal with my (non-existent) pedicure before we left. Fugly toes, wah.

Loretta has been Wanting to skip naps and never sleep because sleep is for losers, didn't you know? When you sleep you miss out on the LIFE PARTY that is happening with Nanas and Papas and aunts, uncles, cousins when you are on vacation so let's never take naps or sleep again!

I guess we are, as a family, kind of existentially Waiting for the time in our lives when doing things like this becomes the norm. Rob'll have his degree in two short years and then we'll have two incomes, likely be living someplace new, the kids will be older, it'll just be more settled, and more manageable to do standard things like take summer vacations or whatever. I'm ready for it. I feel too old to be as financially upside down as we've been the last few years. Patience, I know. But just ::taps watch for two years then breathes sigh of relief in 2016::

As far as I'm concerned Summer is Winning the other seasons, hands down. Something about sun on your shoulders and eating outside and slightly freer schedules and life just feels better. Anyone else doing fun summer vacations this month? It's so good for the soul.

That was this week and here are next week's themes:
learning, making, loving, reading, smelling 

Currently {link up} hey look! a picture of my kids watching TV

The deal: Use our themes or use your own - just let us know what is 'currently' going on with you! Be sure to stop by and say hello to the other bloggers linking up - especially to my amazing co-host at Harvesting Kale.

This week's themes: hearing, hinting, hunting, hankering, hoping

So, I don't know what you've been Hearing but I hear couch parties and letting your kids watch old Scooby Doo movies is the new black. At least yesterday it was. Poor Otto had his first ever earache and I had to pick him up early from school. He went to bed feeling superfine (actually thrilled because after Loretta went to bed I let him watch the Batman Lego movie too - dude was living LARGE) so but anyways who knows what's going on with him. The doctor's office said to keep an eye on it and give him ibuprofen. We live in the pollen allergy hot spot of the US, so it could be that he's allergic to breathing right now. Fingers crossed he wakes up on top of the world.  

Speaking of feeling overwhelmed, I am officially Hinting to the Universe to throw me a bone already. This week has been a-plenty to handle already without an earache thrown in the mix. Dammit. Why not throw a box of cupcakes in the mix? I'd so rather be all, "oh a box of  cupcakes I wasn't expecting to deal with during this crazy week, I guess I'll figure it out!"

Lately, Loretta has been Hunting for exactly the doll/toy she wants to play with and everyone around her can go to hell til she finds it. This is cool, because it's cool that she's got interests and cares so stinking much. But also uncool, because she puts her toys in inexplicable places and then no one can find what she's looking for and she screams things like, "BAWBREE ARRGGGHHHH!" when she wants a very specific one of six Strawberry Shortcake babies and then it's like insta-panic in the house and what the heck is she yelling? And for every time you hold up the wrong toy to her and say, "This one?" you further enrage her, "NO NO NO NO BAWBREE ARRRRGGGGHHHHH!".

Ha.

We've all been Hankering for ice cream. Otto has been on an ice cream sundae kick so it's been an ice cream in the yard every day kinda week. Yeah, that works for me.

I've been Hoping this week of solo momming would go quickly and uneventfully. So far it's been great; in some ways really great like for reals Downton Abbey is so good and our picnic dinners in the yard have been lots of fun. Otto has proven himself to be a superkid and great helper and Loretta is a lot easier than I give her credit for... still, I'm pooped. Just really really pooped.

That was this week and here are next week's themes:
watching, wearing, wanting, waiting, winning 

Currently {link up} all the soft rock love songs

The deal: Use our themes or use your own - just let us know what is 'currently' going on with you! Be sure to stop by and say hello to the other bloggers linking up - especially to my amazing co-host at Harvesting Kale.

This week's themes: snapping, checking, learning, dropping, saving

Lately I have been Snapping my fingers, or more like ugly crying in the car while singing my lungs out, to the beat of John Legend's All of Me and Stay With Me by Sam Smith. These songs! So good! Cannot get enough. Only when I'm by myself in the car though, obvi. Otto would have no patience for that nonsense - beyond the fact that my voice is garbage, he's a radio dictator and prefers up-tempo, bass driven stuff like White Stripes and the Killers or hip hop (hey that's cool, dude). I think Loretta would let me get away with it, as long as I paused every few minutes to turn the radio off and sing C is for Cookie with her.  

Loretta has been Checking to make sure she has her Thomas train with her at all times. At the dinner table, twice now, she's gotten out of her chair to go find him and bring him to eat with her if she hadn't brought him already. The first time, I said, "Loretta, what are you doing? Please sit down and eat." And she sticks up a finger and looks me in the eye and says, "Right back!" Sure thing, little miss. You tell it. She also sleeps with Thomas and brings him in the car to the sitter's, then says goodbye to him and leaves him in her car seat when it's time to go it. It's all trains, all the time, in the toy room. Train phase!

Otto has been re-Learning the value of politeness. He had been getting a bit too entitled acting lately. Like, where did all the pleases and thank yous go? But I would rather die than raise a Bieber... So we've been drilling pretty hard on the please and thank you front, and just asking him to pitch in and help us out when we're picking up or doing chores, and it's awesome to see how quickly he got back into the flow of being polite. Whew!

With summer pretty much here we've been Dropping the ball on our meal plan. It's so much easier to throw a terrible meal together than can be eaten on a blanket. I guess it's time to hit Pinterest and come up with some picnic dinner ideas for the next few months.

I've been Saving my "worry of the week" for this last theme, I guess. Just wish me luck and send peaceful vibes my way, guys. Rob's going to a math conference in Montreal for several days soon and it's going to be just me and the kids. I'm worried about keeping a schedule, about the house falling apart around our ears, and mostly about sleeping at night. Ugh. Although thanks to the suggestions last week I do have a plan to either marathon through Suits or dive into Downton Abbey while he's away. Lady party!

That was this week and here are next week's themes:
hearing, hinting, hunting, hankering, hoping