These boys went from winter dino outfits to matching summer dino outfits all in one day :-)
2. Chatbooks. So I was incredibly skeptical as Facebook kept pushing chatbook ads my way, but I finally set it up and we have a slow trickle of 13 photo books on the way to our house and I'm working my way through our backlog of photos. Curating digital photos has become my own personal hell, so the fact that chatbooks auto-curates from my google photos backup (and thus from all our cameras/phones/family downloads) is game changing. It auto sorts by date and then groups similar photos and most of the time chooses the best one, and makes it easy for me to exclude photos from printing which mentally is an easier model for me to work with than the pressure of choosing what to print. Mostly, the 60 page books with only the option for one photo/page makes the projects bite-sized enough I can do them around interruptions and without letting my perfectionism get in the way. I am seriously pumped about this as getting my photos into print form to survive changing digital technologies is always in the back of my mind. If you want to give it a try and end up ordering, here's a referral link. http://invite.chatbooks.com/heatherwatson3q6 I have $130 worth of books queued up to be sent to our house already so you could say I'm already in pretty deep and every little bit helps :-) My eventual goal is 5-6 per year, but I've given myself some leeway with months where we have big events like adorable new babies or epic vacations. Here's a glimpse of what I've gotten done so far, my first 11,000 photo/movie files boiled down into these neat and tidy little books.
3. The camper market in Bozeman is crazy and we knew that when we bought ours it had some water damage but also that we had looked at smaller campers in the same price range with worse damage for the same price or more. So, while it was not a surprise when we finally decided to address our camper water damage, it has taken a bite out of our weekend time as we rebuilt the front corner of the trailer when we discovered the wood was crumbling in our fingers. The plus side of picking up an older camper is that the construction is fairly simple to DIY compared to the newer models, the downside being that much like photo books, nothing in this house can be done without multiple interruptions. But, I now own a nail gun and a new circular saw, so it really feels like I'm making some progress on this whole adulting business. Oh, and I have really great help, especially when I need someone to ask me a million questions while he's tightening one of the 80 million screws.
3. While we were working on the camper trying to beat the impending rain storm, the kids played in the yard. Catherine and an enterprising young friend who was over to play created a soda and art sale and all be darned if they didn't earn almost $7. It is amazing what a mom will say yes to when she is arms deep in insulation and mold and just needs some time to work! Here friends have also been teaching her to do cartwheels, here was her most recent attempt, she's getting really close and is so proud!
4. And while we're talking about my young entrepreneurs, some of you will be getting direct emails/calls (okay, straight up solicitations) soon about the kids' fun run coming up and I'm going to shamelessly plug it here. If you are able/interested in supporting their school, please consider donating at the links below or shoot me an email. Our school is a Title I school, meaning a large percentage of students are low-income and the funds our PAC (PTA/PTO equivalent) raises are often used to make up gaps in experiences for all of the students, ensuring everyone can attend field trips, have adequate school supplies and more. I know my kiddos have a better school experience with the funds provided by this fundraiser and our school has a group of parents who painstakingly try to get the biggest bang for our buck when it comes to spending the funds. We have an amazing staff at our school that have all worked so hard for my two kiddos and all of their students, it breaks my heart that around town we don't get labeled "the good school" because so many of our students and their families are struggling financially. So giving directly to our school with our time, talents and cash here and there is one of ways we are trying to level the playing field for these amazing and caring teachers and help ensure that all students have access to enriching opportunities.
Catherine's page: https://99pledges.com/fund/hyalitefunrun/catherine-w
Matthew's page: https://99pledges.com/fund/hyalitefunrun/matthew-w
5. Spencer is on a tear of epic proportions. He's pulling up, cruising and crawling up the porch stairs at least.
And he's just all day adorable if not exhausting:
And he has already tried to escape his mundane existence with an attempt at the doggy door. He also tried to escape at Lowes the other day. As I was trying to sort out a return, another clerk notes "there are two cute kids in dino jammies crawling out the door" which is a pretty good summary of how my days are going :-)
No comments:
Post a Comment