Hey y’all- happy Friday! What are you sipping on? I’ve gone from matcha to celery juice to Earl Gray to my green drink and back again. I like to keep my taste buds on their toes. Join me for a cuppa whatever you’re drinking and let’s catch up a bit!

It’s been a very full week around here. Does anyone else feel like all your appointments seem to pile up at the same time? We packed in quite a few (including my first eye appointment in… oh I don’t know.. ever?). We ran a ton of errands, made it to all our activities, and are packed and ready to celebrate my dad’s birthday with the fam this weekend! Whew, go ahead and shake me up one of your famous martinis, Dad!

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On that “packed schedule” note, I feel like it’s been a while since I talked about our homeschool. We are very much on the loose system right now. A mere seven months ago that would have made me all kinds of anxious, but it’s working for now. I think we will implement more of a routine when we start 1st grade (and Pre-K!) in the fall, but for now, relaxed is working just fine for us.

One of the most challenging aspects of homeschool that I’ve experienced is really not knowing how Hailey is doing in comparison with other kids her age/grade level. I’m confident she’s doing “just fine” but I’m not sure what that exactly means. Is she ahead? On par? Behind in any areas? Our goal has never been to try and push her far beyond her grade level (we are much more focused on raising kids that love to learn rather than cramming facts in their heads), but it would be nice to know which areas we might need to work more on. Because of this, we are having Hailey take the Woodcock Johnson exam in May just so we can have a frame of reference moving forward.

Summer will be light on the school front, but still active. School at this age is just so much fun in their eyes, so I think they’d miss it if we took a full break. I’m planning on starting the Beautiful Feet Around the World curriculum at a relaxed pace, and keeping up with reading and math. Then they will add in science and history at co-op starting in September(!). Kaitlyn is beginning to sound out words, which is super exciting! It will be fun to “do school” with both of them.

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Remember when last year I said I would keep up with our family albums on a month to month? LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL. I’ve been keeping a Mixbook tab open on my computer at all times lately and am trying to work on it whenever I have a spare few minutes. I adore our family albums and won’t stop making them. Even if I am only on July of 2017. Perhaps that is a sign I take way too many pictures?

You may also like: How I Turn Family Memories Into Keepsakes

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Sometimes David and I get on rolls with our date nights and do a great job at making them a priority. Other months we’re lucky if we sneak one in. It’s been more the latter recently, but we did manage to squeeze in a last minute date night recently and I decided we should try the new Table 31 at Langtree.

Honest review for my LKN/CLT friends- I wasn’t wild about it. The food was fair at best and overpriced for what you get. The cocktails were good, but after three appetizers that left much to be desired, we jumped shipped and walked down to a favorite of ours, Novanta 90 Pizzeria. The nice but relaxed atmosphere, the drink selection, and the authentic Neapolitan pizza keep us coming back here on the regular. This time we branched out and tried the veggie pasta- all the noodles are spiralized veggies and it was SO good!

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We finally started our garden! I dug out a lot of the clay that had been mixed into the soil and filled it with Daddy Pete’s Sea and Farm, which was recommended to me at a local gardening store. So far we have planted several cherry tomato plants, a few cayenne pepper plants, and basil. In the next week or two we are going to add zucchini and hopefully some sugar snap peas because they did so well for us last year! They climb like crazy though so I’ll try to be better prepared for that this year.

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I like to save links I read and find interesting/helpful/thought-provoking in Bloglovin and on Facebook. I realized I’ve accumulated quite a few and wanted to share with you. I’d love to hear your take on any you find interesting, too.

I Really Thought I’d Miss The Baby Years, But I Don’t – I could relate to this because though I miss wearing my babies (that was the BEST), I don’t have the deep ache about being out of the baby years like I thought I would.

Certain meds may increase baby’s risk of allergies – This may stir up controversy (not my favorite thing) but I found it fascinating and thus, I wanted to share it. Confession: I’m a little bit of an anti-antibiotic nut. I have a deep appreciation (sincerely) for modern/Western medicine but do feel much of it is over-prescribed and can mess with us more than we think which is why this research was intriguing to me.

Ordinary Days I Miss You – This brought tears to my eyes. I’m so grateful for people that share their stories. Reading brave firsthand accounts of people going through real struggle and experiencing what we’ve been through as a family reminds me to appreciate the beautiful minutia of everyday life.

Superfoods That Should Be in Every Mom’s Diet – I was honored that my salmon recipe was included on this list, and found a few more super foods and recipes I’m looking forward to trying as well!

How to Support Your Favorite Bloggers – I loved that Lindsay wrote this because honestly, it’s a pretty brave thing to talk about. As a blogger myself I can vouch for each of these things meaning so much. I’m just a person on one side of the keyboard, and I notice and appreciate each and every one of these actions.

Newly-discovered human organ may help explain how cancer spreads – I won’t pretend I fully understand this, but I marvel at the new discoveries scientists are making every day with how to detect and treat cancer.

What I’ve Learned From Really Good Parties – I took note at this simple, but clever party tips. I especially appreciated #1 and now want to pick a theme and just throw a party for no reason!

Slow Cooker Veggie Burrito Bowls – I have not tried these yet, but they look so easy and really good. When is Mexican ever not good?

50 Spring Wish List Items – I think Molly sent me this as a joke after I talked to her about wanting one, yet now I have it sitting in my cart. I declare it my summer of visors! I’m no fashion queen, so I’m grateful when Molly shares all her favorite finds because as a real life friend, I can vouch that she always looks put together… and makes it look effortless. How, Molly, how?!

My Major Parenting Decisions, Explained – Ashley is right, people are nosy by nature and I enjoyed reading what works for her family, especially because I know firsthand that opening up about why we do things certain ways opens me up to criticism and that’s not always easy. What I really took away from this is a reconfirming that there is no right or wrong way to parent. #YouDoYou

I’d love to hear your thoughts on any of these OR if you’ve read anything share worthy lately, please link it below! 

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! <3