In June we wrapped up soccer and in July we wrapped up swimming. I feel like our entire July was spent at one pool or another. Or driving to one pool or another. But I have to say it was so fun to see Claire compete and drop time. It’s been fun to see Avie trying to improve her skills so she can be on swim team next year when she is 5, too. We’ve got some fun things planned for August before school starts. Claire has Girl Scout camp and then we are off to the Smoky Mountains for a week. I get to meet up with the Blonde Squad, too! Woohoo!
Books I’ve Read
- The Brighter the Light by Mary Ellen Taylor– Ivy goes back to Nags Head, North Carolina to prepare her grandmother’s house for sale after her grandmother passes away. This means confronting her past as well. As Ivy mends broken relationships, she learns of her grandmother’s past. I liked the dual storyline. It was fascinating to read about the class differences of the 1950s. 4/5
- The Keeper of Happy Endings by Barbara Day- This is set is 1985 with flashbacks to Paris during WWII. Soline Roussel is a recluse after her bridal shop experienced a devastating fire 4 years prior. Rory Grant leases Soline’s old property and discovers a box containing letters and a vintage wedding dress, never worn. When Rory returns the mementos, an unlikely friendship develops. I enjoyed the storyline a lot and my only criticism is of one of the male characters. His actions later on in the story are so inconsistent with his early personality. There was an easier way to tie the story together I think. 4/5
- A Day Like This by Kelley McNeil– Annie Beyers is on her way to take her daughter Hannah to the pediatrician. The next thing she knows, she is in the hospital and confused doctors tell Annie that Hannah never existed. Five happy years of her life apparently never happened. Her life is completely different than what she remembers. What is real and what is a product of her accident? This book was not what I thought, but I absolutely loved the way the story progressed and Annie’s determination to find her way in life. It was fascinating! 5/5
- Social Crimes by Jane Stanton Hitchcock- When New York socialite Jo Slater’s husband passes away, she learns that he has left his fortune to a French countess. Jo uses her knowledge of the greatest historical swindle of all time—a true story involving Marie Antoinette—Jo sets out to reclaim her fortune and her place in society. I thought Jo was such a likable character and I really enjoyed following her story. I’m looking forward to the sequel! 4/5
Products I’ve Tried
- Spokenote– This is such a neat product! They are QR code stickers that you can record a video message with and stick somewhere. They can be for a special someone or just a reminder about how to do something (think on the side of your furnace on how to change the filter). They are super easy to use and no app needed! My girls recorded a sweet video message for Matt when he was away for the week.
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SPA TECHNOLOGIES- ECO DEFENSE DAILY MOISTURIZER SPF 25- I mentioned this in my Summer Skincare post, but I wanted to mention it here, too. It’s so nice and light and my favorite moisturizer with SPF so far. I prefer it over the majority of other daily moisturizers I have tried. It has a really nice, mild fruit scent and absorbs quickly. It’s made of an antioxidant-rich formula and helps protect your skin against environmental damage and stressors.
Recipes I’ve Made
- Raspberry Fudge Dump Cake– I made this with cherry pie filling because raspberry was out. However, it ended up being a little too sweet. Claire really liked it, but I enjoyed the Cherry Cheesecake Dump Cake I made last month more.
- Veal Wienerschnitzel– Oh my goodness. This was restaurant quality! I can’t wait to make this again. Avie gobbled it up.
- Brown Sugar Peach Cake– This was delicious! I made it with frozen peaches, but I think it would be far better with fresh. The brown sugar frosting is amazing.
- Reese’s Poke Cake– This took a little extra work because of all the different components, but the end result was worth it. I am bummed I forgot to get a photo. So good!
- Sourdough Pretzels– Claire, Avie, and I made these to take to a swim meet to share with some dip. They were a hit. We made some with salt and others with garlic and parmesan cheese topping. Both tasted really good and we got a lot of compliments on them.
Family Update
We all enjoyed going to a hippie themed July 4th Party and watching the fireworks from their backyard (we live close to where they shoot them off). We’ve also been enjoying Friday nights at the pool. My parents, in-laws, and SIL and niece were all able to make it to one of Claire’s meets which was really special. It’s been a really good summer so far!
- Matt- Matt has a couple of positions being filled at work so hopefully that means less stress and less travel soon. He was home 2 weeks in a row this month again. I know he loved seeing Claire swim and her improvement over the season. He is also looking forward to our trip in August to the Smoky Mountains!
- Me-I’m happy to be back running a few times a week, but being careful to ease myself into it. It feels so good to be back on the trails! Otherwise I’ve been keeping really busy with things around the house. I made a new wreath for the front door, painted a new bookshelf for Claire’s room, and have been updating the guest room this month.
- Claire– I’m absolutely bursting with pride over this kid! She has had an amazing month. Every time she swam freestyle, she had a best time and finished her last meet with best times in all 3 events (freestyle she decreased by 5 seconds, 13 second faster in fly, and 8 seconds faster in back)! Claire even placed 11th and got a ribbon in fly. She and her friends have hosted a few lemonade stands recently and have quite the cash flow! That’s where it’s at I guess. Claire was evaluated for a fall/winter swim team and accepted. Now she will be on fall soccer and swim. Heaven help us!
- Avie- I finally allowed Avie to go down the slide at the pool and now she won’t stop. She is getting a lot better with her swimming and can almost get to the side of the pool on her own. She has been really enjoying occasional bike rides with Matt on the weekends. I’m sure before next summer this girl will want her training wheels off.
July Goals Recap
- Paint office ceiling- No. I thought I would be able to get to this when the kids had camp this month, but it didn’t happen.
- Choose laundry drying rack and mount it- We did buy 2 wall mounted drying racks. However when they removed extra cabinets, we needed to paint the patches. It’s the only color we can’t find in the basement! Everything else the previous sellers left nicely labeled. So that means the entire room needs to be painted now. Sigh. Hopefully we will get to it this weekend.
- Work on Level A books with Avie– Done! We have 5-6 we rotate though and she is doing great!
- Read with Claire one night a week–Claire has been so busy with friends at swimming we weren’t able to do this. Hopefully we will be able to read while on vacation in August.
August Goals
- Work on Level B books with Avie– I printed off a couple of level B books and hope to get her started on a few of those.
- Paint the laundry room- Well since we have huge patches of white on a grey wall we need to get that fixed! I’m just going to paint it the same color as the kitchen- a very soft camo green. It will look better with the new countertop in there anyway.
- Go shopping by myself- Or at least schedule sometime for something fun for myself. It’s my birthday month, after all!
- Enjoy the last bit of summer!