Ugh

 Ugh, you guys.

Yesterday, I tried on a pair of shorts at Target in my usual size, and they DID NOT FIT AT ALL.

And then I was like well I don't want to be the size I apparently am AND ALSO have gray hair, so I bought a box of Madison Reed hair dye AND MY HAIR IS STILL GRAY. Like, IT WOULD NOT TURN BROWN. 

Universe, what are you telling me?

I have been working so much this weeeeeeek. Everywhere I go, past work hours, etc etc etc.

I worked DOWNSTAIRS for a change of pace

I worked at extra curriculars

I worked at the orthodontist

I worked at diving practice

I worked in my office.

SO MUCH WORKING.

In apocalyptic climate changes news, my city set a record for biggest temperature change in 24 hours, with a 59-degree shift on Tuesday. But! When we were on the upswing part, the girls and I played outside.

Minnie is still crafting her cute little face off

Another taco Tuesday has come and gone

Look at this sign Dorothy made-- the warning slays me

Let me leave you with Minnie on our pick-up drop off loop two days in a row:

Just the usual helping of stuff and nonsense

 Sometimes I forget how easy it is to only have three kids. The boys were at an overnight speech tournament, so Ben and I took the little 3 out to dinner, and it was just plan fun. Even though! It's not like the boys are hard to handle at restaurants (LOL). It's just easier to be a smaller party, I guess.

We even went out for dessert at a different place. WHO ARE WE?

For all of my complaining about the driving and the weekends, I am sad to see the end of hockey season approach because Coop has loved it. Luckily diving season is in full swing, and he has not one but TWO baseball teams kicking off practices. So-- still plenty to complain about.

Here's a mom hack for you! I refreshed our kitchen table craft basket with some spring focused stickers, washi tape, pompons, etc, and some pastel markers and new paint and bam! A whole weekend of busy!

Other random tidbits:

Jack is taller than I am by a lot now

GROCERIES ARE SO EXPENSIVE. We have really not noticed inflation very much because our bill is always so high, but the last few weeks have been off the charts!! OR the price has been in line with before times, but the quantity has been smaller. Like, I will for sure have to do a midweek shop or go to Costco, etc. Bah humbug, but it hasn't changed our shopping habits-- just made us complain more.

Dorothy! Is a wonderful lunch date! Must do this more often-- note to self.

One more complaint because WHY NOT-- I broke a dinner plate yesterday, so now we only have 6 matching plates, and there are 7 of us, so I absolutely HAD to buy more, except they were Mikasa from Costco and now Costco has a different pattern are you freaking KIDDING ME. The Mikasa website had a 4-pack of plates, but we also need 2 cereal bowls, 3 fruit bowls, and 2 salad plates, ALL OF WHICH ARE OUT OF STOCK. **shakes fist at universe**

In happy news, Harry was awarded 2 really excellent academic scholarships from the system school in WI that I have been secretly hoping he would pick all along and is much closer to a final choice!! Incredible :)

Actually? This is not my first blog post about a water bottle.

 Because I am as basic as they come, I always lug a 40oz Stanley water bottle everywhere I go. I don't worry about the straw being exposed to germs. I try not to mind it spilling when it gets knocked over or when I am carrying eleventy billion things in my hands and lean forward and water pours from the straw. But! This is the second time that the handle has come off. Well, to be fair, the handle is not all the way off my second cup, but it is loose.

I watched The Today Show spot about overblown lead claims (there is lead in the cup to seal the vacuum part, but it doesn't come into contact with water/leak/poison anyone despite IG claims. And the whole thing is fascinating to me because the cup itself is like a hallmark of the pretty white mom in her pretty white home (as Sara Petersen would say), but then there are all these even more conservative IG influencers with their home lead test results and their super freaking tan faces screaming about NATURE and TOXINS (there's this whole WILD subset of conservative influencers who say skin cancer is a big pharma conspiracy-- the same people who take daily videos of themselves holding their mushroom coffee and walking barefoot in their yards because of the MAGIC of EARTH'S ELEMENTS and the SOLES OF THE FEET). The Stanley cup is one of those fascinating artifacts attacked from the left and the right-- but also a place where the venn diagram of liberal and conservative haters has a weird overlap), and I am not ditching Stanley because of the lead. It's more because the thing costs $50 and BREAKS. That's annoying. And! The warrantee is (purposefully??) hard to claim.

I love a 40oz water bottle. I love the straw. I love that it's trendy and that it fits in my cup holder in the car. But! I WANT IT TO LAST.

Soooooo. I bought an Owala one this weekend. It's so CUTE you guys. And! The company does limited release patterns which I am ALWAYS a sucker for. The 40oz one is really unwieldy, and it doesn't fit in a cupholder. BUT! It's leakproof, and the straw is inside, so I can forgive a lot. There's a leap day shamrock one coming out on, um, leap day, so I will maybe try the smaller size? (Nope-- not Irish. JUST A SUCKER FOR A LIMITED RELEASE YOU GUYS WHY AM I SO BASIC). And don't get me started on the Birthday ones next month...

Too big for me, though, huh?

I have transitioned the kids to cheapy Gatorade bottles for school because I don't care if I have to buy more and can buy a whole team pack of the squeeze ones LOL (these and these). The boys have Yeti straw tumblers, and Jack also has this Yeti which is pretty great. Ben likes Hydroflask for water (I do not) and Yeti for coffee. 

What about you? Any faves we should try before I buy ten thousand Owalas?

5 on A Friday: Morning Face Routine (8/52)

 Hi! I realized the other day that I am loving my current morning face routine, so I thought I’d memorialize it here.

1. WASH MY FACE: I do not use a lot of water here, guys, so I cannot relate to the face washing angst and the big wrist towel things I see on IG. I start by pumping a pump of this cleanser into damp hands, working it into a lather, and gently coating my face. Then I get a wash cloth wet and wring it out. I use the wet cloth to gently wipe the soap away. We are talking DAMPNESS here, not wetness and splashing, etc. (I use this same stuff to wash my face at night in the shower, and I do not need an additional makeup remover).

$10, and I have an Amazon subscribe and save for this— I keep a bottle in my bathroom closet, a bottle in the shower, and a bottle in the boys’ shower because it’s great for all faces. 

2. Hyaluronic acid serum: I use Lancôme’s brand of this, but you can get this kind of anti-aging serum across brands and price points. I got hooked on this one in a holiday gift box and haven’t looked back— just a teeny bit makes my whole face feel smooth. I apply right away to a damp face.

3. Azelaic acid: Also a redness fighter, and I use this mostly around my nose and mouth if I have some rosacea going on.

4. Primer: LOVE THIS ONE even though the scent makes me think I should never ever look it up on the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep database.  I could put this over OR under my moisturizer, but I like to use it first **shrug** I don’t wear foundation or anything like that, so I am only priming my face for more moisture. Sometimes. I do lotion first and then mix this stuff with my favorite Tarte BB cream as a final layer. It is perhaps thicker than I like a moisturizer to be, so I like to use a thin layer under moisturizer or mix with the Tarte stuff. I never like to feel like anything is sitting on top of my skin.

Also— I took pics of all of these things yesterday while I was getting dressed, but only 3 ended up in my photo library (???) or my camera roll (???) and Ben is sleeping in our room right now, so it would be SO RUDE to recreate the moment.

5. Moisturizer. I do not LOVE love this one, but the price is good, and there is nothing bad about it. My skin looks good. It sinks right in, and it has SPF. What else do I need?

This whole routine, from wash to the final swipe of lotion, takes less than 2 minutes. In just under 4 minutes, I can brush my teeth and wash my face— so there’s no excuse for me to be under groomed at school drop off. I definitely have 4 minutes. 5 if I floss!

BONUS: I use an eye cream and The Ordinary caffeine solution on my eyes morning and night. In the AM I use this Lancôme eye cream, but I also have a subscribe and save order for this Neutrogena one for nighttime. 

midweek blather

 When you make a new recipe, do you have to spend time prepping it and just like READING it over first? I just TOOK NOTES on tonight's dinner in my notebook like I am going to have to take a quiz. which I guess I am-- and that quiz is dinner.

To be fair, we will be coming in hot from dropping off Coop and Dorothy and a loooong traffic-y drive home with a small-ish amount of time to actually have dinner before the pickups, so I wanted to think about what can be done ahead in my tiny sliver of afternoon time (when I will also probably be dealing with laundry) and if I need to have a plate of snack ready for Minnie to eat (YES), etc.

BUT STILL. Actual notes. And it's an EASY RECIPE.

Got a mammogram!

Forgot how aggressive they are when choosing my tunic

This hilariously branded WI coffee is pretty great.

Ben was trying to convince her that you don't read every page of every book every time LOL for days. She did not buy it.

Sporty spice. 

Anyone else fall victim to social media ads for Tieks and find out they are actually pretty meh shoes but then wear them anyway because you already freaking spent the money? Grumble grumble.

She loves being back on the BIG RED MAT.

Dance the day away

 I am the worst dance mom because I only got pictures of Dorothy in 3/6 costumes. I will do better next month.

I am the team dance mom for the tap dance (sparkly red above), and I really thought I had my shit together. I sent a perky message on the team app with my cell number and a link to a packing checklist and our team style guide. I bought a bunch of snacks and drinks for the kids in case they needed a pick-me-up because Dorothy gets cranky, and I made sure I was backstage at the appropriate time to gather them together and check costumes real fast.  That's when everyone found out that I'm the worst. A darling little tapper asked me for body glue to help her gloves stay up, and I just blinked blankly at her. "You're the dance mom," she said in a super disappointed tone. I WAS DISAPPOINTED TOO. I have ordered body glue, so next month I AM ALL GOOD, but probably no one will trust me by then. ALSO all of the other dance moms got group pics before the dance. I DID NOT. I AM TERRIBLE AT THIS JOB, but I swear I am going to do better. LOL but also **crying face**

Her dance bag, though, was **chef's kiss**. I am soooo glad we bought one.

Minnie loved EVERYTHING, especially when Dorothy and a dance friend practiced makeup on her the day before the big day

She also loves shopping for makeup

And Dorothy, tween that she is, is suddenly into skin care. I HAVE BEEN WAITING SO LONG FOR THIS

But seriously, the best pic I took at dance--besides Minnie dancing-- was this souvenir strip of eyelashes that somehow found its way onto my jeans

MINNIE DANCING