May by the numbers/photos

Just did a little audit of the May calendar… we’re in the thick of it now! To me things REALLY gear up when there start to be a bunch of special weeknight events. This sets May apart from the rest of the year, I think.

The numbers

Tennis matches= 4 (including one full day Conference event). *Tennis is actually winding down already for JV! This will be done by this weekend.

Graduation photo day= 1 (complete, and we had the apparel all set… check!)

College Prep Info night for freshmen/sophomores= 1 (I attended this informational session with Ethan last week, from 7-8 pm, at his school… which is a 30 minute drive from home. After his tennis match in a different town.)

Ethan soccer games= 5? (Not counting 2 in Illinois this weekend that we are skipping due to conflict with tennis Conference)

Asher swim meets= 2 (had one this past weekend that= me volunteering for 4 hours, and another this upcoming weekend 1.5 hours away)

Asher VB games= 4 + a tournament (not counting the many games they already had in April)

Asher soccer games= 3 + a tournament… so like, 6?

Muffins with Mom morning at school= 1

Asher band concert= 1 (weeknight)

Asher Brewer’s Game field trip= 1 (during school, doesn’t affect me 🎉)

Ethan tennis awards banquet= 1 (weeknight… far away…)

VB league tournament= a whole weekend in less than 2 weeks, and oh yeah, we don’t have the actual game schedule yet…. grrr.

Asher- Athletic Awards ceremony at school= 1 (a Sunday night)

Me- dentist appointment= 1

Me- spine clinic appointment= 1

Ethan- orthodontist appt= 1

Charlie- grooming appt= 1

Ethan- final exams= a whole week. Doesn’t exactly affect me, but need to support him (good meals, sleep, maybe quiz him, etc??)

Ethan- Driver’s Ed Behind the Wheel session= 1

Me- haircut/ color before Hawaii!= 1 but always takes a few hours and has to be on a weekday…

Asher- 8th Grade graduation ceremony = 1 (the night before we leave for Hawaii!!) 🤪 What fool planned that great timing?!? Hehehehe….

If I add those all up, I get…. 41 things!

NOT counting any of the multiple-time-per-week soccer, swim, VB or tennis practices. Or, work. Or exercise. Or grocery shopping. Or cooking. Or cleaning. Or dog walking. Or shopping/ packing for our trip! Or… you get the idea.

Anyway, hopefully this provides a little insight into why I’ve been like a quiet on the blog lately. Only so many hours in the day, folks. 🙂

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In Photos:

Here are some snaps from this past week. Can I just say I’m so relieved to finally be fully over my illness from last week?! I needed that about like a hole in the head, but I guess if it had to happen this month, last week was probably the best place for it.

🔷 I made it to two of Ethan’s tennis matches lately on beautiful afternoons. It’s very fun to watch him play!

After this match we swung by Culver’s for dinner and then went to the College Prep Night at school. Hard to believe we’re actually talking in seriousness about how to pick the college that’s the best fit for you, ACTs, and the impact of weighted GPAs and AP classes, but here we are. The presentation was well done and insightful. At this point it’s just meant to get certain things on our “radar”- there’s no big rush or action items needed at this point. But I’m glad they provided this presentation sooner than later, so the info has time to just sort of simmer for a while.

🔷 Baked chicken tacos

Cooking is sort of an after-thought right now (see above list…), but I did make these Baked Chicken Tacos last week which were a HUGE HIT with the entire family!!!

Basically it’s shredded, seasoned chicken sauteed with some onion, tomato and jalapeno peppers. Then you bake the hard shells for 5 mins to crisp them up, then add some refried beans in the bottom. Top with the chicken mix, then top with shredded cheese, and bake!

SO EASY (would be even easier if you used pre-made shredded chicken or rotisserie)- was done and ready in less than 30 minutes.

*We are usually “taco snobs” and hard shell tacos are, well, not really authentic Mexican tacos. But these were still so good! Ivan consoled himself and decided to say they were tacos dorados (basically fried tacos, which is an authentic Mexican dish) to make himself feel better about actually liking my Old El Paso hard shell tacos. 😜😜

Seriously though- try these! So good.

🔷 Morning Walks

Despite the chaos, 7-7:30 a.m. is usually still always reserved for Charlie Bear!

🔷 Swim meet

Asher had a home swim meet on Saturday. I am NO LONGER the volunteer coordinator, praise Jesus, so I just had to show up and work my assigned shift and leave.

I was a Timer which is actually quite fun, but it is constant and yikes it’s a lot of hustle. The heats come fast and furious one after another after another, for 4 hours straight! And you can’t miss a beat, or you might mess up someone’s time.

I was partnered with the new volunteer coordinator’s 13 year old daughter (who was volunteering and would swim the afternoon session). She was sweet and was fun to work with.

Asher swam well with a couple big time drops. A fun and very busy morning! We had to be there by 7:30 a.m. and didn’t leave until 12:00 noon.

🔷 Swim –> Soccer

From there we swung by, picked up Asher’s soccer friend who needed a ride, and basically headed straight for Appleton, WI (1.5 hours away) for a 3 pm soccer game.

Talk about a full day. It was fun, although they lost the game.

(*I did recline the seat in my van and dozed off for ~15 minutes or so while they were warming up before the game.) It was a pleasantly warm afternoon and overall a nice time!

Afterwards I took Asher and his friend to Noodles for dinner on the way home:

His friend is a really nice kid and very personable/ chatty. They actually went to Kauai recently for spring break (with a very brief stop in Oahu), so every time I see him I pick his 15-year-old brain about what he liked best, etc. from the trip. 🙂 We’re in part doing the mountain tubing excursion based on his family’s recommendation.

🔷 Saturday night out, because… why not.

We finally got home by around 7 p.m, after leaving home at 7 a.m.

Part of me wanted to just crawl into bed, BUT, we had also been invited to our Mexican restaurant for a special Fight Night Event.

Hugely famous Mexican boxer Canelo Alvarez was going to be fighting Jaime Munguia in Las Vegas on Saturday night (viewable only on pay-per-view). The Mexican place had bought the fight and was hosting a special viewing night.

We are not big into boxing, but Canelo is a Big Deal and we’ve seen him fight before. It’s actually really fun. (I mean, not something I want to watch all the time, but now and then and for the big hyped up fights, it is fun.)

I hemmed and hawed a little because the fight wasn’t slated to actually start until 10 p.m…. but I decided, what the hey, why not. I was hungry and I really can’t get enough nachos, so.. there’s also that.

We drove downtown by like 9 p.m. and got a prime spot at the bar, in front of the 3 big TVs. Had a drink, had some nachos, and the fight started at 10.

The place was packed and the energy was exciting! I’m glad we went. 🙂 It really is so fun to watch live sporting events with a crowd. Everyone was like OOOOHHH!! and UGHHHHH when they’d land good punches, etc. Lol.

It was actually a great fight, too. Canelo won unanimously but Munguia put up a good fight and held his own (for a newer guy on the boxing scene, especially).

I think we got home by midnight or so? LONG DAY! But, a good day.

🔷 Sunday

Sunday was a gorgeous day. After the full day away on Saturday, I needed a minute to like, regroup my life.

Ivan took Ethan to work and then he had his own soccer game at 10, but I mostly just did a lot of chores/ household stuff/ etc.

It was perfect to just have some down time. I did go to Asher’s volleyball game at 1:00, but otherwise did some cleaning, straightening, organizing, etc.

In the afternoon we got groceries and ran a couple errands, and Asher had to work from 3-6:30.

I also sat out on our front step and read my book for a good 30 minutes while Charlie did this:

It was so warm and sunny and he just sat there for the longest time, watching the world go by. 🙂 So cute!!

I was loving looking up at this big tree in our yard, really bloomed out now and full of lots of chirping birds:

Asher texted me part way through his shift and said it was slow and did I want to stop over for dinner? Wasn’t planning on Arby’s for dinner, but you know what, I hadn’t actually planned anything for dinner yet, so…. sure!

I drove over and had a roast beef sandwich and fries and read my book for a little while. He stopped out to chat in the lobby in his little apron and it was very cute. 🙂

Ivan went to a birthday party at his cousin’s house on Sunday evening, to which I was also invited but was like NOPE. I had the excuse of needing to pick up Asher from work anyway, but I just basically had zero desire to be gone again Sunday night after the very busy Saturday. (Ivan, my extroverted husband, has no limit on “doing stuff”. I swear, he never, ever craves quiet time/ alone time and is happy to just go go go go…..). So he went off to that with his sister and I stayed home and cleaned the refrigerator out and was perfectly happy to do so. LOL.

I ended the night with a soak in the hot tub with Asher, followed by an episode of Modern Family.

I also made the boys this Culinary Masterpiece for dinner…HAHA. Grilled cheese, frozen veggies and some blackberries. Whatever, they liked it. 😅

🔷 #BoysNight

I got a chuckle out of this little group of mallards swimming together at the park. I was thinking, Where are they headed?? “Come on fellas, let’s all head down to the pier and grab a brewskie.” 😂

🔷 Good reminder:

And finally, not really weekend related, but sticking it in here anyway….

I took a screenshot of this from Hungry Runner Girl‘s IG yesterday and thought it was a great message!

A good reminder that it’s OKAY for moms to take time for ourselves and to keep doing the things we love! In fact, it’s imperative that we do, so that our kids will hopefully follow suit someday and develop their own interests and passions, too.

Daily Gratitude:

I am grateful for a thunderstorm this morning which gave me “cozy summer morning vibes”.