Grow through what you go through.

wife and mama.

[growingracealways]

UM. Excuse me??? My Spotify just notified me that Mayday Parade is releasing new music??? What in the millennial emo is going on?

[growingracealways]

Reminding myself that when it’s 100° plus humidity here I actually love living in the south for October-April. And that June-mid September is just miserable temporarily.

[growingracealways]

Just pulled off three hornworms from my tomatoes.

I’m done no more gardening for me.

Thankfully the chickens loved them. 😂 By the third one they were fighting over it hahaha

[growingracealways]

*My kids fighting in the kitchen about frozen French toast sticks.*

S: I’m gonna eat yours if you don’t eat them.

L: I don’t want them.

S: immmm gonna eat themmmmm *egging him on*

L from the other room: NO. I want them!!!

S continues to rile him up 🙄

L: GOOD!!!!!! THEN YOURE GOING TO GET HEAD FOOT MOUTH!!!!!!

Me in the other room attempting to get work done: 🤨🤨🤨🤨…..???

S: ….what are you TALKING ABOUt?

L: I already bit it. I ate them. So if you eat them you’re gonna get SICK. You can’t eat them. Otherwise you’re going to get HEADFOOTMOUTH.

…..neither of my children have HFM. 😂😂😂

It’s been two weeks of summer (90% without a car!) and while it’s been more good than painful and not too bad my goodness their first camp is next week and I CANNOT WAIT lol.

[growingracealways]

Ope seeing Every Summer After was a huge let down and now I don’t even want to watch it. I lovedddd Off Campus (as someone who read all the books, too!) I thought it was really well done. But Carley is my fave and if they mess this up I will be unwell.

And Windy City. And Lucy Scores series I just saw is coming too. I can’t decide if I want them to just not even try or if I want to watch

[growingracealways]

One of the absolute

shittiest parts of This Life™️ is knowing and sitting with the information of the next time before the kids know. We usually tell them 2ish weeks before, depending on how long it’s going to be. Thankfully not as long as last time but…Ugh my mama heart.

[growingracealways]

Got my car back today after 11 days without it (that also coordinated to the first day of my kids summer!!) I am SO grateful for 1. The blessing and ability/~financial freedom we have in having two cars, I know not every family is as fortunate. 2. A local good friend who brought us out when we needed to. As well as my parents visiting this week for an overnight and errand run.

BUT WOW. Get me outta this house lol.

[growingracealways]

Can someone explain to me whatever science is behind wanting to both purge my house of crap and random clothes we don’t wear while also wanting to online shop and buy random stuff for the ✨ rush ✨ and also because I still don’t have a car! And am trapped at home! And so bored! And pool filter is waiting to be fixed and it’s hot af so outside sounds awful!

[growingracealways]

You guys! I grew 11 pounds of frickin potatoes! How cool is that! 😂🤗

[remanence-of-love]

[growingracealways]

Hahahahahahaha. I hate being a grown up. It’s too expensive!!!! First my car - which I still don’t have! It’s been a week!!! I’ll have to write out the whole story later, then our pool filter is leaking!!!!!

[growingracealways]

Nothing makes me feel old like attempting to watch Love Island. Like, gimme the trashhhhhhhh but this is so cringe I need to look away. 😂

[growingracealways]

And on the fourth day of summer trapped in the house with no car:

S: FINE. do you want to play animal tag with me?????

L: NO *already mad at her from previous conversation* I DONT WANT TO PLAY WITH YOU EVER EVER AGAIN!!!!!

S: that’s fine I’ll go play in my room!

L: *.2 seconds later* FINE I’ll play Magnitiles with you!!!

S: okay fine.

*1 minute later playing happily running around upstairs in the playroom*

😒🙃😵‍💫😑🙄

[growingracealways]

In case you need to feel better about yourself as a parent I nearly forgot to be the tooth fairy TWO nights in a row but it’s 930 and I just remembered. Thankfully the baggie fell behind his bed last night so I played that one up REAL HARD that she couldn’t see or get to it?

😅🥴😂😏

Maybe she’ll leave an extra pity dollar and short note tonight we’ll see.

[growingracealways]

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahha.

We dropped my car off at the freaking dealership Sunday night - I don’t wanna talk about it we HATE going to the dealership and avoid if possible because they’re such a rip off but we are in BFE and there’s literally NO WHERE else around here- because it’s been leaking oil. I’ve been calling them for THREE days to get an answer of cost eval and timeline and they’ve been ignoring me. They finally called this afternoon. 3-4k estimate and I potentially won’t have a car for another week.

I’m frickin PISSED.

[growingracealways]

One of my biggest mom guilt/mom gripes/mom fails(?) is that I’m chronically doing things for my kids BECAUSE it’s faster, easier, more efficient than them doing it themselves. AND THEN getting annoyed and bishing because ~I’m Doing It All~. I know I know, I’m not proud. It’s my personality and it’s a huge struggle for me.

So this summer I’m resolving to step back and painfully watch my children do things I KNOW they’re fully capable of doing* when every single fiber of my being wants to push them aside and do it faster, better, more efficiently.

6 year old wanted a Nutella uncrustable for lunch and I just painstakingly watched him spend 5 minutes haphazardly spreading it on bread and cut the uncrustable crooked (then start to throw a fit - NO BUDDY YOU DID THAT) and I flinched the whole time.

ITS FINE DOING FINE.

*my kids are highly self sufficient and independent! But medial tasks like this where “it’s easier for me to just do it” I’m bad at ~~~letting~~~~ them do.

Summer resolve!

[growingracealways]

Lost three pounds in the last month literally from doing a shiz ton of yard work and being outside sweating my butt off daily for 4-6 hours. 🙃

bodies are stupid. I’ve also probably been eating less because of said work. Yet work hard track macros and workout and the scale doesn’t budge. MAKE IT MAKE SENSE. Water weight, probably. Sweat? Idk.