Parties, Strawberries

Every time I sit down to talk about the past week, I can't remember anything at first.

I went to a baby shower on Saturday for a girl in the ward. We hosted a game night on Saturday and had lots of goodies. One of our people is leaving (getting a teaching job somewhere else.)

We had a busy Sunday at church. Katie gave a talk, Samantha said a prayer, and we subbed for Kenny's class. Everything went well. After church, we finished playing the last scenario in Catan: Traders and Barbarians. It wasn't quite as fun as the one before, but it wasn't bad.

Kenny went to yet another birthday party on Monday. We went fossil hunting for FHE and had homemade strawberry ice cream, which was incredible. I'd gotten 10 lbs. of strawberries and made sorbet, ice cream, and then jam, which I took to my ministering families along with some homemade bread. I didn't get as much jam as I'd hoped, but it turned out nice and thick without being super sweet. In other words, it's delicious, and we have only a handful of strawberries left from the original 10 lbs.

Tuesday, Samantha was invited to play with her friend from church, Blakely, who just turned 4. They are so cute together. We had some fries at McDonald's, and the girls had a fun time playing on the playground.

James and I watched a movie (The Mummy) and had some snacks.  It wasn't nearly as good as I remembered. Today, we're going to the temple together for the first time in a while.

I got some dry lube for my bike and tinkered with the brake so it doesn't stick anymore. It doesn't shift perfectly, especially on the front, but it works well enough to keep riding safely. I wish I knew what I was doing, really, so I could replicate it in the future. So far, all my experience with bikes has been through YouTube and trial and error.

Biking, Reception, Summer Goals

It's funny how summer kind of sneaks up on me every year. A few of my bike rides have been unbearably hot already. After a cold winter, I feel like 80 degrees is too warm. Once school is out, I plan to ride first thing in the morning. I haven't reached my goal of getting to the cattle guard without stopping, but I'm working on it. My bike needs lube because it's not shifting well and making some noise. I went down a rabbit hole this morning reading about it.

Our old babysitter Alyssa had a wedding reception on Tuesday. Despite the weather, it ended up being pretty fun. James had a work dinner, so he went later. I managed to keep the kids happy and get them to bed.

For FHE on Monday, we made some summer goals as a family. I'm already working on biking, which I hope to do 4x a week along with 1 day of yard work. I feel completely wiped out and even a little queasy after a 30-minute ride, so I don't feel like I should push myself harder than I already am. Honestly, it takes me an hour to feel normal again once I get home. I also have a goal to read all of the fiction books in our bookcase (which grows every time I go to D.I.). So far, so good. My cooking goal is making homemade ice cream once a week. We made blueberry and peanut butter cup last week, both of which were delicious.

As for the kids, I'm hoping to get them in a habit of brushing their teeth without having to remind them. We're also going to do more cooking lessons. I hope to have the 3 older kids cooking breakfast and lunch every day and helping with dinner prep. I'd like for Lewis to learn to ride a bike, but we'll see. The older kids also want to learn to swim. With all the travel we'll be doing, it's going to be a really busy summer. I hope we can accomplish all these goals as well. The years are flying by. I almost have a 12-year-old!

Mother's Day, Ice Cream

Saturday morning, I got the best present ever. James took all the kids out from several hours. I cooked and watched TV in a silent, clean house. We went to a wedding reception that night, which was nice. The kids stayed home, cleaned up, and showered, so it was pretty easy to get ready for DND.

Sunday was nice too. I did very few dishes, got a cookie from church, and got little presents from each of the kids. James got me an electric ice cream churn, which I'm happy to say I've used twice already. We made a batch of vanilla, then chocolate, which is now hardening in the freezer. The vanilla was excellent, and I think the chocolate will be as well. So far, I've tried Alton Brown recipes that use eggs. The churn came with a bunch of recipes as well, so I have a list of 20 or so that I want to try. Not all are ice cream; there are recipes for sorbet, frozen yogurt, and gelato as well. I calculated the cost of a pint to be between $1 and $1.35, depending on if I get free eggs or not.

Everyone is ready for school to be over. 2 weeks and 1 day left!

Biking, Projects

Saturday, Joseph and Kenny had a Spanish program. I think it went well. It was a real pain to make the cooking videos because I was really tired and stressed from the week, but we got it done. Kenny's even won for most likes.

For FHE on Monday, we took the kids to Naples Park and got ice cream sandwiches. It's funny how such a small thing can make them so happy.

I've been riding my bike as often as possible. My goal is to ride as far as I can 4 days a week, do 1 day of yard work, and take 2 days off. The first bike ride was incredibly painful. I bought a gel cover for my bike seat to make it tolerable, but it hurt a LOT for the first few days. I've already seen progress, though. I can ride all the way to the first turnoff where there's construction going on. Oh, and this is out on the dirt road by my house. It's uphill on the way out but downhill the entire way back, so I like that. I can push myself hard and then cruise on home when my legs give out. My next goal is to get to the cattle guard without stopping. After that, I'm hoping to make it all the way to a little grove of trees. I don't think I'll ever ride more than 45 minutes, maybe, but that depends on how much I like it.

I've been working on cutting up the fabric I got from Grandma Lee. I started by making a new flag for the pirate ship. I cut out a bunch of quilt squares already. Hopefully, I'll finish cutting things up tomorrow. I've set aside some fabric for small (still TBD) projects.