And thinking of him on what would have been his 74th birthday.
Wearing my dad’s shirt…
Author Archives: Jen
Sun Dog, part 23
Sleepy Saturday with Olive
Nude Honey
I’m not even sure I’ve worn this color in a picture before! It’s lighter than my normal colors so I probably put it on without much makeup and said NAH, NOT FOR ME.
But today? I’m LOVING it! It’s definitely a neutral for me.
I’m also loving wearing black pencil on the top and the new gray pencil on the bottom! It looks smudged out without actually having to do that!
Olives first (and last) baseball game
I thought we’d try taking Olive to the baseball game so she didn’t have to stay cooped up—plus it was nice weather and Katie promised to take care of her.
Ha. Haha.
I mean overall she was good, but she went crazy if dogs came near her. And Katie quit about 45 minutes in. So this might be the heat time we take her…
Finally tuckered out right as the game was ending. Of course.
Does bed head make him look older?
Too Many Zooz
We took the kids to their first concert! Anna and David and the kids also went—and we took one of Owen’s friends (Lucas).
The planning and prepping was exhausting (trying to figure out what we need to pack and take to eat since we’d never been there) because apparently the thing to do at Ravinia is arrive early and picnic and hang out)! Plus we had an early access pass (but only for four people!) from a neighbor…so Tom and David went first with Owen and Lucas to get everything set up and our spots staked out!
The boys started with their fancy drinks. (Yes, David brought glass glasses!)
As Anna and I were on our way with the other three kids, we got this pic via text:
Owen was in heaven!! He got to meet Leo P of TOO MANY ZOOZ before the concert! He’s been listening to their music for years and playing their songs on his bari sax for months! Tom had seen him walking around and told Owen to go meet him! We were all so excited for him!
The kids went up to sit right in front of the stage. We ate our charcuterie and drank our drinks. The boys made more drinks.
I thought I took one more with everyone looking…but apparently I didn’t.
Our view from our seats. The kids were right in the front row!
Overall everyone had a great time and Anna and I decided we would maybe do it again.
Here’s a video of the band:
She still loves his ear!
I mean I HAD to get this dog toy.
Anna couldn’t resist buying Olive a new sweater.
Katie’s school avatar
They had to create a computer version of themselves and add things they liked. I’m not quite sure about the weights, LOL.
Mid-play face!
I just never expected this.
This is all Katie’s crap I pulled out of the kids’ bathroom closet—I’m just stunned. This was after I’d told her to clean everything up—which apparently she took to mean shove everything behind closed doors.
On the left you’ll see the stack of random containers that ALL had some level of water still in them. Dirty dishes. Snack bags. Water bottles. Garbage. Tupperware.
I just can’t even with this girl.
And then she gets pissed at ME when I make her come back to take care of it.
She got grounded after this. She has GOT to learn she cannot do this.
I can’t resist this face!
Olive is a pride dog
Someone outgrew her old harness so mom had to go shopping.
A clean, snuffy Olive
A clean snuffy Olive because she pooped in her bed and smelled awful. She does NOT like baths so that was fun.
So this happened.
After way too much 10yo drama of course.
She was supposed to get her room picked up on her own before she went to grandparent camp—and if she didn’t, I was going to go in and clean everything out. Everything. She barely managed to do enough to pass muster.
Upon her return, she had to redo everything (she had just shoved everything everywhere). And there was D-RA-M-A because she (of course) didn’t want to do it but she didn’t have a choice as she didn’t want to lose all her things.
If she would just WORK CONSISTENTLY it would get done. But she stops to paint her nails and play with her dolls and everything else under the sun. I eventually went in to help her because I was at my limit…and because she was getting a new queen bed.
We had told her she could get one when her room was clean but of course it has been more than 6 months and she couldn’t do it. So we weren’t planning on doing this AT ALL…but Anna and David were getting rid of their guestroom bed and frame so it was now or never.
You’d think KNOWING a new bed and frame was coming would kick get into gear but no. Still drama and avoiding working on it. So that’s where I stepped in. We took EVERYTHING out of her room. Got huge storage boxes and I just literally pulled crap out of cubby holes and off shelves and dumped it in. There were dirty dishes, plates of food, bottles full of liquid concoctions, mounds of dirty clothes, and my god the garbage. Paper, tissues, empty boxes, empty candy wrappers and snack wrappers galore, clumps of hair, broken crayons and pencils, markers with no tops, and on and on. We took out a full garbage bag and a huge box of recycling.
Then she vacuumed and I steam cleaned the carpet (which has been destroyed—it’s covered in colors and stains and who knows what that she has NOOOOOOOO idea how it happened). Then the frame and mattress.
Now the long slog of bringing everything back in her room (and emptying out the guest room of ALLLLL her junk…while trying to get her to get rid of stuff…and keep her room picked up).
Like daddy, like doggy daughter
Happy 50th!
I decided to do something different — and a bit bigger for Tom’s 50th!
Book 49
It was gorgeous weather today so I sat outside and read it cover to cover. I actually set a stopwatch and it took me about 4.5 hours!
Shreepy pup.
A friend’s pool party housewarming
Do you see Olive?
Let me zoom in!
Kudos to David!
David surprised me and Anna with purses we adored (but didn’t want to splurge on!) at the craft fair in Eagle Harbor!
She’s so spoiled.
She would not stop barking at me while I was working which means I want to sit in your lap. So it’s easier for both of us if she lays in her bed on my lap.
Fall is coming!
I took Olive on a walk this morning and had to stop and marvel at the fall scene down the street.
Nom nom nom!
And then just like that she’s tired out!
Look how old I look?!
2022 annual party!
This is the extent of the photos I took all day! We were busy!!
The waterslide has arrived!
Owen invited some friends over to use the waterslide—and we looked out and saw this. This is apparently how teens use a waterslide. If they don’t use it more tomorrow this might be the last year!
