Happy July!! Here's a wrap of what happened this week at our house.
We went to Spencer County on Monday for my grandmas visitation. (If you didn't see my Instagram, she passed away last week.) It was a bit nerve wrecking (because of germ overload) in the funeral home, and Kevin and I were both upset with each other/hangry when we left that evening. It was just more of an issue with lack of communication and different expectations, but we spent most of the drive home giving each other the silent treatment. When we are getting close to Boonville he started talking about how my dash lights were coming on. I thought it was no big deal and he was using it as an excuse to get me to talk. I just made some comment about how I'm sure it's fine. We stopped by Taco Bell to grab a box of tacos for dinner. When we were in the drive thru it became apparent the van was really having problems. All the lights and gages shut off and the van started making a weird noise. Thankfully there was an Auto Zone directly across the street. Kevin was thinking it was the altenator, but we went there to have it checked. He was right. The high school kid working gave us little hope we'd be able to make it home, but we were gonna try! I called my parents to make sure they were behind us, and they were, but on the interstate. I briefed them on our possible van break down and before I could get off the phone, the van died (like lost all power including power steering). We coasted right into the Hucks in Chandler. I'm so thankful we didn't have to get out and push! We decided to eat our tacos in the gas station parking lot while we waited for our ride home. As soon as Hayden grabbed the tacos to help me out, the bottom fell out of the box and tacos were all over the ground. None of them had come unwrapped so I scooped them back into the box and we ate them anyways! It worked out that I drove my moms car home with all the kids in it. We had to have a wrecker tow the van home, and super handy Kevin, with the help of his dad and Hayden, decided to give it a go and fix it themselves. I should mention he was waking up at 3:30 for work, working till 1pm, then coming home and working on it untill dinner time. He didn't get much down time this week! He'd changed several alternators before but this one was in sideways with no room to work and he wasn't sure if he could do it. He got it completely fixed and changed a few more things while he had the van apart (a belt and radiator fluid). I'm so glad he was able to do it himself because it saved us hundreds of dollars!
Allie lost her second tooth on Monday night (after the van ordeal)! It was barely hanging on so we yanked it out with a string. She asked to keep her tooth again, and I realized I don't know where I put the first one! Whoops! Hopefully it's hiding somewhere in my closet!
Last Saturday we took the whole family to Combs Landscape. We were purchasing a new plant for my mom and I figured the whole family would enjoy going. It definitely wasn't my best idea ever because the kids ran around like crazy people and I was trying to talk to the nice employee that was helping me select the perfect plant... Poor Kevin was left to chase after all the kids and like I said it just didn't work very well! On our way out of the store, the owner/manager/some nice guy that worked there offered us some free impatiens. I thought it was so kind of him to offer and he commented on how great it was we brought the kids with us. So, I took a flat of "punch" colored ones home with us not knowing where in the world I'd plant them. My parents had some unused pots this season and they let me borrow a few. We planted them on Wednesday and put them on our porch and they are doing great! The kids love watering them and they fight over who gets to water them and when.
(The one we bought for my mom, from all the kids, in rememberance of her mom)
We are finally getting hummingbirds at our feeder! I purchased the feeder early this past spring and we've not had much luck with attracting them. Last week I saw one buzz around the feeder but all the birds at our bird feeder scared it away. It clicked that they were probably afraid of all the birds, so I moved it. I've seen several this week drinking from it in its new location! I'm thrilled!
I'm completely kicking myself for not taking before and after pictures of my cleaning project this week... Our double stroller. We've needed it several times the last couple weeks with Austins bum foot. It's sat in our garage for close to a year and its kiwi green color was covered in dirt. The seats had stains from spilled drinks, and it looked awful. I picked up a little bottle of "grandmas secret spot remover" and figured I'd give it a try. I applied it all over the seats and the little canopy thing that covers the stroller. It said let it sit 5-10 minutes and that's about how long it took me to get the power washer out back and going. I power washed the heck out of it and the washer + the spot remover was magic!!!! It looks brand new! I've not tried the spot remover on anything else, but it did a heck of a job on dirt! (Sidenote: I love using the power washer and also cleaned a wagon and the chicken coop that day!)
I ordered some new gel eyeliner from Mary Kay before we went to Florida. It just came in this week and I'm in love. It is water proof but goes on so smooth and comes off so easy with the makeup remover wipes. It's my new favorite. I use a Morphe skinny brush to apply it so I can get a finer line. It comes with a little brush but it makes a line that is a little too thick for my liking. If you're in the market for something new, give it a try!
I started line drying our laundry a couple weeks ago and it's seriously one of my new favorite things. I didn't mind doing laundry but I really didn't love doing it either. Knowing I'm saving money and doing it a little old school excites me. I plan my laundry days around the weather forecast and it is keeping me motivated to get it done! I also was afraid things would be crunchy when they dried, but I stick them in the dryer for 10 minutes with a softener sheet and they turn out perfecto! Btw, did you know we had really nice metal clothes lines in our backyard when we bought our house? I told Kevin I'd never use them and we cut them out of the ground and hauled them to the dump. I could literally cry about that now!
And some outdoor pics to wrap up the week...
Allie and Hayden were playing ninjas..
Sunny is continuing to heal! No set backs to report!
