Friday Night Photos #105

It's finally Friday! I have been thinking, probably every day this week, that it's Friday. The week has felt very screwy because Eli was off for winter break on Monday and Tuesday, then school was canceled on Wednesday and Thursday due to an ice storm. The ice storm was terrible--there are still people without electricity! Thankfully, ours never went out.

This morning, I got some news in my email that totally made my day. I've been super stressed out about our health insurance--I don't like this new medication that was meant to replace the super expensive one, but I just didn't want to spend $300-400 a month on a single medication. As a last ditch effort, I applied for an assistance program to hopefully make it more affordable. I figured our income was probably too much for me to qualify, but there was no hurt in trying.

Today, I got an email saying I was approved--and my medication is FREE for a year! (I'll have to reapply yearly.) I wish I'd have known about this six years ago when I started the medication. I feel such a huge relief to have it taken care of.

Anyway, I actually have quite a few photos today. I took a lot when we had Luke and Riley for the day! On my camera roll...

I picked them up at 9:30 on Monday (Luke had winter break at school) and on the way home, we stopped at a playground. We had so much fun! We were there for at least an hour and a half, maybe even two hours. Rather than sitting on a bench and watching them play, I played on the playground equipment, too. That is one thing that I kept in mind when I first started losing weight--I wanted to be a mom that could be active with her kids. 

We walked from the playground over to a creek to see if we could spot any fish. I was exclaiming how clear the water was and how you could see right down to the bottom. The kids looked totally confused, and then I realized I was wearing my polarized sunglasses, haha. I took them off, and sure enough, you couldn't see past the surface of the water. So I let the kids try them out. Riley was SO impressed that I have "magic glasses" to see underwater. (I just ordered them each a pair of their own.)

Years ago, my sister bought these bouncy chairs for Noah and Eli. When Luke and Riley came over, we got them out and the kids loved them.

And so did Chick. He couldn't get enough! He was playing on it for a while and then he took a nap on it, haha.

Riley said she was cold and I asked if she wanted to warm up with a heating pad on the couch. I turned it on a low setting and she got comfy with it draped over he shoulders. She pulled up a blanket and settled in, then let out a big sigh and said, "This is soooo cozy. I wish I could stay here forever."

Luke brought some sort of clay with him, so we played with that as well. Riley made this penguin all on her own by looking at a book--I was super impressed!--and Luke made one of the characters on a game that he plays.

Before taking the kids home, we went for a walk across the street on the path through the marsh. We almost had a "Baby Jessica" moment while we were walking there. There was a VERY deep hole that Riley stepped into and she went in up to her waist! It looked like an animal had dug it; it curved at the bottom so that we couldn't see beyond that. 

Riley was SO WORRIED that Joey was going to get lost, haha. Joey doesn't need to be on a leash back there--he's a really good dog, especially about staying near us. But every time he he wandered off the path, Riley would frantically call him back because she didn't want him to get lost. She didn't want to let him out of her sight--it was so sweet.

Meanwhile, Luke found some shell casings on the ground, so he and Jerry went on a hunt for more. I'm not sure what it is that attracts boys to those shells, but Eli used to collect them from the marsh, too.

Oh, man, this was hilarious. Riley said her legs were tired, so I put her on my shoulders. Jerry said, "Okay, now do some lunges." Why? I have no idea. But of course, I did some lunges. Why? Still, I have no idea. On the last one, I started to lose my balance. It took everything I had not to fall over! I have no idea how I managed to stay upright. But I love this picture of the looks on our faces when I started to tip over--Riley looks amused while I'm thinking, "Oh shit oh shit oh shit!"

I was on the couch with my knees pulled up to my chest because I didn't want any cats sitting on my lap. I was getting up and down every few minutes and I always feel bad moving the cats when I want to get up. Duck just wasn't having it. He decided he would just stand on my knees instead.

And then, why bother with two knees when you can stand on one?

My brother Brian has been super into 3D printing lately and made this puzzle. You have to assemble it into a 3x3x3 cube. It's really difficult! It took me two hours to solve it; Jerry gave up entirely. Brian told me he printed some more, including one very complicated one, so I'm excited to try it. I love puzzles and things like this! (I'm not posting a picture of the assembled cube because I passed it on to someone else and I don't want them to have any clues.)

Yesterday, I was playing fetch with Duck and his crumbled up paper balls when I decided to collect the ones under the furniture. I knew I had made a lot of them recently but they were nowhere to be found. Well, after pulling out the refrigerator, stove, and couch, this is what I found. Hahaha!

This is a picture of Jerry and the boys when they went to see a movie last weekend. It was either a Star Wars movie or a Marvel movie... they have a standing date to go to all of them, and I never know which. But I love that I have a collection of these pictures from the last several years. The kids have grown so much.

No matter how many times I see Duck in a sploot position, I will laugh and take a picture. Every single time. I can't help it! He looks so sweet.

Jerry and I may go play Keno tonight at a local dive bar. I think we've only played once since before the pandemic! Have a great weekend :) xo