Seven On Saturday

What a busy week this has been! So busy I missed "Five on Friday", but I did not fail to bring you Seven on Saturday!

1. Another Class Completed

I really enjoyed this course and the professor who taught it, but I will not miss Friday night class (after a long workday) and turning around and going back to class AGAIN from 8 to 5 on a Saturday. I finished the course last weekend and my grade is in! 

One more class down!

2. Summer Birthday Season Begins

All of my nieces' birthdays are in the summer, so I've dubbed summertime "Birthday Palooza." June is Audrey's birthday, July is Ava's birthday and August is Amelia's birthday. They all have theme birthday parties and their parents go all out (I don't know how they do it!!) and we all participate. Last summer was the summer of: pirate party, paint party and cowgirl party. 

But that was the summer of 2013 and this is the summer of 2014. 

My first invitation arrived in the mail today for my niece Audrey's birthday party. She's having, very specifically, a pink butterfly birthday party.  

I love this picture because she looks like a little kid model. 

3. Arrival of Summer

Today was the official start of summer and it couldn't have been more perfect. The sun was shining, the sky was blue and I celebrated with these beautiful roses in our window sill. Cheers to summer! 

4. Starting Another Class

This is my third-to-last grad school class. I repeat, this is my third-to-last grad school class. This includes my thesis course. This is the last course of the summer semester and I then begin my LAST semester. If you can't tell, I'm a little geeked. 

I feel like I started my grad school journey out with a light jog, energized and ready to roll. I am now on the ground, crawling through mud and the only thing getting me to the end is a complete mind-over-matter approach. 

I don't meant to seem ungrateful; I love learning, I just don't love the time away from my family. I'm very much looking forward to finishing up!

5. "Crawl With Me" Turtle

The online group of moms I've talked about before--"December Moms" on Facebook--have this care package rotation set up for those who want to participate. I don't participate just because I wouldn't want some poor soul waiting on this overly busy mother to get her act together and get stuff in the mail. However, when the moms who do participate post a picture of what's coming for the next person chosen for the care package, I get good ideas for stuff for Jackson.

One of the moms posted their teaser picture of the care package items and I saw this little turtle. It was too cute to not investigate myself. 

This is the "Crawl With Me" turtle by a company called Gund. The turtle is reasonably priced, plush and adorable. Jackson is thrilled with the music that plays and the encouraging words that come out of the turtle, i.e. "you're doing great baby!"

The turtle slowly crawls and is meant to encourage your baby to crawl. It's seriously one of the most adorable toys you will ever see. 

6. Rock Garden Border

So, we contracted a gentleman from Smith Floral to remove our weeds, dig a trench around our garden, remove some old plants that weren't working and lay mulch. He did such a great job (and wow was it nice to not have to worry about doing the work myself during such a busy time) that we decided to have him lay a garden border as well. 

The contractor came out last night to take a look at the garden and talk through border possibilities. 

We are going with a rock border and are anxious to see the results. 

7. Ready Rice

My husband and I figured out a really delicious, low-fat and easy to make dinner, which includes this easy staple--"Ready Rice."

All you need is a microwave and a minute-and-a-half. Seriously! 

At least until the end of December, I'm all about finding shortcuts for delicious and low-fat meals and these rice bags are definitely one of them! (And as you can see, they come in a variety of flavors.) 

 I hope you enjoy the rest of this wonderful weekend, darlings!

Cheers,

Samara