Sunday Update: Summer Edition. Teacher Gifts, Summer Transitions, Charity Shop Finds

It is (finally) summer holidays here.  I took some obligatory photos of the kids with their teachers on Friday, we managed to get the kids to write than you cards and dropped the cards off on Thursday, and we even got teacher gifts.  Each teacher, teacher's aid, and after school club person got a £5 gift card to a local coffee shop.  

Ezra's teacher and the school headteacher both got copies of Digital Minimalism, which has either gone down really well or really poorly (I thought of it because they both delivered a sort of "screen time warning" before in different school settings)

I definitely had the "last week of school" energy last week, I stayed up too late, did not get up for morning runs, and did not do much sport at all.  I also mostly failed to make myself lunch, spent a lot of time hungry and unfocused in my office, and generally felt like I was about to jump off my curated term time sanity schedule into an abyss of summer chaos.  

On Saturday I did not feel like going for a swim, and have spent most of the weekend hanging out with the kids.  Ezra and Lily are currently watching Wish while the twins nap, and I meant to update budget but instead decided it was better timing for a blog.

Lazy Genius Podcast has been good recently for the transitional summer time - I definitely need the reiteration that we can't plan our way out of transitions.  I have made a LOT of summer plans... 6 weeks of summer, two weeks of annual leave, two days of nanny leave, 3 different summer camps, 3 weeks of visitors... but I have to remind myself that even my great plans will need shifting and changing and may not work to make summer include everything I do in the rest of the year (ie workout schedules, uninterrupted working hours, semi-structured weekends, weekly adult social time for me) and that's fine because it will include other things (weeks off work, daytrips, visitors, ice creams).

On a totally different note, Elisabeth has played a super positive role in my life recently!

I got a lovely card from Nova Scotia! <3!

And after my last post on Clothing I realized I had created a false dichotomy of clothing choice.  I resisted shopping at charity shops (Elisabeth is the charity shop queen) because I used to buy too much second hand and sometimes bought things that didn't really fit and then it would just clutter up my closet.  HOWEVER, I have also done this at real stores! I have a black shirt I bought once that is a bit low cut and fitted but would look great at a fancy dinner with a great pair of jeans... and in 4 years of owning this top I have maybe worn it once.  So I've decided to start shopping the thrift stores more and seeing if I can find a few things to add to my current rotation.  And if I get things that turn out to be wrong I can just donate them back to the charity shop and it will be like I gave a donation to charity which isn't a bad thing either.

I stopped at the local shop on my lunch break last week and found this dress in my size!  

It was £10 which seemed expensive for charity shop but way cheaper than new.  Also, I am clearly TERRIBLE at staging photos of myself.  I also don't have many mirrors in my home and our bedroom has become a kids clothing storage area right now so maybe a goal will be "learn to take a selfie of my clothing".  

Have you had any great charity shop finds recently?  Are you in the start, middle, or end of your summer right now?  If you do teacher gifts, what do you give (or, if you are a teacher, what do you love to receive?)

Clothing Conundrums, Minimalist Wardrobe Problems, and Shopping IRL.

There was a recent Best of Both Worlds podcast guest who was a "wardrobe expert".  Last year my goal was to only own things I love and wear, and I am like 85% of the way there.  However, one of the problems with a "minimalist" wardrobe is that my stuff gets used A LOT and some of the things I own are starting to wear out.

I also try not to own a lot of stuff I don't often wear.  For instance, it's usually not hot here, so I only own 2 sleeveless shirts for hot weather.  

When it is hot, I think I might benefit from another sleeveless shirt.  

I decided to try and find the following pieces which will help my wardrobe situation:

A pair of shorts. Buying another pair of shorts was a 2024 goal and I did not succeed.  I have two relatively unflattering target pairs, 1 awesome denim pair which I bought seocnd hand 15 years ago, and 1 long cargo pair also secondhand 15 years ago.

A dress. I have about 5 dresses but all of them are work dresses and I wish I had a fun dress I could just throw on when it's hot.

A jumpsuit/playsuit.  Some people look soooo put together in these and I would love to have a simple thing that makes me look put together!

A sleeveless shirt.  I have this shirt and I love it and I wish they made it in another color

A denim Jacket in not blue I have a blue denim jacket but now I also have mostly blue denim jeans and I want a different jacket to wear.  Also I have heard that a denim jacket can make "worky" clothes more casual, so maybe my "work dresses" could become casual dresses with the right jacket.

I ordered a pile of clothes from one of my favourite brands and when it all arrived I didn't like ANYTHING.  

One of the comments the podcast guest made was that it's important to feel how things feel and see things in a shop.  Half the stuff I ordered I wouldn't have even tried on in a shop because I could see immediately it was a weird cut or I didn't like the fabric.

I realized that while it seems "easier" to order online I basically spent 30 minutes putting the order together, 15 minutes trying stuff on, and probably 20 minutes returning it all later.   Almost an hour to buy... nothing.

I think I'm going to have to go to a store and look for clothes.  I don't love the idea, but overall it seems it will be quicker than piddling my time ordering on the internet.  Alternatively, I may have to just frequent the local charity shops more and hope that one of the above items shows up in my size... but that seems improbable.

Also, there is a mexican restaurant in town, so at least if I figure out a time to go shopping I can also get mexican food.

Do you shop in real life or shop online? Are there any "wardrobe staples" you're after at the moment?

Weekend Update: Summer in Wales

Recent weekends indicate that we have somehow moved from the really tiring baby/newborn/young kids hard times to the really really tiring young kids good times.  I am basically always tired, and there isn't much of a break, but there is a lot of fun happening now.

Friday
There is currently a heatwave in Wales and it is 32c/90f today.  Friday was a childcare day for me and I took Lily and the twins to the Park after dropping Ezra at school at 9am and it was SO HOT we left within 30 minutes.  I know maybe 90f isn't hot for most, but it is hot when there is a shade-less play park, and when you're used to 65 degrees.  We came home and did this instead:

I like the flow of my Fridays right now - Ezra to school at 9, Lily to school at 1, twins asleep from 12-2:45... I can get up to 2 hours of Rachel time on a Friday.  The summer will mean my Rachel time disappears since Ezra and Lily will be home on Fridays... but also I think we have guests 4 of 6 Summer Fridays.  So maybe, it will just be summer.

Saturday

We had a relatively calm morning on Saturday... until the twins decided they were bored at 8:30 and Andy took them to a garden center.  Ezra (6) and Lily (4) played with Duplo and wrote thank you cards.  We had a picnic lunch in the garden, and then I went out for a swim with a friend and had lunch at a cafe which was dreeeamy.

In the afternoon we were invited to a friend's house for dinner, which seems very foolish of them but they had a padding pool out and the kids had a great time.  We brought macaroni and cheese because when yous show up to dinner with 6 people you may as well offer to bring the main course?  Twins are getting better and better at eating in new and exciting places.

After bedtime I met a friend at a local Thai restaurant for dinner.  I had emailed beforehand to ask if there was any cooling system there since I knew it was a small warm open kitchen restaurant and they said "yes we have air con!" which clearly was a con (dad joke sorry) as they definitely did not have any air con and it was soooo hot.  Like, Thailand hot.  Which makes sense for the cuisine but also if I was eating in Thailand I would probably be outside and not in a small terraced house restaurant... oh well! Food and company were great, and we ordered ice cream after because of course it was almost mandatory

Sunday

Because it's so hot I've been waking up early... this morning around 4:30am I  decided to go for a "long run" before the kids woke up (and while it was only 20c/70f).  I am definitely tired and also hot but I managed 4.7 miles before I had to come home and do breakfasts.  I only need to learn how to run 8.7 more miles before my half marathon in October.

Andy and I have started swapping weekend mornings for our own time (although I did lunch on Sat instead) so Sunday morning I took all the kids to a local splash pad which also happens to be near a girl we know who is at the perfect age for mothers helper-ing.  She was great with the kids and there is no way I could have taken them all myself.

Aubrey is highly suspicious of water.  Clara loves water.  

We made it out with only minimal difficulty:

And now we are waiting for a grocery order before friends join us for playing (Andy set up a slip and slide) and dinner at our house (It's falafel and other things that don't need cooking!).  And then we've had another very very summer weekend and it will be time for the last week of school.

Andy reminded me that the twins will be 2 in 3.5 months which means it will be the end of October in 3.5 months which seems crazy because right now I feel like summer will last forever (in a good way).  But I am also sure in about 5 weeks I'll feel like summer will last forever (in a bad way) so maybe I can go back and read this post then.

Are you having summer weekends? Are my kids probably or definitely going to break bones on a slip and slide later?  Can we come over to your house for dinner if we bring macaroni and cheese?

July Midyear Review, goals, and a giant planner!

I managed to get a bit of a midyear review in this week with both Andy and with my own goals.  

This year has been... crazy. In the first half of the year

• We spent 3 months very short of childcare (only 2 days a week to balance a 4 day and 5 day workweek)
• Andy applied for and started a new job
• I applied for two new jobs in my company, got both of them, and start one in September
• The kids are doing great in School.  Lily left her private nursery to have more home days with us before she starts school
• The twins transitioned to one nap a day
• Andy and I have gotten out for multiple date nights and two mountain biking days

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I'm "on track" with some of my goals and way off with others.  

After a weekend watching 3 kids from Saturday morning to Sunday night both Andy and I agreed that we are not in a "solo parent travel" phase of life yet, so he cancelled his 3 day biking trip and my goal paris trip has been postponed.

I have done 49 strength workouts this year, of my 100 goal.  However, I did a lot more strength in January-March than April-June.

I have started running again and on 27th July I'll "officially" start training for my Half Marathon (ie, I'll follow a real plan, not the 3 day a week running I'm doing now)

I've done 7 in person yoga classes of my 15 goal

I've not been great about tracking stuff either, so I've reduced the number of things I'm trying to track.

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Midyear Goal Updates: 

Personal Weekly Planning.  I feel like I make a weekly plan and then I just don't really look at it again. Which is kind of cool, but it might be better to actually plan things into my weekly plan in future months and know I'm going to look at it rather than sometimes planning and sometimes not planning.

Declutter house, and put things away.  Our house is becoming a stuff house and could use a summer sort.  I should book 3-4 hours to work on this project because I know I will feel better living where everything has a space to live.  Also, I often resent spending time on housework, so I don't.  But if I view this as "me time" not "me picking up after kids time" then I might enjoy it more

Audiobooks.  I should get some audiobooks on the go so I can read more and also maybe not resent the declutter/tidy time because it will also be reading time.

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I spent a bit of time looking at the rest of the year, and the big things that are happening in the next few months.  I realized why November is such a bummer month for me usually... there's really nothing to look forward to, especially without Thanksgiving.  I decided to make November my "learn things" month and will book in a biking course and a breadmaking course then (both on my yearly goals)

I cracked open my giant 2025-2026 family calendar, which I LOVE already

So much writing space! So much future time!

Do you do any sort of midyear review? How has the first half of 2025 treated you, overall?  Do you think the rest of 2025 will be better, worse, or the same?  Do you like a giant planner?

Happy Things Friday

Elisabeth writes a really well written and joyful weekly post called Happy Things Friday which is a joy to read.  I'm feeling the happy things vibe so thought I would do one of my own this week!

July Family Calendar Snapshot

• We are having the best weather.  The Sun is out!
• We recently discovered that we *can* have people over for meals again, especially if it's outside and if the people are cool with chaos.  I love having people over so this is great.
  
• We had people over for July 4th for a pulled pork and sausage dinner.  It was fun! I love a reason to celebrate, and July 4th is a good enough reason. It's weird because no one cares over here but I am going to bring back the July 4th Americana where I can (and not in the weird current political way, in the way that I loved it in primary school... friends, food & optimism. If only we could do fireworks) 
• Andy bought this discount sourdough and we ate some and chopped and froze some for French Toast Casserole.  Yes please 59p bread!
  
  
  
  
• I have been figuring out a new running schedule, which is 5:30am on Monday, Friday, Saturday.  I think I can get up at 4:45 three days a week.
• The kids have two more weeks of school.  
  
• We can now do family bike rides with Ezra - he's getting so good on the pedal bike.  And the twins love the bike trailer
  
  
• My brother is visiting in July
• I have the last week of July off with kids
• This giant Tub of pretzels:
  
  
• I got the new job I applied for in work.  I've not signed the contract yet so I'm not super ready to shout to the world about all the awesome pieces, but I think it will be very good. I'm now in "leadership" and my name was on a "Leadership Team" slide next to really cool other people who I am excited to work with and it's all... good.
• Andy and I have started swapping weekend mornings for our own funtimes.  My mornings are currently swimming and running, although I may try and throw a bike ride in tomorrow too if time allows because I'm starting to miss being a triathlete
• Our nanny cooked two meals this week for the kids dinner and not thinking about kids dinner is great
• This really weird card that Ezra made for his friend's birthday. In case you're wondering, it's a picture of a robot dressed up as a man with really long arms sitting on a toilet
  
  
  
  
• I lost a pair of sunglasses and then my 10 year old Goodr Sunglasses got quite scratched and so I ordered two new pairs of sunglasses from Goodr and I am very excited for new sunglasses.
• I finished Florence Adler Swims Forever and it turns out books that lots of people like I also like.
• Weekends in July are a good combo of fun things and nothing which means we have space for more things and also we know there are upcoming fun things.
• I have embraced "Decide Once" for lunches and recently my mealtime food choice has been a salad with whatever veg is in the fridge and also avocado and also nuts.  Nuts in salads are crunchy and delicious.
• We can take all 4 kids to a cafe and it's not awful! It's not super relaxing but it's a nice option that now exists
  
  
• Going to bed at 8:30 on a Friday is a happy thing.  Goodnight!

What are your happy things??