We are squeezing every drop of fun out of summer and it has been a blast. We spent time in the mountains and at the pool. Z started swim lessons, we celebrated Father’s Day and I did a huge wardrobe overhaul!

“I can’t remember all the times I tried to tell myself to hold on to these moments as they pass.”

Welcome to “Moments” here on JoyFoodSunshine. At the end of every month I share a recap of our family’s favorite moments!  Here’s a snapshot of our life from June 2022!

Life lately

We are squeezing every drop of fun out of summer and it has been a blast. We spent time in the mountains and at the pool. Z started swim lessons, we celebrated Father’s Day and I did a huge wardrobe overhaul!

Baby Z

Ok, Zach has been a little testy this month but still cute as ever. He learned how loud he can scream and does so to voice his displeasure. I’ve been working on teaching him other ways to communicate, but until he learns to talk I’m guessing this will be a battle!

However, he has also learned that he can be so stinking cute and get everyone’s attention (although I’m pretty sure he has always known this).

He does the cutest things and just smiles at us. Bethany taught him how to blow kisses and I am so glad. He often waits until someone has already left the room to blow them a kiss, but he does it just about every time he says goodbye. He sat on this cooling rack for a solid 15 minutes just being as cute as ever.

Z also started swim lessons which he doesn’t love. So far he’s only a handful of lessons in and he cries and screams through most of the lesson.

However, he was floating by the second lesson and made progress every time -even through the tears. We do lessons through The Aquatics Academy and I couldn’t recommend them more. Every teacher we’ve had has been outstanding and all my other 5 kids are excellent swimmers thanks to their program. Use code LS1532 if you sign up (my referral code)!

By his sixth lesson he was able to turn over onto his back from his front – which is a huge step!

We had another appointment for his eyes (if you don’t know, he was born with nystagmus) and I was very unhappy with how we were treated. The doctor made us wait one hour and only spent 5 minutes with Zach, and during most of that time he pressured me to dilate his eyes to check his prescription. I declined because I am not at all worried that he cannot see – he points to birds & airplanes flying high in the sky. But the pressure was real and he has no medical reason to do it other than the fact that he wanted to.

He was answering a question I asked as he was walking out the door and I felt rushed and like he didn’t care. I see no reason for Zach to have 6 month checkup appointments if they are going to be like that. I’m on the hunt for a new pediatric ophthalmologist but haven’t had much luck.

Here is Z just being as cute as he can be wearing his big brother’s shirt!

The Fair

Our town has an annual fair, and this year it was the first weekend in June. The weather was perfect (not too hot yet) and our family went twice! The first night all the rides are only 1 ticket each, so we took advantage of that and rode as many as we could (before the lines got too long).

We got funnel cakes and cotton candy for the kids – since we only do one fair a summer (we aren’t fair people usually lol), we decided we should give them the fair food experience as well.

That night we stayed at the fair from 6 PM until 9 PM – three hours of fun that went well past bedtime. It was the first time in a long time that we were out that late and it was an absolute blast. I loved that since I didn’t have a baby on me and I wasn’t nursing I got to ride the rides with the kids!

We ended the evening rocking out on the car ride home and it is a night we will remember for years to come. We went back another night with our friends to use up the rest of the tickets we had leftover from the first night. It was a great way to kick off summer!

Wardrobe Overhaul

Now that I’m not nursing and have no plans to get pregnant again, I decided it was time to go through my closet and get some clothes that fit me well.

Zach is 17 months old – and this is the longest stretch of time in 12 years that I haven’t been pregnant or nursing. During these months, my body has gone back to it’s “resting” state I guess you could say, and none of my clothes fit me anymore.

I employed my friend and neighbor Casey Matheny to help me. She is a professional stylist and just all around great person and she helped me tremendously.

The process started with me trying on every single thing I own for her. That process was a lot more fun that I thought it would be. And while it’s hard for me to get rid of sentimental things sometimes, it felt really good to get a clean slate.

And honestly, clothes hold lots of memories. I had some that I wore when I was pregnant with Bethany, and some from before we even had kids! One notable item was a black suit jacket. In our first year of marriage I was in college and Ritch was making peanuts as a youth pastor, so we didn’t really have much expendable income. When it came time for me to interview for jobs we went to the mall so I could try on some suits

I finally found one I loved, but had read the price tag incorrectly and it was way out of our budget. So I left without a suit and we made plans to try another mall with different stores another time. Well, without me knowing it, Ritch went back to the store and purchased the suit for me as a surprise.

He had been given a monetary gift for helping someone and he used it to buy this outfit for me so I would feel confident during interviews (of which I went on 3 and was offered all 3 jobs – it was definitely the suit :). Even just retelling the story and holding the jacket in my hand made me cry – so that piece of clothing went into my “save” box instead of being given away. Because I think it’s important to save certain things that remind you of where you came from and the struggles it took to get to where you are.

I was able to give some of my newer clothes away to friends who are just starting their families and will hopefully have many more babies and opportunities to wear them. But I had a box of clothes that I dropped off at Savers, and I bawled my eyes out as I drove away.

Shopping!

During that time, Casey took inventory of my clothes, sizes, fits, colors etc. and we went shopping about a week later.

This was the ultimate life-changing experience for me. I had no idea what clothes looked good on me or even what size I was. I have only ever ordered clothes online and usually order things that are too big so I just return them.

I basically walked behind her as she chose clothes for me to wear. At first I tried to “help” but then I just embraced it and watched her work! We tried on so many things and I learned SO much. I was buying size Mediums all the time, when I’m really an xtra-small in most things, and sometimes a small. I never would have ordered an XS on my own volition before this experience.

However, Casey opened my eyes to new brands and styles that I just love. I feel so much more confident in my own skin now that I have high-quality pieces that actually fit me. I felt weird asking for help shopping – but I honestly didn’t know just how much I needed it until we went together.

Mountain Time

We spent a handful of nights up in our favorite place in the mountains. We enjoyed the reservoir, making s’mores and just being together as a family. The weather was perfect and we had the best time.

Two of the days (and one night) we were up there two families who are very close friends of ours came up to spend time with us. It was an absolute blast. All of our kids play so well together (and so do the adults haha).

We got to sit out on the back patio, graze on a charcuterie board and talk while our kids laughed and played. It was so much fun and I know it will be a highlight of our entire summer!

Father’s Day

We had a fun day celebrating Ritch for Father’s Day. The kids all made him cards and crafts, and we got him a 10-person tent for our family’s camping trips.

He wanted to smoke something on the Traegar, so it felt like I didn’t really cook for him (other than a few sides)! Bethany made these Oatmeal Cream Pies for him for dessert. They are in his top 3 favorites.

Swim team

What’s parenthood if you can’t re-live your glory days through your babies?! 😉 Well, that’s exactly what happens when I am at the pool with my kids. From swim team to play time to everything in between, I adore being at the pool in the summer and we go as often as possible.

This year B, G and N are all on our little neighborhood “swim team.” I use “” because it’s a team in the very loosest sense of the word. It’s more a pre-comp, 1-hour long swim lesson but it’s great exposure for them to the sport. So far Gabe and Bethany are both asking to join a “real team” in the fall, we’ll see if they still fill that way (thus fulfilling all my motherhood hopes and dreams) come August!

Arches

Ritch to Bethany and Gabe to Arches National Park for a two-day camping trip for achieving Memory Master in homeschool this year (a delayed celebration). They hiked basically every hike in the park and even got caught in a rare rainstorm down there. They had a blast.

Things I’m Loving

Ok, I bought some new pieces of clothing that I love when I went shopping with Casey, so I thought I’d share some of my favorites!

• Relaxed denim Madewell Shorts. I have these in three colors (jean, white and distressed black). I wear them almost every time I go out!
• Ribbed tank I pair those shorts with this ribbed tank – I have it in blue and oatmeal!
• Black linen dress – I love this dress. You can dress it up with heels or down with a fun sandal. It’s so comfortable and I wear it all the time.
• Vuori Dash Shorts – I’m usually loyal to lululemon – but I tried out these shorts and they are my new favorite athleisure shorts. I wear them more often that I care to admit! 😉

Recipes

Here are the recipes we made this month.

Pizza dough & Pizza Sauce

These two recipes combined equals a meal my two oldest kids can make with almost no help from parents. Bethany even made this pizza and shaped it into a heart herself.

Guacamole

These perfect avocados were made into the best easy guacamole!

Basil Pesto

Snapshots

If a picture could encompass the essence of summer – this sunset glowing photo of my sweet girl would be it.

These three had their piano recital in the beginning of June and did amazing.

Playing doctor on a low-key summer day at home.

We’ll call this, “the month of Keilah photos.” I’m not sure there’s a cuter phase of life than 3 years old. And Keilah is the cutest 3 year old in all the land. 😉

Pooped after spending all day with our friends in the mountains.

Mara and Naomi baking cookies together to take to friends!

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