1. Last Friday, Dominic graduated from kindergarten! He has come a phenomenally long way this year, and I could not be more proud of him. He started the school year attending via iPad only three days after his last radiation treatment and was finally given the go-ahead to attend in person at the end of September. He has grown and learned so much this year, and he continues to amaze us each and every day 💙

2. He and Isabelle have been enjoying their summer break! They love riding on the side of the big cart at Costco and pushing their own little carts at the grocery store. Though Dominic most definitely “shops” with his own cart like he’s on an episode of Supermarket Sweep 😂 We go insanely early in the morning, so luckily, the store is basically empty lol.

3. Today is Joseph’s last day of school! So as of this afternoon, we are all officially on summer break, whew!

4. Let’s talk teacher gifts… while mine are already wrapped up since the school year is over, I’m curious about what you do, OR! If you’re a teacher, what do you most appreciate? I recently saw that someone gifts their kids’ teachers Stanley Tumblers, which seems like something fun for summer (I’ve also seen amazing reviews for the Simple Modern version, which is more economical and widely available). Our school keeps a document on the parent portal of all of the teachers’ favorite things, which makes buying things like candy, flowers, gift cards, etc., easy since you know what everyone likes!

I love the idea that Kendra from The Lazy Genius coined called “Decide Once” – a system you can replicate repeatedly, so you’re not always starting from scratch, trying to think of things year after year. One of my favorite Instagram follows, @haleywynndesigns, does an amazing job of implementing this with gifts. So, I’m trying to come up with some ideas to avoid reinventing the wheel next year 🙃

5. This week, I polished up the following recipes to make them even easier to follow and included more tips for successful execution (bonus: they’re all great for summer!): Angel Food Cake, Peanut Butter Brownies, and Quiche Lorraine. Happy Baking! 😍

6. I finally started Demon Copperhead and haven’t gotten very far into it, but so far, so good! I know when I mentioned it a couple of weeks ago, some of you really loved it, and some disliked it. I’ll keep you posted on my thoughts!

7. This past week, I made this cilantro-orange chicken recipe and served it with yellow rice, black beans, and diced mango. It was so delicious, super easy, and best of all, everyone in our family ate it! That rarely, if ever, happens 🫠 I highly recommend this meal!!

8. If you have summery things you’re looking to buy, Amazon has a huge Memorial Day Weekend sale right now that includes special home and outdoor deals.

9. This past week, we watched the mini-series Our House (on PBS) and it was craaaaaaazy. I was hooked!

10. TGIF! These pups love to give and get affection and Dominic loves them so, so much ❤️