Little girl sitting on a bench in shorts and a tshirt.

1. Isabelle finished kindergarten last Friday! The change and growth in her from the beginning of the year is just unbelievable; she started so shy and a little apprehensive and has become confident and a little social butterfly. She loves her friends, and has learned SO much. I’m amazed at how well she is reading, spelling, doing math, etc. Such a wonderful year for her!

2. The boys don’t finish up school until next week, so she’s loving having mommy and daddy to herself and is thoroughly enjoying her start to summer.

3. Last weekend, the kids went to the movie theater for the very first time! We took them to see a 40th anniversary special for Transformers since the boys have been really into it and Isabelle even likes watching sometimes. They LOVED the experience and can’t wait to go back; we had so much fun!

4. This past week, the kids were shooting basketball in the driveway and the hoop was set fairly high, the usual height for elementary basketball since Joseph wanted to practice with a hoop height that he played on. In the past, when Dominic would shoot at that height, the basketball would get nowhere even close to high enough. This time, he was not only getting the ball the whole way up but making shots. I’m amazed at how much stronger he has gotten over the last 9 months or so since he finished treatment 💪🏻

Little boy in winter pajamas standing on his head on a couch.

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5. I’ve seen these solar buddies mentioned/recommended in multiple places over the last week. Has anyone used them? Would you recommend? I’m thinking of picking them up for getting sunscreen on the kids easily this summer, but would love to hear if any of you have them!

6. I can’t believe it’s already Memorial Day weekend! Do you have any grilling plans? One of the most popular desserts on the site for Memorial Day is always this red, white, and blue berry trifle ❤️🤍💙

7. I’ve been doing the bulk of my grocery shopping at Aldi for at least a year now (there combined with Costo make up probably 95% of my shopping, then I grab little incidentals that aren’t available at either place at another store), and loved browsing through these 35 Best Foods You Can Buy at Aldi. There’s a bunch I haven’t tried yet (though Honey Grahams is on the list, and my kids will FLY through a box of that)! Do you have any favorites? One of the house favorites here is the Mama Cozzi fresh pizza dough.

8. When Dominic was first diagnosed with cancer a couple of years ago, a sweet reader who was part of a group that sent cards to people who could use cheering up, added Dominic to their list and he received cards from all over the world. It thrilled him and really lifted his spirits. A friend shared that there is a similar group based here in Pittsburgh called Kindness Cards; I’d love to do something like this to pay it forward.

9. Have you watched anything good lately? We just caught the two new episodes of Vera; such a great show!

10. TGIF! Summer vibes ☀️

Little girl in a pink tank top and shorts walking on a sidewalk ahead of two Golden Retriever dogs.