Just How Hot is It?

Heat advisory yesterday through Sunday. Which means that it's getting up to 115º and hotter at some point each day, I think. Which means it was still 108º last night when I got home from the gym at like 9:00.  Yesterday and today the kids' lunch recess was shortened and afternoon recess was held inside.  Yesterday I was on empty, but I could only put $20 in the car because I couldn't really let Shawn and Katy sit in it any longer without the a/c running. My kids aren't allowed to play outside in the afternoon/evening for more than 5-10 minutes and they think I'm mean. So now I have a house full of kids instead (which is fine - I had two extras all day while they were in school. Why stop now?). There is no way I'm cooking anything for dinner. Smoothies for dinner. We were going to go to a really cool pool tomorrow, but I think that's out. It's too hot to swim. Seriously, Arizona? I saw the news about a possibly huge El Nino storm season this winter and I was just like, "Please? Bring it on." (I know lots of things can be damaged in those storms, and they're a big deal, but in AZ we pretty much get thrilled about any "weather" that isn't over 100º)
It's kind of funny, because it's only 5-10 degrees or so hotter than what it's been most of the last 3 months, but you can feel that difference. Whatever you're used to, 5-10º feels way too hot to handle. I remember as a kid, coming down here in the summer for Sunsplash or school shopping or something, and we couldn't believe how hot it was. Like we thought we were going to die. And now I live here, and you really do adjust. Yes, it's nasty and hot. But I know I'm not going to die. And when we go to the Gila Valley I think, "huh. Not so bad." It's all about perspective and what you're used to or expect. But I've also lived in Iowa for several years, so in the "winter" when it's 59º at the bus stop and the kids are all wearing coats and complaining about how cold it is, I just shake my head and am so glad that it's not August.

Go on, touch it. I dare you.

My car is prone to exaggeration.

"outside" play time

More inside play

Doing what they can to destroy the living room.

In other news from the last week (the last week before school started!): We tried to take the kids on mostly individual dates with each of us on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Jeremy took Katy to the Gilbert temple, and they were going to walk around San Tan Mall, but I had forgotten about a singing practice she had, and they had to hurry back. I took Jaina and we split two treats: frozen yogurt at Zoyo and an oreo cheesecake donut at Dunkin Donut. They are conveniently right next to each other. Haha. Both were delicious! Then I took her grocery shopping with me. She was pretty unimpressed with that part, but I really needed to make it happen! We had a good trip (except where the part where I lost her for like 10 minutes in Fry's and was starting to panic) and she got to pick out a big thing of bubble soap. Then Jeremy switched me Jaina for Reilly (he was running errands with the other 3) and Reilly wanted to go to Dairy Queen. He wanted blueberry flavoring on his ice cream, and finally picked a sundae over a Blizzard. He also insisted that he wanted the largest size. That was basically his dream. But I completely refused, and only let him get a medium. (If we ever get ice cream, it's usually a baby cone or one scoop of something) Guess who couldn't finish his ice cream for the first time? He said that next time he'll believe me. We'll see. After that we walked around Bookman's for a while and he chose a Ninjago book to bring home.

Friday after Jeremy got home I took Katy on our date, and we went to Bookman's again to spend the $10 gift certificate they had sent for her birthday. She eventually picked out a Hello Kitty DVD set and a Phineas & Ferb DVD. Then she super-de-duper wanted to go to Dairy Queen, and thankfully it was raining, so we just did the drive through, so she couldn't see all the options they had. I got us both baby cones, and had them put sprinkles on hers so she would be impressed. She had never seen one like that, and was very excited. :) Then we ran a few errands and Wal-mart before we rushed home to make some dinner. We finished up our dates Saturday afternoon when Jeremy took Reilly and Jaina to see "Minions" (Katy gets a little overwhelmed in the theater still if it's intense). I think he took some pictures, but they're on his phone.

After all that sugar I was ready to start a healthy eating challenge. A lady in my ward was starting one Monday, but I knew it wasn't going to be quite enough for me to get the results I wanted, so I looked up Whole 30 and randomly decided I was ready to try it. Jeremy's always thought I should do something like that, but it's hard, and you definitely have to want to do it yourself. It is pretty strict, but after helping Jeremy eat the autoimmune protocol diet for something like 4 months, it didn't seem that bad. At least not in the planning department. I do so much better with things that I -can- and -can't- have rather than trying to do moderation and picking more healthy food than unhealthy food. I won't eat this way forever, but I hope to eat this way 75% of the time maybe, eliminating a lot of the processed, unhealthy junk in my diet most of the time. I am actually really enjoying it. It's really nice not counting calories either, which I've been doing a lot of the last year. Just -knowing- I'm not going to eat certain things takes a lot of the need for self-control and decision-making out of my day, and I really appreciate that. And I still get to eat some super yummy things like this:

We wanted to do one more fun thing with the kids before school started this last Wednesday (the 12th) so we looked at our POGO passes and found something we could squeeze into Jeremy's busy day that didn't cost much. A round of glow golf at Fat Cat's was completely free, and took like 30 minutes or less, the way our kids play. It's good that it didn't last long, because Shawn was starting to run a fever, poor kid.

FINALLY. It was here! The first day of school! Katy was super excited, and the other two were happy. We got them all to their classes, on time, and even managed to take pictures. What more can you ask on a first day of school? :) They have been enjoying it so far, like their teachers, and hopefully are ready for the real homework to start on Monday. Shawn is not so excited about this school-thing, and has been missing his siblings, even though Katy comes home by 11:30 every day. He has been whinier than usual, and making lots of interesting messes. :)