It would be funny to say that we don’t eat out a lot — and really funny that we don’t eat out for lunch and then show you two times that we did. But, here we are.

N had a before and after school meeting, but no marching band. And she can scoot from school after her third block a little earlier on this same day because of a required study session time. She sent me a note and asked if I wanted to lunch with her. While she did invite me…I did end up paying.

Her morning meeting didn’t go as planned, but there were smiles by the end of lunch.

Saturday, Mr. Serious headed to the oldests’ college race so the rest of us went to watch/coach B’s race. It was a bit of a longer drive then we are used to and after standing in the sun for over an hour and baking and dripping with sweat, we knew we needed to get some sustenance before the drive home. If there’s a Willy’s, these kids want to go.

After lunch, it was time to make the trek home. Once home, we all lounged around because the sun had defeated us. I’m extra thankful for the extra day this weekend.

What did you do this week?

GET IN THE PICTURE WITH YOUR KIDS! Who cares what you look like? Who cares how you appear? Who cares what you are wearing? JUST DO IT! Come share your picture on the Facebook thread or use #MommyAndMeMonday!

It’s time again for Mommy and Me Monday. Pop out from behind that camera and capture yourself in action with your kids. Check out the inaugural Mommy and Me Monday for more information. Need another reason to participate in Mommy and Me Monday? Read my post about why I blog with words from a friend’s husband.

The post Girls Who Lunch | Mommy and Me Monday | 875th ed appeared first on Really, Are You Serious?.

For E’s birthday, much much earlier this year, we got her concert tickets to see Solya (one of her favorite artists) over the summer. Perfect timing. It didn’t interfere with school or band.

Then Solya got sick and had to reschedule. So we waited for the new date to come out. Thankfully, it was a Wednesday evening…which meant no interference with marching band practice. Of course, it was a late school night for her and her friend.

Her present included 3 tickets, one for herself, one for a friend to bring and one for a parent to bring because these kids needs chauffeurs and chaperones.

We snapped a parking garage picture before she was too excited/distracted to get a picture.

We got pictures inside with her and her friend before the concert, too. And I think between her and her friend there’s a good chance she filled up a full phone memory.

E and her friend got into the edge of the crowd and I found a spot in the back and made friends with other parents that were also chauffeur/chaperones.

It was a pretty chill concert which I was thankful for and I think we were home by 11. Of course, we would have preferred a summer date, but this one worked out pretty well and E gets to check off her first concert from her list.

What did you do this week?

GET IN THE PICTURE WITH YOUR KIDS! Who cares what you look like? Who cares how you appear? Who cares what you are wearing? JUST DO IT! Come share your picture on the Facebook thread or use #MommyAndMeMonday!

It’s time again for Mommy and Me Monday. Pop out from behind that camera and capture yourself in action with your kids. Check out the inaugural Mommy and Me Monday for more information. Need another reason to participate in Mommy and Me Monday? Read my post about why I blog with words from a friend’s husband.

The post E’s First Concert | Mommy and Me Monday | 874th ed appeared first on Really, Are You Serious?.

We’ve only got one off to college but sometimes with all of these extra activities it feels like there are less and less of them home.

Friday night was the first football game and band performance for N and E. Mr. Serious and I went to the game and watched the first half and the band performance and then scooted out. When did the student section throwing baby powder up in the air become a thing?

B went to bed because she was going to be up early for a run but Mr. Serious and I waited up for our band kids to get home. The cats seemed to love the quiet house and both demanded pets at the same time (Zoey has almost camouflaged herself in the blanket).

Maybe we should call this Mommy (waiting on the) and Me (kids) Monday!

If I’m quick in the mornings, I can sometimes get a hug and goodbye before the N and E are out the door. This is the extend of pictures N would allow in the morning.

She gets to come home for lunch and her last class because it’s a dual enrollment math class. I called her name and she looked over and snap…there she is!

This photo a week with these kids is sometimes so easy and I have several to select from. Other times I have to ask and almost beg to get one. I guess kids will always keep us on our toes.

What did you do this week?

GET IN THE PICTURE WITH YOUR KIDS! Who cares what you look like? Who cares how you appear? Who cares what you are wearing? JUST DO IT! Come share your picture on the Facebook thread or use #MommyAndMeMonday!

It’s time again for Mommy and Me Monday. Pop out from behind that camera and capture yourself in action with your kids. Check out the inaugural Mommy and Me Monday for more information. Need another reason to participate in Mommy and Me Monday? Read my post about why I blog with words from a friend’s husband.

The post Parenting with Kids with Extra-Curriculars | Mommy and Me Monday | 873rd ed appeared first on Really, Are You Serious?.

It’s very different this year having only one cross country runner at home and also being a coach on her team. Plus, one older sister at college and the other two later at school for band camp, B and I spend a lot of time together.

Sometimes, it’s post practice and waiting for everybody else to get home for a much later family dinner. Taking pictures while we wait helps pass the time.

Then this weekend, it was time for the first middle school race. The last 5 years, Mr. Serious and I have had to divide and conquer for races because the high school and middle school were at two different locations most of the time. But not this time! The middle two had an all day band camp, so it was just the three of us at the race.

I’ve been notoriously bad at getting a picture at the race, but remembered this time on the walk in!

It was so incredibly hot and humid with sweat literally dripping down us (and I wasn’t even running), but our kids did so well with the team even taking home a trophy! B ran on the varsity team and was very close to her overall PR and still beat her current year time trial time! I’m excited to see where this season takes us. And, soon enough, I’ll be at football games and marching band competitions!

What did you do this week?

GET IN THE PICTURE WITH YOUR KIDS! Who cares what you look like? Who cares how you appear? Who cares what you are wearing? JUST DO IT! Come share your picture on the Facebook thread or use #MommyAndMeMonday!

It’s time again for Mommy and Me Monday. Pop out from behind that camera and capture yourself in action with your kids. Check out the inaugural Mommy and Me Monday for more information. Need another reason to participate in Mommy and Me Monday? Read my post about why I blog with words from a friend’s husband.

The post First Cross Country Race of 2026 | Mommy and Me Monday | 872nd ed appeared first on Really, Are You Serious?.

I’m not a huge fan of a Monday start, but here we are. The first week of school has already come and gone. We’ve got a 2nd year in college (who starts next week), a 12th grader (ack!), a 9th grader and 7th grader. And they still let me take their pictures with their signs.

My stairsteps are no longer stairsteps.

I had to get in one, too!

Mr. Serious’ birthday was nestled right in the week. With marching band practices, middle school cross country practices and all other things school, we’ve definitely had to adjust how we dinner and how we do our evenings. But we made sure to celebrate Mr. Serious…it was just with a pre-purchased (yay for thinking ahead) Costco cake.

And a bonus picture from B’s weekend run and my bike ride. She had a great time trial earlier in the week!

Week one down! Lots more to go!

What did you do this week?

GET IN THE PICTURE WITH YOUR KIDS! Who cares what you look like? Who cares how you appear? Who cares what you are wearing? JUST DO IT! Come share your picture on the Facebook thread or use #MommyAndMeMonday!

It’s time again for Mommy and Me Monday. Pop out from behind that camera and capture yourself in action with your kids. Check out the inaugural Mommy and Me Monday for more information. Need another reason to participate in Mommy and Me Monday? Read my post about why I blog with words from a friend’s husband.

The post First Day of School and Mr. Serious’ Birthday | Mommy and Me Monday | 871st ed appeared first on Really, Are You Serious?.

It was the week before school started and we were all feeling it a bit. Besides running and band camp, there hadn’t been a ton of back to school preparations (I did go buy school supplies and I’m sure we’ll need more).

So this week we did some back to school clothes shopping. The girls had done some closet and dresser overhauling over the summer and it seems like everybody grew this year. N decided to do some shopping with a friend. The rest of us decided to see what we could find thrifting. What’s old is new again and stays out of the landfill! We found some good things and came out spending a lot less than I had planned.

The oldest actually didn’t get anything which is a shock to all of us! But, it was also her week to move into her college apartment. And she had been preparing for that pretty much all summer.

When we arrived, they were still working on cleaning the apartment and there are renovations still happening so there was a lot of working around that. But, she’s mostly moved in (her bathroom is still in the works).

And this is literally the only picture I took of her apartment and the move in. The second time moving her was a little easier than the first. But, it’s still weird that she’s not here all the time again!

What did you do this week?

GET IN THE PICTURE WITH YOUR KIDS! Who cares what you look like? Who cares how you appear? Who cares what you are wearing? JUST DO IT! Come share your picture on the Facebook thread or use #MommyAndMeMonday!

It’s time again for Mommy and Me Monday. Pop out from behind that camera and capture yourself in action with your kids. Check out the inaugural Mommy and Me Monday for more information. Need another reason to participate in Mommy and Me Monday? Read my post about why I blog with words from a friend’s husband.

The post Back to School Ready | Mommy and me Monday | 870th ed appeared first on Really, Are You Serious?.

Last week, N and E had their full week of band camp with themed dress up days every day. One day was twin day.

And it was pretty dang cute when they came into the kitchen matching and I asked if they planned it (not knowing it was twin day). They had decided to twin together with each other instead of friends.

It was also one of my days I signed up to chaperone/serve dinner. When I was getting ready in the afternoon, it dawned on me that I also had the same green shirt (and some dark blue shorts), so I put on my “twin” outfit and it became triplet day.

I had guessed who would notice first and it was N…as I predicted. But they both did notice and also claimed I didn’t embarrass them! Whew!

One week until school starts! It’s been a slow fast summer!

What did you do this week?

GET IN THE PICTURE WITH YOUR KIDS! Who cares what you look like? Who cares how you appear? Who cares what you are wearing? JUST DO IT! Come share your picture on the Facebook thread or use #MommyAndMeMonday!

It’s time again for Mommy and Me Monday. Pop out from behind that camera and capture yourself in action with your kids. Check out the inaugural Mommy and Me Monday for more information. Need another reason to participate in Mommy and Me Monday? Read my post about why I blog with words from a friend’s husband.

The post Twin Day Turned Triplet Day | Mommy and Me Monday | 869th ed appeared first on Really, Are You Serious?.

It was another rare occasion when everybody was going to be home for dinner. I actually sent out a text that said “by my calculations everybody should be home tonight, so please don’t make plans!”

Between work, running and marching band practices it’s going to be even more rare.

I had heard about a new pizza place that had true Italian pizzas and I wanted to give it a try.

Individual pizzas for all. None of us ventured too far from traditional, but it sure was tasty and so very quick. Bonus is it’s not too far away from home and there’s free parking.

We’ve only got 2 weeks of summer left and I know it’s going to fly, so we have to grab each opportunity to have some family time when we can.

What did you do this week?

GET IN THE PICTURE WITH YOUR KIDS! Who cares what you look like? Who cares how you appear? Who cares what you are wearing? JUST DO IT! Come share your picture on the Facebook thread or use #MommyAndMeMonday!

It’s time again for Mommy and Me Monday. Pop out from behind that camera and capture yourself in action with your kids. Check out the inaugural Mommy and Me Monday for more information. Need another reason to participate in Mommy and Me Monday? Read my post about why I blog with words from a friend’s husband.

The post Italian Pizza Closer to Home | Mommy and Me Monday | 868th ed appeared first on Really, Are You Serious?.

We decided to spend a week in Michigan visiting family and hopefully escaping some of the heat. We didn’t avoid much of the heat, but it was a little cooler and a nice break from home.

B snapped an ussie before she headed off to float in the water. I joined her shortly after with the rest of the family in the tubes. The water felt amazing.

While some of the kiddos ran, E and I took off on a walk with my aunt. We got some good steps in with some nice views. One walk we saw a family of deer.

On one of our trips to take my grandma back to her place, we stopped and got ice cream. It’s not everyday you can get ice cream with your grandma/great-grandmother. You can only see B’s hair (the glare was bad and I didn’t realize you couldn’t see her), but she’s there, too. They had a raspberry Dole Whip and it was dreamy.

While in Michigan, N did a tour on the University of Michigan. What a pretty campus, especially in the summer. Not sure what it would look like in the middle of winter. We did get caught in a couple rain storms.

After dinner, one day, we hopped on the paddle boat and took a ride around half the lake.

It was a nice visit with family and spending time on the lake and we are grateful for family that hosts us.

What did you do this week?

GET IN THE PICTURE WITH YOUR KIDS! Who cares what you look like? Who cares how you appear? Who cares what you are wearing? JUST DO IT! Come share your picture on the Facebook thread or use #MommyAndMeMonday!

It’s time again for Mommy and Me Monday. Pop out from behind that camera and capture yourself in action with your kids. Check out the inaugural Mommy and Me Monday for more information. Need another reason to participate in Mommy and Me Monday? Read my post about why I blog with words from a friend’s husband.

The post Michigan | Mommy and Me Monday | 867th ed appeared first on Really, Are You Serious?.

We picked an early morning orthodontist appointment for B. And it was already hot outside. But one of the nice perks of our orthodontist is they offer frozen treats during the summer to both patients and the parents!

B quickly grabbed hers and I looked for one without ice cream! Thankfully there was an option.

There hasn’t been a lot of free time, but there has been some time for one-on-one with the kiddos. N and I grabbed a quick lunch and got our toes done together. It’s nice to be able to sneak in time with these kiddos when I can.

What did you do this week?

GET IN THE PICTURE WITH YOUR KIDS! Who cares what you look like? Who cares how you appear? Who cares what you are wearing? JUST DO IT! Come share your picture on the Facebook thread or use #MommyAndMeMonday!

It’s time again for Mommy and Me Monday. Pop out from behind that camera and capture yourself in action with your kids. Check out the inaugural Mommy and Me Monday for more information. Need another reason to participate in Mommy and Me Monday? Read my post about why I blog with words from a friend’s husband.

The post One-on-one time | Mommy and Me Monday | 866th ed appeared first on Really, Are You Serious?.