Around Here Week One & Two: 12/30-01/12

A glimpse into what it is like to live in our home these past two weeks.

Intentional Outdoor Time: 1.5 hrs (of 1000)
Got in two walks/jogs this week while the sun was still shining.  The dogs and I got out solo one afternoon and on our way back home, Bullet sniffed over in a pile of some grass which ended up being a coyote trap.  It caught him right in the paw and I had to call Brandon at home to run back to the trail to help him get out.  Bullet is fine and was walking on his pinched paw by the time we got home...and actually, it's not his first time in a coyote trap.

Crying like the emotional big cousin that I am at our cousin Kara's bridal shower on New Years Eve day.  The girls (and Rusty!) were in attendance as her flower girls and I walked around snapping photos of the beautiful space and the gorgeous bride.  It was such a thoughtful and perfect bridal shower and there were so many personal touches that I seriously had to stop myself from flat out sobbing more than twice (okay fine, it was like four times).

Ringing in the New Year at our house with some of our favorite friends.  The kids all played and acted wild and the parents all laughed and talked and had plenty of cheers and we counted down the seconds until the new year.  Gosh, I love new years eve.  Gemma had an emotional meltdown at like the 30 second mark (#thatssoGemma) and I did my best to talk her down before we all shouted Happy New Year and made our rounds of kisses on the cheeks....eventful as always.  At around 3am, after getting everyone tucked in and all the food away - Bud and I met at the top of the steps and had a little sit together feeling exhausted and happy and grateful to share another new year together (our 18th!)

Freshening up my spirit with a haircut - it's pretty short and really low maintenance, which I love.  The girls and I all went up to visit my cousin Mandy for haircuts and we are all feeling ready to tackle the new year (honestly, a haircut can do that for a girl!)

Supporting a cranky Rusty with the arrival of his first two teeth and the top two seem so close to the surface too.  Poor little man.  He is absolutely loving the ability to chew though and has had a blast trying out some teeny tiny cut up finger foods.

Smiling yet baffled daily about Greyson's long john obsession.  It's long johns under shorts every.single.day for his choice of clothes.

Celebrating our American Mutt status and sharing in the joys of Orthodox Christmas and stretching out the holiday season all the way into January.  By the 7th, I can barely stand the sight of our tree any longer (hah!) but it's our annual tradition for the kids to 'camp out' under the tree on Orthodox Christmas eve and Orthodox Santa ("OrthoDon" as Gemma calls him) delivers one final small present before we finally take all the decorations down until next year.

Feeling like we are a little bit in suspended time - which is so odd for me as I'm a big big fan of the new year and fresh beginnings.  But as I started the new year at the end of my substitute teaching, I've been feeling a lot like, 'I'll get to that when my teaching ends' instead of diving right into goals and projects simply because it was the new year.  :: Hence my lack of blogging:: I can't decide how I feel about this delayed new year start- but in any case - I was.....

Finishing up my last two weeks of teaching.  It has been such a great first semester and I was able to teach alongside some incredible educators and I loved getting to know my students and see their progress in language learning for the past few months.  I had the chance to sit down with their real teacher (we had a burger king playground playdate with our kiddos!) and I feel comforted that they will be in great hands moving forward.  It was definitely bittersweet coming to an end - but my little stint in the part-time working mom world was the most precious reminder that doing the hard daily (sometimes blindingly lonely) work that I do as a sahm is so very very important too.  I think I needed that reminder and I'm grateful to have had it - and also get a quick confirmation that my brain and enthusiasm and skills are valuable out there in the greater world too (someday when my darlings grow bigger).  For now, I am anxious to get back to the everyday life of diapers and meal planning and chores and the raising up of our babies.

Making shredded deer roast sandwiches, a big delicious pork roast for new years (with sauerkraut and hot dogs, the Dutch PA tradition), and chicken, veggie, and stuffing casserole.  Tacos and spaghetti reigned supreme in my final two weeks of teaching mania and Brandon and I had a Spiked Crab Soup for our (newly instated) monthly 'Grown up only' dinner and it was only kind of meh.