Around Here Week Seven: 2/10-16

A glimpse into what it is like to live in our home just this minute.

Intentional Outdoor Hours: 12 hours (of 1000)
We snuck outside one afternoon and braved the cold temperatures just to get in some fun while the sun was shining.  The girls drove around in the Powerwheels Jeep and Grey was deliriously happy to get his roller blades on and hit the hockey puck around the garage.  Also, a tractor ride (see below).

Reading The Gift of an Ordinary Day by Katrina Kenison which has been on my To Read list for about two years.  I have been feeling pretty melancholy these past few weeks with Gemma's fifth birthday on the horizon and Rusty growing and changing so quickly.  I knew it was a good time to dig into a reflective type of memoir.  And I'm sharing a quote that hit my heart already at only seven pages in...yeah, it's going to be a dog-eared mess by the end of it, I'm guessing.

"I learned a lot about myself, and many lessons in mindfulness during those long days.  Intense and demanding as they are, the years we spend with our young children can also be deeply, viscerally gratifying.  We know exactly where we are needed and what we need to be doing.  Immersed in the physical and emotional realm of parenthood, we develop reserves of patience, imagination, and fortitude we never dreamed possible....a world in which hands are for holding, bodies for snuggling, laps for sitting." p. 7

FINISHING our 2015-16 family yearbook.  oh.my.gosh.  thank goodness.  Can't wait for it to arrive! and yay!  One of my 100 small things goals for Motherhood! 

Celebrating love for Valentines Day with lots of hugs and kisses and squeezing the kids telling them they will be my valentines "forever.  FOR ALL OF MY LIFE" as they tried to wriggle away from my kisses and tickles (only to return to me moments later saying - 'do that again, momma') Brandon and I had homemade fancy dinner together on Monday night (strip steak, asparagus & risotto!) and then watched a taped This Is Us two days later (hah). Brandon also buys all his girls a bouquet of flowers and Gemma and Violet lose their minds over it.  I skillfully (hah) cut a frozen pizza into the shape of a heart for the kids' dinner and then we spent the evening wishing a happy love day to each kids' Godmothers and calling/facetiming the grandparents.

Still battling runny noses around here.  Rust was suffering through some serious snot nose, so I spent most of one morning this week wearing him around so he could sleep upright after we both barely slept for two nights in a row.  Thanks to the Pinterest goddesses, I worked up a diy humidifier using our crockpot on Low with some water and Vicks and it brought some much needed respite to that boogie nose.  (thanks Mum and Dad for the since borrowed legit humidifier!)

Bumming about Sheila (our minivan) as she got a flat tire this week which required me to ride the tractor the half mile down to the bus stop to pick up Grey in freezing temps.  I was laughing so hard o the ride down imagining all the neighbors looking out their window and wondering what in all that is good and holy I was doing.  Still laughing about it.  Grey got to drive back home, so he wasn't too upset about how cold it was.  Oh, Sheila!

Getting our Learn on at home while I work with Gemma for Kindergarten prep practicing letters, patterns, and counting (registration is only two weeks away!) and we do extra reading work with Greyson in his Reading Boot Camp exercises to bring his Reading level up.  He's being retested (today!) and I have confidence that he will be up enough to attend baseball practice this weekend!  (fingers crossed!!)

Cleaning out the dining room FINALLY and walking through there at night and feeling instantly happy at the sight of a clear table.  I have been feeling so overwhelmed and just down about the state of all the stuff and how much of it is not in the place that it belongs.  I set the timer for 15 minutes and Gem and I went to town picking up everything and wiping stuff down.  After that first 15 minutes, we had made such a dent that we set it again and kept on working.  She even vacuumed for me.  What a relief it feels like to have one room done (granted it is only ONE room and the next door kitchen looks up.side.down level mess, but still).  One step at a time, right?

Making these chocolate dipped Strawberry wafer cookies to celebrate Valentine's Day and some dutch apple pie tarts to use up a can of fried apples and some ready-made pie crust that's been hanging out in the fridge for far too long.  I made these easy biscuit donuts for breakfast which the boys all loved (Bullet stole four of them off the counter and polished them off when we weren't looking!) We had a family favorite - chicken & veggie casserole and I also whipped up a perogie lasagna with mixed reviews from the kids.