Around Here 32: 08/03-08

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

(week 9 of covid-19 green phase, face masks for indoor public spaces, school still on track to start in person on the first day, fall sports maybe not happening at all until January 1, 2021...or maybe still on with no spectators...it's all pretty confusing). 

Intentional Hours Outdoors: 366+ hours  (of 1000)

Up about 30 hours this week, how excitedly I am looking forward to getting that back porch roof. The sun and heat continue to shine down on us (not complaining - but geez, this is the hottest, driest summer we've had in a long time). My black-eyed Susans have definitely not been complaining. They are blooming and looking beautiful! 

Reading and finishing Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson after many months. It has taken me such a long time because it is such a brutal, honest, painful. We watched the movie a few weeks ago which was also good - but the movie doesn't include any of the cases that the book covers interwoven into the Walter's story. I stopped repeatedly throughout the book to breath and process

Fly Elimination mission update: my shrimp mason jar is working! I changed the paper cone to the top of that store bought fly trap that Grey destroyed the other week (hah) and the flies are piling up in there. And my parasitic wasps arrived this week too - Gemma and I sprinkled them throughout the goat pasture and near the shelter and I'm hoping to see a decrease in the fly population soon (fingers crossed!) 

Taking all the boys to the Peds. Red has his 4month well check with vaccines, Rusty had his 4year well check with vaccines, and Grey went in to get his nose cauterized. So basically, it was the day Momma makes her sons cry (LOL). Red cried, Rust had some tears but stayed stoic about it, and Grey was a champ with no tears at all. He's had nose bleeds consistently (like at least 3-4 every week) since he was probably like 5 years old. In the winter, he wakes up to his nose bleeding and in the summer, sometimes he comes up from underwater with blood pouring out of his nose (poor kid). Fingers crossed that this helps! If not, we will have to go to an ear/nose/throat doc to try again. 

Soaking up summer in the final weeks. We met our cousins at the Que for the afternoon to play in the sand, water, and on the playground all together. It was such a lovely, easy afternoon. Even with an unexpected downpour that had us all scrambling under the pavilion! 

Birthday party planning for Grey and Gem. Their parties will be waaaaaaay belated (April and February respectively) but back in the middle of very late pregnancy and Covid quarantine, we had promised them we'd do birthday parties in the summer and well, here we are final few weeks and I almost forgot until I was working on our family yearbook and got to their birthday pages! oops! We are trying to be as Covid friendly as possible for the sleepovers so both of them are getting camp outs and we are keeping it very small with just a few friends. 

Visiting with some friends in the last weeks of summer. We celebrated Charlie's birthday and had a swimdate at the Fiore's house. We had smores and night trampoline jumping with the Stephens girls, and we got to see Taylor at Abba & Becky's birthday cookout. Lucky for us, Taylor is available to babysit while I have to go into school for some training next week! 

Blackberry picking with Violet. 

Back patio project working. B and his Dad removed the siding and put up the header board to support the trusses. B and my Dad (and me!) set the poles and lifted the header board to the notches on the poles - thank goodness for the tractor bucket to help lift it, because it was just the three of us and my upper body strength is poo. The backyard is a total mess with all the supplies and equipment - but with the poles up, it is really starting to take shape. We can already tell it's going to be one of those projects that we wonder how we ever lived without it when it's all said and done. Nine years without shade (!) what in the world have we been waiting for! So grateful for handy Dads who show up and always help us figure out how to build our own dreams to life. We love you Chum & Pappy!

Fall Sporting with the start of football and cheerleading practices this week. Brandon and I scheduled our practices to be as overlapping as possible because it's just easier to cart the whole crew to the fields than it is to split up. So we both had four practices during the week (M-Th) and then football also practiced on Saturday morning. Rusty and Violet attended the football conditioning/heat acclimation practices this week and jumped through the ladders, flipped tires, hopped bags, and did sprints all week with the boys. (Violet is seriously considering being a football player next year instead of cheering, hah!) Red came to cheer practice with me the first two days and cried nearly the whole time - luckily I have some sweet parents that stay at practice who were willing to hold and stroll him so I could have my hands free. Aunt Kitty (my sis) picked him up and had a playdate with him on Wednesday so he could have a break from practices (thank you!!) and on Thursday Red got strapped into the carrier and went to football practice with Coach Daddy - and guess what, not a peep! He watched the boys running and totally loved it. So I'm thinking maybe Red just hates cheerleaders? 

Teacher prepping with a little curriculum mapping for the year and surfing pinterest for some inspiration to get me into a motivated state of mind. I feel so lethargic about planning for the year because things change everyday for the pandemic recommendations that I hate to get ready only to have it all switch twenty times before the start of school. But I'm scheduled to go in three days next week to learn our new management system (that will better support virtual learning if we end of having to switch over at some point this year)- so I'm hoping that's the spark I need! 

Making shredded chicken parm in the crockpot, kielbasa, zucchini, and onion in the skillet, turkey burgers and shrimp with corn on the cob (Brandon and I always make ours Elote...once you have it, regular corn on the cob just don't cut it). We had pancakes and sausage for dinner one night (I need to make a grocery run soon!), and hot dogs and sauerkraut in the slow cooker with a side of baked beans.