A glimpse into what it is like to live in our home just this moment.
Intentional Outdoor Hours: 531+ hours (of 1000)
I was able to get out for awhile on Saturday when the temperatures soared to high 50's in mid December in PA! It was crazy and beautiful and my soul really needed that vitamin D soaking into my skin. Red and I had fun poking around with the goats and chickens and cleaning up the yard in preparation for the snow that we are supposed to arrive next week! Weather whiplash!
Reading Outlander by Diana Galbaldon. I'm so close to being done! These last few chapters have been kind of a brutal in content and also I'm just so tired. But I'm determined to finish this thing!
Thrilled that our 2019-20 finished family yearbook from Shutterfly arrived! Always my biggest and favorite accomplishment of the year!
Receiving the report back from Gemma's eye appointment with Dr. Moon and feeling overwhelmed because it's still the same song and dance. She kind of has some struggles with her eye muscles, but not really and so many inconsistencies and well, still no hard answers. The report did suggest though setting up a 504 which makes me hopeful as that will make sure she always gets what she needs (her third grade teachers are so amazing, but I know that I can't always expect so much investment from all of her teachers for always - she's not the only kid in the class for goodness sakes!) There was also a suggestion that if issues persist to get her re-evaluated for dyslexia (which is truly what I think is the root of the root after all my research and reading...but I ain't no doctor, just the momma - ya know). So, the hunt continues. She is working so hard and making progress - but it is still just such a slow, arduous, exhausting, and frustrating process for her.
Stressed about giving Red a bath. THIS KID. Never in all of my children has any of them tried to drown themselves so often. Hon.est.ly. Every bathtime he ends up putting himself face first in the water and no matter how fast I try to get to him before he dunks, he beats me! even if for 1 second he comes up coughing and crying and I go into a panic attack about secondary drowning. Ughhhh, this kid has a me nervous wreck about bathtime - seriously considering dry shampoo and wipes at this point.
Smiling about Marco's antics. This week he helped St. Nicholas fill our shoes on Sunday, he changed our milk green, on Taco Tuesday Marco was wrapped in tortillas, and then he was in the barbie house sleeping in the bed. He also used wrapping paper to cover our tv and was webbed by Spiderman and was hung up in our kitchen basketball net.
Loving Violet's fresh new cut. She has been asking for this haircut for a few weeks (shaved on one side and long bob on the other) and she finally got it done by Lamont at Ambitious Cuts where all the boys get their hair cut. All the boys plus Vi (minus Red) made a visit to Mont and came back all looking fresh and handsome/beautiful. Vi loves her hair, especially how soft the shaved side is. And she got a lightening bolt cut into the shaved side just like Rusty does - so their twinnies!
Thankful for the sweet office ladies at Brandon's work who have been spoiling our virtual learners. They got extra sweets, crafts, and so much attention and support while they worked at zoom school at daddy's office since I was in person teaching this week.
Watching with anxiety as our neighboring county (the one I grew up in, the one my parents and sisters live in, the one that is so next door that half of our school district lives in it) rises to #6 in the nation for covid-19 surge. By Friday Cambria County was the #2 county in the nation with the greatest surge and by Sunday we were #1.
Happy for Grey that he got a double sleepover (!!) with his bestie Ivan over the weekend. He also got to spend two days at zoom school with Ivan and his mom (who is a teacher at their school district's high school) to work together. With no sports and no nothing happening, he has been driving us all insane with his teasing and movement. He really needed some alone time from his siblings and there was no better place than with his bestie. Thank you so much Loni for giving him that special time! We all needed it - hah!
Blessed by my sis Uch who snuck into the house early Saturday morning with a latte in hand and arms to hold my babies and smiles to refuel my weary soul. (love you!)
Winter sporting with one basketball practice for Grey with his CT team until the governor cancelled all extracurricular activities due to the coronavirus.
Teaching in person (!?) Spanish 1 worked through the novel Capibara con botas chapters 9-12, Spanish 2 read Tumba chapters 1-6 while Spanish 2 Honors read the whole novel in one week (I love 1-week novels!). Spanish 3 finished La Llorona including unscrambling quotations from the various characters, while Spanish 4 worked through Somos 17 la Inmigración. I had 17 kids out quarantined through my various classes so I was balancing teaching in person and replicating that for the kids on Schoology who were out due to covid. I did have some quarantine kids hop onto our vocab review game of Gimkit and I was running around the room shouting, "LOOK HOW WE ARE ALL TOGETHER!" while the sophomores laughed and rolled their eyes at me (hah)! The sweetest two freshman girls approached me at the beginning of class today to purchase some of Violet's artwork and I about melted into a puddle. They were too precious and Violet was over the moon to have buyers! Hah!
Knowing deep down that what is safest is for me to be home right now. After our school board met this week and decided to continue with in-person learning, I was sick in the stomach about it (haha, sick in the baby-filled uterus, perhaps?) I messaged my cousin/midwife and she agreed that if there was a way for me to be virtual/home that I should take it. After a lot of discussion and number crunching, B and I decided to take a 2/3 paycut and the Family Coronavirus Relief Leave. So starting next Monday, I will have a sub in the room and be off through at least the new year holiday. I feel terrible to abandon my students (and to have to take a pay cut!) but I cannot in good conscious be around 100+ students a day with this 16 week pregnant belly and an 8month old at home. The big kids are already virtual (until now at least 01/11) and the little boys will stay home from daycare too. We are wrapping in tight as the numbers swell around us and the holiday season and time continue to march forward. Stay safe everyone.
Making crockpot meat sauce spaghetti, baked potatoes (to top with leftover chili), creamy chicken taquitos, sheet pan steak with potatoes and veggies (as always, how many Brussel sprouts are too many brussel sprouts?), and Korean ground turkey with green beans over rice.
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