A glimpse into what it is like to live in our home just this moment.
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| this tree's name is Agnes and she's my favorite in our whole 14 acres |
Intentional Outdoor Hours: 427+ hours (of 1000)
Ida (as in the hurricane) made her way up North and slammed into our region on Wednesday with massive amounts of rain for a solid 36 hours. The kids' school even had an early dismiss to account for all the water flooding the roads making bus routes very difficult. We had a little scare here in our hometown of all the floods where it was incorrectly announced on the national weather channel that one of our dams broke (hyper scary because that has happened here 3 times in the past, most recently in 1977). Luckily though, it was not true but it made for a lot of crazy social media frenzy - such a snapshot of how out of control rumors can get in today's day and age.
Reading The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune little by little. I get to read at naptime and at bedtime consistently and then I try to squeeze it in any other opportunity. I snuck in a little reading on the back porch this week while the boys played in the yard during the school day and it was bliss.
Harvesting our garden. We've been collecting all summer, but on Sunday the kids and I went out and really tried to clear some plants. Our tomatoes are completely out of control (Cherry, Roma, and Pear). Our zucchini plants produced their last two (thank goodness!) Cabbage is looking beautiful and our green peppers are still going strong. I chopped up the peppers and flash froze them before putting them in a freezer bag for the winter. I chopped the cabbage to freeze. I froze some corn on the cob that we were gifted from our friends who grow it on their farm. Gemma took a bunch of 'orders' from her teachers and bus driver for veggies that she loaded up and carried to school (hah!)
Getting into the swing of the school year routine. It was another short week this week (no school Friday for the holiday) so we are easing our way back into the groove. The babies and I are also adjusting to our weekday rhythm at home. I'm kind of loving the routine of it all and feel like it's keeping me motivated and focused.
Intentionally focusing on my reactions and interactions with Grey. I hate feeling like all of our conversations are me correcting his behavior. I hear myself and see his face and know that this is not building the kind of relationship I want with him. Gosh, middle school boys though - whyyyyy. And as I'm chatting with him in the morning before school, there he is fiddling with a hair tie and absent mindedly slingshots it behind the couch and I cannot tell you the internal struggle it took to not interrupt our pleasant conversation to be like DUDE?! WHY?! I did some reflecting and researching because that's how I do. I liked this list that gave me cut to the chase ideas and it inspired me to ask him what annoyed him at school this week and it was a great conversation starter (LOL). I'm also trying to embrace things that he enjoys (with lots of boundaries) and watched him play a game of Fortnite (it was actually kind of intense and he was nearly killed by a wolf....?!) and he got a kick out of Reddy trying to play too - so it ended up being a solid 20 minutes of relationship building. Anyway, Mommas, hang in there - we got this.
Getting henna on our hands for family night. We all picked a different little stencils (even B!) Rusty chose a spider and wanted it painted right in the middle of his chest like spiderman (hysterical). Gem and I got matching hearts on our hands.
Laughing to myself somedays because -not always - but sometimes six kids feels like A LOT OF FREAKING KIDS...and the noise and the mess and the movement and the wildness of it all sometimes stops me in my tracks. Most times it feels exactly right (chaotic) but exactly right...but sometimes we just laugh because who in the actual hell is supposed to be in charge over here with all these kids?!
Feeling proud of Gem for being true to her feelings. She was scheduled to go to the beach for the holiday weekend with my bestie and her daughter (Gemma's bestie), but Gem has been a little nervous at night for the past few weeks about it. I let Kate and Soph know that Gem was still on the fence and that it might come down to a last minute decision. They are so loving and gracious of me and my girl (thank you guys) and said that they would understand either way. She decided the day before the trip that she just was not ready yet for that kind of trip so far (Delaware) and for that many days (4) to be away from us yet on her own. She really wanted to go though, so it was a big deal for her to listen to her guts and make a hard choice. She is only 9 (so hard to remember that because she's so mature). I am so grateful for Kate and Soph who assured her that they understood (love you guys xxo)
Snagging that pesky fox! Finally after that fox has been killing our chickens all summer, Brandon finally got a shot at him. We started the summer with 35 chickens and we have only 19 now because that fox has been a determined little thing despite all our efforts at keeping our girls safe (snow fence, limited free ranging, Bullet keeping watch).
Visiting with cousins. Adam and Lea were in from Chicago and they stopped by to visit with Aunt Dar. It was so nice seeing them after nearly two years (#thankscovid) and the kids were so pumped to play soccer with Adam. It was lovely and relaxing to catch up - missed you guys so much!
Working on the back porch. Brandon and my dad (Chum), were busy working on the back porch electric to get the overhead lights and ceiling fans to work. Progress is coming along slowly but surely and I daydream about what it will look like when it's all done, but I love having it every step of the way too!
Sporting with a holiday week for Labor Day (ie. no games). Gem had two cheer practices and a basketball practice. Violet and Grey each had two football practices.
Making a ham in the crockpot, Hawaiian meatballs over rice, and loaded baked potato soup in the slow cooker with a side of beer bread, hamburgers and cheddar brats on the grill, and spaghetti with ground turkey sauce. I also made a batch of banana bread for breakfast on the early dismiss day.
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