A glimpse into what it is like to live in our home just this moment.
Intentional Outdoor Hours: 559+ hours (of 1000)
We had a wonderfully misplaced weather days right at the end of the month with warmer temps (low 50's) The kids and I were so glad to get out during the day to do our farm chores together, play with outside toys, and jump on the trampoline. Everyone sleeps better and teases each other less in the evening if we've clocked some solid fresh air and sunshine time.
Reading and finishing Shout by Laurie Halse Anderson. Wow, just incredible. I sent like 20 screenshots to my sisters of poems that were breaking my heart and building it back up again. If you haven't read her novel Speak, you should definitely do that. But this one is equally brilliant and beautiful and important. I started Beartown by Fredrik Backman this week too. Both of them borrows from my friend Renee (thank you!)
Winterizing the farm. Brandon, Gem, and Grey spent some time on Sunday making sure the animals will be safe, warm, and dry for the winter months. The coop gets wind and snow sheilds, the goats got raised pallet beds with hay in their house, and all the spaces got a nice cleaning. Grateful for this farm husband and hearty kids who do the dirty work.
Welcoming back our elf, Marco. The kids were happy to find his box hanging from our front door on November 30 and he was up to his antics by the first of December!
Wrapped up in my mind and heart over the shooting in Michigan.
Getting inconclusive results back which basically meant I had covid but when I got my test I was already out of the quarantine window and on the mend. I am so grateful to have been vaccinated and that all the kids old enough have been vaccinated.
Carting three of the six kids to the peds to check on the illness running through our house (congestion, cough, low grade fevers) When I called I was like, "Okay, all six have it at varying degrees but if three of them could be seen I'd feel better; the two who have had it the longest and the one who is the sickest" Oh, to schedule things in this family is a circus. Turns out they all looked "good" just a winter cold working it's way through our house.
Filling up our Reverse Advent Boxes. We are putting together two boxes through church and I put the kids in teams (wild skips - Grey & Vi- vs snuggle skips - Gem & Rust) and each week I'm adding some of the items to our Walmart pick up so that the kids can get their boxes organized. Yes to all the Christmas Kindness opportunities!
Enjoying all the Christmas traditions that are in full swing. The tree is up, Marco is doing his magic each morning, and the kids are happy to open their advent calendars for chocolate each day (thank you Abba for always remembering to make sure they have them by December 1!) We have Christmas songs playing on the Echo each day and I have been pin-searching holiday cookie ideas. Red doesn't seem quite sure about all the hullabaloo that's going on but he's having a blast playing with the nativity set (I've found Mother Mary taking a swim in the dog's water dish this week), pulling all the ornaments off the bottom of our tree, and carrying Marco all over the house.
Clapping for Violet and the first and kindergarten CT classes. They had their winter concert this week and it was very sweet. Violet was a little nervous because she's never done a concert at school before (covid cancelled her Kindergarten concert), so she wasn't sure how it was all going to go. But she had a good time and felt proud. We had all five grandparents in attendance plus Aunt Kitty! My kids are so blessed to have so many people always in the cheering section of their lives. (okay, crying now, bye).
Letting the girls play hooky from school. My mom invited them over for a sleepover and a day of Christmas cookie baking on Thursday. I know the value of a day of learning with a grandparent and there is no amount of time or money that can price that out! The girls had such a great day in the kitchen with Abba baking cookies and listening to Christmas music. So grateful for those memories (thank you mum!)
Singing happy half birthday to Rustman. He turned five and half on Friday!
Crossing my fingers for my hunters, but no luck yet. They spent Monday in the woods and then went back out on Saturday with Uncle Jonny. The boys know that they I don't want them to shoot a doe unless it's the last day; as a last resort. So they're sparing the mommas and holding out for that buck! Brandon, Grey, and I spent about an hour on the dining room floor picking off tiny little spiky seeds that the boys got all over their gear. It was really tedious, but we did it together and laughed about it. Just a tiny family moment that we can share the weight and annoyances of life together.
Thankful for my momma who spent her Saturday afternoon at our house whipping around with her Rainbow vacuum. We had the best chats on Friday night over the phone and again at my kitchen table on Saturday afternoon over coffee. How grateful I am to have her in my life and how grateful I am to see her with my own children, and that is so painfully clear after her scary accident this summer as she continues to work hard to get stronger through physical therapy still. Mommas are the very greatest blessing.
Sporting with two basketball practices for Grey and one for Violet (she is going to play in a 3 on 3 league with 8ft hoops!) Grey also got to learn how to do some weight lifting moves and he was sore for two days after (LOL).
Making turkey and cheese baked sliders, Texas toast pizzas, air-fryed chicken, ground turkey pot pie twice stuffed baked potatoes. We enjoyed chicken pasta that Heather delivered to us last week (thank you!!) and B and I set up a Green Chef veggie meal subscription for the month of December. We have just been feeling so sluggish and the last time we had Green Chef vegetarian meals they really had an impact on the way we felt in our guts but were also so flipping delicious. (If you're ever interested in trying - you know I got codes, hah). This week we had: apricot chickpea bowls, creamy veggie pot pie, and sweet potato bowls.
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