Around Here Week 52: 12/27-31

 A glimpse into what it is like to live in our home for the last week of the whirlwind that was the year 2021. 

Intentional Outdoor Hours final count: 568 hours and 31 minutes (of 1000)
Still no snow here (boo hoo!) but we are still getting outside and exploring. The kids and I took a rarely walked path around our house and found a really fun area that we don't normally visit - new trees to climb! And our shed logic tarp is leaking in some water from all the rain and that is really bad because it's filled up with our hay. B and the kids composted 10 bails of hay (no!!) in the garden and he threw a tarp over the rest of the hay in the shed in case it continues to leak. Damp hay bales can catch fire very easily which would be scary and terrible - so B has been checking on them constantly. 

Reading and finishing The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson. I really enjoyed so much about the story but then it wrapped up kind of too quick at the end - I would have liked it to follow the same slow, steady pace throughout. I started and really tried to finish Wonder by RJ Palacio before we rang in the new year - but alas I ended up about 100 pages too short. And I also started Free to Learn by Peter Gray and I'm obsessed already! 

Final Book Count: 23/24 with so many good ones this year!! Balanced and Barefoot was my favorite parenting book, I'm Still Here was so important and reflective for my soul, I swallowed up and became immersed in Station Eleven and Migrations, The Last House on Needless Street blew my mind and is the one I suggest first to people who ask me for a book suggestion, and I keep finding myself going back and remembering parts of Legendborn - not my normal genre or interest in style of book but so good and memorable (book number 2 comes out this November - also please be a movie someday!) 

Relishing in the total lazy, worry free days of the last week of the year. What day is it? who knows. What time of day is it? no clue either. Just cozy clothes and blankets everywhere and a huge freaking mess that is only kind of annoying but mostly, it's been such a busy blur of days leading up to Christmas that I also don't really care about that either - I just walk around whispering "oh, I'll clean that up next year" and laughing at my own simple minded humor. 

Playing with all our new Christmas gadgets. Among the favorites include Grey's skateboard and an alarm clock that displays on the ceiling, Gemma's step counter and a pretty notebook, Violet's steel drum and Elephant & Piggie books, Rusty's baby yoda and play bow & arrow. The babies are just happy to go around observing and stealing whatever anyone else is using. 

Snagging some new plants and pots from Lowes. Our house is beautifully green with two new big plants and three little succulents. And I moved our giant cuetlaxochitl into a basket and I'm going to attempt to keep it alive all year long! 

Cleaning up the farm because of all this mud! Ugh, everyone is feeling kind of annoyed that we don't have snow yet and no one more than B because the mud down at the farm is out of control. He spent a long while this week cleaning up yucky, muddy hay and laying stone down at the entrance to the pasture to try to get it under some control - especially since we have Christmas trees coming next week. 

Sending kiddos off left and right which is always needed this week of so much together time (LOL).  Aunt Kitty always gets the kids experience Christmas gifts - so all this week they cashed in on those. Rust and Vi went to see Sing 2 with her and her bestie Michael who the kids all adore with every fiber of their being, then they got to play at our house for a little bit giggling to high heavens over Michael being the best at make believe. Gem got to go to the theater to see Encanto and then got to pick up some of her very own make-up and Grey and Kitty tried a zombie escape room and although they didn't make it out in time, they had some hilarious stories that had me actually bent in half laughing until my stomach hurt. Abba & Chum hosted sleepovers too for the kids including a sleepover with Gemma while her cousin Mallory and Mallory's grandma (and my mom's bestie cousin Mindy) were visiting. Violet had a sleepover at Abba & Chum's house too all on her own. Grey had a sleepover at his friends the Conn twins house and then got to see the Thomahawk hockey team play with cousin Caleb. And Violet had her neighborhood friend Giada over for a playdate on New Years Eve! 

Ringing in the new year at home with our whole crew unexpectedly. Gemma went to a party with some teammates and we were going to pick her up around 1 am, but her friend's mom ended up bringing her home around 10p because she got a headache and wasn't feeling well. And then Grey went with cousin Caleb to a hockey game and then was going to have a sleepover, but Heather called around 11p and said he wasn't feeling well and B met her halfway to pick him up. So by the time the ball dropped - all my kids were home and B, Olive, Grey, and I cheered at midnight, had a pork and sauerkraut sandwich, and then promptly went to bed. I'm sorry I'm such a loser, but that is just about perfect to me. 

Sporting with one basketball practice for Gem and two practices for Grey. Grey's three on three tourney was cancelled last minute because of a lack of sign ups (bummer). 

Making spaghetti, leftover turkey dinner casserole (with mashed potatoes, stuffing, and cranberries all included!), Ham Pot Pie from Abba & Chum, Kielbasa & Pierogie leftovers from Mimi's house, Brandon and I had two Green Chef meals (Sweet Potato over pasta and Kidney Bean meatballs which were amazing). For breakfast one morning we used Gigi and Pappy's ham and rolls for egg sandwiches. We made a big crockpot of pork, hot dogs, and sauerkraut for New Years Eve (that is tradition here in western PA). We also ate out at 56 Buffet one afternoon as a family because we were all craving Chinese.