A glimpse into what our life is like just this moment.
Intentional Outdoor hours: 40+ hours (of 1000)
fishing camp for fishmas gave us a big boost this week, but man, it is still chilly outside and so wet - mud, snow, rain, and sleet. bumming me out and I daydream of summer days sipping my morning coffee on the porch while I read my book and the babies chase the chickens in the front yard.
Reading Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood
Finishing up the last bit of this lingering sickness in our house. Olive was the last kid and after yet another trip to the Peds she tested positive for the flu and was put on tamiflu (she did great with it and we started seeing improvements almost immediately - thank goodness!) I got a pretty nasty sinus infection to close it all out (LOL). Sheesh, I will be so glad when we are finally done with the fevers, snot noses, and coughs!
Saying goodbye to our dear Aunt Eileen. She passed away last week and we attended her memorial service on Monday. She was such a wonderful aunt to us always. Brandon's grandma (Mimi), who is also her sister always called her Snooks, so I didn't know her real name for a little while when I first started dating Brandon! At our wedding reception, she stood next to me during the western PA traditional 'money dance' so that she could make sure no one was spinning me around too much or dancing too long! She handed me bottles of water during it too and just made sure I was okay the whole time. (we had 500+ people at our wedding reception so IYKYK how I was dancing forever with all the people). She's in all my wedding photos of the money dance and I appreciated that moment and that I have that memory too. Thank you for all of the love, loyalty, and kindness Aunt Eileen. You will be missed always.
Sending my annual PSSA opt-out email to our kids' guidance counselors and cc'ing the principals. Grey and Gem will both sit out for the two weeks of tests because of my religious and philosophical reasons. If you are in PA and are interested in opting your kid out and need guidance - this facebook group is helpful. If you ever want to talk about why I exempt my kids (at length because I don't know how to shut up about my views on education, LOL), I'm more than happy to chat!
Finalizing Rusty's Kindergarten Registration! He had kinder testing on Tuesday and he was so excited and felt like a big kid. It was still a little confusing for him that he won't go to school yet - not until the whole way after the summer, hah! But it was sweet to see him so proud and to chat with all the teachers and say, "I got another Studer coming your way!"
Prom Committee meeting with our venue and feeling so excited for finalizing most of the details. We have had such a great experience working with Dustin at Ace's Banquets & Catering. I just need to crunch some numbers and get our final budget, but I think we are going to be all set for the prom on May 7 and Ace's will take care of almost everything - which is a big time win so that we aren't running around trying to decorate and remember to bring things. It is going to be beautiful and I am forever grateful for my junior class students and co-advisor Brenna!
Watching Our Friend and loving it so much. I mean I sobbed for almost the entire movie, but in a really good way and was grateful to finally have watched the movie.
Dropping off dinner for a friend who finished chemo this week! Now she will head into a big surgery followed up with radiation. She is such a strong momma and positive light on our entire community. I was so grateful that she happened to be outside when I was stopped to drop off the meal and I got to get a quick hug and catch up with her too. Sending all the love and strength to her; momma to momma.
Finishing our taxes - yay!
Smiling at the pics B sent from Yellowcreek when he and Jon went on Thursday. They claimed it was their warm-up for their big annual fishing trip next week. Ya know, they needed to test all their flies and equipment. yeah, yeah - just kidding, I'm grateful those two goofballs got time together and in their happy place - the stream!
Teasing the girls' teachers and bus driver with a quick and easy April Fool's joke. We cut out a few letter "E"s from brown construction paper and put them in leftover containers. Then they asked if anyone wanted some Brownies that were made for their brother's birthday. Then when the person saw what was inside the container, the girls said, "BROWN Es!!" It was such a simple but silly prank that they loved.
Celebrating our two year old, Redland! Our April Fools baby got a pirate birthday party at our house on his actual birthday! We had a small party at our house to celebrate our boy - which is just perfect for Red since he isn't such a big people person (yet!) Gem organized a Walk the Plank game and made a big poster for Red and Mimi (birthday twins, only 82 years apart!). Grey constructed a massive cardboard pirate ship out of cardboard for the party while Rust and Violet created pretend treasure maps to display around the house for decorations. Thank you to everyone who came and celebrated our boy and who love him even if he is very very hard to win over (hahha).
Cherishing our super smiley baby girl. She is such a joy and when she gives a big 4 teethed view smile, I can hardly stand it. She is my little dumpling and brings me so much joy every day.
Enjoying Fishmas! The opening day of trout season was on Saturday and Brandon, Grey, Rusty, and Pappy all headed out to fishing camp first thing in the morning to make sure their lines were in the water at the opening bell of 8am. Grey was bummed to not be able to sleep at fishing camp this year, but terrible flooding in the fall destroyed our uncle's camper and it will be removed in the next few weeks! But fishing camp is fishing camp in that boy's heart - so no matter, he was going to be there for the first day! Heather and I drove out with the rest of the kids (including cousin Caleb!) and we spent the afternoon all together laughing at the kids and enjoying the sunshine (even though it was pretty chilly). It was a great day - always one of my favorites of the year - and like the camp creek kids they are - they ended up going into the freezing stream because they just couldn't resist! It was hilarious and I almost peed my pants laughing at Grey who fell in up to his neck and then pretended to be frozen in place. Oh man, camp memories with cousins are the very best kind of memories. (Grateful you were there Heather!)
Still laughing about the hot dogs that we left on the grill for too long at fishing camp and they turned into these tiny charcoaled appendages. I cannot even think about it without giggling. Oh man, too fun and dumb.
Cheering on our cousin Reid at his swimming championship. We got home from fishing camp almost exactly at the time that his meet was scheduled and we were able to pull up the youtube link on our tv. We were all cheering and clapping! We are so proud of you, Reid!
Sporting with just one baseball practice for Grey and the last week of target shooting at BB gun league for the four biggest. The kids and I hung out at the baseball field during Grey's practice because the sun was shining and we all needed some wiggles out and fresh air. I am so thankful we are nearly to spring sports season - give me all the fresh air and warm sunshine, please!
Making spaghetti, sloppy joes with shells and cheese & baked beans for sides, sheet pan kielbasa, potatoes, and brussels spouts, and hot ham & cheese sammies. We had walking tacos one night, delivered from cousin Heather because she is the dearest kind of friend who understands a week of sick babies makes for a very tired momma - thank you for always caring and supporting me! We ordered takeout pizza for Reddy's party and I made cupcakes. Fishing camp was full of yummy camp food like buffalo chicken dip, warmed up leftover party pizza, and hot dogs on the grill.
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