Around Here Week 20: 05/15-21

What is like to live in our home just this moment when the baby girl has her first birthday! (gulp!)

photo credit: Heather

Intentional Outdoor hours: 176+ hours (of 1000)
We had a fully beautiful week here in western PA and soaked it up as much as possible. I don't know who loves our Agnes swing more - me or the kids. I really love reading down there under her shade while I can hear the farm noises nearby. 

Reading The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E Harrow and honestly, I'm only 1/4 of the way through and it's making a real push to becoming one of my top favorite books OF ALL TIME. This part had me teary-eyed with all the feelings in my writer's heart bursting: 

"It is just a story. I have written it anyway, for two reasons. First, because what is written is what is true. Words and their meanings have weight in the world of matter, shaping and reshaping realities through a most ancient alchemy. Even my own writings - so damnably powerless - may have just enough power to reach the right person and to tell the right truth, and change the nature of things. Second, my long years of research have taught me that all stories, even the meanest folktales, matter. They are the artifacts and palimpsests, riddles, and histories. They are the red threads that we may follow out of the labyrinth." 

Squeezing in all those end of year events. We attended Gemma's spring concert on Monday night and then she had her second field trip this week too - the fourth grade went to Lincoln Caverns! She also got to play her trumpet with the fifth grade band members at breakfast this week and she's thinking of continuing to play and practice into next year too! We returned our chromebooks and chargers back to the school and we've made it to the under 10 days to countdown until summer break!

Getting our windows officially measured for the window update project. It will still be several weeks (months?) until they get installed - but the ball is moving!

Wishing my baby sis Uch a happy birthday!

Sending deep loving prayers of peace to a local family who experienced a heartbreaking and devastating tragedy. 

Chaperoning Violet's field trip to Everett Railroad. We rode out to the train station (Hollidaysburg), boarded the train (vintage and old-timey, so fun!) and took it to Roaring Spring where we had lunch in their central park (with ice cream too!) and then got back on the train to head back while the beautiful spring PA scenery passed by. The kids all had a great time and I loved being there with Violet. She's my least 'needy' kid; by which I mean she's independent, happy-go-lucky, and straight up DGAF. Since the quiet wheel rarely gets serviced, I feel like she's the one I need to be most intentional about spending one-on-one time with. At the end of my time, it will be Violet's name in my power of attorney box. She's very "it's not personal, it's business" and I really love that about her.  

Getting creative and brave. I put out my Studerbabies farm & free play idea into the world of facebook this week - I meant for it to be a 'soft' share for my friends and family who have heard me talking about it to get their feedback, but then it got shared wider and I was so happily surprised by the overwhelming support. (thank you all!) I really would love a place for our own two babies to go in the fall where they spend most of their time outside and it is play based, but that doesn't exist where we live. And a dear friend, Amber Roxby (hi!), said to me this week on the train field trip, "you could always solve your own problem." and although my sisters have been encouraging me for literally a year, and Brandon being supportive of my constant ramblings, and Loni and Kate Turner breathing support into our conversations together. It really took a hard talking to from Heather;"it's not doing anything making the dang flyer and not sharing it?!" and then Amber saying it exactly in those words on the field trip this week that finally gave me the courage to just get it out there. (thank you everyone for loving me and supporting me).

Celebrating Olive's first birthday! We had a "Berry Sweet" picnic party at the Quemahoning family recreation park and it was perfect. The weather was sunshine and nearly 85 degrees so the kids were overjoyed to go into the water. How grateful I am for Olive's godmomma Heather who worked alongside me all week to make sure we were ready for the party (love you!) Heather brought pulled pork from Dickert farms (amazing!), I brought baked beans in our travel crockpot, Abba made pasta salad, Gigi made creamy coleslaw and it was just right! I also made the strawberry shortcake from this recipe and it was a huge hit (I actually doubled the recipe and stacked another shortcake on top of the iced cake). Olive had so much fun walking all over the place in her strawberry outfit and absolutely loved being down at the beach with Reddy playing weird little toddler games together. 

Spending a very lazy, wonderful Saturday at home. Gem spent the day with my parents, and B took the other three biggest kids to swim at the Valentine's house (thank you!) so it was just me and the two littlest babies at home. While they napped, I mowed and stopped for breaks to read on our swing and in the hammock. We played on the back porch on the new water table (thank you Heather!!) and it was so peaceful, slow, and full of toddler/baby joy. It was so soothing to my soul. 

Sporting Grey had three baseball games; two for his team and then he played up at 14u for one when they were short a few players. Gemma and Violet each had two soccer games and Rusty and I had only one this week. I am so very grateful that Red and Olive are so easy-going and just travel to everyone's fields mostly happily. As long as I have some snackies packed in the diaper bag and a ball to play with - they are honestly pretty good and I know I am very lucky for that. Grey had the all-star sanction baseball try-out, he did well and snagged a spot on the team. B played QB for the teachers and staff team vs the seniors on Thursday at North Star. They had a lot of fun and he had a great time reminding those young kids he still had a few snaps and tosses left in his old man body (hah!). He also had a football meeting with the CT Varsity coaches & volunteers on Sunday night. 

Making pizza rolls in the air fryer, Pizza with taco meat and ranch on top, slow cooker cream cheese tacos, burgers on the grill, and sloppy joes. Abba made us lasagna for dinner on Monday night (thank you!) and after a long evening of games, Brandon picked up takeout pizza. 

Keto check in - up 1 lb from last week which just makes my head spin since all my clothes fit better and I feel better. I don't know anything about anything is basically what I continue to realize in my life (LOL). Shrimp stirfry on the Blackstone, burgers with fried egg on top, cauliflower take out pizza, and egg-roll-in-a-bowl.