Around Here Week 36: 09/04-10

 A glimpse into what it is like to live in our home just this moment. 

photo credit: Heather

Intentional Outdoor Hours: 648+ hours (of 1000)
B and the kids worked on cleaning out the goat house and the shed on Sunday and discovered tons of mice nests with teeny tiny baby mice. We tried to keep them all safe and moved (without touching them) so that they can make it. I know as farmers we are supposed to probably be on rodent removal duty - but they are so cute! Someday when we get a barn I told the kids we will get some barn cats - but until then, the mice live free and wild at Studerbabies! 

Reading and finishing November 9 by Colleen Hoover and zipping through it with its fast pace story. I liked it and am happy to get a Colleen Hoover book under my belt since it's all anyone is ever talking about (hah). It was a borrow from my student Mya who is a #booknerd just like me and I love our Friday fifth period book chats we have scheduled at school. Thanks Mya! 

Wishing I lived in the imagination of Rusty instead of just our regular, boring reality. 

Smiling from the pics Heather sent of our boys together at the trampoline park. So thankful for their cousin/friendship. Grey needs that big kid bonding time sometimes so desperately as the biggest brother of six. (thank you, Heather for keeping Grey overnight and for fun things! I am thankful for our cousin/friendship!! #myzero !)

Visiting the county fair on Sunday. Our family and our Adams family (my parents, sisters, Wells, Kev) all spent the afternoon eating yummy food, checking out the animals, and going on just a few rides before the clouds opened up and poured on us. Rust and Violet were so excited to participate in the sheep rodeo again this year, but we were trapped in the horse barn on the other side of the fair when it came time for it. We thought the would postpone it due to the weather, but they went right on with it and the kids were heartbroken to miss it. But we did stick around to watch some of the bull riders and it is really so cool - there was even a girl bull rider, so naturally those two meatballs both want to ride bulls someday. 

Enjoying a day off and giving ourselves a pat on the back. At the start of the school year, we said 'let's make it to Labor Day.' That was our first milestone - two weeks of school and then a little reprieve. And we did it! Granted, we are on the search for a new nanny, laundry is piled up to the literal laundry room ceiling and our pets' heads are falling off (just kidding, but guess that movie!) ...But we made it and we're doing a little happy dance. Next milestone is the end of youth football season which is not until the third week of October - so we are tying knots and hanging on for dear life. (one of my favorite quotes. it's from FDR 'When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.')

Supporting Gem as she prepared for Student Council voting day. She worked on her speech and practiced it in front of us. Then requested some creative help in making her posters for the hallways. She is a lot like me in many ways, but her excitement about joining all the things and being involved in all the ways is really like me. Oh girl, you have a helium hand just like your momma.

Attending Meet the Teacher night at the middle/high school for Grey. I spent the evening on Wednesday walking Grey's schedule to his classes and hearing from each of his teachers. It was such a nice night being able to put faces to his day and walk the same path he walks each day. I was really grateful to be there and to see the poem he wrote for ELA class. Seriously, sweetest. 

Trixie's stitches were removed this week and she is all good to go! Her surgery and recovery was a success and she's back to her normal snuggly, too many kisses, very sleepy Pitbull self. 

Happy for Vi that she got a special day and sleepover at Abba & Chum's house. (thank you mum & dad!) She always has such a great time being there by herself (#middlechild) that she is always disappointed to come back home, LOL.

Introducing our new nanny to the kids and our house. My coworker and friend, Jenny, reached out to my cry-for-help-email I sent to the high school about our need for a new nanny, with the suggestion to check in with a former student ('22 grad) about her availability. I texted Emma and she was both available and interested. Not only am I so grateful to have a new nanny in place - but luckiest of lucky stars to get Emma who I have loved having a student since she was a ninth grader. Her big sister Brooke, used to be a teacher for Rusty at daycare years ago - and now our littlest babies will have Emma. Honestly, I could cry thinking of how life works and circles expand and contract and everything finds a way to shake out with love extended and received and small world and all the things beautiful and wonderous about being part of humanity. (stream of my consciousness writing can get a little rainbow-painted unicorns, I know - but for real - hugs to all the people and animals and spirits and vibes in all the worlds from all the times). 

Hosting a dinner at our house with our neighbors and friends the Altimores. Our families all got together and spent a fun, long evening on the back porch laughing, dancing & rapping! (LOL), and playing cornhole. It's so wild to me that we still have friends we haven't met yet through our kids! Grey and Gem (as the first two through school) brought us friends through their teammates' and friends' parents. So then when Vi and Rust headed off to school, we still had all these friends with our older kids' families. Some of those friends have younger kids, but we are getting to know lots of people for the first time through the middle kids- like the Altimores. So thankful for new friendships and friendships we don't even know yet to come through Reddy and Olive! 

Teaching color vocab to Spanish one and putting full sentences together with 'este/esta es...' I also introduced them to Gimkit and they are already big fans. Spanish 2 worked through Somos Unit 9 including making our class story and taking their vocab quiz on Animales. Spanish 3/4 worked through Somos 17 and got their vocab words on inmigración. We're all getting into the swing of things and school is going pretty smoothly so far. 

Sporting with practice after school everyday for Grey and a Jr. High football game at CV on Thursday. Violet had two flag practices and Gemma had two cheer practices. Brandon and Grey headed out to Claysburg for the Varsity football game so B could be on the offensive headset in the press box. 

Making bowtie skillet lasagna, slow cooker chicken pot pie, ground beef cheesesteak sammies, pork roast in the slow cooker, pizza (and a grocery deliver from Pappy and Gigi - thank you!!), buffalo chicken dip, and a Shrimp & Kielbasa boil with the Altimores on Saturday night. B also made my favorite breakfast meal - eggs, rice & black beans, and toast (thank you!)