Around Here Week 49: 12/04-10

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

photo credit: Coach Ang

text pic from Miss Emma!

Intentional Outdoor Hours: 738+ hours (of 1000)
Settling into that deep cozy over here where I get barely anytime outside. I really don't enjoy being cold and I know I just need better clothes, but mostly I want to be snuggled under a blanket with a warm drink reading all winter. Can I just commit to 1000 hours for three seasons and then come winter can I just live in hygge mode? 

Reading and finishing Almost American Girl by Robin Ha which was an illustrated memoir about her experience immigrating to the US when she was a teenager in the 90's. I really enjoyed it and I loved how she was able to tell so much story through the medium of graphic novel (and she also talks about how much she loved comic books growing up - it all just came together so beautifully). I also started and finished (in 24hrs) I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid. I really liked it (mind puzzle!) but I also was able to guess the plot by page 39 because I read too much.(lol), it was still a good read though! I'm also still working my way through the gorgeous and inspirational book How We Show Up by Mia Birdsong.

Signing the great pyr paperwork and doing some research to make sure we are ready for our pupper later this month. It is so hard to keep the secret from the kids, but it will be worth it come Christmas time! eeeeeeeeeeeeeee! 

Smiling at text pics of Rusty & Chum on their sleepover adventures! (thank you for having him!) 

Deep cleaning the kids' bedrooms and the playroom upstairs and what a sigh of relief I had afterwards. It was a huge project and such a pain in the butt - but it's done and I feel a huge weight lifted off my soul. I mean the attic is a freaking disaster - but out of sight for the holiday and I love you future Tabitha who has to deal with that, but you will have kids that are just a little bit older and the attic won't be freezing cold- LOL. 

Dropping off dinner for a friend who is on a medical journey right now. If you have extra prayers, please send them up for her. She is an incredible person, a mom of two, a cancer survivor once already. Hold her in your heart and send her warrior vibes. (love you, Gina xxo)

Attending Rusty's Kindergarten Christmas concert. They all did great and it is honestly the sweetest thing to see them all up there dancing and singing. (We didn't have any kid-size ties so Brandon fashioned up one of his ties to fit in the front and then threaded the long tail through his shirt and tucked down into his pants. Keep it real people, we are all just making it work!) Rust had a solo during the Christmas Train song and he sang into the  microphone, "I want an electric guitar!" hahha! 

Eating candy from our shoes after St. Nicholas visited on December 6th! (thank you to Abba who snagged all the treats and goodies!)

Welcoming a little prince to the farm. We talked with Trinity Farms for Healing and worked out a plan to keep on of their young bucks on our farm from December-January to see if he our our girls want to be boyfriend and girlfriends for a time (hah!) His name is Juniper and he is a Kiko goat. He is so precious, pretty small in size compared to our goats but they warned us - don't let his size fool you! He can get the job done, we've found out by accident! So thankful for their guidance and their recommendations as we take this first journey on goat breeding! Sending romantic thoughts to our goat pasture please - HAHAH! 

Snuggling with Baby Heathy and getting in a baby fix. I was comforted in my soul to spend a quiet evening at Uch's house playing with Wells and Heath while Uch made dinner and we chatted and smiled in silence at her two sweet boys. Sometimes its everything to just be in the presence of each other and be grateful while simultaneously exhausted in motherhood and adulthood. (love you Uch, thanks for always just letting my weary soul rest with you). 

Kissing rifle season goodbye. Last week this week and nothing from either my fellas! They might be interested in muzzleloader or late archery...but we will see. Thankfully both grandpas got deer, so we should still get some gifted to us. 

Dancing at the Winter formal. Our student council asked me and Brandon to be chaperones, so we got all dolled up and spent part of the evening at Green Gables. The kids all looked great and had so much fun - always nice to see them in a different setting and smiling together. It was Brandon and my seventh Christmas dance together over the years. Haha, high school sweethearts FOREVER.

Teaching our Capibara con Botas novel in Spanish 1 chapters 1-8. Spanish 2 watched The 33 a movie about the mining accident in Chile in 2010 and talked about the connection to our own local mining rescue (Quecreek). Spanish 3/4 continued reading La Llorona de Maztalan chapters 3-6. All classes received their Leave Me Alone Passes that they earned. And I finished my required training for Keystone Test Administration (ugh). 

Sporting with four basketball practices for Grey this week and his first Junior High basketball game at home vs. Rockwood. The games start at 4p so it's a mad dash to get everyone off the bus and there on time (God Bless Miss Emma who has the babies ready to go!) He did well and is so happy to be back on the court! Gem had a locker room decorate night with her team to support the Varsity girls (thanks for organizing Coach Ang!) Gem's ankle is still not ready to be used in an athletic way - she went to get it checked at Ortho and she's in a boot for it - nothing seems to be broken but it's also still pretty swollen so we will have to wait until next week for another scan to confirm. The nurses were cracking up because she's 10 yrs old and wears a size women's 10 shoe and is 5'3'' already. This chick! 

Making copycat Olive Garden chicken and pasta (a kid favorite!), sheet pan kielbasa, potatoes, & veggies, baked ravioli (a kid favorite!), chicken, veggies, and fried rice on the Blackstone (good job B!), Gemma's lasagna, order-in pizza, and ham & cheese pinwheels (none of the kids were fans). Violet and I made Fruity Pebbles breakfast muffins on Sunday too.