Around Here Week 39: 09/24-30

 A glimpse into what it is like in our family just this moment. 

photo cred: Stacy B

photo cred: Stacy B

photo cred: Onara C

Intentional Outdoor Hours: 614+ hours (of 1000)
I'm really relying on fall sports now for most of my hours. The kids are still playing outside plenty after school, but between full-time work and chores - my hours are almost solely coming from games/practices. I did snag a few hours mowing though on Saturday and that was nice! 

Reading and finishing Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabriel Zevin. Aw man, I loved it terribly. I needed a bear hug multiple times during the end to keep from coming apart in the feelings, but I loved it even then. So many underlined quotes and such strange and curved reasons why I loved them or connected to them. For example towards the end Sadie says to Sam, "The knowledge and experience we have - it isn't necessarily that helpful in a way." and it spoke to me so clearly when it comes to raising, teaching, & coaching teenagers. We may have the experience and wisdom from being teenagers ourselves and years of hindsight, but that helps almost zero when it comes to supporting, raising, and loving teens as they are going through it. this book, it was every bit of life that guts me on a regular basis - so yes. i loved it very much. 

Celebrating our nine year old Violet Mary. This girls waits alllll month for her birthday to come - no one anticipates their birthday in our house like this chick. She had nine balloons in her room to wake up to and then a breakfast "cake" of donuts. She took snack into school and then we had a proper sleepover birthday party at our house on Friday night after the home football game. The girls met up with us at the game so they ran, played, and cheered on the team before coming back to our house for snacks, Just Dance, and giggle fest. Saturday we had pancakes on the porch, bobbed for apples, jumped on the trampoline, and did mini make-overs, then we sang over a "cake" of peanut butter power balls (Violet's request, hah!) It was a nine year old girls' dream of friends for a whole day doing whatever popped into their minds. (thank you all for letting them spend the day!)

Attending Incorporating Play into your Daily Life workshop with Academic & Wellness Coaching  and having so much fun and full out laughing multiple times. If you need a little boost to your monotonous day, please please sign up for this session. We all need play and silliness in our lives and I promise you that you will feel lighter and smily-ier. 

Deep into football season where everything we do, say, think, and want is football and cheer. hah. Red is full blown obsessed with football and it has become the nightly ritual of Brandon and Red (and usually Olive snuggled in there) to watch football together before bed. Grey basically only uses his phone to rewatch Hudl game film, Gemma and Violet make up cheer dances to literally every song, chant, or poem (Gem was literally memorizing her poem to read for ELA class by cheering it out). Rusty loses some piece of his football gear every single day (I swear we never have all three: cleats, mouthguard, or helmet) and plays 'football highlight reel' (big catches/tackles/slow mo ) with Red in any kind of free time. Olive is obsessed with cheers and has memorized Gem's halftime dance and half the youth league cheers (both words and motions). Grey randomly shouts "Pass block!" in the kitchen when someone walks by shoves us around a million times. B is constantly scribbling down plays on random pieces of paper or we are talking about players, challenges, and gameplans. I am currently planning both the Jr High end of season pizza party AND the youth league end of season picnic/tailgate. Gem, Vi, and I are 100% invested in Taylor Swift & Travis Kelce (obvi). And of course, running back and forth to games and practices. It is football mania around here so hardcore. I love it so much but the wheels are starting to come off a bit, so I am eyeing up the end of October when the season starts to come to a close. 

Sending love and hugs to my sister Kitty who said a goodbye to her sweetest feline best friend Miles this week. Miles was such a good and caring companion for my sister - he truly had the very best life with my sister. I am so grateful that he loved her so well and brought so much joy and peace to her life. (thank you Miles, rest easy sweet boy). 

Always thinking several days ahead at any given moment because of all the planning. But it feels good to knock things off the to do list. I finally got a new school badge which has been on my to do list since about day3 of school (!!) We picked a date and I finished the end-of-season party flyer for the youth league, I crossed all the things off my CT homecoming list for Rusty, and double checked my Instructional II hours for my teaching certification. B got the truck inspected this week too (thank you Pap for helping with drop off & pick up!) This is the 'mental load' that everyone is always talking about - honestly, the exhaustion that comes with always thinking about the things I need to do right now so that we are prepared for tomorrow/next week/later this month/the next holiday is insanity. Sending love out there to all the parents out there holding it together.

Laughing hysterically when I got a call from our Walmart delivery person at 8:30p when he said, "Hi, I'm really sorry to bother you but, I don't feel comfortable leaving your groceries on the porch because your goats are staring at me and started ripping and eating all your shrubs. I think they're going to eat this food."  I mean, honest to goodness...the CIRCUS that is this life. Thankfully we were about to be home from practice. I told him thank you and that I hoped that is always the most exciting thing that ever happens on a delivery and he was cracking up too. He said "It definitely is in the lead as of now!"

Seeing camo with the opening day of archery on Saturday. B stayed home but Grey got out before daybreak with Pappy. As he was getting set up in his treestand that morning, a racoon started shimmying its way up Grey's tree (!?) He shouted "HEY!" at it twice and spooked it enough to slide back down and run off, LOL. Grey went back out by himself on Saturday night at the treestand at our house and he saw a doe right under him (showed us the pics when he got home around dusk)...but I know how these boys work anyway...they wait until the last hour of the last day to shoot anything because they just want all the time in the treestand as possible. HAH. I'm on to you guys. That's fine, I'm never complaining about spending time in the outdoors! 

Teaching Somos Unit 2 in Spanish 1 (target structures: corre, camina, hacia and El Encierro del San Fermin). Spanish 2 learned about El Cucuy legend and did some story re-telling which is an activity every year that the kids surprise themselves with how much they can do. Spanish 3/4 read the first two chapters of our first novel - La Llorona de Mazatlan. I also organized our first monthly staff potluck for this week. We had a tailgating/football theme and everyone showed up with the yummiest treats and foods. What a good day it is at school on potluck day (hah!)

Sporting with two flag practices and a flag game for Rustman, 2 cheer practices and a cheer game for each Gemma and Violet. Gem also had a basketball practice this week. Grey had 3 football practices and a game at Homer Center (still undefeated!) and Brandon had four football practices and a home game vs. Northern Cambria. I baked 4 dozen cookies to send to the Jr High team for their pre-game meal dessert and God bless my students who paint my Majors cheerleading run-through signs each week at school on Friday (hah!) 

Making chili in the crockpot, baked ravioli (Vi's birthday dinner pick!), meatloaf and roasted potatoes, ordering pizza on Wednesday's late practice night, chicken and biscuit casserole. I baked 8 dozen cookies on Wednesday night from 10:30p-12:30a to send in for the Jr High football pre-game meal and also made a crockpot of bbq/grape jelly meatballs for our staff potluck. For Violet's sleepover party we had frozen pizzas and puppy chow after the football game and in the morning we had pancakes with whipped cream, a taco bar, and peanut butter power balls.