Around Here Week 9: 02/25-03/02

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

first day at my new school!

photo cred: Miss Emma

photo cred: Eva M

Intentional Outdoor Hours: 11+ hours (of 1000)
Not much, but I did take a little walk with the babies after my first day of school to breathe and relax. It was wonderful and I should really do it more often. 

Reading Six Years by Harlan Coben...still not really feeling it, but pushing through because I'm hopeful it turns into something here before the end. Fingers crossed! 

Listening on my commute to I Did a New Thing: 30 Days to Living Free by Tabitha Brown. I love Tabitha Brown's voice and overall optimism and goodheartedness. It has me teared up a bit each chapter and I feel wrapped up in her hug of a voice every morning. 

Spending some time in my new classroom on the eve of my first day. Gemma came to help (bless her) and I got everything set up and copied so that I can walk into the building that first week and not have to do any prep work. 

Cheering Grey and the school on at the annual dodgeball tournament. It runs all during school and then the winning teams got to play against the local fire departments in the evening. Grey and his friends won the jr high division (second year in a row!) so we all went out to watch the evening event and it was heartwarming and funny. They play a round of Medic dodgeball in which one player could bring hit players back to life by dragging them to the end line from where they got it (important though: if the medic gets hit - no one can be revived!) It was a great event!

Smiling at that pic of peak Gemma - sitting on the counter, plate of snacks, ripped jeans, sweatshirt and barefeet. It's just such an exact snapshot of my girl right in this age of preteen. 

Hosting a sleepover with my nephews. Those little sweetie pies are the light of my life - HAH! Being an aunt is such an incredible joy. You get to love those babies and get a million kisses and hugs and feed them so much snackies (lol), and then someone else is responsible for actually raising them. This is the best gig ever. (YOU'RE WELCOME KITTY AND UCH! geez 13 years of this bliss - I want presents for that, hahha). They were darlings and the kids were so happy to have a cousin sleepover and their little voices saying "tia" made my whole week brighter! 

Sending Vi to the skating rink for the school's skate night which turned into a sleepover and playdate because she gets spoiled rotten by the McDannell family (thank you Eva!) she is always so happy to come play at your house and help take care of the ponies - love you guys! 

Cheering on our Varsity basketball game who made it into the state playoffs! B, Grey, and Violet went to their game on Friday night while Gem, Rust, Red, Olive, and I went to the 6th grade boy's basketball game in Richland to cheer for them! We believe in community. xxo

Spending lots of money on cleats, shinguards, and soccer socks. The season is upon us! So grateful that B took the kids out to do it while Olive and I took Grey to baseball practice and we sat in the car and prepped school work and graded papers (hah!) 

Teaching AT MY NEW SCHOOL and trying to get my feet under me. It was truly a blur of a week. I am starting over from scratch - the scratchest of scratches. I didn't even know the proper place to park on Monday morning (hah!) I parked in the back of the elementary school thinking I'd be able to leave swiftly to make it to the high school on time and instead, they closed the back gates so I actually had to get out - open them up -drive the car through - get out- close them again!? I learned where the staff bathrooms are in two buildings, where to make copies and print in two buildings, where I do actually park at two buildings, what my schedule looks like each day, what an early dismissal schedule looks like, how kids sign out of the room, my students' names in the high school, the flow of the elementary school day, who to contact if I accidentally lock myself out of the room (lol)...all while also actually teaching kids. EV Spanish special learned introductions and greeting, Spanish Expo learned introductions, Somos Unit 1 and Super 7 verb Hay. Spanish 1 and Spanish 2 worked through some activities so that I could get a feel for what they know, who they are, and where we should go from here. By Friday, I was absolutely exhausted and felt like I could take a big breath - I made it! One week in! 

Sporting with BB gun league for Rusty and Violet. Vi also had a basketball game and a Sparks soccer practice. Gemma played in the basketball playoffs with her sixth grade team and made it to round 2! Grey had baseball pitching practice with his school team, one baseball practice each for his school team and his pony league team, plus the QB clinic on Saturday morning. B played with his Franklin basketball league and on Sunday night the Varsity football team had their February Rep Checks in the weight room. I got to go to snag photos and video and it was actually really inspiring to see how hard the team is working in the off season. 

Making crockpot beef and noodles, slow-cooker cream cheese taquitos, Korean beef, rice, and green beans, bbq chicken sammies, BBQ chicken bacon ranch flatbreads (from leftovers!), and takeout pizzas.