Around Here Week 34: 08/18-24

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

photo cred: Gemma

photo cred: Deanna M

photo cred: Jackie F

photo cred: Jenn V

photo cred: Stacy B

before (top) and after (bottom) in my elementary classroom!

photo cred: Stacy B, team photographer mom! (you are so appreciated!)

photo cred: Jenn V

photo cred: CTYF

Intentional Outdoor Hours: 477+ hours (of 1000)
I made sure to snag a little time on the front porch with my coffee and book before we head back into the school year. It is one of the things I love about summer, sitting out there gently swaying while reading and sipping coffee, listening to the chickens and goats at the farm. I wanted to soak that up before the madness descends (hah). 

Reading Parable of the Sower by Octavia E Butler - just a little because of the hustle and bustle - but I am grateful that it is this book that can grab my attention and hold it for as little or as long as I have any given day. 

Visiting with our friends the Vorndran family! Taryn, Dobber, Claire, and Caleb made a stop at the football field on Sunday to watch Rusty's game and visit for awhile (thank you!) It is so hard to get together in this blur life of growing kids and activities - and they were even just driving through on their way from the beach (!) but they made time for us and it was so incredible to visit and catch up. B and I have known Tare since elementary school, and then B, Tare and Dobber all went to college together. They are Rusty's godparents and Violet and Claire are two peas of the same pod, and Tare and I chat through memes about books and parenting on instagram daily!(hah!)  So despite getting together in person only a few times a year; it always feels like it's been no time at all. Love you guys! 

Back to school prep! 

• Went into the high school with the big kids to find, practice combinations, and decorating lockers. Their Shutterfly magnets arrived in time (yay!)
• Writing signatures on their annual school chart, the kids really love this tradition and especially love to laugh at their Kindergarten attempts as writing their names. No one has (or probably ever) will beat Grey's kindergarten signature (hahah! xxo love you first baby of mine)
• Talking about and writing out the kids' first day of school posters. it's such a silly and meaningless tradition (their future jobs are usually such a novelty to their current age or interests) but I still love doing it to get a tiny snapshot of who they are every school year. When I first asked Olive what she wanted to be when she grew up, she said matter-of-factly, "a racoon." 
• Setting out our first day of school outfits the night before! 

Shopping trip with Gem to TJ Maxx. We each found some cute stuff to wear for the upcoming school year and made a Dunkin trip. And I've never really liked shopping - like ever. It's just not my thing, but I'm starting to question if maybe it's just because I didn't have  Gemmi as a shopping partner.

Preschool first day for Red and Olive!! I took the two of them to preschool orientation the night before their first day and they were excited to see their classrooms and to meet some of their new friends. They did great on their first day and were so proud to show us their coloring pages and tell us about their new friends. By day three though, they were pretty over the idea of going to preschool everyday and we had to work through big feelings. I made a color coded paper chain to help them visually see how many school days (red chain links) until another weekend (blue chain links). I even added some purple chain links for "fun" school days coming up like "Goodies with Grandparents." I knew it would be a big transition for them (for all of us!) after three years of being home with a nanny who doted on them (we love and miss you Miss Emma and Miss Baylee!) but we will get there little by little. 

Feeling proud of all our farmer friends who spent the week at the Somerset County fair showing off their animals. Violet got to spend the day with her friends (thanks Deanna for taking her!) where she saw two of her besties (Bria and Bristol) show their pigs. Gemma sent texts from my phone to her bestie (Colbie) who was also showing her pigs at the farm too. We are so proud of you girls! 

Half birthday for Gemmi Ro - twelve and a half! this girl. I don't know what I did in a past life to get to be her mom. There's nothing I could say to explain; if you know her, then you know how lucky I am. 

Very belated (and last minute) birthday sleepover for Grey. He got home from football practice and asked if the guys could come to sleepover since it was the last possible night before the first day of school night. So the fellas arrived around 8:30p, we sang happy birthday over sheet pan nachos (lol), they chopped wood, and made a fire in the firepit. Then they loaded up a wagon with tents, an air mattress, sleeping bags, and more wood and headed down to the lower part of our yard to make camp. Despite it being in the low 40's all night (!!?) they stayed in the tent all night and did their fantasy football draft. I saw them sitting outside by their mini fire near their tent at 7a the next morning on my way to work! Love these boys and so grateful they will be a very big part of Grey's guiding light as he navigates the twisting and confusing trails of his teenage years. (shout out and thank you to all their parents who are doing a great job with those boys!)

First day of school for the big kids! We have a freshman, a seventh grader, a fourth grader, and a second grader this year. I was able to go in a little late to my PD day (thank you admin!) so that I could see my kiddos off for their first day. We got our annual photos and we got everyone out the door with a hug and a kiss. Everyone had a good first two days of a school and (like every year) it seems an impossibility that we have made it to the start of another school year yet again. Sending love and thanks and hugs to all our educators out there supporting and celebrating our kids all year long this school season! 

Living our own paths in the world! It is always such a wave of relief and gratitude when school starts and the kids are back into their personal grooves of friends, experiences, and stories to recount. We all love the family closeness of summertime (and still get plenty of time with friends), but school and major sports seasons gives everyone their own branches of individual life. It polishes the shine of each kid's individual personality and deepens their understanding of who they are and who they are turning out to be. A big heaping tablespoon of our own family values and then dashes of who they want to be in the world; as an individual, as a friend, as a student, as a teammate, as an acquaintance, as a role model to others. I love listening to them tell me about their days out there in the world and who they spent time with and what they learned. I love hearing the names that get repeated each day - who was kind to them, who they were kind to (we ask that some evenings at dinner or homework or bedtime when we need to focus through grumpiness). What an incredible gift it is to be front row audience to their lives unfolding bit by bit. 

Friday Night Lights! First football game for Coach Daddy and Grey and it was at home! It was perfect weather and then band and their drums had all our hearts thumping for kickoff. Gah, its just so good and quintessential to the back to school and fall season. We had so much family show up for us - Pappy, Abba & Chum, Heather, Albert, and Caleb, Uch, Kev, all three nephews and Kev's Mom Celeste, Mimi, Kuma & Uncle Buck, Uncle Ray & Aunt Marge, Becky and her boys (and to cheer on Coach Butter this year!) And in the highest press box in heaven, we knew Gigi was watching too. Even though that scar in our heart ached a little bit knowing this was the first game that B would ever participate in (nearly in his entire life) that his momma wasn't in the stands - we could cling to the fact that we knew she was watching and we had bleachers full of our own loved ones - and bleachers full of an entire community that believed in our team - there to get us through it. We won that night! And it was from all the hard work of every player in the offseason and hundreds of hours of time from the coaches and encouragement and support from the players' families, and just maybe a little cheering from heaven. (I am so proud to be your wife B, and proud to be your momma #6). 

Teaching...still not quite teaching kids but officially back to school for the new year. I stopped by on Tuesday after I dropped off the babies for the first day at preschool and was super motivated and focused to get all the clutter cleared! I organized the surplus of school supplies for a "free flea market" for my co-workers, and stacked all things to be removed from my room (old textbooks, old decorations, two desks, an old school projector!). Wednesday was our first official day back and we had meetings and my co-teacher Ella and I really flushed out all our thoughts and dreams for the upcoming curriculum plan! Thursday was a lot more meetings (including a very powerful presentation by an incredible speaker: Michelle Denault)  I also did some more room organization and then Friday I spent the day at the elementary school setting up my room, going through supplies, and organizing for the first day!  

Sporting with two youth game days this week just to really crank it up a notch for the first week back to school - LOL. On Sunday the youth team played CV at home and the following Saturday they played Portage at home. Rusty played QB and outside linebacker in both games and Violet cheered with the Majors squad for both teams. After her game on Saturday though she was pouting and I asked what the problem was and she said that she was sad about not playing football anymore. So we had a chat with the Minors football coach and he said that she would be welcome to join practice this week to see if she wanted to play! She is so excited! (thank you Coach Brandon and the youth league!) Rusty also had 2 flag practices and Violet had 2 cheer practices and helped cheer at the Path of the Pride before the Varsity game. Gemma had 4 soccer practices and a home scrimmage this week. Grey and B had team dinner and film on Sunday night, four days of practice and the first game (a home game!) on Friday night (we won!! Coach Daddy's first win as head coach!) We volunteered at both youth games to complete our service towards the league (50/50 one game, gate admissions the next). Our whole family attended the Fall Sports pep rally on Thursday night where Gemma volunteered to work the ice cream booth for a little for the soccer boosters and Coach Daddy took one for the team and got pie'd in the face for a fundraiser.

Our football team also put out their Blast Athletics fundraiser this week - Thank you to all our friends and family for donating (if you are interested in donating and getting weekly updates on our teams' games - check out this link, and thank you!). The team also sold discount cards and Grey and his friend Gabe walked around the neighborhood in their football jerseys on Saturday afternoon and sold 17 in an hour and a half (thank you community for supporting our young people!) It takes quite a bit of money for the boosters to support this team through meals, gear, the banquet, etc. So truly, thank you to every individual and small business that supports your local school district. It wouldn't happen without you!! (reminder: support your local small businesses that are supporting your kids' school!) 

Making burgers on the grill with fries, sheet pan nachos (which acted as Grey's belated birthday cake - LOL), Pappy's marinated deer meat with mashed potatoes & corn, copycat Olive Garden crockpot chicken over spaghetti, and takeout pizza. I made a batch of fruity pebble muffins (Gemma's half birthday cake and grab&go breakfast!) and Olive helped me make some peanut butter powerballs for afterschool snack.