A glimpse into what it is like to be in our family just this moment.
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| selfie cred: B |
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| photo cred: Miss Emma |
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| selfie cred: B |
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| photo cred: Uncle Jonny |
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| photo cred: Kitty |
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| selfie cred: B |
Intentional Outdoor Hours: 27+ hours (of 1000)
omigosh, the rain this week?! We had a beautiful first day of April and then the April showers came and they were not messing around. It rained and poured and cats'ed & dogs'ed (hah). We had roads close due to flooding, our driveway has a river rut like never before, and I don't know how the ground is ever going to dry out. Then it snowed because, ya know, we live in western PA and that's just how the weather behaves sometimes. By Saturday though, despite the low temp it was at least dry and sunny.
Reading High Achiever by Tiffany Jenkins and really blown away by her story and honesty. If you love someone with addiction, not a bad idea to pick this book up (and it's an easy read!) I'm also still reading The Body by Bill Bryson but it honestly blows my mind every single page - so I'm taking it slow and highlighting a ton of stuff like I'm going to be grade on it ( hah #nerdvibesforever )
Listening on my commute (and while sorting laundry) Wrong Time, Wrong Place by Gillian McAllister. Really enjoying the story and then I used up all my audiobook listening time on Spotify - hah! It renews in a couple days, bleh.
Celebrating Easter with a day full of love. The Easter bunny left the kids baskets and then we made it to church just barely in time (we were actually late, but so was everyone so they kids made it in time for the ribbon procession - yay!) Then it was lunch at Aunt Dar's with our extended Adams family (delicious food, got to snuggle baby Lennox!) and then it was off to Mimi's to celebrate with the Studer side (delicious food, funny egg hunt, a birthday song for the birthday twins: Mimi and Redland - both April Fools babies only 83 years apart!)
Singing happy birthday to our Redland. He turned four this week! Still a little snuggle bug but getting bigger too. I love watching him play with Rusty and his cousins; all of them lost in a world of imagination where they fight bad guys and score the winning touchdown every time. His laugh is the most contagious in our house and he finds a way to crack us all up every single day. What a little dose of joy you are Reddy Sketti.
Losing my voice and cracking up when Olive asked me "why you sound like that?" and when I told her I had a sore throat she said, "You should just do this" and then cleared her throat! I laughed so much and then continued to think about it and laugh. What baby talks with so much sass and certainty?! Geez, this chick.
Kissing B goodbye for a few days for his annual fishing trip with Uncle Jonny. B, Jon, and Yetka all had a fun few days together fishing the treacherous riverbanks of the little Juniata (only treacherous this year because of the crazy rain we had this week). Those fishermen still managed to catch some fish (of course they did). We missed him, but are glad he gets a few days to play his reindeer games and be in the fresh air with a wet line.
Thankful for everyone who squeezed in to help us while we were down a parent this week. Pappy was on morning bus duty, Abba picked up an afternoon with the kids when our nanny had to leave early, Heather dropped off dinner for us, the Cable family took Rust & Vi on the early dismissal day, the Conn family helped with baseball rides, and the Feathers came to the rescue for soccer rides. We could never do this raising up on our own; thank you all!
First day of trout and despite terrible fishing conditions (cold, high rivers, mud, cloudiness) Brandon and Grey found a stream to fish for half the day because there was not way my son was having a first day of trout pass him without getting his line wet! We had his best friends over on Saturday night (the Conn twins) to sleepover so they can fish at camp on Sunday in hopes that conditions will be a little better - it is supposed to be warmer at least!
Kitty & Bryan PCT Update: They hiked crazy miles this week (75 miles in 5 days!) to make it to Idyllwild, CA (mile 179) before another storm (snow, rain, wind) hit them. (so glad they are warm, safe, and resting in a hotel during it). They are seeing some incredible sights (follow them on Instagram: @kankla and @bweimer27 ) The mayor of Idyllwild is a dog! hah! Kitty sent a selfie with him and he honestly looks like a mayor somehow (and so stinky cute!). We, back at home, are feeling so inspired by their sense of adventure, time in nature (and unplugged!) that we came up with a 50 mile challenge! If you're inspired too (or just need motivation to get moving this spring,) join us! (here's the PDF if you want to print & track!)
Teaching a new unit in the elementary school special: the Castells de Tarragona and the kids are so engaged and excited! Spanish Expo learned Somos Unit 1 including Dice, Hay, and numbers. Spanish 1 finished Unit 4B and learned about ir + a + infinitives and time telling. Spanish 2 finished their chapter too including reciprocal verbs and really firming up their preterite/imperfect verb conjugations.
Sporting with very little because the weather was not supportive of spring sports at all. Rain, rain, and then snow. It was supposed to be the first week of AYSO soccer, but the fields were closed almost all week! Violet still had two Sparks practices (indoors). Gem did squeeze a soccer practice in on Monday before the weather hit. Grey's baseball games were cancelled so he had three indoor baseball practices instead.
Making Korean beef, green beans, & rice, spaghetti, chicken wraps, meatball casserole (thank you Heather!), take out pizza, baked potato taco bar (to feed 3 hungry teenagers; Grey and his friends).
Keto'ing because I hate being controlled by sugar. I loved Whole 30 eating but it's so much work and I know that I cannot manage that kind of meal prepping/planning right now in our current life/schedule. But Keto can be lazy and still be off sugar, and that's really what I want. Sugar takes total control over my mind/body/soul (cloudy, anxious thinking - overeating, fatigue, low motivation) and I just want to be free of that kind of chokehold. I started on Monday, April 1 and had one solid day of terrible Keto flu (headache, irritation) and then I was good! I started feeling more clear thinking and energized by Wednesday! And honestly, thank goodness! I am feeling really grateful to feel like I am control of my brain and body and in the right head/heart space to stay on track!
