A glimpse into what it is like to be in our family just this moment.
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| photo cred: Onara C |
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| photo cred: Olive |
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| photo cred: B |
Intentional Outdoor Hours: 2+ hours (of 1000)
Woke up to snow on New Years day! I'm really trying to be even more intentional about my outdoor time because I know how good it is for me. It has me looking up, breathing fresh air, moving and active- all the best things for my mental and emotional health! So I am trying to push myself for 20 minutes a day during the winter months (tracking in my planner). That means helping with farm chores and heading out with the kids to watch them sled. I am NOT a cold weather gal, but it does make me feel so much better to move and breath fresh air and most of all get away for a minute from chores or screens!
Reading kind of nothing. Taking a little breather while I try to organize my planner
Listening to The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey
No Buy January to try to get ourselves back under control from the spend, spend, spend of the holidays. Our self-imposed rules are bills, gas, groceries, farm food, emergency needs all allowed. No extras - no restaurants/take out, no clothes, no "oh-I've-been-meaning-to-get-that" purchases, no books, no 'oh, that's cute' or 'but I really want it.' Here's to self control!
Starting our annual January puzzle and finishing it in only two days! Violet and Gemma (especially Violet) were completely locked in. B says we've outgrown 1000 piece puzzles! We left it out on the table to admire it but we're thinking of pulling out an old one so that we have one out for the rest of the month. The kids wanted to buy a new one - but I was like, "Guyyyyyys, it's No Buy January!" (hahha, they hate us)
Watching Mountain Monsters at Greys' suggestion and we have all been cracking up yet totally invested in the investigations and traps (it's on MAX) All 8 of us on the couch (we fit!), sharing blankets, and belly laughing at the adventures of Trapper, Huckleberry, Wild Bill, Buck and the rest of the crew has been some of my favorite moments of this holiday break!
Grading, planning, and organizing and trying to remember that I have a job and need to function like a contributing member of society next week. LOL
Annual bloodwork done for B and I before our annual check up. We went in early on a snowy Saturday when barely anyone was out running errands. Lucky for us, we were literally in and out in less than 20 minutes - it was amazingly efficient!
Operation ground deer meet at Uncle Rays' house. B took some of the kids over to meet Pappy and Uncle Ray to grind up one of our harvested deer into ground meat. We've been adding it into our ground beef recipes (half/half) and the kids don't notice, so praise the Lord, we've doubled our ground meat supply!
Feeling so grateful for this very long holiday break with everyone. We still had plenty of to do and kids coming and going between time with friends and sports. And even though I had to prep, make, and clean up so many meals (hah) - it was such a good, cozy time with all of us together at home. B took off most days of the break too - so it was truly all of us together. I am not so far from the days of grown up kids who don't live here anymore (!!) so I can appreciate it now to see how lucky we are to be living right now in a house of all six of our kids under one roof. These are the good 'old days.
And here I am starting another year of Around Here weekly updates. I don't even know who is reading these anymore (hah), but the truth is - I am! I have been writing Around Here weekly updates since 2016! And one of my guilty pleasures is to look up the current week I am living in, but back in time in an Around Here post to see what my motherhood journey was like a few years back. It makes me feel so thankful that I have a written description of my worries and gratitudes and what I was cooking (!) or what we were celebrating and how we spent out days. It is legitimately unbelievable that I have been writing these journal like posts for 9 years (how?! why?!) but also - thank goodness because it makes me so happy to look back on this blur of chaotic beauty of raising these kids up.
Sporting with only 1 swim practice for Rusty. Gemma had two basketball practices and Grey had two basketball practices and a shoot around. Grey and Gem each had a basketball game postponed due to weather too.
Making buffalo chicken dip with veggie dippers, haluski with baked deli sammies, slow cooker cream cheese taquitos, chicken and gravy over mashed potatoes, and hot dogs and bacon, cheddar, ranch roasted potatoes. For breakfast I made oatmeal, pumpkin, chocolate chip muffins (with pepitas on some for me too! I have a real obsession with pepitas). For dessert, I made peanut butter cookies with Reese's pieces on top (Christmas candy leftovers!)
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