A glimpse into what it is like to live in our home just this moment.
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| photo cred: Heather R |
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| photo cred: B |
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| photo cred: B |
Intentional Outdoor Hours: 214+ hours (of 1000)
Loving the summertime! Getting lots of hours everyday and feeling so happy to have the days stretch out wide in front of us. Even with activities scheduled for the evenings with sports - waking up by 6:30a everyday feels like so much time for outside and chores and planning. My soul is getting revived and it is such a relief!
Reading The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E Harrow until it got watermelon juice dumped all over it in the Que snack bag. Thankfully, my next book club books arrived (from World of Books): Good Material by Dolly Alderton and The Sirens by Emilia Hart
Listening to and finishing The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez. I really liked it and am ashamed to admit that one night I stayed up until 2a to finish it!! (is this the summer of listening to only Abby Jimenez?! hahhaa, it might be; they make me so happy and distracted/productive!)
Family celebration for Kitty's 40th birthday at Abba & Chum's house. Bryan brought crab for all to try and we hung out at Abba and Chum's house chatting and eating pickles right out the jar (hah, my fav!) Aunt Kitty is the most fun and coolest aunt and all my children are absolutely obsessed. Kitty - you are LOVED.
Organizing the summer Chore Chart and laughing so much when the kids got their lists because they were screaming in pretend horror. Everyone claims they got their least favorite chores (they have to do 3 tasks for a week and then we will swap) but that's no true and they are hilariously dramatic. All the kids did a great job on their chores this week though and there was some real pride in their faces about it. This week daily tasks: Grey had vacuum upstairs, check the cars for garbage/return left items, and tidy up the back porch and backyard. Gemma had cleaning the downstairs bathroom, hand wash the dishes, and be a friend to Osa. Violet had empty the dishwasher, help make dinner, and check all the trash cans. Rusty had vacuum the hallway and living room, help clean up after dinner, and scrub the sink after dinner. Reddy had feed Bullet and sweep up any food he spilled, tidy the shoes, and check the garden. Liv had collect the eggs, spray & wipe the kitchen table, and tidy the living room toys. Everyone has to do hygiene, make their bed, and put away clean clothes everyday.
Laughing every time Red or Olive mispronounce the word "literally." It appears to have been born from the mashup of "literally" and the suffix "less." Which they would have heard maybe through "helpless" (aka, "you might be little but you are not helpless") and "harmless" (aka "it's okay, that daddy long legs is harmless!") --Nerd Time: it's a fun way to see linguistics at work in real time with little language learners! And bonus, if we break it apart Literal and Less would mean "without literal (meaning)" which is actually pretty close to the way Gen Alpha uses the word literally as an extreme exaggeration ("this is the most bored I've ever been. Literally") So, anyway now our whole family is saying it and it's ridiculous and borderline inappropriate. They pronounce it "Literiss" and yes...it rhymes with female anatomy. Lord help me.
Thankful for visits with the people that make us smile. Olive had a belated birthday date with Miss Heather to the ice cream shop. Violet got a playdate with her friend Bella, a sleepover at Abba & Chum's house (cat house building!) and then a sleepover at her friend Evaley's house. Gemma had a whole day of hangout with Aunt Kitty (ortho appointment, Starbucks, thrift shopping, movie watching). Grey went out to lunch with some of the basketball guys (all you can eat lunch at Applebee's) and a night swim at his friend Gabe's house
First swim at Pappy's pool! We stopped by for lunch and a swim at Pappy's. Pro-mom tip: the best way to get rid of leftovers is to give them when kids swim because they will eat anything with that level of hungry (hah). So I packed up a bunch of random leftovers (pioneer woman lasagna, buttered veggie noodles, grilled chicken, corn on the cob, hot dogs, and birthday cake!) and heated everything up while the kids swam. Mimi came down to hang out too and Grey helped Pap work on the retaining wall project and everyone got a much needed dose of sunshine and happiness!
Last min non-motorized boat launch registration...because I literally forget every single year. I bought 2-year launch stickers this year for 3 kayaks and our fishing boat. And then forgot about our paddleboard and had to go in an buy a 5th sticker (good grief).
Que Day! We got all loaded up in the afternoon (late as always - God bless our friends who have so much patience with us!) and B joined us and helped load up the boat and the kayak. We met our friends the Cables, Lasures, and the Conns at the Que. The big boys (Reed, Bryce, and Grey) took the kayak and the boat out for an afternoon full of fishing. The rest of us had a great day at the beach swimming, splashing, and playing in the sand. It was the most perfect summer break day getting sun and eating all the snackies (hah). So grateful to chat and count heads with Becky and Onara while the kids played and showed us everything from shells to minnows to tricks and flips in the water.
Thrilled to open our electric bill this month after our first full month of solar panels turned on! Our normal electric bill is around $300-$400 in the spring/summer (our house runs 100% off electric) and this month after a full month of solar panels - we have a bill of $11 !!!
Birthday ice cream trip for Olive with Miss Heather! She felt like such a special girl to get her own mini date out for the afternoon.
Fishing fellas. The boys got a little fishing time with our Gilmore cousins at Bob's Creek. Everyone was happy but no one more than Reddy!
Graduation parties this week: my former NS student Ruby who is headed to Westminster in the fall, my former NS student Julie who will be attending and my former NS student Kylee who will be on the competitive cheer team at PITT Johnstown. We also went to the grad party for Brandon's football player (and Grey's football and baseball teammate) Luke who will be playing baseball at Mount Aloysius.
In disbelief about the propaganda coming directly from the White House. It is officially off the rails - every week I think it is the most outrageous is can be, only to continue get more insane the following day. Also happy Flag day and No Kings Day!
Sporting with Basketball Camp for Rusty every morning this week from 9a-Noon! Violet had her last 12U AYSO soccer game. We also had the last LHFC travel soccer games. Violet had her last Sparks game and Gemma had her last Gators game (both in the pouring rain!) On Saturday, Gem and Violet participated in the Richland AYSO tournament with their tourney teams too. Gemma had one basketball summer league game, participated in three Strength & Conditioning work outs, and assisted our trainer Ms Jenilee at the Ken Lantzy football game on Friday night. Grey had three summer league basketball games, one Colt City Baseball game, volunteered at the Basketball Camp every day from 9a-Noon, and signed up for five day Strength & Conditioning from 7a-9a each day. This boy is determined to put on muscle this summer - so we are packing in the protein and upping the calories everyday to go alongside all the weight-lifting. I did a Baseball Booster task, got Grey registered for basketball team camp, got Violet registered for Cheer camp, and scheduled PIAA physicals for Gemma and Greyson!
Making sloppy joes and homemade mac&cheese, Pioneer Woman lasagna, sheet pan chicken fajitas, beef & cheddar sammies, kielbasa with pierogies and cabbage on the blackstone,
Celebrina the sourdough: discard chocolate chip cookies, a double batch of brownies, and giving the chickens some discard to enjoy too! I sent one batch of brownies to the weight room with Coach Daddy and it was a big hit - maybe will become a Wednesday weight room tradition this summer? Haha.
Keto favorites this week: Egg roll in a bowl, cream cheese fat bombs, jalapeno cheddar brats, [B and I are back to it again because it is the easiest way to limit sugar without feeling starved. And sugar is just wrecking my mental and physical state - I feel so much better without it in mind, body, and spirit; so Keto it is!]
Miles walked this week: 7 miles. On one of my walks I saw a Wild Teasel plant that had cup like leaves that made little pools of water and a slug was having a drink!
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