Around Here Week 32: 08/03-09

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

photo cred: Pappy

photo cred: Gemma (at her engagement photo shoot shadowing!)

photo cred: Bridge Perspective

photo cred - team photog mom: Stacy

Intentional Outdoor Hours: 413+ hours (of 1000)
And I hit a 60 day streak of intentional outdoor hours - yippee! I finally snagged a couple hours just sitting at youth football / cheer practice this week (reading my book - yay!) But there has been so little time for that so far this year as I feel like I'm just a chauffer trying to get everyone to everywhere they need to be. No one has had practices line up and if they do - I have a booster meeting in the middle of it. But this week, I had one night that I just had to be at the elementary field and I packed my book and chair and read while I watched on to Rusty and Violet's practices. It was wonderful. 

Reading Shark Heart by Emily Habeck and really finding it beautiful and touching. It's making me have all the feelings and I am really enjoying it. 

Listening to almost nothing but KPop Demon Hunters. Golden on repeat over here. (the reels are cracking us up!)

It's beginning to feel like hunting pre-season as Pap and Grey spent Sunday morning clearing space for tree stands and setting up trail cams. Violet also got to sight in her rifle with Pap and was so proud to do so well; she was showing off her target to anyone who would look. Pretty soon it will be all camo around here and the boys can hardly wait! 

When one thing breaks, it all seems to go and that felt true this week. Dishwasher pump was acting up and we had to pull it out of the counter and mess with it a bunch of times to get it to work again (thank goodness). The upstairs shower started leaking again (through the kitchen ceiling where we still have a hole there from trying to fix it earlier this year). The flat tractor tires finally off the rims. And, I forgot to turn the hose off after morning chores at the farm which wouldn't be a big issue, but while we were on vacation the hose blew out and there is a huge leak in the middle of it. Ugh, I was so annoyed with myself that I wasted that much water (not to mention the bill this month!?) I didn't realize until after 9p when Gemma said, "why is the water pressure so bad?" when she was filling up her water bottle and I was like, "noooooooooooooo" Ugh, so dumb. 

Restabilizing for the school year in baby steps: kids are sleeping in their actual beds twice a week! We have NOT practiced waking up at the right time (yet!) including me!? I am still trying to work out how to figure out the farm chores and feeding for everyone and getting everyone out the door in time. That feels like maybe a next week problem to solve (hahha)

Photographer shadowing for Gemma. How thankful I am for Serena and Bobby of Bridge Perspective to allow Gemma to shadow them and learn more about photography (something she has been curious and passionate about for several years). She got to go with them to an engagement shoot this week and learn more about the business, camera settings, and angles. She even got to take some photos and I loved hearing her break them down for me. Thank you Serena and Bobby - you make difference and we are so grateful for you! 

Braces off for Gemma Rose! She was so excited and her teeth turned out beautiful. We were cracking up as we were pulling out of the parking lot and she was literally shouting out the window to random cars passing, "How do my teeth look?" Hahhha! Sheesh, people thought she was older than she is before...?! I don't know how, but she literally looks at least 2 years older even more so now. Twice since her braces have come off people have asked where she is thinking about going to college...LOL, and she's like, um, I'm in eighth grade. #sendhelp 

Road trip with Grey. We had to drive out to Greensburg (1hr away) for his eye appointment and while we were there we grabbed a snack (onion rings and milkshakes at Red Robin!) and did some school clothes shopping. He definitely needed to update his wardrobe because of all the height growing and muscle growing he did in the off season. But if you have a teenage boy, you know my pain when we walked into Dick's and had to gulp, gulp gulp. It had to be done and he was very appreciative (and also horrified, hah!) We made some compromises in brands (ie. pricetags) and afterwards when we got in the car and I told him that I did technically promise him a proper lunch out, he was like, "Mom?!! NO. We have food at home" and I thought that was proof of maturity. LOL but also good grief. 

Belated Birthday party for Gemma (this girl had a homerun of a week!) It was a two-day event that we called "Thrift Shop Trend Dinner." On Wednesday evening after soccer practice, I took Gemma and her friends to the thrift store with a $20 budget for each girl to pick up an outfit for each other (they each pulled a name out of a hat). They had to stick to budget, but the goal was to pick the silliest outfit for someone else. Then on Thursday night, they all came to our house dressed up in the outfit that was picked for them. Everyone did such a great job finding and choosing outfits - they all looked perfect! I took them out for appetizers and dessert at Primanti's all dressed up. They were nervous at first, but they got the best reactions from everyone and even the manager of the restaurant had their teenage server wear a costume they had in the office (I was cracking up!) We went to 814 Lanes&Games to play one round of Laser Tag too in our outfits. It was so fun and silly and the girls had a great time.

Annual end of summer Que day with the Conns! We did our annual end-of-summer afternoon at the Que and although it started out chilly, the sun came out and it warmed up so that the kids weren't even too cold swimming. The big boys got some fishing in and even "accidentally" fell into the water (hah). I had a perfect time catching up with Becky and Gemma read several chapters in her book. Rust and Violet were very happy to spend the afternoon playing with their cousins Brookie and Benny too! 

Uzelac family reunion on Saturday (it was the 56th annual!) Earlier in the week, I picked up the custom reunion shirts from Lilac's Graphic & Design (our favorite custom shirt small business - Katie is amazing!) and put together a raffle basket (cozy fall themed). On Saturday morning, B loaded up with all the kids (except Olive who wanted to stay with me) and went to the annual softball game. Reddy loved it and was sliding into all the bases. Then we all met at Solomon Run Firehall for lunch, Bingo, raffle baskets, karaoke, horseshoes, spikeball, and catching up with our very big family. It was all so nice and the kids love spending time with their cousins all day running around and getting properly filthy and tired. Bravo to our Abba who is charge of putting it all together and keeping it going after all these year. (My grandma Irene - my mom's mom - was the third child of fourteen kids! We have a lot of cousins!) 

Celebrating at Hannah & Levi's bridal shower. It was beautiful and so nice to see our Studer side of the family. The meal was incredible (it was at Balance Restaurant, so you know I ate as many brussels sprouts it takes to make me physically ill which is a very serious flaw I have). I laughed a good hearty amount with cousin Tammy, aunt Pam, and Hannah and got to catch up with our southern cousins Tamara and Katie (so good to see youns!) Can't wait for the waiting in September!! 

Back to school prep: 

• ordered magnets and updated prints for offices / classroom / lockers (we are loyal to Shutterfly - I have never had any issues with them. Not a paid plug - I do just actually feel grateful for them). 
• created my focused calendar for the next four weeks (until Labor Day) to make sure we can get all the stuff in! 
• Greyson's school clothes shopping done (ouch) at Dick's with new shirts, shorts, and even a new backpack. It was a big financial hit, but he has grown so much that I just had to bite the bullet and he looks handsome and confident so it is what it is. I will be over here selling my organs for the next few years (LOL)
• putting out feelers for a babysitter for the first few days because Red & Olive don't start school until my first student day, but the big kids go back 4 days earlier and I have teacher professional development days.

Time with family and friends: Olive had a playdate at Pappy's house all by herself (she loved it!), Reddy went fishing with Pappy and caught a 15inch rainbow trout on triple waxies (hah). Violet hosted a playdate with Evaley at our house and then had a sleepover with Brookie and Brady Lasure at their house. Violet also got a sleepover at Pappy's house and then got to sight in her rifle for deer season with him. Grey went golfing with Chum (Chum won!) and also had a sleepover with Bryce and Reed and then went fishing with their Puppa (grandpa) for bass.

Intrigued by this explanation of the Panic Paradox theory from Ismatu Gwendolyn...because YES, exactly. 

Teacher prepping by checking out my schedule and rosters for the year! Powerschool has been updated! I also started filling out my curriculum map for the year. I have Spanish 1, Spanish 2, and my expo classes all done. I only have my elementary school special left to go - and that will take some time, but I'm trying to think creatively and work heart-wide opened. I updated my schoology course photos and started to move some Schoology stuff into the new year. 

Sporting with fall sports in full swing. Rusty had two minors football practices (full pads). Violet had three cheer practices, and Gemma had soccer heat acclimation five days this week. Grey and Coach Daddy started Heat Acc week (five days of 3 hour practices) and Gem, Vi, or Rust attended the varsity football practice to help with water and assistant our trainer Coach Jenilee. It is officially football season and our whole house is happy! Grey participated in the Spike Ball tourney fundraiser for the football team too! I used my Canva skills to support the football boosters with magnet designs and shareable schedules. I created the camp awards poster for the locker room and a few music playlists for Coach Daddy. I attended the Soccer Boosters meeting (signed up for flyers & tickets designs, jr high girls team mom, and help with fundraisers), and I ordered our football spirit sale orders in by the deadline (miracle)!

Making some new stuff this week because I am tired of the same old thing. Instagram and Pinterest provided my inspiration.  We had baked chicken with sun-dried tomatoes (kid-approved!), Braised Hawaiian Pork over rice (Brandon was obsessed), Hot Honey chicken nachos (SO YUM), sloppy joes, buffalo chicken dip, and peanut butter noodles with chicken.  I used up a bunch of cranberries (we have so many dried cranberries packets?!) and made orange-cranberry mini loaves (and one regular loaf) and I used some for homemade trail mix too with cheerios and chocolate chips. I whipped up some rice krispie treats to take to the Que. For the reunion, I made crack chicken mini Hawaiian roll sammies.

Miles Walked: 2 miles

Around Here Week 31: 08/01-08/02

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

selfie cred: Olive

Intentional Outdoor Hours: 390+ hours (of 1000)
A lot of mowing to catch up on but with a mower that had two flat front tires! But desperate times call for desperate measures, so I mowed anyway. It was actually kind of chilly back here in PA (after heat index of 113+ in NC) and there was a breeze and NOT ME getting a little twinkling in my belly that fall is on her way! eeeeeeeee!! 

Reading Shark Heart by Emily Habeck

Listening to KPop Demon Hunter soundtrack on repeat, obviously. 

Giving all the animals some love and attention. Miss Baylee did such a great job taking care of our critters while we were away. We were all so happy to get some hugs to them. Our kitties look so much more grown after being away for only a week! Bullet is still alive (!) and Osa was very happy to see us!

Speaking of our kitties...Cuteness aggression is aggressing every time I see or hold our kitties. They are just so cuuuuuuuuuuuute! They are so playful with each other and love getting into tumbleweed playfights where they roll over top of each other all over the yard. 

Unpacking all the bags and putting away clothes and toiletries. Since we had a washer&dryer at the beach house, many of the clothes were already clean. I did have a hamper worth of dirty / wet clothes from our last morning on the beach, but that was manageable. It feels good to finally get that last bag unpacked and put away just to take a sigh and get back into regular chores and family life (hahah!)

Visiting with Coach Mallie and swapping eggs and veggies. We had a great chat (as always) and we got some delicious treats from his garden in exchange for chicken eggs. Best kind of wheeling and dealing. 

Officially retiring Celebrina (my sourdough starter). I am so glad and proud that I tried it and learned how to do something new but it's just not for me. She did great - it's me not her (hahha). My hat is off to all you out there loving and caring for your sourdough starters! Maybe again someday (especially if my kids choose to like it) but for now, I am going sourdough free! 

Night swim at Pappy's on Saturday night because we weren't quite ready to get out of vacation mode. It was kind of chilly though, so only the bravest of us got in (ie: Rusty, Reddy, Gem, and Violet). It was nice to hang out with Pap and give him the full vacation debrief with stories, photos, and videos. The kids loved telling Pap about their favorite parts of vacation and he is a patient listener and laughs at all the right parts and asks more questions even when the storyteller is meandering and wandering through the story (ahem, Reddy and Violet - hahha!) We had dinner on the back porch and with the chill in the weather and vacation over - it almost felt like a little farewell to summer break. 

Sporting with very little to try to enjoy the calm before the storm (heat acc for football and soccer start next week!) Violet learned her cheer halftime dance with Gemma's help (thank you Coach Mrs Del for sending the video!) Gem attended strength & conditioning and she and Violet did a little shoot around with the Lasure girls for basketball. Brandon had media day and took three seniors with him to chat with all the local news stations and newspapers for their soundbite for the upcoming season. I also ordered Violet's new cheer shoes.

Making Pioneer Woman skillet lasagna and kielbasa, veggies, and tortellini on Pappy's Blackstone grill. I also made some peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.  

Miles Walked: 2 miles

Around Here Week: Vacation!

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

selfie cred: B

photo cred: Kev

photo cred: Kevin

Intentional Outdoor Hours: 386+ hours (of 1000)
thank you NC for the beautiful outdoor time. We are all tanned up and no one got majorly burned, so I'm counting it as a major win! We will be washing sand out of our hair probably for the next several weeks, but that's a small price to pay for the ocean! 

Reading Shark Heart by Emily Habeck (but very little of it) too many kiddos to play with and pay attention too! 

Listening to the ocean! Also our Surf City Spotify playlist curated mostly by Gemma.

Where we stayed: Surf City, NC (on Topsail Island) at a VRBO house on Oceanaire drive (a block walk to public access to the beach). Such a great vacation spot - beaches were not overly crowded and it had great waves (& not scary big for all our little kids). The seashells were plentiful, there were sea turtle nests to learn about (a great, patient, and knowledgeable conservation group stationed in Surf City!). There was a beautiful pier and little shops to visit if that's your thing too! We had lots of little encounters with animals; tree frogs at our house, kids saw a lizard on the walkway over the dunes, we saw a pair of dolphins twice, and lots of crab sightings. 

Nine hour drive from PA to NC at 9:45p on Thursday night. It was brutal. All the points and crowns and prizes go to Brandon who muscled through the whole drive. I asked him about 300 times if he wanted me to drive, and then before he could say, "no, I'm good" I was already bobbing my head in sleep off the dashboard (LOL). God bless daddas, honestly. He got a much deserved nap on the beach that morning! 

First day with a morning swim and dig at the bay. Our first day there, we couldn't get into our VRBO house until later in the afternoon, but after driving through the night we were all anxious to get out into the sand and move our bodies (except for B who really needed a sleep!). We drove all the way down to the end of Topsail Beach to hang out at Serenity Point for the afternoon on the bay side (fyi: pay-to-park). We loaded up the wagons and set up a little base camp. The water was smooth and when boats passed by it gave enough waves to make the kids laugh. It was the perfect little introduction into vacation while we warmed up to the sun and waded in the water. 

So thankful for Uch & Kevin's tent system: The Neso It was so easy to set up and take down (after we figured out the perfect folding/wrapping style). It had great shade coverage no matter if it was windy or not. Five star review from us! (we are considering purchasing the sideline version because we literally go through a pop up tent per year?!) 

Texting with the dentist to make sure Olive's lip was okay. It was still swollen at the beach (after she sucked and chewed on it while it was numb from her cavity fill the day before) and I started to get worried that it would become infected and we would be all the way south in an unfamiliar town, ugh - mom worry is so easy to start to spiral. Thankfully after some texting and photo sharing, the dentist said she was pretty sure that the saltwater would do wonders and clear up that little bite in her lip in a day or two. (it did!) Thank you to our awesome dentist office for easing my anxiety! 

DIY henna for vacation. I did henna for many of us on the porch of the house on the first evening and most of us opted for hand henna (like usual). Reddy got a skeleton look on one hand and even though the little kids smudged their designs a million times before it dried (hah), it was fun to keep our summertime tradition. (we just order mini henna bottles from Amazon and then I free hand the designs using the internet for inspo). 

Very happy kiddos in the waves in the Atlantic. The first evening after we got settled into our house, we all walked up a block to the beach on the Atlantic side and the kids were so thrilled to see 'real waves.' Everyone was soaked and we had to practically drag them out of the water at dark because they were having so much fun. Rusty only wanted to stay right at the break of the waves so he literally got the crap beat out of him the whole week (scrapes and bruises all over his face and body!?) But he loved it even though he was taking a beating - that kid! Violet and Gemma loved boogie boarding and had plenty of instruction and tips from the actual pro in the house: Uch! Every single time Uch tried, she caught the wave the whole way to the beach! Reddy liked the waves but was adamant about wearing his life vest (my cautious baby) and Olive loved going out past the break and floating on the boogie board. Grey liked nothing particular the most, he just wanted to do a mix of all the things; boogie board, dig in the sand, try to muscle through the wave breaking, and fishing. 

Letting the kids' needs lead the flow of the day. When they were all up and ready to go to the beach, we went. (some days that was 8a and some days that was 10a). When we were all hungry and ready for a rest, we went back to the house for lunch (some days that was 1p, some days that was 3p). If the kids wanted to stay home and play and nap for the rest of the evening, we did that - if they wanted to get in some more time in the waves and sand in the evening - we did that. If the boys wanted to fish, they did that. If some of the group wanted evening beach time, someone else was happy to hang back with the rest. If the littles wanted to warm tub (haha, we set the hot tub to 80 degrees!), one grown up monitored that. We watched Outdoor Boys on Youtube and KPop Demon Hunters on Netflix. We sat on the back porch or built giant towers of blocks in the living room. Everyone just chipped in when chipping in was needed and everyone just went with the flow. It felt so stress-free to not feel like we had to be anywhere at any time or have to be anywhere for any amount of time. We just moved through the day at the energy levels of the kids - big kids and little kids all got their fill of what they needed, we all got so many naps, people slept in or went to bed early. It was just summer beach life and living was so easy. 

Inland Fishing trip for Grey and Uncle Drip. Kevin planned the whole thing and made sure Grey had all the stuff he needed to go. They left early in the morning and Grey loved it. They each caught some and made it back to hang at the beach with us early afternoon that day. How grateful we are to have Uncle Drip who loves all the same things as Booboo and gives him opportunities to learn from another good and decent man. Kev was also patient and generous with teaching Rusty and Violet how to tie some flies, which Violet is now obsessed with as a new version of art! (we love you Uncle Drip!)

Movie night! The whole crew, cozied up in the living room and watched Happy Gilmore 2 one night. We are a big Adam Sandler fan in our house (the kids absolutely love The Grown Up movies, we also like Happy Gilmore, Hotel Transylvania, and Hubie Halloween...don't get me started on my love for his rom coms like 50 First Dates and The Wedding Singer!) We liked Happy Gilmore 2 and laughed a lot. It was nice to just rest with everyone smooshed into the living room together; half of us softly snoring and half of us laughing at the movie.

Family photos on the beach! We got 'dressed up' in the nicest clothes that we packed (hah), and made sure to get some full family and individual pictures of everyone on the beach (so easy to forget to do this!) The kids were all troopers about it and I got some good pics of everyone. A fellow beach walker stopped to take our full group shot (thank you to him and all the people out there willing to take the stranger group photos! hah!)

Learning about sea turtles from the sweetest volunteer from the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center. There were turtle nests on the beach (roped off) and one of them was in the process of hatching while we were in town. We stopped by and had all of our 300 questions answered so patiently and kindly from the volunteers. We didn't get to see any baby turtles make the trek to the ocean that night, but we got to see the little tracks from the 15 that made the journey the night before! Each morning, the volunteers walk the beach to look for tracks from mommas to new nests, or tracks of babies from the nests. Then they set up for the night and listen with sonar to figure out if there is any action. Beachgoers set up along the runaway to watch the babies make the journey to the sea!

Visiting the Surf City Pier and Soundside Park on our last night in town. From the pier we saw some sting rays, nurse sharks, and "Sharkbait" (a guy who swims way out parallel to the pier daily who the local rescue team calls Sharkbait because like, why you trying to be out there by the hammerheads and sand tigers, my dude?) From the pier, we walked to Celtic Creamery for ice cream then to Soundside Park to watch the sunset and play on the playground. Grey threw a line in just to see if he could catch anything and we all went into King's for trinkets (or Trin-KATS as we call them because why are beach souvenir shops wild and have the most hilarous souvenirs!?) All the kids got to choose one thing less than $10: Olive picked a mermaid in a tiny suitcase thing (classic Liv), Reddy chose a shark tooth necklace, Rust picked a pirate's sword, and the three oldest picked Topsail Beach shirts. 

Nine hour drive from NC to PA and it was brutal again but not because it was late at night but during the day and kids were awake most of the drive. Kev & Uch drove and stopped along the route for food and pit stops as needed for their crew and we chose to drive five and a half hours before stopping in Warrenton, VA to eat dinner at Foster's Grille.  Then because I didn't want to immediately get back in the car, I forced my family (against their will, hhaah) to stop in Rady Park while we were in town so we could stretch and walk and play on the playground. As we pull into the parking lot - who do we see.... but Kev, Tash, and the boys! Totally unplanned and we were all cracking up that the sisters/ moms had the same idea in exactly the same spot on the route back and somehow at the same time even though we were on our own driving timelines. Like, how? We added another hour to the day playing and running together at the park - but it was worth it to move and be together before hitting the long road again. Rady Park has an accessible playground, walking trails, and beautiful flower gardens. If you ever find yourself in Warrenton, VA - it's worth the visit! 

Thankful for Miss Baylee who checked on our home and took care of our animals all week. She sent us updates and photos to let us know all was well and it was such a weight off our chest to know that everyone was cared for back home! We love you Miss Baylee!!

Proud and grateful for the big kids who just went with the flow and found enjoyment in doing whatever we were all doing. They didn't fuss and whine about wanting to go places or doing big kid only things. They were happy to nap (yay sleepy teenagers!) and play with the little kids, and just hang out. They found joy in watching the little kids experience the beach and then found ways to play and be kids too (nerf football, spike ball, boogie boarding, reading, music on the deck, looking for and pointing out cute teenagers (hah), catching sand fleas, finding shells, holding babies) and because of that we spent the whole week together; not fragmented into separate groups of big kids vs small kids. I don't know how many more vacations it will be like that and I am so very grateful to have this one just like that - thank you Grey and Gem for being so chill and so helpful. i love you forever and ever.

Vacation was wonderful and it was also exhausting because when you have little kids everything is wonderful and also exhausting. But vacation adds another layer of exhaustion with the sand in all the kids' creases and the out of normal schedule, and the not having all the regular appliances / snacks, and it's just like normal every day parenting but actually a little harder. So being on vacation with my sister who I could look at and say "I'm so happy but this sucks" when we were carrying two full wagons with all the stuff it takes to bring a family to the beach and she just smiled because she gets it, was the biggest blessing of the whole trip. The fellas would pat the couch and let us rest after each of the moms had just wrestled a toddler into the shower to hose them down while they screamed and cowered in fear of the showerhead (LOL). We all did dishes, we all switched whatever laundry was in the washer/dryer and we all four were like "this is awesome but also I'm dead tired." Just the grace and permission to exist in the beautiful chaos that is parenthood was honestly the best part of the week.

Reminding my kids that we are happy for the people we love when they have joy. At one point during the vacation, one of the kids said something like, "I bet we had more fun than ### (a friend) who is on vacation in ### (a more fancy / expensive place)" and I said, "Hey! we love our friends - and I hope they are having JUST as much fun as us! When the people we love have something good, we don't feel jealous or angry. How lucky we are to know that the people we love are healthy and happy and safe. That's all we ever want for the people we love!" Parenting and raising goodhearted kids doesn't take a break just because you're on vacation - hah! 

Making most meals at the beach house! We had meatball sub sammies, church picnic chicken with rice and green beans, chicken quesadillas, buffalo chicken dip, burgers and hot dogs with mac&cheese, and chicken and shrimp fajitas. We did order in pizza from Max's Pizza and tried the Topsail Steamer buckets (such a great business idea - they were on Shark Tank too!) and visited Shaka Taco in Hampstead on our first day to burn some time and grab some delicious lunch before our beach house was ready for us.  On our last night, we got ice cream for dinner from Celtic Creamery! B and I had a little day date at Lowtide Steakhouse, and we had breakfast our first day at Daybreak Donuts and Sunrise Bagels. Gemma "needed" a Dunkin run (moms of teen daughters, IYKYK) , so she and I went out first thing and got our iced coffees and brought home donuts for the house too. For desserts I made two batches of chocolate/pumpkin cookies and a double batch of peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. We had enough leftovers and deli sammies to get us through most lunches and Walmart Delivery came in absolute clutch - very grateful for that option!