Around Here Week 30: 07/20-24

Monday, August 11, 2025

 A glimpse into what it is like to live in our home just this moment.



















Intentional Outdoor Hours: 346+ hours (of 1000)
We got a swim in at Pappy's house even though this week was busy with pre-vacation stuff because the kids need some energy and distraction out of their systems! And we had practices and the golf outing and farm chores...but I was not great at focusing on intentional outdoor time this week to be honest. 

Reading and finishing Good Material by Dolly Alderton and I really loved it. It had me laughing out loud and it was so relatable in so many aspects. It's a recommend from me! We had our book club meeting at Tap 814 and it was great conversation and delicious food (I had the blackberry jam, bacon, and jalapeƱo grilled cheese). Then I started reading Shark Heart by Emily Habeck which will be my vacation read! 

Listening to nothing, but Gemma and I got together on Spotify to make our summer beach playlist and we had so much fun adding all the songs. Beach vibes - here we come! 

Annual Football Golf Outing fundraiser on Sunday. Both B and Grey played in the golf outing and I volunteered some time there to help set up and clean up. I also made cookies (zucchini gobs and pumpkin roll) and delivered baked goods from our booster grandmas too - Abba made mini cheesecakes and Mimi made no-bakes (thank you both!!) The golf outing had a great turn out (bravo to Coach Chad, Coach Dig, Coach Cover, and our booster president Jenn who did all the planning!) It was a successful day and I even drove a golf cart around a little and didn't wreck it, hah! Any time I drive a small motorized vehicle (golf cart, quad, etc) I feel like I'm in a Mario Cart video game and it's like I've lost all awareness, depth perception, and complete loss of normal driving skills - it's actually insane. I hate it but the girls kept encouraging me and I went slow and tried to be a normal human (LOL) and it was all fine and fun. 

Oh no, pre-vacation week and we got hit with the Norovirus. (of course we did!) Reddy got hit first (like he always does, my little c-section baby!) and had a high fever (my absolute least favorite of parenting is fevers at night - spiral of anxiety and stress over here). Then it was a few hours of not being able to keep anything down...and then that was it! Only one to experience any of it (thank goodness) but did I say yet how much I hate fevers? 

Organizing the pantry which was one of my summer projects. It just needed done and I was really avoiding it but then so glad afterwards (always the case!) I threw away anything that was expired, got rid of tupperware with no lids, wiped off all the shelves and reorganized, and I repurposed a hanging organizer to my classroom supplies rather than it holding random junk in the pantry! 

Getting the sweetest farm surprise from friends - a basket of zucchini, squash, cucumbers, and a beautiful bouquet from the Maurers! Olive spent the entire next two days playing farm stand and using baskets to move and carry around all the veggies and pretend to grow, pick, and sell them. It was honestly ridiculous how invested she was in these baskets and vegetables. 

Making all the lists: meal plans, grocery lists, packing lists, and to do lists, as we prep for vacation week. 

Breaking the glass on our kitchen table by accident and I'm so bummed. That piece of glass has been on that kitchen table since Brandon was a little boy at his house. I bumped a glass drinking pitcher this week and it tipped over and spiderwebbed the glass top. It took only one nudge for the cracks to make it to the end and we had to throw the whole thing in the dumpster. Grateful that the dumpster is still here from the siding project so that we had a place to put it - but still so bummed about it. 

Dentist appointment for me and a cavity fill for Olive. Liv's cavity fill was traumatic for all involved (hah). She hated the numbing cream, hated the Novocain, hated the spit sucker, hated the drilling, hated the laughing gas mask, hated the chair, hated the lights. Oh man, it was brutal. God bless the dentist and dental assistant. I did my best to speak calmy and reassuringly and rub her leg, and wish for time to pass faster because good grief. We all made it through and she was patched up in time for the beach. (she was crying of sensitivity every time she ate, so even though it was a baby tooth and not a very big decay - I didn't want her experiencing pain every time she ate). We had one more issue afterwards that since she had a numb lip - she ended up sucking/ chewing it the rest of the afternoon (I was at my appt so I missed that) and it swelled up and looked really gnawed on for the rest of the day. It was a rough day all around, hah. 

Time with friends and family: Reddy and Livy got to play with Briarly when Miss Baylee stopped by to get animal and home details (she is home and farm sitting for us while we are away on vacation!). Rusty went to Delgrosso's amusement and water park with his friend Jace (thank you Kisers for taking him!). Violet had a playdate with her friend Brody. Gemma spent an afternoon with Chum to make a very cool jewelry holder out of driftwood that they found at the Quemahoming while kayaking a few weeks ago. We all had a swim at Pappy's house and he kept the kids while I went to the dentist for my appointment. 

Overwhelmed by this world and how power and greed appear to be the motivation behind world leaders. The kids notice when I seem low and ask, "Is it about the war?" and I say yes. And they say, "Are we still safe?" and I say yes. And they ask, "Then why are you so sad?" and I say because I feel sad for all the mommas and babies and families that are hurting and hungry and afraid. And they say, "sorry momma"                                                                                                                                             

Teacher prepping with checking my school email and trying to remember log ins and passwords to all the websites for my stuff. Haha! I also ordered El Silbon de Venezuela to make sure I had a teacher copy for the school year because I'd like to add that to my Sp2 curriculum plan again this year. Oh, and sending funny teacher memes to my teacher friends on instagram. 

Sporting with the start of youth fall sports! Rusty had two minors football practices and Violet had two majors cheer practices. Gemma went to two strength & conditioning, two Varsity soccer kick-arounds, and one jr high soccer kick-around. Grey had three baseball games with his Colt city baseball team and attended four strength & conditioning mornings. I attended the football booster meeting and signed up for our team dinner and I finished my Happy Ads on Canva for Grey and Coach Daddy and got them submitted to our boosters for the football program (thank you Ang - you are amazing and talented!) 

Making pork roast with gravy over egg noodles, sweet & sour meatballs with rice and roasted broccoli, chicken flautas, and crack chicken sammies. We also had take out pizza one night and lots of leftovers trying to clear out the perishables before the vacation. No matter what I made this week, it felt like I never made enough food! We had no leftovers and everyone was still hungry for more after every dinner - kids must be growing again (good grief)...another reminder all week of the heartache I have for mothers in Gaza who literally have no food for their children. I'm over here stressing about my kids who need fuel for their growing athletic bodies while mothers there are watching helplessly as their infants are dying of actual malnutrition. How is this possible when there is enough food for everyone if we didn't operate out of greed and hate. Ugh. For desserts and breakfasts - I made chocolate covered peanut butter balls for Wednesday weightroom and chocolate croissants for breakfast one morning. 

Miles Walked: just 1 mile! I walked before the booster meeting around the school since I got there a little early from dropping kids at practice. hah! squeezing them in when I can.

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