A glimpse into what it is like to live in our home just this moment.
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| photo cred: Malinda C |
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| photo cred: Abba |
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| at Ryan's Artisans |
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| our in-house whittler |
Intentional Outdoor Hours: 230+ hours (of 1000)
The investigation was underway to figure out who/what is breaking the chicken eggs and eating the contents. Fox problem seems to have dissipated (thank goodness) but now we have something else, eating the eggs. Some of our chickens lay in the coop and then some of them lay in spots around the house: under a pine in the front flower beds and in the cat house on the back porch. We check both of the spots everyday to get the eggs, but twice this week, the eggs were broken in both spots. On Friday night, B heard something in the outside cupboard and saw a black tail and said, "Come on Nova" and out waddled a skunk!
Reading I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith (really enjoying it, Cassandra is a sweet and funny narrator. Definitely giving Francie vibes - from A Tree Grows in Brooklyn) Also reading, My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix (our next Lit Ladies book club pick!) which is pretty engaging but campy horror isn't really my favorite. I attended book club with the Somerset teachers and we chatted about It's Not Her by Mary Kubica at Pour on Center in Ebensburg. It was a beautiful afternoon and we had an outside table - perfection! Most of us did not like the book, which was a relief since I absolutely hated it. hah.
Summer to do list completed: (I want this summer to be a very strong mix of getting things done + relaxing + growing as a person...very eldest daughter/Virgo coded of me, I'm aware).
- eye appointments for Gemma and Reddy and I picked up my glasses
- the summer feeding program started through the school and we picked up our food items (so helpful and always grateful for it!)
- Gemma had two PT sessions and a check in with the orthopedic doctor who is discharging her from PT after her eighth session next week because she's made great progress (yay!)
- I created and printed off the summer chore charts for the kids!
- I organized my week into a flow: Monday = Home admin tasks (to do list randoms, website checking in needs, party planning, etc) Tuesdays and Thursdays = creative days (blogging, family yearbook, working on my book, creating videos, etc). Wednesday = school focused (Spanish podcasts, Spanish teacher blogs, working on curriculum map, professional development, etc) Friday = limit screen time, play, read
- Violet and I rearranged the girls' bedroom to make for more space (which included her making some tough choices on getting rid of some stuffies - this girl loves her some cozy comforts like blankies and squishies, but her bed was too full! even she agreed)
- I cleared out the snack cupboard and re-organized
- I cleared out and purged the expired items from the medicine cabinet
- I emptied my school bags and got rid of papers, organized office supplies, and stashed away old planners (which are my form of journal, lol)
- Grey and I had a chiropractor appointment
- Red & Olive helped me spread wildflower seeds at the turn in the driveway. Maybe they'll grow, maybe nothing will happen. Worth a try!
- Gemma completed an enormous undertaking of clearing out clothes from the attic steps and her drawers - she filled 8 garbage bags full for donation!! (the handmedowns we receive are always appreciated but can certainly build up to overwhelming status quickly).
Massive change (mind, body, soul, & logistics) from Shutterfly to Mixbooks to make family yearbooks (!!) If you know me, you know this is shocking. Brandon literally said, "Holy shit, how are you feeling?" because he gets what an insane pivot this is. I have been making my family yearbooks and using Shutterfly exclusively for 15+ years!! But within this past year, they updated their book creation editor and I absolutely hate it. It is so clunky and unhelpful and really appears that it does not want the user to make the book- they just want everyone to pick for the tool to make it for them. I go full custom and resize photos and move things around and this new user interface makes it awful. I have been seeking out internet users' reviews and everyone agrees that it is terrible - someone even saying it feels 'anti-user aggressive' and honestly, yes. I waited six months because I was hoping they'd give an option for people to go back to the original editor (they did not) or change it back because everyone is reviewing it poorly (they did not) and this week, I just abandoned ship. I'm now going through the painstaking process of moving all photos from this year August-Present from google photos to Mixbooks (actually not too terrible because it syncs with google photos - which was one of my criteria) and the editor is very similar to the old editor from Shutterfly. I have A LOT of catching up to do since I'm losing any work I did in this year's yearbook already which feels pretty overwhelming but that's how committed I am!
Afternoon fishing camp visit when B suggested we load up and head out. Reddy is always asking to go fishing and we had a free afternoon, so we hopped in the truck and headed out to Bedford. Grey was at team basketball camp and Violet was at a sleepover with her friend, Bristol - so it was just B and I with four kids! Gemma and I mostly read on the shore (she's currently reading First and Forever by Lynn Painter and liking it), Olive waded into the water and played games about witches making potions, Rusty fished, waded with Liv, and whittled, and Reddy fished from the moment we got there until the moment we were literally dragging him out of the stream to leave.
Going out for Father's day. My sisters, Dad, and I went out for drinks and dinner to Tall Pines Distillery on Friday night. The place is so cool with tons of outdoor seating and such a relaxed vibe. We had a great evening chatting and laughing. We tried a tiny whiskey tasting flight and shared great appetizers. It was the perfect evening with just Dad and his daughters for father's day! Love you Dad!
Celebrating Tanner and Zion's wedding! We all (minus Grey who was at team basketball camp) hitched a ride on a tractor over to Tanner's wedding on Saturday afternoon which was perfect and so cute; Tanner and Zion both come from farming families. The ceremony was beautiful, the reception was meaningful and so fun. Tanner has a beautiful voice and she sang and recorded the father/daughter dance song as a surprise for her dad (okay, sobbing!) Tanner was also the football asst trainer all through high school, including for Brandon - so we got a picture of her and the two football coaches to share to the football page! What a perfect day and congratulations to Tanner and Zion!
Grad Parties this week: football player/friend Cohen "Curly" Stahl and basketball teammate/friend Carson Brotz
Time with family and friends. Rusty got a sleepover and fun with Chum this week, Violet had Evaley over to play and got a sleepover with Bristol at the Maurer's house. Gemma had vacation care duty of Peaches the pup and babysat Norah and let Olive tag along to play (Olive's best day!) Grey went fishing with Gabe, The kids spent the afternoon at Abba&Chum's house while B and I went to Gemma's soccer game and then returned the wedding tuxes in Altoona (thank you!)
Sporting with one all-star baseball practice for Rusty. Gemma had two soccer kick-arounds, two basketball open gyms, three summer league basketball games, her last Gators soccer game, and two physical therapy sessions on her ankle. Grey had one football practice, one summer league basketball game, and then left for basketball team camp at Juniata on Friday morning that will go through Sunday. They played seven games in two days and won six of them (six-sevennnnnn). He patiently sent me updates on his feet because you know I be worrying after this past basketball season's fiasco!! Grey and Gemma also went to weightlifting/ conditioning five days this week.
Making church picnic grill chicken salads, teriyaki chicken, roasted broccoli and noodles, take out sub sammies from Em's, Leftovers with a side of mac&cheese, Korean beef over noodles with green beans, and crack chicken sammies. B, Grey, Violet, and Pappy made the first stop on their unofficial summer local chicken wing tour at The Grove and B, Gemma, and I had brunch at Ryan's Artisan Goods after her PT appointment and after B's iCare appt where he picked up a Zpack for a viral infection (my poor honey). I made a quad batch of pumpkin chocolate chip cookies for our house and also for Weightroom Wednesday snack. For breakfast, I made banana bread.
Movement: I skated 4.9 miles in total this week! I rollerbladed four times and took another fall which ripped up the same knee; removing the previous scab. Yikes (!!), it was gross and pretty painful. I took a long walk with the kids (to let my knee injury scab over!) instead of blading two days in a row. I am getting strong enough now to track miles while rollerblading and I'm doing a mile with ease (and usually NOT falling, hah). I tried out a new rollerblading spot - Sandyvale Memorial Park while Gem was at PT (I liked it!)
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