Around Here Week 35: 08/30-09/05

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

dinner in the coaches' locker room!

the danger of being a sideline photographer! Gemma, watch out! photo cred: Jenn V

photo cred: Shannon L

photo cred: Shannon L

photo cred: Shannon L

photo cred: Shannon L

selfie cred: B

cute spirit gear by cousin Becky!

photo cred: Mr. O'Ship

photo cred: Gregory Ricupero Sports Network

photo cred: Mr. O'Ship

photo cred: Mr. O'Ship

Intentional Outdoor Hours: 469+ hours (of 1000)
Welp, the heat turned way up and the storms came pounding through this week. My classroom feels like a sauna by the afternoon, hahaha - the sweat literally dripping down my back is a real classy professional look (LOL). The rain, thunder, and win then pounded us on Thursday night and knocked out the power in our whole town from Thursday until Saturday evening! And I know what you're thinking - but you have solar panels! We do indeed, however, they are leased so all the power we make gets returned to the grid!  

Reading Junie by Erin Crosby Eckstine and I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith. Not doing a great job of reading this week because it was such a busy one with the first week back to teaching. I am determined though to get these books done in the next two weeks! 

Listening to and finishing Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke. Very interesting story by way of such an unlikeable character! I was laughing out loud at how awful she was in her running thoughts - most of the time hilarious in the way they were so bluntly terrible. 

Running to do list: 

• I registered the kids for Sunday school
• Grey got scheduled for his first drive with Tim Saylor's driving school
• I did a little social media reflection and decided I needed to reset because the overwhelm is starting to affect my anxiety. 
• Gemma had a dentist appointment (thank you Chum for taking her!) and is still taking her antibiotics for her untreated strep

Figuring out the daily flow with everyone now back in school. Always an adjustment period and I shoot for Labor day to be a good moment to reflect on how things have been going. I feel very thankful we went back to school in shifts this year; the kids first last week and then my students this week. Laundry piled up, crockpot was working overtime, and my planner had a lot of logistics detailed out - but we made it in one piece!

No electricity from Thursday at 8p until Saturday at 5:30p! We had incredible storms on Thursday night that knocked the power out for 2000+ people in our area. My sister Uch in Westmont experienced the worst damage with possible tornado touch downs. We got to thankfully borrow Pappy's generator (thank you!) to keep our fridge and deep freezer on during the outage. Otherwise, we pulled out our camping lanterns, opened windows, washed dishes by hand, and cooked meals on the Blackstone grill. The wet laundry sat in the washer (oops) and we tried unsuccessfully to flip on the light switches a million times out of habit (LOL). The kids actually did great without screens - lots of wrestling, mess making, and trampoline time. They followed us around like little shadows and we all went to the Somerset football game together on Friday just to get out of the dark house!  

Catching a Friday Night Lights game that wasn't ours! We all loaded up to go to my students' football game since our game was rescheduled for Saturday due to the power outage. I never get to see my students' on Friday nights (band/ cheerleaders/ football players/ fans) because we are always at our own games - so this was a real treat! Violet was at a sleepover, but everyone else came with B and I and all of us together is generally a sight - but my elementary school students were shocked to see my kids in real life when I talk about them often in class. My fourth graders love to see a video highlight from the football game before we see class and they were awestruck to see Grey in the flesh! One of my little fourth grade boys said, "You are the GOAT for real" ...hahah, Grey was in his glory! It was good change of pace of our crew and we certainly didn't have much else to do since we were still out of power on Friday night! 

Reflecting on power outage sustainability at our house. The science data was out this week on the Super El Niño brewing in the Pacific that guarantees more intense weather to come in months ahead so I felt weirdly grateful to have this little dose of no power and how that might look for us at our house. How lucky we got to try it out when the weather is comfortable rather than it being the middle of winter and we have no heat/power. We collected and organized all our camping lanterns for next time. We organized a list of things to do before late October like chopping wood to keep in the basement near the wood-burning furnace, getting extra batteries for the lanterns, making sure our propane tanks are full, etc. 

Time with family and friends. We all went to Pappy's for lunch and one last swim before he closes up the pool. Olive, Red, and Rusty got off the bus on the early dismissal day at Chum and Abba's house (thank you!) Rusty got a sleepover at Chum & Abba's house. Violet got a sleepover at Bristol's house. Gemma and Violet had a shopping day with Abba and Shelly for most of Sunday (thank you!) Grey had a no-electricity board game night with friends at Quinn's house and a movie night with friends at Leah's house after the football game. B and I went out with the coaches and their wives to Old Tollgate Inn after the football win on Saturday night. 

Teaching the first week of school! We had a four day week and it went great! I am at the elementary school in the morning and then have four classes at the high school in the afternoon; Grades 8-11. Elementary school started right into Spanish with Me Llamo and creating nametags. I know almost all of the fourth and fifth graders' names but the third graders are all new to me. Grade 8 got into week1 with introductions and some basic words. Spanish 1 starts off with an expo bootcamp (remembering things from 8th grade) and Spanish 2 starts with a review and remembering also. We play Taco Tuesday at both levels, learned about Tomatina, and tried to remind our brains that we did actually retain some Spanish over the long summer break (hah!) Of course, we also did Dancing Friday! 

Sporting with one basketball practice for Reddy and two Minors football practices for Rusty. Violet practiced with the JrH soccer team two times. Gemma had three Varsity soccer practices and two Varsity soccer games. Grey and Coach Dad had team dinner and film on Sunday, then had football practice six times and a Varsity football game on Saturday! It was supposed to be our first home game, but because of the storm and power outages, our school and field didn't have any electricity! We played a "home" game at Forest Hills stadium (thank you FH!) vs. West Shamokin and the community traveled well to show up for our team! Grey also had his sports massage with Miss Emma. I donated hot dog buns and chopped onions to the soccer concession stand, created the Football booster Tailgate flyer and spreadsheet to share for the first real Home game (!!), and organized plans for the senior night game.

Making crockpot copycat Olive Garden chicken over pasta (we ate that in the coaches' room at the field house at school because the day was packed with activities in the evening!), sheetpan chicken fajitas, sloppy joes with shells&cheese and roasted broccoli, bbq chicken and roasted sweet potatoes, takeout pizza (power outage), turkey taco rice bowls on the Blackstone (power outage). For breakfast with no electricity, I made pancakes, bacon, and eggs on the Blackstone grill. For dessert with no electricity, I made peanut butter power balls. For our teacher potluck on Monday's Act 80 day I made Ramen noodle salad to share.

Intentional Movement with only 1 mile weighted vest walking. Red and I took an evening walk down the road together (he was climbing the walls and making everyone insane). We saw two black snakes on the walk! He loved it and it was nice to be one on one with him while also getting some of his wildness out in a non-destructive way (lol). 

Around Here Week 34: 08/23-29

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

photo cred: Mr. O'Ship

photo cred: Leisha Black

photo cred: Mr. O'Ship

photo cred: Mr. O'Ship

photo cred: Mr. O'Ship

Intentional Outdoor Hours: 454+ hours (of 1000)
Great weather this week for back to school. Still nice out but not dreadfully hot. The first Friday Night Lights game was absolute perfect weather and we only had to pull our hoodies out towards the end; sporting the official football season fashion of hoodies, jeans, and flip flops. 

Reading Junie by Erin Crosby Eckstine and I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith but really not reading that much because it was a wild one this week with back to school. 

Listening to Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke. Now that I am commuting back and forth to work each day, it makes it convenient to listen to an audiobook. I am really liking Yesteryear because the main character is so unlikable it makes it a fascinating listen! Obviously late to the hype, but I'm liking it. 

Sumer to do list completed: 

• We had a secret mission to give Ms. Jenilee's trainer's room a little makeover before the start of the school year. All the kids and B helped with the glow up on Sunday night. We added some fake plants (no windows!), string lights, pillows, and a candle warmer. A few touches to make it softer in there where she spends her afternoons and evenings taping sweaty ankles (hah). Ms. Jenilee is so important to our sports programs at the school - but specifically to our family. Our girls work the sidelines alongside her at the football games, our kids are best friends with her kids, anytime my kids have injuries (or even the slightest concerns related to health) Jenilee is there to listen and offer her thoughts, and all of our kids spend hundreds (thousands? seriously) of hours with her from June to November while we are so deep in football season. She is a safe person to our family in some of the truest ways possible. We love you General Lee! 
• I updated the calendar for the month of September! (eek!)

Back to school & fall sports prep: 

• All my fellas got their hair cut before the start of school, Thank you Lamont - we love you!
• sent the full sports schedules to our family and friends (all kids games and times)
• last minute check that everyone had a backpack, shoes, and light jacket for the first week of school. Red needed a new pair of shoes because his current ones are falling apart - so I got his ordered, but he made due this week with the junk ones (oops)
• A quick school shopping run for basics (literally just a first day outfit). The girls and I went to TJ Maxx and they got their choices and the boys trusted us enough to pick for them! And then after the first day of school, Brandon and I took the girls thrifting too. 
• Every kid (first time ever) wrote their name on their handwriting page. The first spot is Kindergarten and Red and Olive got to do their papers this year. Grey only has one box left to go! 
• Everyone announced what they'd like to be when they grow up and we got their signs done and took all first day of school photos
• Red and Olive had kindergarten orientation on the first day of school. B and I attended and the kids got a little taste of school from 9:30-11:30a and then they got to go home! Pappy took them for the day to swim and ride quads and hang out while B and I went back to work. Our last kindergarten orientation! 
• Filling out SIX yellow emergency cards within the first two days of back to school. There are a million perks of being a big family, however, the school paperwork is NOT one of them.

First day of school for the kids! All six of our babies started school at CT on Wednesday. We've got a Junior, a Freshman, a sixth grader, a fourth grader, and two kindergartners this year! Tabitha of five years ago tried to imagine this day (all her kids old enough for school) and it seemed impossible by every account - not the baby being five which then made the biggest 16!? But here we are because as my dear friend Shelley said to me recently, "Time always wins" and ain't that the truth? What a beautiful and terrible truth it is! Everyone did great on their first day and although it is hectic in the mornings, it is very relieving to have everyone all in one school together with Brandon. (God Bless that man, getting six kids out the door. I have to leave before they leave and I send a little prayer up for a smooth morning for all of them each day as I drive down the driveway.) Babe, another man could never. I don't deserve you, but good Lord am I grateful I got you! 

My 43rd birthday! The perfect day! A true Virgo over here about my birthday meaning I'd rather not talk about it because I'm going through a lot of reflections and soul searching in my heart. The gratitude, it literally consumes me and I mostly silently cry all day at the beauty of the world and my life and the people who love me. It's a lot for my internal self (Lol) so I am incredibly thankful for all the friends and family who know that and give me grace for my retreat-into-self. All six of my babies headed off to school happy and excited, I got to make it to every one of my kids' activities that was going on (Violet manager at the JrH soccer game, Rusty's scrimmage, and Gemma's scrimmage). B got me an ice cream cake to sing at night, Heather had my lunch delivered to my school (it was even the perfect order! thank you!!). I got so many texts and voice notes from friends and family, a hug from my momma (who did all the work 43 years ago - thank you momma!), and enough time at night to make sure that we were prepped for the next morning of school. A mostly normal day...because honestly, what is better than my normal days of life? Literally nothing. This wonderful chaos is my perfect day. 

Starting antibiotics for Gemma who was ASO+ in her bloodwork from last week meaning she has strep in her system. At no point did she show signs of strep this summer, but apparently, she had it and it's been lingering in her system untreated (!!?) Do not google what untreated strep can do to a body unless you want to panic spiral (obviously I did. ugh. God bless the peds nurse who talked me through her bloodwork to assure me that this was not a panic situation). We have been tracking her heart rate and o2 levels with a pulse ox at soccer practice (bless her coaches and our trainer Ms Jenilee) when she has her 'episodes' which we were thinking was maybe POTS but now that we know she has been battling untreated strep (!!!?!) maybe part of her issues were that? She gets super dizzy and lightheaded, and then will feel like she can't breathe. She mostly has episodes at soccer practice, but she had one at the sideline at the football game too (less strenuous). Maybe some of it is anxiety based? Maybe it is low iron and teenage girl hormones? Literally no idea but I am determined to get to the bottom of this. Glad the antibiotics will fix one piece of the puzzle and get the strep out of her! 

Camo season brewing and I got Violet registered for the Hunter Safety Course in September. Luckily her friend Evaley is also a future hunter and they'll attend together! Shout out to Ev's mom, Onara for keeping me on track with the registration link!

Time with family & friends Red and Olive had a fun last day of summer with Pappy on their Kindergarten orientation half day while everyone else was in school (hah!). Violet spent the night with Bria at the Somerset County fair where Bria won multiple events showing her animals (we are proud of you Bria! and thank you to the McDannell family for allowing Violet the experience of being a AG kid without us having to raise animals for show! xxoxo!) Gemma babysat the Moore nephews twice this week and had the Varsity soccer sleepover. We all stopped by to visit my mom on the night before her heart appointment (Update: she did great and is feeling better! We love you Abba!) 

Teaching Prep with a full week of in-service days. It was a really nice ease into the school year, especially with the staggered start with my own kids. Not having students all week at school helped me get all organized while still being able to focus on my own kiddos first weeks of school. I don't know how the stars aligned this year, but I hope it does every year from now on out! hahaha, I'm spoiled! Both my high school and elementary classrooms are all set up, Schoology is prepped, a fun staff scavenger hunt organized by our asst principal that took us all over the school and community for team building. We had our Back to School open house was on Thursday night and I got to meet some new-to-me eighth graders and say hello to some of my upperclassmen students. It was a good and productive week and I am grateful for it! 

Sporting with one basketball practice for Reddy. Rusty had two minors football practice, one scrimmage, and his first Minors football game on Saturday. Violet was the JrH soccer manager for one scrimmage and practiced with the team once. Gemma had four Varsity soccer practices and one scrimmage. Grey had a sports massage with Miss Emma at Peak Performance Therapy, four football practices and the first Friday Night Lights game at Purchase Line. Grey, Coach Dad, and the football team had their annual car wash on Sunday morning - thank you so much to all of the community that showed up for them! All the kids and Brandon participated in the Fall Sports Pep Rally and the team vs. all star CT Staff tug of war was great! It's Fels-Naptha season for scrubbing uniforms but only occasionally as half the football fields are turf. Unfortunately for me, Grey played on grass this week in a white jersey - so to scrubbing I got. I transported the soccer players who are also the sideline crew for football from their Friday practice to the away football game [some of my favorite memories of fall will be driving out with a car full of teenage girls (and my three littlest) with the music blasting while they pass a box of pizza back and forth and put their mascara on as we head to the football games. Gosh, these are truly the good 'ole days - I love these kids.]

Making bbq shredded chicken sammies, turkey taco pasta, chicken and gravy over mashed potatoes, Mississippi Roast over egg noodles, take out pizza for the ride to the football game, I also made confetti muffins for the first day of school and a double batch of peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies for dessert. B got me an ice cream cake for my birthday (my fav!) Always a little bit of a relief on my brain to get the kids back to school where they eat breakfast and lunch on the weekdays. A little less groceries to keep in stock and a little less mental work trying to come up with meal plans. So yay for me - hah! B and I went out to eat on Saturday night for a belated birthday dinner at Westmont Gardens. I ordered the Goat Cheese flatbread with pickled beets and it was amazing. He was like, 'of all the things, you pick that?!' and I argued, "this is what I LIKE. I'm surviving off of sloppy joes and mac&cheese at home because of our kids!!" Story of a mom's life, honestly. 

Intentional Movement. I rollerbladed less than a mile, but still was glad to get out and blade during Rusty's football practice.