Around Here Week 19: 05/03-09

A glimpse into what it was like to live in our home just this week, which was also week 8 of covid-19 lockdown and Screen Free Week!

Intentional Outdoor Hours: 48+ hours (of 1000)

Up another five hours thanks to some outdoor hikes. We had some solid 'spring' type weather in the early part of the week and then it straight up snowed by the time the weekend rolled around. Snow in May?...welcome to 2020 - hon.est.ly.

Reading Untamed by Glennon Doyle and starting The Tiger Rising by Kate DiCamillo as it is part of Greyson's school packet for the next two weeks. We're doing it a combo of independent reading and Read Aloud. I love Kate DiCamillo, so I'm definitely cool with it and I think his teacher, Mrs. Miller (hi!) picked it on person as a nod to all parents who have binged Tiger King on Netflix during the lockdown (I see you, Mrs. Miller - you're a cool cat). 

Going Screen Free for the week. We have been so dependent on screens during this isolation and even though National Screen Free week was postponed (they've been encouraging Screen Free Saturdays if you need motivation!), I knew we all could use a force look-up. I kept tucked in my heart that I would give myself a enough grace to call it quits if I needed to (it is a global pandemic after all), but we stuck it out Monday-Friday night. It was standard screen free joy around here - dirty, tired kids with lots of outdoor time and random naps all over the house. I did 'meh' because while nursing Red, sometimes scrolling is the only thing that can keep me awake (!) but I tried to stay mindful at least to how often I feel the urge to pick up my phone. The funny thing is - if I announce it's screen free week, the kids huff and roll their eyes for approximately 4 minutes and then they figure it out. They push through boredom and find something else to do. The moment I waver a little bit on the rules, they see that weakness and pounce, man. And then it's all whining and begging and I'm ready to pull my own hair out. So I actually kept the Screen Free status in place for my own sanity! 

In case anyone is interested - our normal screen rules are: 

1. no tv/screens until at least 11am (which usually means there is naturally no screens until after 3p because they're already playing so intensely)

2. no screens at the meal table

3. no screens at practices/games 

4. no screens in the car

We have two tvs (the living room and our bedroom) and only the living room tv has streaming capabilities like Netflix/Prime/etc. We also have an XBox and 2 working iPads that rarely get used. No child has a phone and the goal is (and the kids know) that they won't have their own phone until they are in 8th grade/14 years old. (even that seems young- so we will see when we get there). I know I'm a broken record about this, but there is a huge behavior and emotional difference in our kids when we are so intentional about screens and when we are not. The creativity and capacity for patience is staggering when our kids aren't so zombie'd out on screens. As a high school teacher I am regularly exasperated by students' disinterest and apathy and I know screens aren't entirely to blame - but....aren't they kind of? 

Embracing our "quarantine safe group" rules and spending time with the people in our self designated "safe group". Grey and Gem had a sleepover at my parents' house (!) while the meatballs (Vi & Rust) got a full day to spend with both my parents and Brandon's parents. The kids and I met my parents and sisters at Aunt Kitty's house for Cinco de Mayo dinner on Tuesday night which was such a nice distribution of kid energy for me while Brandon had his school board meeting. Our kids are so much more at ease to have their people back near them and in their arms. We set rules that they can hug but not sharing food/drinks and no kissing. Red has finally gotten the snuggles he deserves from his closest family. We are following all other social distancing and face mask rules, but we need our nearest and dearest people - so we're going safe group style for now. 

Hiking to a very cool waterfall right in our neighborhood! We didn't even know Yoder Falls existed until my friend and co-worker Nicki asked me about it. We decided to take a family hike and loved it. It was a little more intense of a hike than we were expecting (hah, Brandon had Red in the baby carrier!) but the kids had a blast and it was really beautiful. I fell once in the creek on a slippery stone, as did Violet and Rusty. When we got to the falls the kids were all begging to go swimming (!) but we barely convinced them it was still too cold - they were appeased with putting their feet in at least. 

Listening with a smile as Grey has read DogMan (Tale of Two Kitties) to Rusty each night this week - they actually finished the whole book and both of them requested another one from the series to read together at bedtime. 

Exploring Stackhouse Park with our whole crew, my sisters, and Lady (Uch's pup). It has such peaceful and gorgeous wooded trails and the kids loved looking for crayfish in the stream while I nursed Red in the pavilion halfway through our park visit. Grey even accidentally found a geocache and we signed the booklet! 

Worrying about all our beautiful blossoming trees and new buds and flowers as the cold and snow descended...in May - how!? why!? We have a dogwood tree in the back rock garden that has been trying to come to full life for the past two years and this year -finally!- it was starting to bud. So my fingers are crossed and we keep whispering "grow" to it every time we are outside in hopes that it makes it big debut this summer despite the frost. 

College'ing by turning in my last paper! I'm done! I also got in all my paperwork for my mentors and my cooperating teacher (hi, Renee!) wrote me the kindest letter of recommendation that had tears in my eyes. 

Homeschooling with a new 2week packet for the kids. They've received new material and ughhhhhh. Here's the truth for all you non-teacher parents out there trying to homeschool:  homeschooling is no joke. I'm a teacher, I love teaching, I love teaching your kids. Let me repeat that for those in the back - I love teaching YOUR kids. not mine. YOURS. I love my own children. I teach them manners, hygiene, life skills, respect, house work, responsibility, sharing, even read alouds, like hell yes I'm in. Teaching them academics? No thank you. I'm responsible for all the other learning in their life, academics are for their other teachers - this is why it's a village. we need other people who can carry this load of raising up children. I am good on the parenting side, I need their teachers on the academic side. (I love you, teachers and I'm doing my best - but also there are five kids over here - including a newborn - and so if you don't know why my kids work looks like poo and they miss a hundred zoom meetings, it's because they need you...I NEED YOU). so much love to all the teachers - I know you miss them too (because I miss my students). Parents - hang in there and give it your best, but also, like...I get it. #drowntown (to the homeschool parents who do this regularly - you all are not from this planet and I idolize you. for real). 

Virtual teaching for the last week of their country research projects (pop culture!) and really impressed with their work as I've been peeking in on their projects. Friday should have been our prom, so I woke up feeling a little sad about thinking of how it would have been if we weren't in the lockdown - spending the day with my prom committee kids putting up final touches on the hall, setting up for the grand march in the high school auditorium, getting dressed up and having a date night with my handsome hubs. 

Making kind-of keto meals to eat this month. Brandon is going a little stronger on the keto than me, but we're trying to make conscious choices at least - baking chocolate chips are my literal downfall everyday, I'm addicted.

breakfasts: scrambled eggs & bacon, pb&j toast (twice), keto mug bread, muffins from a mix, pancakes, banana bread, cereal

lunches: lasagna (from Abba!), taco tuesday for cinco de mayo, everything chicken with cream cheese sauce, baked bbq chicken tenders, mac & cheese with leftover chili, 'lil smokies in crescent rolls, keto cheesy breadsticks, frozen pizza

dinners: burgers, "fancied up" leftovers, tacos at Kittys' house for cinco de mayo, grilled cheese sandwiches, hot & ready pizza from little caesar's, swedish meatballs in the slow cooker over mashed potatoes, chicken pot pie over biscuits

Around Here Week 18: 04/26-05/02

A glimpse into what it is like to live in our home just this moment (week 7 of covid-19 lockdown)

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Intentional Outdoor Hours:  43+ hours (of 1000)

Up just 4 hours this week, this spring is turning out to be kind of strange and I'm feeling the effects of getting kind of old. I told Brandon that if the temperature is not above 60 degrees, I'm just too cold and hateful. That sounds ridiculous especially coming from someone who has lived the majority of her life in PA, but for real. I probably just need better clothes, but the chill in the air and the wind this spring (so windy!) has me hesitant to spend tons of time outdoors...well that and the newborn, but still. 

Reading and finishing Dig. by A.S. King. I loved it so much that I felt sad for the rest of the day because I was done with that story and those characters. My copy of Untamed by Glennon Doyle arrived - it's our next Books 'n Brews book - and my blood is moving more swiftly through my veins and I can hear the beautiful female song of all women who came before, stand with me now, and shall come after me. I legit screamed when I read the prologue and the cheetah's name was...TABITHA. Literally a message to me to free my soul and live bigger. I hear you, Glennon. 

Smelling skunk after Bullet got sprayed on Sunday night. One of my students also taught me something interesting after I shared with my class that Bullet got sprayed. He said that since dogs lift their tail as a sign of a greeting/submission - dogs think that when skunks lift their tails they are just being friendly - hahha! (thanks for sharing Connor!)

Loving that Rusty says:  Tinja Nurtles

Social distance visiting with family. Mimi and Kuma came over with their masks on to say hi to Red and the kiddos and deliver Grey his very first Amazon giftcard (coolest gift ever Aunt Pam! He picked out polarized sunglasses for fly fishing and magic 8 ball - literally the epitome of explaining Greyson at 10 years old). My Dad (aka Chum) came over one afternoon to check out our projected back porch plans and give us some thoughts on what he thinks we should do. He got roped into multiple kickball games and brought us snacks for a fire ring dinner that night! On Saturday, we stopped by our cousin's house for a cookout outside and the kids did actually a pretty good job staying away from each other in the yard. 

Impressed with the contraption Grey and Gem built which they hoped would be a usable tire swing but was made out of scrap wood, so it wasn't able to hold a child's weight - but it was still legit. That counts for what in homeschooling...shop class, STEAM, math, and physics...right?

Restocking the fridge and pantry by (finally!) snagging a Walmart pick up time.

'Squatching. Grey pulled out the gorilla/bigfoot costume we have and ran through the yard pretending he was Bigfoot to spook Rusty (ughhh). I reminded him that it would be more funny to make him laugh instead, so they set up a photo shoot in the woods to create 'squatch photos. I just can't with these children. 

Doing a happy dance that our Redland is one month old! He is already changing his look from fresh newborn to growing baby. This also means we are halfway through the rotten 8 and thank goodness because omigoshImsotiredIthinkImightjustdie. 

Enjoying slow Saturday mornings since its still turkey season and my two biggest boys (B and Grey) leave at 4am to get into the woods.  

Considering how we can maintain social distance and do our best to keep all of our community safe - but also have the help, love, and hugs of our own people.  We are tossing around the idea of creating a "Quarantine safe group" which would include grandparents and aunts/uncles. We still have low numbers of covid-19 here in our region and we've been away from our people for 7 weeks! It's starting to feel like, if/when the virus gets here and any of us get sick - we've all missed out on the last 7 weeks of hugs from the people we love most and then what would have been the point of all the separation. Also, after 7 weeks of all kids at home and then the addition of a newborn (while virtual teaching, homeschooling, and taking a college course)...I just kind of need some help. 

College'ing by writing and turning in my second to last assignment for class! I also got to flip some lesson plans into the college official format to prep for my last assignment. 

Homeschooling and finishing their 2 week packets for turn in on Saturday. I also missed BOTH of the kids' class zoom meetings and didn't realize it until looking at the clock about an hour late each times like, 'oops.' 

Virtual Teaching with continuing the Spanish speaking country projects. This week students were researching historically relevant information about their countries. I also set up at powerpoint that we all shared in adding photos called "bring your pet to school week" and I got to see the kids' animals with whom they spend their days. There were wet noses and sweet little whiskers and even some other kinds of pets (birds and lizards!) 

Making

breakfasts: bagels (from Heather) and cream cheese, cinnamon toast, egg & ham breakfast wraps, homemade blueberry scones (easy and my first time!), pancakes, cereal (twice)

lunches: leftovers, baked ravioli, sub sandwiches from our local deli, hot dogs, corn on the cob (some elote for me and Brandon!) with kielbasa and sauerkraut, salads and yogurt parfaits, and chili 

dinners: french toast, mountain pies and hot dogs on the fire, chicken & green beans (from Heather), cereal, creamy Italian chicken in the crockpot over egg noodles, Murphy's wings (from our neighbors) and buffalo chicken dip

Around Here Week 17: 04/19-25

A peek into what our life is like right this moment during week 6 (!!) of the Covid-19 lockdown.

Intentional Outdoor Hours:  39+ hours (of 1000)

I got in a walk with the kids and even Red off-roading in the stroller on the trail behind the house (hah). To celebrate Earth Day I encouraged the kids to take a 'naked yard lap' in the 40 degree weather before they all donned bathing suits and jumped into a bubble bath in our Jacuzzi tub where there was a lot of splashing and scream giggling. 

Reading Dig by AS King and really enjoying it. She is an incredible writer and the way the story is weaving together has me completely captivated. Grateful that she is a YA author for your young people and such a fierce advocate for all young people.

Releasing our painted lady butterflies!

Visiting through the glass with family. My aunt Darlene, Uncle Mike, and cousin Amy stopped over on Sunday night to deliver us pizza (thank you!) and to see Red.

Donning our face masks as Gemma, Red, and I adventured out into the world for their well checks. Gem was due for her 8year well check, so we just doubled up to do it on the same day and time as Red's 2 week well check. Hooray for efficiency! Red weighs more than his birth weight (yay!) and I got a print out of Gem's physical form (reminder for fall sports parents - don't forget to request a copy for your kiddo between now and late summer!) Both kids got a thumbs up for their wellness!

Pumping! I was only able to pump enough just to get bottles for Red to drink right then because all the kids wanted a turn at feeding him. As of now we only have one bag in the freezer on reserve!

Noting all the ways the kids are passing the time currently. All the kids like to play kickball in the backyard (best case scenario for them is Dad playing as all-time pitcher), the girls are into playing babydolls right now and I find their baby doll accessories all over the house. We also had a Just Dance morning on Saturday to get out the wiggles. We introduced them to Little House on the Prairie and they loved it. It is so funny to watch it now (I used to love watching this show at my Grandma's house). It is so slow paced but still filled with action - like at one point the dog got swept down the river and Laura said, 'what happened to Jack, Pa?" and Pa simply said, "he must of got swept downstream" Grey could not stop laughing at how nonchalant of an answer that was.  There was a lot that needs explained from a historical context but they were enthralled:  traveling in a covered wagon, one room school houses, Ma protecting her family from the Native Americans. 

Marveling at all of our blossoming trees in the yard, my favorite part of spring! We have a bunch of wild cherry trees sprinkled throughout the yard along the tree line that are so beautiful, but the grandest of all is our pear tree that I swear has never blossomed this much in the 9 years we've lived here. She is glorious!

Turkey calling as youth mentor day opened on Saturday. The kids went out with Brandon on Friday evening to sight in the gun (the little kids shot the BB gun at a target) and then Brandon and Grey went turkey hunting on Saturday with Pappy and Uncle Jonny. They heard and saw a ton of birds, but no turkey to bring home yet. Grey loves it so much and can't wait to go out again next weekend.

Spraying the kids' hair with wash-out root cover up in dark brown (thank you Gigi!) because Gemma wanted to be like the lead singer in the School of Rock series, so Violet and Rusty requested darker hair too. Having some non-blonde Studerkids was pretty funny for a few days. 

Shaking my head at how strange this all is. Just two months ago I was looking forward to being home from school on maternity leave with our new baby and just the two littlest kids. I imagined recovering and then tackling a long list of to do items at home. I would stay in contact with the prom committee to make sure everything was getting done, but other than that - my sub would be covering all the plans I had laid out in my long term substitute binder (still sitting on my desk at school). We would need to figure out how to get to all the soccer practices and baseball games - but that's what family and friends are for right when a new baby arrives. But here we are instead - no nothing but also somehow everything. No games, practices, visits, plans but still work, all five kids, and no outside help. It's so bizarre and even after 6 weeks of it - I'm still not 'settled in' to this life. It's an enormous relief to not be running in a thousand directions like our normal but this isn't our best either (without family and no where to pour our generosity of spirit).

College'ing by turning in another assignment and touching base with the college about end of year wrap up activities (evaluations, dates, etc). Almost there! Only two more assignments to go.

Homeschooling with the big kids' packets from school and some print outs from the little kids' preschool. I also purchased activity workbooks for the little kids from Amazon to keep them occupied easily while the big ones do their homework. Grey had his first class Zoom meeting this week and was proud to show off his baby brother. Gemma invited all her siblings to join her storytime Zoom meeting on Friday afternoon (her teachers are so sweet - they read Interrupting Chicken to the class as a read aloud).

Virtual Teaching with a zoom meeting with students on Wednesday. It was so good to see their faces and hear their voices. I had about 10 kids opt to join me for a half hour or so to check in. The students got started on a country research project that will span the next three weeks. This week they were specifically looking into country details like flag design, imports/exports, leadership, climate, etc. They are putting all their research into a presentation. We did a check in google form on Friday too. We got some end of year details at our staff meeting (last day, potential graduation plans) and it feels so strange to be discussing all this without the normal end-of-year stuff (field day, senior trip, finals, senior week). I feel so disorientated.

Making
breakfast: eggs & fried potatoes, chocolate croissants, homemade bagels, peanut butter & oatmeal cookies, cereal, toast, jalapeño & cheddar bagels (from Heather! so delicious from Ryan's artisan)
lunch: buffalo chicken dip, frozen pizza (twice!), philly cheesesteak wraps, spaghetti leftovers, cheese quesadillas, ice cream from the Silver Bell (hah!)
dinner: pizza delivery (from the Mayers!), pork tenderloin (Hello Fresh), fried rice with leftover kielbasa, Italian marinated baked chicken, spaghetti for the kids and Old Bay shrimp over risotto for the parents, cereal for dinner (LOL), wings & burgers for take-out (from Tulune's Living the Dream)

Around Here Week 16: 04/12-18

A glimpse into what it is like to live in our home just this minute - week 5 of the covid-19 lockdown.

boys clothes: size 0-3, size 4T, size 10-12

physically distant cousin visit with Caleb

Intentional Outdoor Hours:  36+ hours (of 1000)
Our weather has kind of a been a downer this week with chilly and wet days for most of them. Brandon and the kids moved the picnic tables and benches into the garage and worked on staining them on downpour days. Gemma was such a big helper and came up on Thursday night a total stained up mess (she was so proud!) the tables all look great and I can't wait until the weather is consistently warm so that we can enjoy our meals on the patio daily!

Reading Dig by A.S. King which is a borrow from my work bestie (who I miss so much during this quarantine - hi Renee!) and I read just a few pages and was so happy to read that beautiful writing! A.S. King is truly brilliant (I read her Still Life with Tornado last summer) and I my quarantine/sleep deprived soul is rejoicing in her incredible skills!) I did attempt to read a different book (self-published) and was immediately put off by the amateur writing style (ugh, BOOK SNOB) but I can't help but read with a writer's eye and I get so distracted by poor writing that I can't even focus on the story. If anything, that book inspired me that if this author could self-publish (and be a contributor on many big time sites) that geez louise, I need to stop being such a scaredy cat and try.

Celebrating Easter as it appears the bunny does not have the coronavirus (hooray!) Abba and Chum actually played hippity hoppity for us since there was no way I was prepared for Easter baskets. (THANK YOU! holiday lifesavers!) The kids got to sleep in some new (matchies!) jammies for Easter and we had Easter dinner delivered by Gigi and Pappy that afternoon. It was delicious and we were so grateful to get a traditional Easter meal without having to make it! Then we headed over to Abba & Chum's backyard for some socially distant Easter visiting around the fire. Abba got to hold Red for the first time (decked out in gloves and a face mask). The kids were so thrilled to run and play outside with Chum and their aunts (and ride the zip line a million times) and then everyone cried when it was time to go home. Oh, covid-19, we are so very tired of you and how you make us miss our family and friends.

Crying it out as week 2 of the rotten 8 hit hard. Red went through a growth spurt at the beginning of the week so it was a lot of nursing and not much sleep - compounded with all the schooling (homeschool, virtual teaching, and college'ing) and oh, ya know - the global pandemic...I just needed a good cry. I'm also pretty frustrated with the recovery situation of a c-section. I know lack of sleep and breastfeeding is contributing - but I also feel super weak and hyper aware of my incision (which is healing up beautiful and will barely be a scar!) Thank you to my sweet friend, Haley who sent the kindest support email and my thoughtful friend Loni who mailed me some healing balm. I know what I need is rest and patience, but try getting that through the thick skull of a First Born-Virgo-Enneagram 2....yeah, worst combo ever for recovery. Hahhaa, I'm working through it!

Checking off milestones for Red! With a healed belly button, Red was able to get his first proper bath this week and the verdict is in - he doesn't hate it! The kids all huddled around him marveling at his every movement and accidental splashes in the water. What a loved baby!

Cheering on our butterflies as they emerged from their chrysalises. We had one caterpillar die before it even formed its chrysalis and then another chrysalis fell from the top (excited little hands grabbed the jar at the sight of the cocoons!) So we had three beautiful painted ladies and one more little busted-wing butterfly who is still hanging on, but can't fly.

Weirdly happy about our new kitchen garbage can like only a mom can be. Gem used our trash can as a seat last week and as it was already several years old and kind of hanging on by a limb - that was it for the lid. So I ordered a new one (20 gallon!) and it arrived and brings me so much joy in all of it's clean, functional newness. It also came in a huge box which provided plenty of fun for the kids until they flattened it like we hope to do to this curve (lol, pandemic humor).

Feeding our foster toads and cheering on the little one that was being bullied by the bigger ones. He got a few crickets even though the big ones were hopping around and in his face.

Switching the girls' bedroom around and unbunking the beds at the girls' request. Daddy and Gemma did all the heavy lifting and they had a reveal for me at the end since I was strictly on the no assist list.

Getting through this quarantine. Somedays feel super relaxed and easy - like a relief that the schedule is wide open and all the time in the world together. And other days...just so heavy and weird with no end in sight. We miss our friends and family, we feel guilty for having it so easy while other families with frontline heroes are doing so much more than us. It's such a strange time, so I'm trying to take it one day at a time (one hour at a time some days!) Whatever you're feeling out there, it's valid.

Homeschooling my two bigs to finish their two-week packets so that they could turn them in on Saturday. Their school did a fantastic job of setting up the drop off/pick up of new packets; so organized and efficient! The little kids worked on some packets sent through email from their preschool and I am continually grateful to have work for them all to do (we limit to only an hour a day of school work) that I don't have to create/find myself. My order arrived too - I got new chapter books for the big kids and workbook activity books for the littles too just to keep things new and fresh.

College'ing and turning in my research paper (yay!) and working on my next assignment; reading articles and starting on reflection assignment for working with paraprofessionals in the classroom. Only two more assignments after this one to go and I'm done!

Virtual Teaching again and back from "maternity leave" (lol).  We only had school from Wednesday to Friday as our school calendar is still in effect since we've been virtually teaching since the very first school day since the schools closed. My students worked with a leveled reading and had questions to answer daily. We unfortunately had to officially cancel prom for the year (bummmmer) but we are trying to work on an alternative option. I was able to reach out to our vendors, prom committee, and the senior class officers to let them know the news. I also graded assignments, posted to google classroom, checked in with non-responsive kids who need to turn in work, and updated my teacher webpage too. I keep thinking about these two very important messages about kids and school and the world:

  

Making meals and cleaning up from those meals all day, everyday. We run the dishwasher a minimum of twice a day during these quarantine days (I refuse to use throw away dishes, our family is too big to create that much trash!)
breakfast: ham & egg crescent roll-ups, toast, cereal, eggs & sausage breakfast burritos, poptarts (thank you Abba!), homemade coffee cake (my first try and it turned out delicious!)
lunch: Frozen pizza, lunchmeat sandwiches (twice), broiled burgers, chicken nuggets, taco salads, leftovers
dinner: frozen pizza, spaghetti, pineapple meatballs over rice (thank you Carli!), tacos, beef tostados (Hello Fresh), spinach & chicken sausage ravioli (Hello Fresh)