Intentional Outdoor Hours: 337+ hours (of 1000)
Up 53 hours this week which I can feel in my soul too because outside in the wide open space with the fresh air does something good for my well being - honestly. I'm up so many hours in large part because we went camping this weekend, so even my sleeping went into outdoor time if I'm snoozing in a tent; especially when it's a two man tent and we have two adults and two kids puzzle pieced in it - ya feel me. hah. It was a totally hectic week but much of it was outside and that made all the difference to being able to not only manage it but ENJOY it!
Reading We Got This by Cornelious Minor with the Book Love Foundation Summer club and starting Miles Morales Spiderman by Jason Reynolds.
Experiencing a wildlife encounter. On our dog walk in the morning around the cornfield, everything was going normal when both dogs and I stopped dead in our tracks at a sound I had never before in my life heard. My brain started doing the 'ole Rolodex spinning trying to look for prior knowledge at what this sound could possibly be. It landed on feral child (?!) or injured cow (?!). After the first growl that stunned us, the dogs started sniffing and pulling on the leashes and I was worried that whatever was in the weeds was going to come out and want to fight the pups. Luckily, after three warning growls, I heard it retreat deeper into the woods. We got back to the house and I searched 'warning growl of a bobcat' and yep, that's what it was exactly. I think maybe it's a momma with some babies, because the message was very clear, "get away from here." So, we are steering clear of the cornfield for a few weeks to give her some space.
Swimming. alot. At Gigi & Pappy's pool, at Sleeks pool, at fishing camp for an afternoon, at the Quemahoming dam while camping. These kids are fish and I am feeling pretty guilty about counting a swim as a bath because honestly, they might be getting one legit bath/shower a week right now. #momgoals, I know. Violet has been doing great and we are still operating under a very strict floaties on in the deep end rule. Rust has even been trying out his swimming sans floaties as long as a grown up is in the water with him. He is a maniac and wants to swim underwater constantly; he just needs to get better at longer breath holding and he will be on his way!
Teaching Violet to ride a bike without training wheels. I literally gave her one push and she can balance perfectly, as long as she's going straight. We still have some work to do on steering/turning, but she has been the easiest kid so far!
Switching out all the girls clothes and sizes and I'm done! both boys and girls clothes are all sorted and cleared out of the attic - yay for me! I have been delivering totes and bags to friends and family who are in line for handmedowns from the Studer kids and it makes me feel like the most accomplished girl in the world.
Celebrating July 4th with family. We enjoyed Clam Casino and other delicious treats at Uch and Kevin's house on Independence Day eve. She made buffalo baked cauliflower, artichoke dip with veggies, and bacon skewers for us Keto guests like the most thoughtful girl that she is (all delicious!) We sang Happy Birthday to USA with sparklers in our breakfast on the 4th and then headed to Kuma & Buck's house for dinner of grill food and swimming that night with cousins. No one loves sparklers more than Rust Man and all four kids are obsessed with the tiny gunpowder poppers. #Lawdhelpme
Camping out at the Quemahoming with our cousins. We headed out midday to set up our site with our limited camping supplies. In case you don't know, I hate camping. hah. It's the bugs and the dampness and the not-having-the-things-I-need-where-they-should-be that makes camping not my favorite. But, the kids, man; always getting me to do stuff I don't love and then ending up not hating it. #thatmomlife We took our two handmedown two-man tents (thank you Aunt Dar!), kayaks, and then figured it out. Between the rain, and the back and forth between our other commitments (baseball, family reunion) - you'd think it wasn't a great time, but you'd be wrong! It was all the outdoor, fresh air, cousin laughing, swimming, kayaking, fire smell on all our clothes, muddy feet therapy that we all didn't know we needed.
Enjoying time with family at our Uzelac family reunion (the 51st!) We spent the day at Solomon Run Fire hall with our Uzelac family (my mom's mom's side). My grandma was one of 14, so we have a big family and seeing the reunion through my own kids' eyes has brought such renewed appreciation for getting together with extended family. It was a beautiful and meaningful day and I'm always grateful to be there to represent my gram's legacy. (miss you everyday, Gram).
Summer sporting with Roxbury volleyball (3 wins, 3 losses this week) and all-star sanction Little League games. Grey had practices earlier in the week and then a game on Friday night in which they lost against Hollidaysburg, which then sent them out to Huntingdon (1.5hrs away) for another game on Saturday. They lost again which kicked them out of the Little League tourney (bummer) but we have lots of all-star LOCAL (praise!) baseball tournaments coming in the next few weeks yet. In other baseball mom news, I spent 5 more hours in the concession stand this week between the CT tournament and the 12U Sanction team game.
Making taco meat (concession stand), buffalo chicken dip (Uch's party), chocolate chip cookies and snack necklaces (camp), a roaster of chicken nuggets and Mac&Cheese and a batch of chocolate chip walnut cookies and more snack necklaces (fam reunion) Brandon and I celebrated a whole month of Keto with pizza for dinner on Sunday night and it was....just meh. I mean, the cheese, banana peppers, and ham were delicious - but I can eat all that on Keto anyway, so the crust wasn't really doing all much for me (!!?!!?!)
Keto'ing and trying chia seeds on my yogurt (yum) and making keto mug bread for the first time (thanks for the rec Kitty!) Brandon made incredibly delicious baked tilapia with homemade 'salsa' of peppers, cucumbers, and avocado on top with a side of buttery brussel sprouts; I could have died and gone to heaven. He also made some delightful Zaluski (Zuchinni noodle haluski - hah!) I made a batch of Keto bagels and some more peanut butter fat bombs again. We tried egg loaf (aka keto french toast) for breakfast, but I wasn't crazy about it - Violet ate several pieces though, hah! We meant to try intermittent fasting this week, but with late volleyball and baseball games - we didn't eat dinner until after 8p each night! We tried Blue Diamond's Salt & Vinegar almonds and I kid you not, new favorite snack EVER (2 net carbs). We also had Smirnoff's Sparkling Seltzer at camp and they were great (1 net carb)Big Non-Scale Victory this week: when I couldn't find my shirt for Grey's baseball team, I just put his regular season jersey on instead and it fit! He almost fell over laughing about how I fit in his shirt (I don't know if he was more impressed with me or impressed that he's getting big enough that I can steal his clothes).
