Around Here Week 37: 09/08-14

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

photo cred: CT Media class

our favorite first responder! Mr. Mike! photo cred: Roxanne B

photo cred: Stacy B (you are amazing!)

photo cred: Stacy B

Intentional Outdoor Hours: 529+ hours (of 1000)
I took the babies for a hike in the back to the apple tree for a climb (they saw a picture of it back when Grey and Gem were young in the family yearbooks and wanted to check it out for themselves!) Kids are earning plenty of time outside afterschool on the trampoline (need to get those post-desk wiggles out!) and of course of the fall sports fields. I'm snagging most of my time on the sidelines of fall sports and not much besides that and outdoor chores at home. 

Reading The Parable of the Sower by Octavia E Butler

Listening on my commute to The Reformatory: A Novel by Tananarive Due and very invested in the story. 

Seeing colors changing! Geeking out because I love fall so much but always perpetually terrorized that it will go too fast (LOL). The golden rod is out in full force - there is a section of my commute home where you turn in a corner on a field that is golden rod for acres; it's incredible. There are a few trees in the yard thinking about making the change already. It's still feels mostly like summer, but every few days we get a breeze with a little chill in it and I know fall is really making her way to me! 

Sending big kids to help grandparents. Grey went to Pappy's house to work on some projects while Gemma went with Chum & Abba to help move stuff from the storage units into their completed (!!) upstairs of the new house. They are officially moving into the upstairs now that it is dry-walled, painted, carpeted, and has plumbing and electric! So exciting to see the project nearing the end (they've been working on their full home reno since January!) 

Scheduling family Christmas card photo (here's your reminder if you do that sort of thing!) I scheduled a mini with Bridge Perspective for early October!

Thankful for the news from Rusty's extra tooth consultation. It seems he will need oral surgery to remove the extra tooth (and two baby teeth!) but the tooth that is the problem is pretty close to the gum and it doesn't seem like it's going to be very invasive. (thank goodness!) Next up - we will need to choose our oral surgeon and get a consultation with them and then the surgery on the books! 

Showing love for First Responders on September 11. In school, my students in both elementary and high school signed homemade thank you cards that we delivered to our building resource officers. At home, we dropped off cookies and a thank you card to our neighbor Mr. Mike who is also the resource officer at our kids' school district! 

Playing catch all day everyday because Reddy is obsessed with football and making diving catches on the trampoline or inside on the mat in the living room. 

Elementary school open house. It's my tenth elementary school house attendance (LOL), so even though most of the teachers already know our family and I've been to every grade level multiple times - I still like to go and say thank you to the teachers, grab some classroom wishlist items, and see the hallway artwork. Also, always a happy time to swing by the library to catch up with my favorite librarian and dear friend! (hi, Kate!) 

Working through big feelings with all the kids. All these babes have different personalities and reactions and worries. I have been working overtime trying to get to all the kids to make sure everyone is working through things in a healthy way. Trying to balance the kid who gets overwhelmed easy by wanting to do all the things, the kid who holds on to shame and worry when they say the wrong thing, the kid who thinks nothing is 'that deep' when actually it is a little bit deep and we should probably talk about it, the kid who needs to practice recognizing the varying degrees of disappointment and not every minor inconvenience warrants a mini meltdown. 

Booking 40th birthday plans and a place with Ninna for our husbands' upcoming birthdays! We have been chatting back and forth for a few weeks about protentional ideas and made the final decision this week! For those two best friends' milestone birthday year, we booked a big house to fit both our families (and the grandpas too!) to stay in Erie in December so the boys can all steelhead fish and we can all be together. So excited and proud of the planning we did, bring on the memories and laughter and hot tub! (yay Ninna! can not even wait!!)

Visiting with my Aunt Marlene at the varsity football game! She, Uncle Terry, and our baby cousin Wyatt all came by to watch the game! I was so happily surprised to see them and loved chatting and laughing on the sideline together all game long. Thank you guys for coming!

Happy to see some of my former NS students on Saturday at the youth league games. Even though their not technically my students anymore: once my kid, always my kid! Many of them have younger siblings playing youth league and a few of them were volunteering at the game. It was so nice to catch up with them and tell them I will always be rooting for their life! 

eeeeeeee, meeting Violet's friend's new puppy! So teeny, so sweet, so snuggly! Thank you for letting us visit with him, Cable family!

Kitty & Bryan PCT Update: Down to the final 120 miles! They started the week in Snoqualmie Pass, WA. We got to group call this week while she was walking through the "prettiest pass they walked this whole time" - she sent a video and it was incredible. By Saturday, she and Bryan had made it to their last stop in a real town in Leavenworth, WA. Next stop will be the terminus at the end of the PCT! Kitty (and her sore feet) are very much ready to come home though - only about two more weeks and she will be back in town to get all our hugs! 

Teaching for the first FIVE day week of the year! Gulp! Elementary school continued with Lesson 1, Session 1 (Pez y Gato video, sí/no, estudiante/maestro, and the Buenos Dias song). 8th grade Expo finished out Week 2 learning about El Encierro del San Fermin and then started the Week 3 and Geography. Spanish 1 continued practicing colors, numbers, and calendar words while also learning about Me Gusta/No Me Gusta. Spanish 2 practiced their food vocab, flipped perspective of verb conjugations, worked on some writing, and even made cheese quesadillas! I always talk about 9/11 in my class on Patriot day and like in previous years - I have students sign thank you cards for our resource officers because when bad things happen we look to the helpers (as Mr. Rogers' mom says). 

Sporting with two flag football practices for Rusty. Violet had three minors football practices and two majors cheer practices this week. Rusty and Violet both played football games on Saturday at North Star and Vi cheered for the majors game too. Gemma had two soccer games and two soccer practices, she also took yearbook photos as the boys' varsity soccer game too. Grey and B had four football practices , a team dinner & film night, and a Varsity game at Marion Center this week.  I worked the concession stand at the boys' jr high soccer game as part of the soccer boosters and I attended the jr high soccer banquet meeting that night too. 

Making spaghetti, slow-cooker cream cheese chicken taquitos, Korean beef with rice and green beans, turkey/brocolli/pasta casserole,  baked sammies (to go to the football game), and crockpot potato soup for post-game. I made a batch of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies too because we all needed a little sweet pick-me-up for the busy week. 

Day in the Life: September 2024

5:30a-6:45a 
Time to rise and shine. Getting dressed and ready for the day, then it's our normal morning chores (coffees to go, empty and reload dishwasher, make lunches for the babies, make lunches for the parents, packing a snack for Violet who has double practice this afternoon. Then I set out breakfast choices - breakfast bars, prep food for guinea pig, & pack and ready backpacks. 

I also had to braid Gem's hair this morning before I left.  I also put ground beef in the fridge to thaw and packed a snack for afterschool for the kids because Gem has a game. A LOT of forward thinking starts every day. (Bless B for tending the farm every the morning and sets the coffee to brew at 5a for us. He also like SuperDad gets all 6 kids out the door and to where they need to be every morning on his own!) Then its a squeeze and a kiss goodbye to everyone before I head out to the day.

6:45a-7:30a
Commute to work and listen to The Reformatory: A Novel by Tananarive Due. It is such a compelling story and the narrator is so incredible. I am locked in and I really do enjoy the drive to work to get my head ready for a day with kiddos. 

7:30a-10:40a

Elementary School in the morning. I teach grades 3-5 at the elementary school each morning for their Spanish Language/Culture special. Today was a Day 1 rotation which meant I had Greeting duty at the playground entrance and then three classes. We are learning some words through comprehensible input (camina, corre, gato, and pez) and the kids are really liking this video that goes along with the lesson. We also learned the Buenos Días song and dance moves. 

10:55a-11:42a
Right after my last elementary class, I hop in the car and head for the high school because I have eighth grade expo special at 10:55am! We are on week 2 of expo class so we are learning target structures (camina, corre, ve) and today we did some translations and a 'snowball' battle to make it a little more fun. Always a big hit in class when we do snowball battles and since I am a mom of 6, the level of chaos I can tolerate is pretty extreme, so it works for me. LOL

11:42a - 12:29p
Deep breath. It's lunch/prep. I close my door like a recluse and eat in total silence usually while reading or staring into the void. LOL. It was an entire morning of entertaining, leading, and monitoring kids - so let me have these few moments in disassociation (hah). Before the period is over though, I get copies made for the afternoon or next day, put in some grades, and stop at the bathroom because the afternoon is generally another sprint.

12:32p - 2:50p

In the afternoon, I have two Spanish 1 classes and a Spanish 2 class (40 minutes each). Spanish 1 is learning colors, months, and days of the week - they got their vocabulary lists today and will have a vocab test next week after we work with the words for several days.

In Spanish 2 we finished an unscrambling activity that we started yesterday. Then we read about Doña Angela (a grandma in México) that has her own youtube channel making traditional dishes and we got to watch a few of her videos too.  

2:50p - 3:25p
End of the day wrap up. Making copies, taking down notes about lessons for next week, responding to emails, and grading anything that needs to go in before ineligibility gets checked in the morning . I also take down our post-its from Mental Heath Thursday check in and check the notes bin for any anonymous letters from students that need a safe grown up for something (none today!) Just general closing up shop: unplugging twinkle lights, turning off the projector, setting up the powerpoints for tomorrow.

3:25p-4p 
Commute home from school and listened to the Reformatory on the way home again. I am on Chapter 10!  I have to be at the babies' preschool by 4p and I got there right around 3:56p to snag them today, so as usual, there is a bit of tension and stress about making it in time...dang you road construction on route 219 for always slowing me down, hah. 

4p-5:30p
With babies in tow, we head to the high school for Gemma's soccer game which started at 4p. The kids snacked on the stuff I had packed for the game and Gem and her team did awesome (they are really playing well together this season!) Rusty came down from the fieldhouse after he got dropped from the elementary school bus and share a few snacks with us. B and Grey were at the football field for Thursday night walk through practice. Violet was at the elementary school right from the school day for her cheer practice. 

5:30p-5:50p
After Gem's game I brought home the 3 smallest kids and we emptied backpacks and had some PB&J's for a snack because everyone is always starvingggg after school. I got Rusty to do his little bit of Math homework too. Gemma stayed at the high school to take yearbook pictures for the boys' jr high football game. 

5:50p-6:15p
B and Grey came home from football practice and B offered to take Rusty to flag football practice and take the babies with him (!!) Big time win to be able to sit in peace and have a cup of warmed-up-from-the-microwave coffee. Grey goes straight to the shower after practice, so it was literally just me, my coffee, and my book (Parable of the Sower) for a 25 minutes. HEAVENLY!

6:15p - 7:15p 
Grey asked for help with his Civics article and presentation. So we read up on cellphone bans in school because that is currently the buzz in PA. In between the homework assignment, there is also little bits of chatting unrelated to school; a little look into what is on his mind and hearts these days. It is always nice to get one on one time with any of the kids, but most rare with the biggest teenage boy - so laughing and teasing each other for a while this evening was appreciated. 

7:15- 8p
While Grey continued to finish homework at the kitchen table, I started evening chores - cleaning up the kitchen, making dinner, switching a load of laundry. I knew chaos was soon to descend when everyone else got home from the fields - so I tried to get ahead as much as possible to ease the transitions between getting home to dinner to bedtime. Hang on to your horses, girl! 

8p- 9:30p

Pioneer woman skillet lasagna dinner tonight with homemade garlic bread (random leftover hot dog buns that needed used up!) Everyone likes this dinner, so I didn't get any complaints and had enough to pack up for my lunch tomorrow at school. Vi, Gem, and Rusty all got showers in there along the way - it's hard to get everyone at the table at one time because 1) our kitchen table is a little small and our dining room table which is much bigger is currently covered in random stuff like a dumping zone #keepingit real and 2) there are a lot of moving parts and we only have some many hours to get in food, hygiene, chores, and homework (LOL) - so it's rotating shifts honestly. 

Vi and Gem both did homework at the kitchen table after dinner while the three smallest got to watch TV for a little bit. B and I worked on nighttime chores - final laundry switch, dishwasher run, closing the chickens, bringing in the guinea pig, picking out school clothes for the babies, making flashcards to study for vocab tests, etc.

9p-9:45p
Convincing kids it is time for bed - LOL. The big kids are pretty good about it: Grey gives a kiss and a 'goodnight mumma' before heading into his room, Gemma needs a rundown of what to expect for the schedule the next day, Violet is usually half asleep already in her bed with a book, Rusty needs several hugs and a tuck in. The babies get 'poop medicine' (hah, probiotics) and then a book or two and both wanted to start in our bed (to be moved after they fall asleep). I laid with them and read Parable of the Sower until they fell asleep. 

9:45p-1a
Hot tea and a snuggle on the couch with my handsome husband while he watches Thursday night football which turns into falling asleep and waking up a sore neck but the happy realization that it is not actually time yet to wake up for the day (yay!)

1a-1:30a

ugh. oops, I forgot to scrub Grey's football uniform that he needs for TONIGHT, so it's a scrub and a toss in the washer at 1:30a so that I can switch it to the dryer at 5:30a so he can wear it to school and his game tomorrow. Classic motherhood, right?  Then it was moving the babies to their own beds and finally under the covers to sleep for a few hours to do it all over again! 

Around Here: Week 36: 09/01-07

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

cousin campout

photo cred: B

photo cred: Colbie H

selfie cred: Kitty - she's literally in the clouds!

photo cred: Stacy B

photo cred: Stacy B

photo cred: Stacy B

always grateful for our center Gabey. He's been Grey's center since first grade!

Intentional Outdoor Hours: 512+ hours (of 1000) 
Another beautiful early fall week! We filled up the storage unit with hay, enjoyed plenty of hours at the fall sports fields, and even snuck in an afternoon hike with the kids and Violet's friend Giada who was over for a playday. We spied plenty of acorns on our walk, tis the season! 

Reading Parable of the Sower by Octavia E Butler, still a little slow reading - but loving the story in the small chunks that I'm getting this week.

Listening on my commute to The Reformatory: A Novel by Tananarive Due. It was a suggestion from an instagram account that I follow and wow. incredible story and the narrator is spectacular. 

Last swim of the summer at Pappy's pool. We spent the afternoon swimming and enjoying wings at Pap's house and it was the perfect close out of the season. The water was perfect and we all got in to take one last dip! 

Cousin sleepover with our nephews. Wells and Heath had a sleepover on Sunday night and the kids had a giant 'campout' in the living room. I loved coming downstairs on Monday morning to see their little resting bodies all over the room. Red and Olive were thrilled to have them and they played outside all day Monday and even helped with farm chores. 

Making it to Labor Day which is my goal at the start of the school year - just get through the two weeks until Labor Day for a little breather. It was so nice to have off on Monday (thank you Labor Unions of the past!) to get chores done and catch our breath after a very busy few weeks of sports and starting school. I got totally caught up on laundry on Sunday and Monday! 

Bummed to miss our annual county fair visit this year - but there was just no way with the busy week in sports and school.

Attending the high school open house and visiting with Grey's and Gem's teachers. I love how our school does open house; you follow the schedule that your kids' do each day and it is such a nice glimpse into their travels through the building each day. Gem's ELA teacher had their Who I am poems displayed (so sweet!) and I got to chat with some of my fav teachers and fellow parents as we roamed the halls together. Bless those educators! Thanks for loving and encouraging all our kids each day!  

Smiling at the photos from my mom for the Goodies with Grandparents event at the babies' preschool. What a blessing for Reddy and Livy to have four grandparents to have cookies and juice with (Abba, Chum, Pappy, and Mimi!) 

Finding a groove with the afterschool backpack clean out, homework around dinner, figuring out how to wash enough laundry during the week so jerseys are clean, but also not too much that close sit in wrinkled hampers when we can't get to them fast enough. Prepping the night before to make mornings easier and keeping a notebook with required chores or events each morning so that everyone is on the same page and we can all work together. It's a process, but it feels like we are getting to the point where things feel like their moving in a predictable pattern and that feels good. 

Kitty & Bryan PCT Update: in the final stretch of a state now - They hiked through Whites Pass/Packwood and made it to Snoqualomie. It is starting to get cold and wet now, so Kitty is hoping to resupply with some more layers during a rest day this week. She said Oregon was so beautiful, but somehow Washington state is even more beautiful?! Hah! 

Teaching only 4 days again this week thanks to Labor day. The elementary school learned new words (camina, ve, pez, and gato) and watched a video they all loved that encouraged learning a new language. 8th grade Expo worked through week 2 lessons (camina, corre, El encierro de San Fermin). Spanish 1 got their colors and calendar vocab, practiced numbers, and learned Los Pollitos Dicen song (a fan favorite!). Spanish 2 got their food vocab list and started Somos 8 which included learning Cielito Lindo and watching Doña Angela on Youtube. 

Sporting with another week full of fall sports again. Rusty had 2 flag practices and Violet had 2 cheer practices and 3 football practices. Rust and Vi played at home vs. Meyersdale on Saturday. Gemma had 3 soccer practices and 3 soccer games this week! She got selected for one of the game captains this week too. Grey and B had 3 football practices and an away game at Blacklick vs. United Valley on Friday night. I gave Team dinner this week and we had breakfast for dinner: French toast, ham, sausage, 2 kinds of muffins (fruity pebbles and double chocolate), fruit, and orange juice or milk. It was hit and all the players were gracious and hungry! (I made giant batches of French toast on the blackstone and then just kept it warm in the roaster). 

Making a butt-ton of french toast (LOL) for team dinner. For our dinners this week, we had chicken queso flautas, pierogies & kielbasa, Pioneer Woman skillet lasagna, burgers wrapped in aluminum foil for the ride out to the football game on Saturday night and chili over mac&cheese for Saturday because it felt like true fall outside! I made banana bread with some very old bananas on Saturday morning.