Around Here Week 2: 01/11-18

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

photo cred: Michael O'Ship 

photo cred: Michael O'Ship

NFHS screen still

photo cred: Maple Ridge - the stuffie library sleepover event!

photo cred: Mrs. Mazz

photo cred: Becky C

photo cred: Michael O'Ship

photo cred: B

Intentional Outdoor Hours: 3+ hours (of 1000)

Reading By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult and really loving it. We also finished our book for the school professional development book club: All Learning is Social and Emotional by Nancy Frey, Douglas Fisher, and Dominque Smith. I submitted my last reflection on the book since I couldn't attend this last meeting (doc appointment and basketball game!) 

Annual check ups with our family doctor for Brandon and I. We both still want to get our annual bloodwork done too (on the list to do), but all looks good for both of us. I asked the Doc about my protruding collarbone (yikes!) He suggested getting an xray first to check out the bone: broken unbeknownst to me and healed wrong (?) or maybe arthritis/ osteo from overuse and abuse(?) It does not hurt, but it definitely noticeable to me and Brandon. It's only been noticeable to anyone else after I point it out and then it's very obvious, but otherwise no one really notices. I will feel better to get it checked out, that's for sure! 

Filling out paperwork with the Bedford Humane Society hoping to get selected as the forever family for a sweet puppy named Grinch. The kids all have their fingers crossed and hopes up - we will see though because I am sure that many, many people have applied for that cutie pie. (I have been aching for an inside pup. I just feel so much comfort to have a dog in the house as country folk. So if not Grinch, then we will keep looking!)

Seven Springs getaway with my sisters. Kevin was the mastermind behind the weekend actually, it was part of Uchie's Christmas gifts to get away and be pampered with her sisters (best gift! thank you Kev!!) We got to sleepover at the Seven Springs ski lodge for two nights and mostly we just rested and slept (Hahhahaha, tired mom fantasy weekend), but we also each got a Swedish massage, ate yummy food, took very long hot showers, and laughed and yapped. Basically perfect sister time. (xxox scf)

Laughing still about how on Friday night when I got to Seven Springs, it was so snowy and so packed that I just parked far away and had Uch come find me near the Foggy Goggle (well known bar at the slopes). And while I'm waiting for her in a kind of dark stairwell in the corner like a complete weirdo, I hear, "Señora Studer?" Five of my former students (2022 graduates!) were there skiing and hanging out together - I love that they were all still together! We hugged and I got the scoop on where they are all now. And while I'm standing there surrounded by a semi-circle of these 5 6ft+ dudes, my sister peeks around the corner and mouths, "Are you okay?!" LOL forever. I was like, "Kids!! this is my baby sister!" (love my kids, love my job, once my kid - always my kid!)

Time with family and friends. Olive's little stuffie got to have a sleepover at the Maple Ridge library for the stuffed animal sleepover event! Red and Olive both got to hang out with the Jr High Student Council on the early dismissal day too (the Student Council babysits all the teachers' kids while we finish up the Act 80 day!) Violet got to spend Friday afternoon with Kuma to pick out her supplies and materials for her upcoming sewing class (Kuma is taking her and they will complete a quilt by the end of the 3month weekly class!) Violet and Gemma had a playday with the Lasure sisters. Gemma went to the movies with her friend Abigail and Willow and Gemma babysat Baby Baker on Saturday too. Grey had a sleepover at the Conns house. I got to visit for a little while with my friend Renee at her bookstore Laurel & Leaf when I picked up my book order from her.

Teaching in the change-over week between quarters always has me a little wacky; all the kids trying to turn in last minute work and always having grading that needs done. But this week too, I am packed up my entire elementary school room to move for the construction project! I spent all of Friday packing up my room (thank you to the substitute who covered for me!) and then unpacking it in the LGI room downstairs. It will be an adjustment period as we (kids and I) get logistics and procedures down in a new place but I think it will be good. The elementary school learned about Ecuador (they loved the marine iguanas and anacondas!) I finished up my week with this 8th grade group for Expo and got a new crew on Thursday at the turn of the marking period. (hello second semester!) Spanish 1 continued practicing their Clothing vocab and using target structures from Somos 5. Spanish 2 started reading El Ekeko novel chapters 1-3. I had a FOR club meeting after school too! 

Sporting with two basketball games and one indoor soccer game for Violet. Gemma had three basketball practices, two basketball games, and one indoor soccer game. She has also been taking yearbook photos at multiple games a week for Varsity boys' and JrHigh boys' basketball. Grey had pitching for baseball, three basketball practices, two basketball games, and a sports massage with Miss Emma. 

Making crockpot brisket with mashed potatoes, crack chicken sammies, Pioneer Woman skillet lasagna, Instagram chicken with roasted Ranch potatoes and green beans, tacos, and meatball sub sammies. For desserts, I made devil's food cake/ pumpkin/ chocolate chip cookies and snickerdoodles (that I froze from Christmastime). 

Around Here Week 1: 01/01-10

 A glimpse into the first week of a brand new year and what it is like to live in our home just this moment.

a "game" called Avalanche, where the just throw themselves off of this ledge, lol.

photo cred: Kitty

photo cred: Michael O'Ship

photo cred: Michael O'Ship

Intentional Outdoor Hours: 2+ hours (of 1000)
Sledding with the kids! It was hilarious to watch them throw themselves off of the driveway hillside in a game called 'Avalanche' The animals are doing well in the winter weather - especially the happy goats who have had plenty of Christmas trees for snacks thanks to all the generous local families who donated their trees to us! I got in a couple walks this week and loved the fresh air and the beautiful sky views too. It was chilly and snowy but tolerable temperature with not much wind. 

Reading By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult 

Plumbing adventure for Pappy and Brandon. They worked on stopping the leaks in the basement near the water tank (it is never as easy as it appears it is going to be). They persisted and refused to give up even when they had to make multiple trips to the hardware store and had to make way more cuts and adaptations than planned. Thankful to have handymen right in the family! 

Updating all the planners and calendars. Always one of my favorite new years tasks - getting everything organized and laid out for the year. We suddenly realized the our romantic getaway dates were wrong (!?) thankfully our VRBO was able to push it one month out farther and then we saw that the Golden State Warriors are playing in DC that weekend - so we got tickets for the game! B loves Stephen Curry (like a lot) so we are got tickets for us, the biggest four kids, and Pappy! Looking forward to March! 

Carpet measuring appointment. Next step checked off the list, we got the upstairs and staircase all measured and quoted out. Now we wait to get the carpet install date scheduled! 

Taking down most of the Christmas decorations, although we keep garland and the tree up until after January 7th (Orthodox Christmas) as a nod of love towards our ancestors on both sides! 

January puzzle tradition! We opened our 1000 piece puzzle and Violet and I worked the most on it throughout the week - although every helped a little bit. It was a good one! 

Attending the fifth grade promotion meeting with the PTA. Our Violet will be promoted this spring to the big school for sixth grade. Waaaaaah, time!? I signed up to help with the tshirt design for the promotion party and I hope to volunteer at the party too. 

Illnesses creeping in - mostly just sinus infections and lots of sore throats. And then I took Grey to the pediatrician to get his sore throat checked out and he got a negative test on his strep test while we were there, only to get a call two days later saying that actually it turned positive! Sheesh, we picked up his prescription and he missed a day of school for strep. 

Time with family and friends. The babies and I met up with our Uzelac family at Stonebridge Brewing for dinner and cupcakes to celebrate Orthodox Christmas and Tete's birthday. The biggest four kids went on an Escape Room adventure with Kitty and Uch for their Christmas present. They all came home laughing so hard from all the fun (luckiest kids!) Rusty got a sled riding playdate at his friend Jace's house. Violet had Evaley over for a playdate and she helped us put the last piece in our January puzzle! And Rusty and Violet both had a playdate at Kaylee & Liam's house - brother/sister double playdates are the best! Gemma had Peyton over to our house for a sled riding playdate and she took care of a neighborhood pup Peaches for the weekend. We stopped at the hair salon for Gemma to get a haircut and eyebrow wax with our cousin Mandy. Gemma, Olive, and I stopped downtown to see our cousin (and my sweet goddaughter) at the State Cheerleading competition! Our whole family met up at Moon & Mug coffee shop afterwards for delicious coffees, breakfast, and visiting Aunt Kitty! 

Despondent. It takes baby steps of pushing the boundaries of what is acceptable until more people look up and say - wait, what the actual f is going on. (spoiler alert: it's still not enough people but things have become so distorted now with cold blood murders (Keith Porter and Renee Good), invading and capturing other countries, and cryptocurrency grifting - and always Epstein List distracting that more people seemed to pay attention). This week I had elementary school students ask me if it was true that the US bombed Venezuela, and if we kidnapped a president, and if WWIII is going to start soon (my response is always: "That feels like really important and maybe scary questions. You should talk to your grown up about those things but I'm glad you wanted to talk to me about it. You're just a kid so you don't have to be worried about that grown up stuff, but if you are, you can talk to your grown ups about it.)

Teaching our first week back at school after the break. My elementary students learned about Ecuador this week (they loved learning about anacondas and the Galapagos Island animals). My expo students had their last week with me and got their classroom vocabulary. Spanish 1 started on our clothing unit including making an outfit for a paper doll and writing about it. Spanish 2 started the pre-work on our next novel El Ekeko making character predictions and learning about Bolivia. 

Sporting with one basketball practice for Violet and Rusty and two basketball games for Violet this week. Violet had try outs for her travel soccer team with the Sparks too. Gemma had two indoor soccer games with the Gators, four basketball practices, and two basketball games. Grey had three basketball practices and two basketball games this week. I attended the girls' basketball game at my school because I was selected for teacher appreciation night by my student Madilyn (thank you Madi!) It is always such an honor - I love my students so much! 

Making smash burgers with roasted potato fries, chicken cutlets with parm noodles, meat sauce spaghetti, kielbasa/ tortellini/ and roasted veggies, pepperoni pizza chicken, Dr Pepper shredded deer roast, sloppy joes and shells&cheese, pork tenderloin with peach sauce, chicken dumpling sheet pan. For breakfast I made blueberry muffins. We purchased a HUGE beef brisket that was on sale and got it trimmed and portioned out to five freezer bags.