Around Here Week 27: 07/05-11

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

photo cred: Bobby B

photo cred: Jenilee L

Intentional Outdoor Hours: 298+ hours (of 1000)
Up 15+ hours this week with lots of sunshiney summer weather. The blackberries are getting ripe and we have been able to find sweet ones hit or miss on our walks. In about two weeks, I think the majority of them will be ready and Violet is eager to make our blackberry pie! Lots of lightening bugs at night too, Olive is our current lightening bug catcher master! Plus we did a hay delivery this week too! 

Reading Margot's Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe and I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith. I am liking them both, just a little distracted this week with other things going on. Not much reading done this week. 

Summer to do list items completed: 

• I cleared out the upstairs hallway corner that became a dumping ground (clothes that don't fit, a box of trophies) and then redecorated it with a shelf to try to keep it from becoming a dumping zone in the future (this is called house-mapping which I recently discovered and I want to learn more!) It looks very cute.
• Brandon went through all his dresser drawers and put a bunch of clothes in the donation pile
• We cleaned out the cupboards in the laundry room and even removed one cupboard (I'm hoping to have the fellas make me a shelf that would hide the water pipes)
• We took apart the boys' old beds (bunks we've had for 13+ years!) and reassembled two new-to-us beds in their room (thank you Aunt Kitty & Tall boy for gifting them to us in the move!) The kids and I did the project while B was at work and we were all very annoyed but also could not stop laughing because it was a logistical nightmare to get the frames and mattresses up two sets of steps from the basement to the boys' room. Gem and Rusty at the bottom of the steps, Grey in the middle at the turn, and me at the top with all four of us grunting, shouting, and hysterically laughing might be a core memory of motherhood for me. So very grateful to have teenagers in the house who can use power tools and carry heavy things; Gem and Grey did most of the room while I peeked in occasionally to check on them. God bless teens, honestly. 
• B burned the huge pile of wood that we have been collecting over time on a rainy and overcast day. He also took down the old dog shelter in the front yard and burned those pallets too! 
• I went through and sorted all the canned goods into a) food we eat b) cans that can be donated c) cans that are expired (oldest one: 2021!) Once I cleared out the can cupboard, I reorganized them in the pantry because the cupboard they used to be in will be removed for the kitchen/dining room facelift project
• I organized and cleared out the kitchen pantry - huge job and I was mostly cranky about it (sorry everyone! LOL). I got a bunch of mini lazy susans so I could see what we have in stock before randomly buying all the regular stuff without really knowing. I put the non-expired canned goods in there, I put together a shelf for the top to make use of the high ceiling space, and I went through all our reusable and grocery bags (#Lordsavemefrommyself)
• All three of the boys had their well checks and everyone looks good and healthy. Rusty and Grey had vaccines too. I got everyone's paperwork done and ready for the upcoming school year! 

Cousin backyard campout! Violet and I set up the tent in the yard and we made smores over the fire ring. We met a little toad friend on the back patio and then all settled into the tent for the sleepover. It wasn't more than about 20 minutes until all the kids decided they were too chicken to sleep outside all night LOL. So it turned into a kid campout in the living room which was just as fun anyway! We tried! hah! We got a full day of playing on Thursday as I was babysitting the fella boys - we went blackberry picking and played Titanic on the swing on my Agnes Tree. 

Haircuts for my fellas - always appreciate you Lamont! 

Smiling at the videos of Big Boy the steam engine passing through. My family went to go see it and sent videos and our Aunt Marlene brought photos of our gram and pap to the track because they would have loved to see it (crying forever!).

Dropping Violet off at Camp PARC on Saturday afternoon for the next five days!  Camp PARC is "a residential summer camp experience...for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their neurotypical peers." Violet is attending as a peer buddy for the youth mini camp session. So she will be a friend to her camper and then she and her camper also share a junior counselor (a neurotypical teen volunteer). Many young people in our community volunteer at Camp PARC including some of Violet's friends and teammates, so she knows other peer buddies and junior counselors. It's no surprise to anyone that follows along with our family, that Violet was excited to try something new (this girl wants to do all the things!) I dropped her off mid-day and helped her get unpacked in her bunk and we learned her junior counselor and camper's names and then I left her there! I didn't cry the whole time (good job, me) until I was pulling out of the camp and whispered - "see you on Wednesday, baby. proud of you."

Dropping Grey off with the Conns late Saturday night for their trip to Montana. So grateful he gets to go and with such good friends (and safe and loving family - thank you Becky and Dann!!) but good grief, a whole week! I know he will have such an amazing time and experience a new place and that makes me so grateful and happy. HappySad. all the dang time in motherhood - I swear. 

Grad parties this week: friend/ football teammate Kaden Valentine 

Time with family and friends Rusty had a play/quad day with Abe and Calvin, Violet visited Giada's house and G slept at our house that night then she had a play day with Evaley at our house (Ev went Camp supplies shopping with us!) Gemma did a lot of babysitting this week: once for Norah and three times for the Bridges boys.  Gem also had a sleepover with Abby at our house and a night swim at the Lasure girls' house too. Grey went to the driving range with Gabey, Brycey, and Reedy. We had a late night swim at Pappy's house with friends (Brycey, Reedy, Peyton, and Brady) after football and basketball games. The kids cannonballed and swam until 11:30pm!

Heartache for the family of Nolan Xavier Wells. I am astounded every day that it is not a universal understanding that we should all take care of one another. Your kids are my kids. His kids are my kids. Her kids are my kids. Their kids are my kids. All the kids are my kids. One thing about me is I'm going to wait until your baby gets in the door. My kids know that - all their teammates and friends know this. I am not driving away until I see you open that door and walk in. You will be getting home to your momma and dad and I will watch you do it before I leave you. I have stayed long after practices have ended until parents pick up their kids. I have seen kids that did not even come with us waiting and have given rides home or offered my phone to call parents and then waited with them until their parents arrived. I will not leave you until I can see you are safe. Are we not all doing that? Are we not all teaching and modeling that for our children? 

Sporting with one all-star baseball practice for Rusty and then the start of the all star baseball tourney and home run derby on Saturday. Gemma had two soccer kick arounds and one basketball game. She and Grey attended five weight lifting and conditioning sessions too. Grey also had one football joint practice with CV. B went golfing with the football coaches for their annual playdate. 

Making bbq chicken fried rice on the Blackstone, smash burgers (Grey made and grilled), spaghetti, copycat crunchwrap supreme tacos, hot dogs with shells&cheese for the cousin campout, homemade pizza, sheetpan chicken fajitas, takeout pizza for the night swim,  For breakfast, I made pumpkin double chocolate muffins, french toast, pancakes, and chocolate croissants. I've also been adding cottage cheese into the scrambled eggs for extra protein for everyone and it is delicious! For weight room Wednesday I made strawberry crinkle cookies and for dessert I made cowboy cookies (3 dozen of which I packed up and put in Grey's suitcase for Montana!)

Movement: I skated 3.4 miles this week and weight vest walked 5.1 miles this week. Renee and I met at a skating rink that a friend has in his farm fields (her husband plays in a pick-up roller hockey league there and all the guys pitch in to keep it asphalted every few years. There are even lights for night time games - how cool!) What a perfect evening yapping and skating with a friend - we hope to keep it on the schedule!

Around Here Week 26: 06/28-07/04

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

photo cred: Eva McD

before & after

photo cred: Peyt

Intentional Outdoor Hours: 283+ hours (of 1000)
Oof, a heat wave slammed PA this week and it was brutal with temps in the 90's (feel like temp was 98+) with humidity usually over 80%. The air was THICK and hot this week. So it was multiple trips to the farm to refresh with cold water and we froze little chicken treats too (veggies frozen in water). We swam in Pappy's pool most days this week too! 

Reading and finishing My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix. We had our Lit Ladies book club at Ryan's Artisan (after hours! thank you Jacinda!) and it was a great time. I didn't love the book (Horror and campy isn't my thing, but it was enjoyable and book club saved it for me because Katelyn - who picked the book - did a DnD style game where we all had roles that went along with the book and she read it really dramatically and it was so cute and fun actually! Bravo!) I'm also still reading I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith which I am enjoying, I just need to dedicate more focused time to reading. Because I picked the next Lit Ladies book: Heart the Lover by Lily King and I'm reading along with the Laurel & Leaf Bookshop book club: Margot's got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe.  

Watching The Sheep Detectives with the kids and it was very cute. We watched it all together (the four littles and parents) on the back porch! The kids had so much fun guessing whodunit - we are going to have to watch more mysteries as a family! 

Summer to do list completed: 

• The back porch space is done - and just in time for our Fourth of July party! Our furniture pieces all arrived and Grey and B got to work assembling and screwing everything together. B picked up a discounted tv and wall hanger (hooray for saving money because we took the already-opened ones!)
• Grey got his eye appointment done and contacts ordered (he was the last one of the crew!)
• I emptied and cleaned out my purse
• We printed off Violet's Camp PARC peer buddy packet
• I talked to cousin Morgan in MT to help plan Grey's upcoming vacation with the Conn family and Becky and I have been chatting nonstop about packing lists and plans (!! so excited for Grey! Thank you Conns!)
• School: I started work on an ACT 48 (Professional Development class) online. I'm taking a class on family communication - one thing I know I can be better at as a teacher (I just want to be more consistent and for it to feel meaningful and not forced)
• Updated the beach vacation spreadsheet with to pack and dinner plans (thank you Uchie for keeping us all organized!)
• Well check-ups for Olive and Gemma and got all the paperwork for all the girls for the upcoming school year. (PIAA physical for Gem, sixth grade & kindergarten doctor/vaccine records for Vi and Liv!)
• I had a chiro appointment
• I cleaned off the kitchen window ledge (collecting zone for all things tiny: earrings, bobby pins, change, etc) and washed the windows and the screens

Rejoicing that all six of the kids can swim! Olive had an aha! moment and realized that the last barrier she had to swimming was being brave enough to try! She got a little courage at the Que at her birthday party last week, and then at Pappy's pool, she gave it a try and has been a little fish all week. She can swim underwater no problem - and now we are working on coming up for breaths and practicing doggy-paddling. Not that anyone younger than 14 is allowed to swim without an adult still - Rusty and Violet, even though they are incredible swimmers, still know they need to wait for a grown up - it is still an huge sigh of relief to know that everyone can swim! 

Printed off and working on editing my motherhood book! Over the last year or so, I have been collecting some of the best posts over the last 18 years of writing this blog and organizing them in Reedsy in hopes to publish a compilation of my blogposts about motherhood. This week, I printed them all off and started editing/ revising/ re-organizing to see if I can get one step closer to actually publishing the thing. Even if no one else wants a copy - I do! So documenting this here to keep myself accountable to keep working towards the goal! 

Ebensburg pool day with my sisters and the kids! A very fun day at the public pool with sisters and cousins in the sunshine. Olive got brave enough to go down the big red slide only to have a grown up man go down the slide before she came out at the bottom. Very scary for a second, she was right at the edge of the slide and he came barreling down super fast and his feet pushed her off the ledge and she was dragged under by undertow of him. He did not even apologize or come over to see if she was okay?! The young lifeguard came over apologizing profusely and asking what she needed, while the man audibly said to his buddy, "the lifeguard told me to go" with a shrug of his shoulders. Needless to say, Olive did not go down the slide again but we all still had a good time and moved on because I set the mood. I let it go (because I know we live in a time that many adults and children do not have any social decorum and I refuse to let their tactlessness ruin my day!) so we swam and Red and Liv loved touching the bottom of the 5ft area and then pushing off and the girls delight in being near their aunts and Rusty and I helped the babies practice treading water, and my little nephews were hilarious as usual, and my sisters were beautiful and funny and everything good in the world. It was a good day! 

Fourth of July Party at our house! We hosted a second annual party at our house this year with Uncle Drip as the firework master. The kids were vocal about hosting again (I debated because it makes me pretty nervous with all the potential for bodily injury, but alas, the kids win). We had lots of guests despite the rainy weather and there was enough of a break in the rain that Kev and half the football team were able to put on a great firework show (God bless Uncle Kev for directing all those kids with cool under pressure and safety. Appreciate you!!) When it was a full downpour at the start of the party, you know I deferred to putting on Just Dance on the back porch as a distraction. LOL, can't help myself. There were basketball games, the Roman Candle / Harry Potter line, sparklers galore, great conversation, and yummy food. Even Osa joined us for the fireworks to try to keep her feeling calm (kind of worked).

Graduation parties this week: we had three stacked on Sunday! All football players/friends: Jacob Bartis, Dawson Statler, and Brennan Lohr. We definitely got our fill of delicious graduation party food!

Time with family and friends. Violet had a sleepover at Bria's house. Gemma had a night swim at Zolina's house. Both Violet and Gemma had a mini shopping trip with Abba and went with the Lasure girls to see the fireworks in Somerset. Grey continued his summer with friends - he went to his friend Josey's birthday party, swam at his friend Gabe's house, visited the Que to go paddle boarding with friends, went fishing with the fellas, and went to the Millrats baseball game with the friend group. We all went swimming at Pappy's house four times this week! (it was hot hot)

Sporting with all star baseball practice for Rusty two times this week. Gemma and Grey both went to Weightlifting and Conditioning three days this week (two days were cancelled because of the parking lot re-asphalting). Gem had two soccer kickarounds, one basketball shoot around, and one basketball game. Grey had two basketball games to end the summer league season.

Making homemade pizza, chicken Caesar wraps with Instagram chicken, meatball sub sammies, ground beef tacos, chicken, veggies, & biscuits casserole, beef&cheddar sammies, and lots of leftover meals. We went out for dinner with Pappy for the unofficial summertime local wing tour - this week we tried Morris's Tavern and our teammate and friend Macy was our waitress (she did awesome!) For the fourth of July party - I made buff chicken dip, shortcake with flag themed fruit toppings, dipped wafer cookies, and Grey's best friend Bryce helped make the Firecracker 'lil smokies. For breakfast I made banana bread. For desserts, the kids helped make thumbprint cookies with blueberry and peach jam for my book club meeting. For weight room Wednesday I made patriotic monster cookies (with red, white, & blue m&ms)

Movement: I rollerbladed 4.1 miles this week. I am so proud of how much stronger I am on rollerblades now; I am having fun and much less worried about falling. Little pebbles or slight unevenness aren't tripping me up like they have in weeks past. My ankles and lower back feel stronger and more capable. And it is honestly so fun! My goals are to keep building stamina, get better at stopping, and eventually learn to skate backwards (!) My friend Renee and I are in talks about roller-skating together once a week because she also has skates and my sister Uch has been practicing on her rollerblades...are we starting a community?! I hope so!  My weighted vest also arrived this week and I have been wearing it down to the farm (weighted vests are beneficial specifically for perimenopause because the loss of estrogen increases bone loss and muscle decline...ugh - growing up is hard to do).