A glimpse into what it is like to live in our home just this moment.
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| photo cred: Mr. Bihun |
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| photo cred: Mr. Bihun |
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| photo cred: B |
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| photo cred: Heather |
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| photo cred: Mr. O'Ship |
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| photo cred: Roger Kerekes |
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| photo cred: Roger Kerekes |
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| photo cred: Mr. O'Ship |
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| photo cred: Mr. O'Ship |
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| photo cred: B |
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| photo cred: Peyton |
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Intentional Outdoor Hours: 538+ hours (of 1000)
The three littles and I took a walk/ bike ride on Jim Mayer trail on Saturday because the sun was shining and the trees were looking beautiful. The boys rode their bikes the whole time and Olive rode hers (training wheels yet) for a little bit then we walked together for part of it. It is an incredible blessing (truly truly) to have a foot stretched across the canyon of the age span we have in our family but some days I get a jolt of shock to remember how vast the divide is. Olive was feeling both hesitant and frustrated over riding her bike on the gravel path and it was taking for.ev.er. to get moving - meanwhile the boys are off to the races and the clock is ticking because I knew I had to pick up Gemma at a certain time. We both were like, "Ahh! I'm frustrated!?!" Thankfully, Gemma called (so the clock stopped ticking) and said she had a ride home, Liv agreed to walk for part of it, and then she was much braver to try again on the way back and the sun was shining and we held hands and pointed out all the giant leaves and centipedes. But for a couple minutes there I was jolted into a reminder that I still have little kids that don't know stuff (hahha, like duh - but also, the speed of our days leaves me genuinely breathless and disorientated)
Reading and finishing Love & Other Words by Christina Lauren because it was salve on my weary soul right now. It is very sweet and taking me back to Brandon and I in high school. It seems impossible that I get to be married to this man who used to be that boy way back when neither of us knew a single dang thing and we just learned about life and growing up together. Wild! Anyway, it's adorable and I loved it (and needed the distraction it gave me).
Listening to The God of the Woods by Liz Moore (Spotify new month started so I could pick back up again!)
Running to do list:
- I finished two more trainings for my school's professional development
- I got two new lamps for the house (cozy!) one for the foyer and one for the girls' room since we moved their lamp to the back porch that has no electricity still (ugh)
- Grey had a dentist cleaning and drove himself (!!)
- I coordinated with Pappy to purchase and schedule for our water booster as Brandon's birthday present. He is doing all the communication with the water booster guy (thank you!)
- I worked a little on our family yearbook and discovered that Shutterfly did another editing update and now I'm going back to their platform to finish my yearbook. This is actually a huge undertaking (again!?) but I think it is worth it. So now instead of being 75% done with my yearbook, I'm back at 20% done. Bleh, but it does feel good to be back within the program I did all the other yearbooks.
Shaking my head at the dinner table because what is it with all my kids at the table that makes the silliness go to extreme. The giggling and goofiness that ensues when they are all together at a table is baffling! I cleared off the dining room table (thank goodness) and we were able to have a proper full family sit down dinner. We have for sure officially outgrown our kitchen table and we eat like savages most nights - half of us sitting at the table, the other half standing or sitting on counters in the kitchen (or some of us at practices/ games). This the main reason I keep hassling Brandon about knocking down the wall between the kitchen and dining room to put in a big island so that we can all eat together properly. First things first (fixing the shower leak, installing a water booster, and putting in a new front door...ugh, homeownership) but my kitchen island/wall removal is on the task list!
oof. Laundry lately. that's it. I just want to complain about it.
Trying to work from the mantra, "fix the problems you can control" this week because my nervous system is in absolute shambles. Grey has his license, Gemma still has strep (switched antibiotics treatment midweek after a rash) and we had her cardiologist appt this week, the US administration (LOL, wtf in every way possible), the climate, the big game this weekend, Gaza, house chores and clutter, everyone with snot noses, full time jobs, meal planning and groceries, keeping up with the family yearbook from 2025-26, wondering if I'm getting it all wrong (what wrong? no literally, ALL OF IT)...it's all sitting on my chest like an anvil. But B is so patient and gentle with me and said, 'maybe we focus on the problems you can actually fix first.' So that's what I tried to do this week - every time I felt worry and panic set in; I got busy; cleaning, vacuuming, baking, exercising, tackling a small problem that's been overwhelming me (ironing/clearing the dining room table/ etc). I realize this is also not a long term healthy fix to my constant buzz of worry - LOL but it helped me get through at least this week.
Dysautonomia! Gemmi and I headed out to Monroeville for a visit with Children's Cardiology and we finally have an official diagnosis with some real action plan items. Basically, her nervous system is very sensitive (we already know that after a lifetime of carsickness, texture sensitivity, light sensitivity, etc), but something can set it into flight/fight mode like her undiagnosed strep. So as her body has been working against the strep, her nervous system reacts to triggers (like sprinting in soccer, standing in a shower too long, etc) like it is an emergency. So her blood vessels in her legs expand, which takes blood from her brain, which activates her heart to race to send blood back up to her brain, which increases her breathing but makes it feel like she can't get any air, which makes her dizzy, which only makes her more scared. Round and round she goes. So, she is taking another round of antibiotics to kick this strep once and for all! Also, increase hydration to 80-100 oz a day with sodium intake of 3000-5000mg (she's taking LMNT to help with that). She's also wearing compression socks for games and practices. Once her strep is gone, she should be able to be normal-ish but it could flair up again if she gets sick, or sustains an injury, or has any major stress/ trauma. So kind of the best case for all of the symptoms she's been experiencing, and best news of all - she should grow out of it. Thank goodness. I finally slept through the night on Thursday for the first time in four months.
Time with family and friends. Rusty and Violet volunteered at the St David's spaghetti dinner. Rusty had a sleepover at his friend, Liam's house. Violet hosted a sleepover with Bria and had a sleepover at Giada's house. Gemma went to the movies with Noah (the cutest), she had dinner at Noah's house for his birthday, had a sleepover at Peyton's house, and spent the day at Abba and Chum's on Saturday. Grey had a sleepover at Gabey's house and then a bunch of his friends came over on Saturday night to film their spooky segment for media class - they did a short film about our very own local legend: The Lanternman. B took Grey and Violet to the SFU vs St Vincent college football game to see our former player, Barty play! (we are proud of you Bartis!)
Teaching only four days this week since we had an Act 80 day on Indigenous Persons' day. Loni brought me a delicious pumpkin coffee that morning too - thank you! Elementary school Grade 3 continued to learn about Argentina and Grades 4 & 5 worked on their collaborative Frida Kahlo mural. Spanish Expo started their Geography unit this week and Spanish 1 learned how to tell time in Spanish. Spanish 2 took their Animales vocab test and learned about the legend of El Cucuy. For planning team, I set up the Teacher book swap in the teachers' lounge.
Sporting with two basketball games for Reddy and Rusty had one basketball practice. Violet watergirled the football game and she managed her last week with the jr high soccer team. They had one practice and two games (I took cookies to celebrate at her request for their last game). Gemma had three soccer practices and one soccer game and she asst trained at the football game (and taped up a teammate at her soccer game - hah! always on duty, my girl!) Grey had team dinner and film, a sports massage with Miss Emma, four football practices, and one football game at Cambria Heights. I purchased Hot Hands and re-organized our football tote bag with winter items because Friday nights are getting brisk - and this week it was rainy too (miserable). I organized some fan section chants and also chaperoned the Rowdies bus to the football game with Jenn V and Leisha B - the kids were great sports and stuck out a frustrating, cold, and rainy football game (good job student fans - thankful for your spirit!)
Making homemade pizzas and Grey made Mrs. Conn's sausage and cheese dip for the Steeler game on Sunday. For the week, I made ground beef tacos with some delicious homemade mango salsa from Matt Lasure (thank you!!), burgers with tater tots and baked beans, and chicken Parm Sammies. For dessert, I made a batch of cake mix cookies (no chocolate chips so I used melting candy in a pinch - it turned out okay) and a batch of butterscotch cookies for Grey to take to Gabey's sleepover. For film night for Grey and his friends, I made meatball sub sammies, buffalo chicken dip, cowboy cookies, and hot chocolate (teens are always grateful for food!) For our desserts, I made a double batch of pumpkin chocolate chip cookies because we all needed a pick me up. I also helped Gemma make brownies for Noah's birthday.
