Around Here Week 10: 03/08-14

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

photo cred: Uchie

photo cred: Pappy

photo cred: Pappy

Intentional Outdoor Hours: 21+ hours (of 1000)
The kids and I got a last minute surprise visit to an Alpaca farm near Uchie's house when we went over to play between baseball practices on Sunday. So cool to get to meet the alpacas and hear about raising them from the owner (who was so patient and sweet with all the kiddos!) 

Reading and finishing The Home of the Brave by Kathrine Applegate (I loved it. Cried multiple times) and The Johnstown Flood by David M and Heartwood by Amity Gaige for our Lit Ladies book club (really enjoying and I like feeling like I have some background information because I am a big sister of someone who hiked the PCT!) I attended the Book Release Party for Mistakes Were Made by Lucy Score at the Laurel & Leaf Bookstore (owned by my dear friend, Renee). I am so happy for her that her small biz book store was selected for a launch and she had the cutest party and swag bags to give away. Proud to know and love you, Renee! 

Youth service at St. David's and we were the proud parents of Jesus! Hahha! Gemma played Jesus in the play, Violet read the first reading at the lectern, and Rusty, Reddy, and Olive helped sing and dance. 

It's baby chickie season if you are married to my husband. I specifically said, no baby chickies until we get back from our weekend getaway and who do you think absolutely can never be trusted in tractor supply in the spring? Why does this handsome husband of mine come home with puppy dog eyes and 14 baby guinea chickens. I cannot. 

Laughing about how the chickens are laying their eggs in the English Ivy out front. Easy for picking up, and hilarious to see the chickens squeezing into a little hold they made for themselves behind the ivy. A little concerned that we did find black snakes in there last summer...so we will see if it continues to be a makeshift nesting spot! 

Knocked some paperwork and appointments off the to do list before we got away - I signed up to volunteer as AYSO 6u coach for Olive, I organized the tshirt sizes for fifth grade promotion for Violet and also scheduled her zoom interview with Camp PARC for later this month. I went to my bi-annual dentist check up (all good!) I got Greys' next sports massage with Miss Emma at Peak Performance Therapy scheduled, sent Reddy's snack in for snack day, and submitted the missing documents we needed to finalize our taxes. Thank goodness for my planner - the only way I can hold it together (barely). 

Applauding the wonderful musical department at CT who put on their production of Matilda. We got to go and smile as so many of our kids' friends and even some of Coach Daddy's football players performed. They did a great job and the kids were literally belly laughing at some parts. Grey went to see the musical on Friday night and Gemma volunteered to be a usher on Saturday. Bravo CT!

Weekend getaway from Dad and momma to Deep Creek. We stayed at the Chalet in the Orchard and it was the perfect spot. We enjoyed the jacuzzi and tried out the mini sauna. I got some time reading in the hammock chairs and we binge watched the entire two seasons of Paradise on Hulu in the downstairs movie theater room! We love getting away to tiny houses that are in the middle of nowhere so that we don't have to see anyone but each other. Hahhha, that sounds so cheesy, but it is honestly true. it is very nice to be married and to be obsessed with each other in friendship and romantically. (really, the ideal choice for making a life together honestly). Every year I am so close to bailing on the trip, but thankfully B plans the whole thing and keeps reminding me that everything will be fine, the kids will be good, it will be worth it. And every year while on the trip I say, "Thank you for making me come here." hahhahaha, because it is so hard to leave our kids and animals and the schedule and home...and how will everything go if I'm not there to make sure (that's just the Eldest sister, Virgo, Enneagram 2 asking). We went grocery shopping and made meals at the house (charcuterie snack board for binge-watching!) and went out to eat at MoonShadow (delicious!)

Very grateful for friends and family who pinch in so that we were able to sneak away for a few days. Uchie and Kevin had the babies over for a sleepover on Thursday night and Aunt Kitty had a sleepover at our house and got all the big kids to school for Friday. Uchie hosted a sleepover for almost the whole crew on Friday night while Grey stayed home to take care of the animals. There was crazy wind that night and I kept seeing neighbors posting about the wind damage. I called and called and texted Grey with no answer (he was asleep after a long week of practices) and my mom brain went immediately to worse case scenarios. Yeesh, I apologized in the morning for the spamming - but honestly, it's just impossible to describe and worry that comes with that much love. Violet's friend's mom, Onara, got Vi to the birthday party on Saturday (thank you!), teammates and teammate families got the kids to and from practices, and Pappy hosted the sleepover for Saturday night. 

Teaching about Panama and the Panama Canal at the elementary school (kids were fascinated!) I pushed in two days this week so that my current temporary room (the LGI) could be used for a training. My 8th grade expo class worked on their geography unit and country infographs this week. Spanish 1 started reading their next novel, Brandon Brown Quiere un Perro and read chapters 1-3. Spanish 2 started The 33 Unit that includes watching the movie and writing a summary essay about it.  Also this week, my Spanish co-teacher, Ella, and I met with our principal to discuss next year's scheduling plan in hopes that I can move into just one building. 

Sporting with one coach pitch baseball practice for Reddy. Rusty had two minors baseball practices and Violet had one indoor Sparks soccer practice. Gemma had four softball practices and Grey had four baseball practices and a scrimmage this week. 

Making roasted cauliflower and potatoes with smash burgers on the Blackstone from Grey (!), buffalo chicken dip with veggie dippers, ground beef tacos, chicken/ broccoli/ alfredo pasta, sheet pan kielbasa and tortellini, and spaghetti. For desserts I made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies

Around Here Week 9: 03/01-07

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

photo cred: B

photo cred: Eva McD

photo cred: Kuma (Violet with Dan Barefoot - local USA Olympian in skeleton races!)

photo cred: Michael O'Ship

photo cred: Michael O'Ship

Intentional Outdoor Hours: 13+ hours (of 1000)
A weird ice storm got us a 2hr delay this week (yay!) but it didn't look like anything that morning, everything just looked completely normal. I opened the door to feed the cats and they went sliding the whole way across the patio! It was very deceiving, but it was melted by 10a and then just kept warming up! We hit 70 by the weekend and our whole family is overjoyed to be outside with sun on our face and wet dirt under our feet. Spring, I love your guts. 

Reading and finishing Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt. Second time read for me and still loved it - it's been about two years since my last read and I had forgotten a lot of little details that I'm glad to have re-read before our upcoming teacher book club meeting - also before Netflix releases it as a movie in May! I started reading Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate and I adore it - already got teary-eyed several times. Feels very timely and needed. Violet wants to borrow it next! Also reading The Johnstown Flood by David McCullough and leading our Path of the Flood Reading Club group on facebook

Emptying our wallets (LOL) at the sports stores this weekend as we got everyone outfitted for spring sports. Gemma is in her first year playing softball, so she needed literally everything. Rusty and Reddy got baseball cleats, bats, and batting gloves. Yikes, but it's done. 

Dress up weeks for Dr. Seuss's birthday. To celebrate Read Across America Week, I also got to be a mystery reader in the pre-K. I asked if I could read to both classes at the same time and they were all so sweet (big shout out to Mrs. Gongloff who coordinated the time so that we could make it happen!) I read Nanette's Baguette and The Napping House. Red and Olive were surprised that it was me that day, it was precious. 

Breathing a sigh of relief to walk into the house after school this week and see it all tidied and clean. My mumma stopped by during the day when we were all at school and cleaned up, updated our kitchen tablecloth, dropped off goodies, and made the house feel fresh and tidy! Gosh, what a nice surprise - thank you Mom!! 

Kindergarten paperwork turned in for Olive and Redland! They have a Kinder testing date set up for the end of the month. WILD. 

Dropping off our tax paperwork! I really wish that I had it in me to learn how to do it myself but I just do not want to learn a new thing (LOL). I just want to collect all the papers in a disorganized folder and dump it off for someone else to do this one thing. I manage permission slips, fundraisers, picture order forms, reading challenges, homework, grocery lists, practice and game schedules, and grading papers...I literally cannot get the motivation to learn how to manage one more paper source. So be it - we can do anything but not everything....this is just one of my not everythings! 

Vet appointment for the kitties for the vaccinations and to schedule their neuter appointment! They did a great job even though they weren't thrilled to ride along in Aunt Kitty's cat backpack (hahhah! Thank you for letting us borrow it!) They are all up to date with their first shots and then will go back next month for the final round of vaccines and their fix appointment! 

Time with family and friends Violet had her sewing class on Friday with Kuma, and Gemma and Violet got to babysit Lily and Peaches. Grey got to have a sleepover with the basketball team at StephenStango's house after the state playoff game. We all got to visit with our Burgh cousins at Grey's state playoff basketball game (thank you much for coming!!) and the Moores grabbed dinner with us on our way back home after the basketball game.

Prayers for our family and friends who have children and loved ones in the service. I am always praying for peace. Prayers for all families around the world experiencing unrest, danger, and fear. An important quote from the introduction of The Johnstown Flood by David McCullough that I thought was relevant to today (and always), "...that it is extremely dangerous, very possibly even disastrous, to assume that because people are in positions of responsibility, they are therefore behaving responsibly." 

Teaching and finally finishing Pachamama in the elementary school - the kids all loved the movie though (just felt like it took forever with the weather disruptions!) Spanish Expo were learning week2 vocab for camina, corre, and ve. Spanish 1 worked on their personal interviews and practice question words and Super 7 conjugations. Spanish 2 worked on their Verb-os cereal boxes and they really locked in and created some very cool projects - proud of them! (almost unbelievable -but yay - that we are down to less than 60 school days!!)

Sporting with the official start of Spring sports! Gemma and Greyson both started their mandatory practices for softball and baseball this week to kick off the month of March! Reddy had one baseball practice, Rusty had two baseball practices, and Violet had one indoor Sparks soccer practice. Gemma had four softball practices and an indoor soccer tournament in Latrobe with her JrHigh soccer team on Sunday. Poor Grey was in full Overlap season - he had five baseball practices, four basketball practices, and one state playoff basketball game on Saturday! He took a baseball and a basketball bag to school everyday and then came home for dinner to consume about 7000 calories at dinner. I wasn't able to attend the baseball booster meeting on Monday but I got my assignment (hah! thanks Pres. Becky!) and we also got Grey's baseball fundraiser this week (thank you to all who support us in a million sports fundraisers - we appreciate you!)

Making Pioneer woman skillet lasagna, Korean beef with rice and roasted broccoli, bbq chicken sammies with roasted potato fries, sheet pan chicken fajitas, sloppy joes with shells&cheese, take out pizza. For desserts I made a double batch of pb/ oatmeal/ chocolate chip cookies and peanut butter powerballs. For breakfasts, we had chocolate croissants, pancakes, lots of bacon, and french toast on game day! 

Around Here Week 8: 02/22-28

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

photo cred: Uch

photo cred: CT Media class

photo cred: Kelly D (thank you!)

photo cred: Abba

photo cred: Daily American 

photo cred: Michael O'Ship

photo cred: Michael O'Ship

photo cred: Michael O'Ship

Intentional Outdoor Hours: 12+ hours (of 1000)
The weather is so flippy floppy - we had snow and ice (enough to get a FID this week!?) and then by Saturday, it was absolutely gorgeous and the kids were outside riding dirt bikes and in barefeet. These little hits of sunshine and warm are starting to not cut it...I need real spring to arrive. I am just so over the cold! 

Reading The Johnstown Flood by David McCullough and rereading Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt. We had our Lit Ladies book club meeting (thank you for hosting Jacinda!) and we got to chat about our last two books. It is always so nice to catch up and talk books with friends! I updated the POTF Reading club group page on facebook. 

Scheduling the cats for a vet appt. The gasp I gasped when I saw a neighborhood facebook post that featured a Ring camera photo of our cat Blaze. The neighbors were asking if anyone knew who owned this chatty but sweet cat. Good grief?! How do we have 14 acres and surrounded by woods and our cats are down exploring the neighborhood!? The neighbors have been so sweet about him (I messaged everyone) and they said they actually enjoy his visits- honestly, how lucky we are to be surrounded by sweet people! Regardless, I got them scheduled for a visit and future neuter appointment to try to keep them closer to home. They are most likely out there looking for girlfriends, and nobody needs that! 

Re-stocking the freezer with an order from Fisher's Country store! We stocked up on ground beef and bacon. Brandon always likes to sneak in a completely random item too and this time it was 25lbs (?!) of mini hershey kisses. I mean, what the actual heck? They just come loose and unwrapped in a giant box. I will use them in place of chocolate chips (also we are just literally eating them by the handful too). 

Smiling about the girls working together (although it is turning out to be an enormous mess). Gemma cut up a bunch of shirts and sweatshirts that she has to patchwork a spirit crewneck but enlisted Violet and her sewing machine to help. The two of them are working side by side sewing piece by piece but it looks like an explosion in the dining room. Rule 5 of raising kids: let the messes happen - someday your house will be clean, today is not that day though. 

Time with family and friends: Olive got a day home from school and spent it with Abba and Chum (thank you!), Rusty had some play time with his friend Abe who got off the bus with us to go to baseball practice, Violet had sewing class with Kuma, and I stopped to visit my nephew fellas after book club to get in some tickling and huggies. I took all the kids to visit at Abba and Chum's house on Saturday where we hung out and the kids played badminton in the front yard (their favorite!) 

Teaching only four days because we got another FID this week and multiple 2hr delay starts!? (Please winter, go away). The elementary school is still watching Pachamama this week and I got a new batch of eighth graders for my Spanish Expo class. Spanish 1 started the Super 7 irregular verbs conjugation week including Personal Interviews with questions and videos with a partner. Spanish 2 did a quick review on verb conjugation (present, regular AR, ER, IR and super 7) then we took a dive into Stem-changing verbs! I took in five cereal boxes (and some kids brought their own) to start their Verb-o's cereal box projects! 

Sporting Reddy had one coach pitch baseball practice, Rusty had two minors baseball practices. Violet had one Sparks soccer practice and Gemma had one semifinals Gators indoor soccer game. Grey had four basketball practices, two team dinners, and a District championship game vs. McConnellsburg at UPJ. Brandon and Violet supported four of our football players at the weight lifting competition at Ligonier on Saturday (good job football players!) We participated in the bus send off for the district playoff game (lining the parking lot, honking and flashing lights as the basketball team bus left for the game). Brandon had a football coaches meeting too. I had a lot of paperwork to finish up for sports - we RSVPed to the basketball banquet, made a basketball hype video for the championship game, I submitted our donation for the coaches' gifts, we turned in our youth baseball fundraiser money, finalized the big kids' paperwork for spring sports, and I got my 6u AYSO soccer team roster this week. 

Making instagram chicken  with parm & pea pasta, slow cooker shredded beef and cheddar sammies, beef vegetable soup (with the leftovers from the sandwiches), copycat Olive Garden chicken pasta, meatball sub sammies, crispy shrimp alfredo pasta. For breakfasts we had pancakes and bacon on the 2hr delay day and on the snow day, I made mini zucchini bread loaves. For desserts I made rice krispie treats for book club