Around Here Week 12: 03/22-28

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

photo cred: B

photo cred: Becky C

smartboard artwork done by students Kendall and Molly

photo cred: Kuma

photo cred: Kevin

Intentional Outdoor Hours: 30+ hours (of 1000)
Sunday was beautiful (almost 80 degrees!) so Brandon and Gemma took most of the afternoon cleaning out the chicken coop and moving our guinea babies to the outdoor coop. But with the chickies moved outside, it seemed only reasonable to Mr. Not-to-be-trusted-in-Tractor-Supply to pick up ANOTER dozen of peeps. Grey literally said, "I mean c'mon. We have to do something about dad and the chicks." LOL forever. Things are looking a little more green around here (and I have some early bloomers showing - daffodils, tulips, and sedum) But by Saturday it was back down to the thirties and literally snowflakes falling while the boys packed up for fishing camp (ugh). 

Reading The Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnett. We had our teacher book club meeting on Sunday at The Grey Goose to talk about Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt. I got to hitch a ride with Loni and it was so nice to chat the whole ride; we are yappers and I love that about us - hah! The Grey Goose was delicious and adorable and the conversation was captivating - as always! 

Proud of Violet for her zoom interview with Camp PARC on Sunday evening. She had an interview with the Camp Owner over zoom to apply to be a Peer Buddy this July. Camp PARC is an incredible place that holds summer camps for children and adults with intellectual and physical disabilities. Violet would be a friend to a child attending the camp and would be overseen by an older teen counselor as well. Many of our friends volunteer at Camp PARC and when Violet learned about being able to volunteer - she was committed (you know my girl who wants to do all the things!) She did a great job in the interview (I was sitting right off screen smiling and giving her thumbs up - it is scary thing to do at any age, but she did great at 11yrs old!) Then we had a joint chat and I was able to ask questions and learn more. We will wait for official confirmation that she got the job and then summer camp will be in July! 

Getting the planner in order as spring sports season and end of the school year align for the ultimate showdown. All baseball and softball games are marked in pencil (we've already postponed a few games due to weather!) This spring we have six kids on eight different teams (3 baseball, 4 soccer, and 1 softball), plus Easter, Reddy's 6th birthday, Grey's 16th birthday, a semi-formal, spring concerts, and fishing season. LOL, but we truly operate better at maximum involvement. As long as I have my planner and our village, I can hold it together (barely...but I can).

Thankful to Lamont who came by for haircuts. All my fellas looking so fresh and handsome again. We love and appreciate you, Mont! 

A happy half birthday to our Violet Mary who turned eleven and a half this week. She was disappointed that it was such a busy day and it felt like no one remembered her half birthday, but when I got home at 9p that night, I whipped up some pumpkin/ chocolate muffins and we sang and measured her on the doorframe and she was feeling a little bit happier. Oh, my deeply feeling VaVi. 

Dealing with some nighttime ninjas over here. Both Olive and Reddy have been having trouble with bedtime. They have a million requests (water, back rubbing, snuggling, stories, hungry, etc) and then usually midway through the night, they find their way into our bed because they had a nightmare. I think they are still adjusting to the room change; from listening to three siblings sleep to only one other sibling sleep. Poor little things, I'll take the snuggles because I know now (with teenagers) that babies don't keep. 

Astonished about the turkey hen that was enjoying a little walk in our backyard. Even with all of us watching and Nova the cat lurking - the turkey just stopped by unconcerned to say hello! 

So proud of Violet who finished her quilt this week! Kuma picked her up early from school so she had plenty of time on Friday to finish the whole thing (God bless her quilting instructors, Kuma, and Pappy who have got her through the process!) Her quilt looks beautiful and will be displayed at the quilt show in the upcoming Maple Festival in Somerset County. She is hooked now and has plans to make a quilt for Grey for when he graduates (so sweet). Very proud of our creative and ambitious girl Vially who wants to do every thing that's possible to do in the world. 

Cheering on the Somerset musical students and staff who put on an incredible show of Mamma Mia. Brandon, the three girls, and I all attended on Friday night and were dazzled with their performance. How proud I am to know and teach so many of those kiddos. And my co-workers who put the show on, so proud to teach alongside them. Bravo to all the high school students and staff keeping the Arts alive! I am always fangirling this time of year. 

Fishbrain. It's just about all any of the boys in my house can think about is fishing season. All week we've been talking and prepping for Youth Mentor day which was on Saturday. Reddy woke up everyday this week and first thing he said was, "Fishing on Saturday!" and on Saturday he woke up and said, "It's best day!" The boys have more trouble falling asleep on the eve of fishing camp than they do on Christmas, I am not even exaggerating. Mentor Youth day was a blast, even though it was pretty chilly. We were bundled up though and had the campfire going to keep everyone happy and warm enough. Brycey and Reedy came with us to be mentors for some of our youths (since their officially grown now!) Much to Greys' joy - he is still technically a Youth (for another week and a half!) We had both grandpas there, Uncle Ray, and Uncle Drip and the nephews. It was the perfect day! And no one was happier than Reddy! 

Easter clothes picked! After fishing camp, the girls and I stopped by Marshalls to pick out Easter day clothes for everyone in the family. What a relief to have that crossed off the list! 

Teaching about Peru and Spain at Eagle View, it was a switch over week between finishing and starting a new country. The kids are actually so interested in learning about other places and I really try to include the coolest places and events from each country. The most engaging things this week have been Peru with Nazca Lines and Spain with Bull leaping. I got a new group for Spanish Expo so we started week 1. Spanish 1 finished their novel Brandon Brown Quiere un Perro and took their final book test. Spanish 2 started their last novel, Robo en la Noche and we read Chapters 1-3. It was the end of Q3 so I had all my grades to finalize which always gets a little hectic. Next year recommendations were due this week too because next year course scheduling starts next week. It is so wild to see the end of the school year (only 9 more weeks!) but what a busy and wild last nine weeks it is every year. Hang on to your hats! 

Sporting with one coach pitch baseball practice for Reddy. Violet had one Sparks soccer practice. Gemma had four softball practices, her first ever jr high softball game, and a Gators soccer practice. Grey had two baseball practices and two baseball games. On Wednesday night, Grey and some of his football teammates attended the public school board meeting in support of their football teammate Eddie. We co-op our football team with the neighboring district and it was proposed to maybe end the co-op and have Eddie (and the other kids from that school) play football in a different district. Eddie doesn't want that and neither do our boys. The team and some of the moms (me, Becky C, Jenn, and Becky S) all headed out to be there in support for Eddie and the co-op. Even Grey and Gabe spoke up to the board on behalf of our team. Next step, another board meeting where the Coaches can come and present. I attended Meet the Coach night for my AYSO 6U team on Thursday night. 

Making smash burgers on the grill, meatloaf with roasted potatoes and carrots, copycat Olive Garden chicken over pasta, ground beef tacos, crack chicken sliders on Hawaiian rolls, egg roll in a bowl, and church picnic chicken on the blackstone with roasted potato fries. For fishing camp, I made meatball sub sammies and for Violet's half birthday I made a batch of chocolate/ pumpkin muffins

Around Here Week 11: 03/15-21

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

selfie cred: Gemmi

photo cred: Mrs. Spangler

Intentional Outdoor Hours: 21+ hours (of 1000)
The snow storm this week had my heart crushed. I am so desperate for spring at this point - any kind of warm weather. It has been such long and cold (so many bitter cold days!) winter that I honestly cannot even remember what it is like to live in warm air. Like for real. My soul needs spring to get here. 

Reading and finishing Heartwood by Amity Gaige which I enjoyed, especially because of all the hiking references that I was familiar with since my little sister Kayla hiked the PCT! I also loved all the growth from each of the characters; so many mother/ daughter relationships with meaningful reflections. Next up is The Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnett

Cheering from afar while Brandon, Pappy, and the four big kids went to the Golden State Warriors basketball game on Monday night. The Warriors won and everyone had a good time - they even got to meet up with our friend Peyton! I had originally planned on going too, but after a weekend away and the little kids out of routine, I just couldn't bring myself to miss another day of school and not try to get up on chores (tell me you're an old boring lady without telling me) I was relieved and grateful to be at home and then stayed up most of the night waiting on everyone to get back safe and sound since it decided to be an actual blizzard. 

Trying to catch that sneaky leprechaun for St Patricks Day! No luck again! 

School Projects underway this week! 

• Gemma and her friend Abigail worked on their art project to replicate a renaissance painting through costume design. They chose Salome with the Head of Saint John the Baptist by Andrea Solario
• Red and Olive helped stuff 40 Easter eggs with little finger puppets to donate towards the upcoming PreK Easter egg hunt at school 
• Grey stayed to watch and film the track meet for his video production class
• Red and Olive also had a vocabulary parade at school this week. They had to dress up like the vocab word of their choice. Reddy chose "colorful" and Olive picked "bloom" 
• Violet went to her sewing class with Pappy this week and is making great progress on her quilt. Only one more week of class to finish because it has to be ready for the upcoming Maple festival for the Quilt show! 
• I finalized the tshirt order for the 5th grade promotion in May (I'm volunteering with the PTA)

Enjoying CT Reading Night. The babies and the meatballs all went with us to visit the different classrooms all decked out in interesting activities and events. We loved the PA bat exhibit! Grey and Coach Daddy volunteered at the archery shoot in the gym. It is always such a fun night and the kids look forward to it every year! 

Sad. One of our cats, Blaze, had wandered far from home- much farther than ever before and I wonder if maybe the terrible wind storms had him disorientated while we were away? In any case, Blaze had wandered all the way to the main road and near the highway where he was hit by a car. We were hopeful that maybe it wasn't him, but Grey and I drove out to the spot and confirmed it was. Ugh. He was such a good kitty (and a neighborhood friend to so many near us!) He will be sorely missed. Rest in peace in cat heaven, sweet Blazey. 

Happy for Miss Missy Miss Olive Irene who was Student of the Week this week and earned her Sammy the Eagle! 

Filling out our March Madness brackets! Family tradition! My advice for Rusty when he asked, but who do you pick when the records are similar? I said, "you just pick the one that you like their name better" LOL, but seriously. 

Never ending gratitude for my decent, capable husband. A good man down to his bones. 

Going to the movies with Grey! We both read Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, so we took a little mother/ son date night to go watch the new movie. I think they did a pretty good job but I said afterwards, "what a bummer that they left out so much science!" (because of course I want full nerd or nothing, man). It was nice to be out just the two of us. 

Very scary situation on Saturday night when Gem was experiencing symptoms of too much caffeine. We didn't realize it right away, but she had made a coffee drink that morning at our house then got a fancy coffee drink at the local microbrew in our neighborhood. Then she had a Starbucks Refresher before the movie and when she came out of the movie, she was drinking a Bloom energy drink. She was slipping into a panic attack when her heart was racing and she was overwhelmed with anxiety. I talked her through it (what can you see? what can you hear? what can you touch?) and held her and turned down the lights. We made her drink a bunch of water and she took a bath with candles to try to re-regulate. I just never thought to even have a conversation with her about how much caffeine you should have (or not have?!) in a day. Plus, social media makes everything so "aesthetic" that Gem didn't even realize that maybe too much could be bad. The Bloom can was so cute and girly that she literally had no clue that it was any different than a Poppi. So, we've since now had the discussion and we are going to keep our ear to the ground to figure out what we are supposed to be out here teaching these kids?! Sheesh, the learning never ends! 

Time with family and friends. Rusty had a sleepover at his friend Liam's house. Violet went to her sewing class with Pappy this week (thank you!)  Gemma got a sleepover with Abigail so they could finish their art project on the Act 80 day off and then went to the movies with her friends to see Reminders of Him. B took all the kids to the batting cages to get a couple of swings in for our baseball and softball players. B and I got a day date (breakfast on the way home from our getaway weekend) at the Clatter Cafe in Frostburg, MD. Saturday date night at Game Plan on Market when we dropped Gem and Peyton off at the movies and Grey said he would babysit the others so we didn't have to run out and then back in and back out again for pick up (thanks booboo!) 

Always trying to navigate with grace and intention and care. It is a tricky thing to have your teenage daughter regularly have to sit you down to ask, "okay - I have some questions about stuff I hear at school. What are the Epstein Files?" When I didn't answer her for a few seconds, she was like, "helloooo?" and I said, "I'm just trying to figure out how much you need to know." It is an awful time to be a teacher of teenagers who openly make brazen jokes about 'the island' or 'diddy parties.' Who can't look to world leaders as an example of integrity and decency, but rather blame and 'but what about him' attitude. I have elementary school and middle school kids ask me, "Wait, are we in a war with that country or a different one?" How scary and awkward it must feel to hear bits and pieces but not understand. I mean, I'm an adult who tries to stay informed and I still don't understand. My standard response is "that is something you should talk to your grown up about" (even as I know that they thought they were asking a safe grownup about it...me.) 

Teaching four days in person and one FID day with the pop-up winter storm that decided to dump on us randomly. UGH. Very hopeful that it is the last FID day of the school year! Elementary students learned about Peru this week (The Nazca Lines! so cool) and Expo took their map test and started the last little bit of the quarter. Spanish 1 read chapters 4-7 of Brandon Brown Quiere un Perro and Spanish 2 finished The 33 and wrote their summary essays using all their best efforts at verb conjugation. 

Sporting with one coach pitch baseball practice for Reddy, and Rusty had two minors baseball practices. There is no end to the kitchen mini hoop basketball games with the ball constantly flying off of my head and the countertops (but I wouldn't want it any other way - it is loud and crazy but we are together!) Gemma had two softball practices and she is happy to be back in the weight room after school each day. Grey had four baseball practices and we had the end of season basketball banquet with Grey and his team too. Brandon finished a letter of recommendation for a senior football player and met with the football boosters to talk about the plan for the upcoming season. I messaged my 6u AYSO soccer team to introduce myself and got my concession stand duty schedule for the softball season. 

Making Italian sausage, potato, and cheese soup for St Patrick's day (thanks for the recipe Heather!), sloppy joes, sheet pan chicken fajitas, pierogies and shrimp, and homemade stromboli. For desserts, I made Lucky Charms rice krispie treats for St Patty's day, and I tried brown butter chocolate chip cookies