Around Here Thirty: 07/22-07/28

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

Intentional Hours Outside:  331 hours (of 1000)
omi, I did terrible this week!  Only up 13 hours! We had a heat wave up here so the humid heat and the bright shining sun had me hesitant to take Rusty outside, thus keeping me in during the day too.  We did rack up some hours at Grey's last all-star baseball tournament on Friday night (he bawled when they lost; he was so sad that the baseball season was over!).  We snuck out to Gigi and Pappy's pool one evening for a wonderful night swim and I got out with the dogs a few days for a walk.  Must, must, must do better this week!

Reading When Breath becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by JK Rowling with Greyson before bedtime (we're on chapter five!)  I finished The Silent Sister by Diane Chamberlain this week and had that feeling that I was glad it was over because I got sucked in a little too much (meaning I was ignoring chores to finish it, hah). It turned out to be a great summer whodunit type of read that kept me interested the whole way through!

Celebrating our friends at their wedding last Saturday and getting a chance to dance and enjoy our whole Adams family all together.  Gemma was a dancing queen and totally swooning over all things bride&groom and the photo booth (as always) was a huge hit with our kids. Congratulations Bryn & Ryan!!

Thinking "I am having so much fun" at Zumba.  I know it sounds terrible, but as a momma, most of my having fun is of the empathetic variety; I'm having fun only because thy kids are having fun.  Their joy brings me joy even when the activity we're doing is actually not that fun for me.  So when I was shaking my booty and straight up laughing at how uncoordinated I felt this week, I was delighted to have the thought float across my mind.  I was having my own actual fun.

Loving Violet's little voice.  She started calling Bud Daddio and now has updated all of our names when she is feeling playful.  I'm Mummio, and Greyio, Gemmio, and Rustio.  She called Bullet, Bullio the other night.  She pronounces please as "meese" and I love it so much it hurts me.  The other two big kids, at her age, were determined to speak sentences as fast as grownups, so they would make word-sounding noises and then say the main word at the end - like "blehblehbleh garbage can" and from the situation and their gestures, Brandon and I could figure out what they were saying.  But our Violet is so determined to say each word right.  Last night she said "Hold - Me - Garbage - Can - Daddy - Meese?" all broken up with pauses between each word so she'd get them all right (translation "Can I hold the garbage can daddy, please?").  She is such a little perfectionist, in more than words too; spending incredible amounts of time trying, without feeling frustrated, to get things just perfect - like putting on her own shoes, or stacking things.  I love getting to learn more about her personality a little more each day as she turns into herself.

Playing the Jelly Belly Bean Boozled game and laughing hysterically..except when Brandon and I both ate a 'canned dog food' jelly bean when we were hoping for chocolate pudding.  yeah, except for that.

Crossing the finish line of the Rotten eight!!  We did it!  And it went the fastest it's ever gone - which doesn't mean it was any easier, but we made it!  I am so happy to get some energy back and regular working brain power again.  My efficiency levels are normalizing and I'm feeling like a real life human again...granted an indentured servant at a milk factory, but a human instead of a zombie at least.  Rust is letting me sleep about 6 hours a night and he's making more eye contact and giving us smiles that brighten our souls.  Eight weeks with him already feels like we've never been without him!

Making lots of yummy lunches and dinners for myself that fit within my 21 day fix requirements.  I had this Chipotle inspired rice bowl several times because it is delicious and filling!  B made The Pioneer Woman's Marlboro Sandwiches one night and the girls made Inside Out Smore bars for dessert on What's cookin' Wednesday in which Brandon ate (not kidding) nearly half of the pan for breakfast the following morning.  And holy moley - these Hawaiian crockpot Meatballs were awesome!!