Around here week Five & Six: 01/27-02/09

Friday, February 10, 2017

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














Intentional Outdoor Hours:  11 hours (of 1000)
We had a beautiful day or two sprinkled in the last two weeks that we were able to add another two hours to my goal, but between the sicknesses and the cold - we've been hanging inside and trying to recoup.  I was able to get a 3mile run in this week doing yard laps after two full weeks off (!) and that half marathon date just keeps inching closer and closer (hah).  Hoping to get in at least two runs this weekend no matter the weather!  And don't think I'm not looking back every week to see if my hours this year is beating my hours at this time last year...cause I am.  Hah, I'm still about two hours ahead of myself last year and that gives me hope!

Reading Leaving Time by Jodi Piccoult and finishing it!  I have always loved her books and I was glad to dive into one to get back into the swing of reading.  I've just been off lately and it was nice to get wrapped up in a story again.

Cheering the two bigs on in indoor soccer which started two weeks ago.  Gem is playing with the 4-5 year olds and is doing much better than we expected.  She doesn't have competitiveness flowing through her veins like us and so she can get pretty sensitive about sports - but she's been doing awesome (three career goals already!) and I think some of it has to do with her coaches who are Chum (my dad) and Aunt Uch (my little sis).  Grey plays with the 6-7 year olds and also on the 8-10 year olds team which he absolutely loves.  I swear that kid could power our entire house with electricity if we could find some way to hook his movements up to an energy converter.

Nursing my sick family back to health on the regs.  We've just been swapping germs for the past two months and it seems like as soon as someone recovers, someone else starts up a new strain of disease.  But we've been lucky that's it's only been runny noses, sore throats, coughs, and 24hour stomach bugs - nothing we can't handle in-house with a lots of rest, soup, and plenty of hankies.

Looking at our house with fresh eyes as we have a full blown crawling explorer in the house now.  Well, more like half crawling-half bear walking explorer.  He crawls with one foot flat and one knee bent/crawling and he can get around pretty quickly.  And now that he can get around, his only desire is to get to somewhere he can pull himself up to stand.  We've moved the crib down and have to watch the stairs like maniacs because this little man is on the move! He's also waving and clapping, but still no words!  I'm not too stressed about it though because #fourthbaby and also, who the heck can get a word in edgewise over here between the older three?!

Planning Gemma's fifth birthday Mermaid party!  it's impossible that our girl will be five, I'm seriously in denial still.

Watching the Superbowl as a family just here at home the six of us.  We made Root Beer Pork in the slow cooker and all sat around together in the living room.  The kids went up for bedtime and then it was just Bud and I cozied up on the couch (with Bullet all up in our space, naturally) and it was so nice after weeks of sickness and basketball season to just sit and be.

Potty-training Vially girl with more successful days than not.  Some days she's amazing and has no accidents and then other days it's four accidents in two hours and I throw a diaper on declaring it a hard potty day! #thirdkidnopressure She's pretty proud of herself though and I think we are nearly through the breakthrough point!!

Pushing Grey into some intensive reading intervention at home in what we've dubbed "Greyson's Reading Boot Camp"  He came home this week with an updated reading level and it's lower than it's supposed to be at this time in the year for first grade.  I know that some of it has to do with Brandon and my loosey-goosey attitude the past few months between new jobs and bball.  But he's also been pretty whiny and complainy about homework and reading too.  So, we're working really hard everyday on top of his homework to do some focused reading practices so that when he's re-tested next Friday, he'll hopefully be up at least two levels...and if not, he doesn't get to attend the first indoor baseball practice of the season (!) so we've got some pretty heavy weight on this one to keep him motivated!

Loving brandon's beard.  still.  like major.

Making these cinnamon sugar cream-cheese roll-ups for snow day breakfast and these blueberry, banana muffins (with some over-ripe bananas that I had hoarded in the freezer!).  For dinners, we've had brocolli & wild rice soup, Ranch baked porkchops (one of the kids' all-time favorites), Korean beef over rice, chicken & gravy over mashed potatoes (another huge kid favorite!), crispy shrimp over noodles, Mongolian beef in the crockpot (just meh), and a doctored up frozen pizza with jalapenos & pineapple for Brandon and I to celebrate the last regular season basketball game!  And for dessert, hot cocoa cookies!

2 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for all your comments on my blog. My little heart just exploded with happiness when I opened my email and saw all that blog lovin' from you. muah!
    Leaving Time is SO good! Thankfully I started reading it over Christmas break (when Josh was home) two years ago because I did not cook, clean or parent for roughly two days until I finished it.
    I'm cracking up at #fourthbaby because man, it's so true. I know that whatever route Carly takes to get to where she's going, she'll get there just fine!
    Isn't being a mom of the school kids tough? I have one who is struggling as well, with dips in nearly all grades on this last report card, and we, too, are tightening the reigns. Working on spelling pre-tests twice a week, encouraging read aloud time with siblings and reminding him to slow down his handwriting to its legible. I know he will get there and be fine... but it's so much pressure!
    Love all the pictures of your family-- you and the girls in bed (love your Mama shirt!) and little V's sweet face, and Grey shoveling the walk. Raising up these little men we have is such an honor. I tear up watching them grow.

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  2. How big are those kids of yours??! I think I've been reading since you were pregnant with Gemma, so I kinda feel like I've (in a totally non-creepy way) watched your babies grow up and up and up. So beautiful and smart and funny, those kids of yours.
    So glad we found each other in this big Internet world. One of these days we'll have to actually meet up! xo

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