Around Here 1 & 2: 12/31-01/13

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

Intentional Outdoor Hours: less than 1 hour! (of 1000)
Oh man, it has been frigid over here in PA these past two weeks. It was so cold the first week that we had two 2-hour delays followed by a school cancellation due to wind chills in the -30 degrees! We had a tiny little 32 hr window of temps in the upper 50's (!) only to drop back down to freezing again.

Reading Turtles All the Way Down by John Green and liking it a lot. Green is a solid story teller and I knew I would be captivated and motivated to finish it quickly. The story really has a more dark feel than his other stuff but was very intriguing, especially when it comes to battling and explaining anxiety. I did finish it in about two days because...John Green :) I also started A Gentleman in Moscow  by Amor Towles for my Books and Brews local book club and continue to crack up every time I open it because I accidentally ordered the Large Print version and the font is ridiculous.

Turning in towards our little family as New Years eve seemed to set the tone for the year ahead (perhaps). We got all loaded up in Sheila (including the dogs who were scheduled for the kennel) to head to our annual NYE celebration with our besties the Kochs only to get about 6 miles from home and have Violet throw up all over herself, her blanket, and almost Gemma. So we turned around, cancelled on the kennel and the Kochs and stayed home instead with just our family playing Just Dance on the Xbox and eating order-in pizza! It was disappointing to have to bail on our annual plans (also we miss the Kochs and Tessa so much!) but it was kind of wonderful to stay home just us too and somewhere in my sentimental mind believe that it's a sign of the times and how this year will go. Turn into us, take care of us, and learn how to say no because we need this little nucleus to be okay.

Spending time with our favorite people to round out the holidays. We got special snuggles in with Aunt Kitty before she headed back to Bermuda, celebrated New Years a week late with the Kochs and baby Tessa to make up for our botched NYE, celebrated our friend Lila's birthday party, and enjoyed Orthodox Christmas with the Burghs and our extended families to close out the Christmas season. (Orthodox Santa brought us the movie Tremors, which is wildly inappropriate for our kids, hah, but they've fallen in love with it after seeing it on tv once and it's a movie my sisters and I loved growing up (playing Tremors under the floor jumping from couch to couch! scf!). So it is what it is).

Nursing sick babies back to health. We've had three throw up bellies in two weeks and lots of snot noses and low-grade fevers. After so much holiday fun and re-adjusting to school and basketball season running, we are all driving on fumes and trying to remember to take it slow and easy.

Enduring Wreck-it Rusty. sweet baby Jesus. help me remember this is a short phase in the grand scheme of life. He has yet another huge bruise on his forehead, he's thrown away multiple kitchen utensils (he loves throwing things away), he's colored on our leather couches and the playground with permanent marker, played "poop hide'n seek" by taking off his own diaper during the day, and leaves sink and bathtub faucets on constantly. Oh, also he can turn doorknobs now, so I've found him standing at the open front door yelling at the dogs to come in when the weather is subzero.  So, he's been fun.

Holding on for dear life as we are in the thick of basketball season. The girls and I manned the concession stand this week to help Dad's team and also cross off on first months' 12 Month of Kindness task! Gem loved every second of getting drinks and taking money from all the patrons. The kids have also been good about helping run the 50/50 at games and Grey is a man-obsessed with attempting the half court shot at home games. If it's not a game night, then Grey goes to practice with Dad when he can and we have to figure out where everyone needs to be and how they'll get there for other practices or scheduled activities. B and I have had dinner together at 10:30p multiple times over the past two weeks like it's completely normal. Thank goodness for our basketball family (and real families) for helping us get through the season!

Crossing off the milestone of Gemma's first tooth loss! Both of her adult bottom teeth are nearly out while her two bottom middle baby teeth are still in! One of them has been loose for about three weeks and she finally had wiggled it enough that B could pull it out for her yesterday. She hated it (hah) but then was so excited for the tooth fairy that she made her a little snack bag (popcorn) and a colored picture to have under her pillow along with her tooth!

Crossing off another milestone - my first formal observation back in the classroom again. It came right at a time when I'm feeling pretty good about my teaching (seriously love those story-telling Spanish units from Martina Bex!!) so that was good - but it's always nerve-wrecking to be formally observed though. I think it went well and it regardless, that particular lesson was great for the kids with lots of Spanish speaking and retelling of our class story (the students really impressed me! hahha)!

Feeling proud of Grey as he attended his first fly-tying class with Aunt Uch and Chum on Monday. He was so excited about the (3 hr!) class and as soon as we got home that night, he tied two more flies before bed. It's a few weeks in a row and he can hardly wait to get back again and learn some new techniques and use their cool supplies. It's so nice from my momma perspective to see him love and be interested in an activity that isn't overwhelmingly physical. That kid would run, throw, catch, tackle, and jump the whole day long if he could - but tying flies makes him still (and doesn't include a screen) which is so incredible to me.

Tracking in my planner the various daily things I'm attempting - like water intake, yoga, and outdoor time. I made my own little color coded system and it's been keeping me plugged into my planner too - which was something I was struggling with at the end of last year. It took about five months, but I'm finally feeling a little bit (read: seriously, a tiny bit) more settled into this new routine of full time working again after 4 years Sahm.

Slow dancing (once) at the NS winter formal on Saturday night while we chaperoned the dance put on by student council. It counted for our January date night (one date night a month on my 100 small things list) and Ms Hannah came out to babysit and we got all dressed up and went to our first winter formal together since 2001!

Making so much crockpot hot dogs and sloppy joes for every home basketball game. The kids and I also made some Peanut butter cookies to share with the concession stand. At home in the past week, B and I have been trying to stick closely to the 21 day fix diet, especially the water consumption and it's changing our energy levels like crazy (for the good!) We've  had chicken cordon bleu pasta, salisbury steak, leftover turkey casserole, meatball subs, frozen pizza, and chicken tacos.