Around Here Week 43: 10/21-10/28

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

Intentional Outdoor Hours:  518+ hours (of 1000)

Up only 3 hours this week; sheesh, I have really pumped the breaks on my intentional outdoor hours these past few weeks. Its hard to say if it's trying to squeeze work, kids, and chores into a single 24 hours or the chilly/wet weather - but I have not been doing so well. We did snag some hours outdoors on our mini getaway though and it was great to have the wide open wilderness and that fresh air in our lungs. 

Reading The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas for our book club choice. It is beautifully and honestly written. I am enjoying it but also taking my time as I have to take breaks to reflect and digest. I am so grateful for incredible YA authors who give these great stories to our young people (and for all of us). I can't wait to see the movie after I read it. 

Singing Happy Birthday to Daddy to celebrate him. We hung out at home watching the Steelers play and had a visit from my parents while the big kids had a swap play day with their favorite bro&sister duo Rocco & Gina. Then Gigi and Pappy came over for dinner to celebrate B and we had a spaghetti feast with cheesecake and candles. Daddy's favorites! We are so lucky he is ours. 

Adding to our Halloween decorations with the kids' school creations. I am not a huge decorator for the holidays besides a few little trinkets and holiday themed dishtowels. I do have two exceptions though for the holiday which is hanging up kid artwork and children's books. Some of our favorite Halloween kids' books include: Ten Timid Ghosts, Boo!, and new for us this year: Zombie in Love. 

Cherishing some Honey(10yr)moon time together in the Adirondacks, NY. My sisters dropped off the sweetest roadtrip survival kit for us and then we drove up early afternoon on Thursday (after cleaning the whole house while kids were at school #parenthood) and took the no-highway drive with old school printed google maps. We listened to the entire Dirty John Podcast and pulled into our airbnb cabin right on Beaver Lake around 8pm. The cabin was perfection with a wood burning fireplace and the most gorgeous panoramic views of the lake and the changing leaves. It was total bliss. We got in a solid day of sunny (but cold!) weather for a day of hiking, visited Bolton's Landing for dinner and the brewery, kayaked on the lake in the snow (hah!), watched nearly the entire season of Haunting of Hill House while it was freezing rain outside but the fire kept it cozy inside, and got a lot of reading (and catching up on sleep) done. We were sad to leave the tidy, quiet, restful weekend - but also weirdly missing our regularly programmed messy, loud, chaotic life. So back south we headed on Sunday, with a stop in Albany for brunch. 

Missing the kiddos while we were away, but also knowing they were having so much fun without us. My sister Kitty had the big task of after school backpack unpacking and snack making. Then she hauled them all to my parents' house for trick-or-treat night (#superaunt !) For the rest of the weekend, Gem, Vi, and Rust stayed with my mum & sisters and even had a night with their favorite babysitter Miss Hannah too. Grey spent the weekend away with the dudes (hah) in Erie steelhead fishing with my Dad, Kevin, and a bunch of cousins and friends. (thank you all so much for taking care of our babies so we could sneak away for a few days!)

Teaching pronouns and ser (to be) to Spanish 1, my Spanish 1 Honors kids worked on Martina Bex Somos Unit 3 Cierra La Puerta and one of my Spanish 1 Honors classes got to collaborate with an art class to paint 3D printed calavera skulls for día de los muertos. They turned out so awesome and it was super fun to collab with our art teacher. The Spanish 2 kids were finishing el Capibara con botas, and  Spanish 2 Honors learned about El Cucuy. Spanish 3 Honors finished Esperanza and started their final projects on Voki. 

Making bacon, egg, and cheese burritos for dinner, chicken and rice taco bowls, spaghetti with meat sauce and salads for Daddy's birthday dinner, and crockpot Hawaiian meatballs. I also whipped up a catch of pumpkin chocolate chip cookies which we gifted some to our bus driver :)