Around Here Week 20: 05/12-18

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

Intentional Outdoor Hours:  126+ (of 1000)
I'm up 19 hours this week, because HELLO spring! I got the dogs out for a long walk this week (we saw three deer and some coyote poop that had the dogs' sniffers out of control). We are already getting great use of our fire ring this year and had a beautiful star filled sky on Saturday that had us all picking favorite stars and looking for UFOs.

Reading and finishing Simon vs. the Homosapien's Agenda by Becky Albertalli that was borrowed to me by a student (thank you Emily!) I devoured it in two days and now I need to watch the movie again asap - I loved the book and the movie so much. I'm also working on finishing Erotic Stories for Punjabi Women by Balli Kaur Jaswal before our next book club potluck dinner!

Getting pampered for mother's day. The girls woke up and made Brandon and I breakfast (not-quite cooked eggs and four times the sugar kool-aid but it was so thoughtful and they were so proud that we found a way to take a few bites of the semi-cooked parts before B 'warmed them up') Grey got everyone in our family to 'sign' their name on a card he made for me and they kids tried to promise to not fight all day (the only gift I asked for, hah!) We met up with my momma and sisters at Uch and Kevin's house for a perfect afternoon of tacos, birdhouse painting, and a walk outside in the light rain.

Supplementing my life with iron pills. After attempting to give blood the last few times and being turned away because of low iron and feeling so fatigued regularly, my mom in law suggested trying some slow-release FE pills. I kept chalking my exhaustion up to the whole having four kids, a full time job, and volunteering at all the things - but hey! turns out that it was in big part to low iron! The boost in iron has me feeling like me again - not super energized, but just normal and awake. Very grateful to be able to work at regular efficiency again.

Receiving the most thoughtful end-of-year gift from my classroom fairy godmother, Ashley! She sent me a custom stamper for my classroom library that says "From the Library of Señora Studer" Did I get teary-eyed in front of students about it....yes. Are all my books already stamped....yes. Did multiple students ask for their hands stamped....also yes, but they were denied (mwhahah) because it was too new and beautiful and perfect. Ashley, it has meant so much to me every thoughtful monthly surprise you sent to me and my classroom. My students all know of you and your kindness- if we get anything new in our room they ask, "Is that from the classroom fairy godmother?" They have heard me say countless times that you are an example of the kind of person they can choose to be - someone who thinks of others and does kind things for nothing in return - just to make the world a little brighter and softer. Honestly, you are incredible.

Geeked about a project that I'm working on with two fellow teachers (hi Ms. Saylor & Ms. Griffiths!) called Project Lit. It is an organization that is committed to providing our students and communities with culturally relevant books and promoting a love of reading. It is such an amazing time to be a young person (or love YA) because the Young Adult genre is booming with meaningful, thought-provoking and important stories. Project Lit comes out with a list of books for middle school and high school students that will help empower them as they are living in their lives right this minute. The books cover topics in a wide variety with a focus on making sure that students can find themselves on the pages (bullying, racism, addiction, poverty, etc) They are dedicated to decreasing 'book deserts' among rural and low income communities. We have a lot of ideas for our chapter of the project and I am so excited to see how it flourishes! If you are interested in helping us acquire books for our Project Lit, you can find our wishlist here (and thank you!!) If you want to follow along with us - find us at this hashtag #NSProjectLit

Grateful for family! Uncle Juice came by and took the kiddos out for ice cream on Wednesday night and B and I were able to get all the mowing and weed-whacking done without interruption! Aunt Kitty went in to Gem's class as the 'mystery reader' and read Nanette's Baguette (oh, how we all love Mo Willems!) My parents kept the kids on a rainy evening so that B could attend a school board meeting and I could take Gem to her game all by herself. And Gigi took Rusty on a special date to the Paw Patrol show! No joke, we have the best village.

Chaperoning the senior field trip to Hershey park on Friday. Three other teachers and I spent the day (6:30a-10:30p) with the senior class taking in the beautiful weather at the amusement park. We rode tons of rollercoasters and had no issues with the students!

Celebrating my baby sis Uch who turned 30 on Friday!! O.mi.gosh. My babiest sister is 30, I can't. She is incredible and inspiring and thoughtful and intentional and all the things I want my daughters to be when they grow up. How grateful and so deeply proud I am to be her sister. We celebrated with drinks and food at the Crow's Nest - B took the kids and then I got to stop over after I got back from the senior field trip at 10:30p. We love you so much Tasha #uchisthebest

Visiting the Quemahoming Dam for the first time this season! It was so warm on Saturday afternoon and we were all in need of a little boost in spirit, so after the baseball game, we loaded everyone down for a last minute trip. I scooped up Brookie and Bennie and we already had Ivan and Gracie for the day so we had plenty of friends to play with. I snagged the towels and swimsuits and B stopped for drinks and snacks. Then the Stankans met us there to pick up Ivan and we all enjoyed the Que for about an hour and a half before the mosquitoes descended and everyone was s.t.a.r.v.i.n.g.

Spring Sporting with three soccer games, a baseball practice, and a baseball game this week. All of our Monday games were cancelled due to rain. There was a baseball coach's meeting for Brandon and a school board meeting thrown in the week too. B and I had a looooooong debate about all-star baseball season and ultimately I lost (HAH). My heart and soul is all like, 'he's nine and a kid and let's ride bikes and climb trees all summer. and he's not the only child we have and poor Rust man gets carted to all the fields all the days, and also we coach all the things every season, for the love of all that is holy can we just get a break.' and B is all like, 'he works hard and should get a chance to try out and anyway he loves baseball' and so we asked Grey and not shocking at all, he wanted to try out - so yeah, I lost.

Teaching a weird week as our high school tackled the Keystone standardized testing exams. I didn't see my sophomores or juniors all week! My Spanish 1 students finished Brandon Brown Quiere un Perro and got their final project assignment. Spanish 1 Honors finished Billy y las Botas and got to watch the Señor Wooly music videos for Billy y las Botas and Billy y las Botas 2. I had to proctor the Literature exam on Wednesday & Thursday morning (ugh, I loathe standardized testing to the depths of my soul - another blog for another day) and after everyone was finished, we did some brain breaks of Just Dance and cup tower competitions - they made it all the way to the ceiling!! Which is legit impressive (even the physics and STEAM teachers agreed) and does a standardized test measure that kind of dedication, persistence, and engaged focus - NO. ugh, don't even get me started (hah).

Making grilled keilbasa, haluski, and mac & cheese; cream cheese taquitos in the slow-cooker, and spaghetti. We had pizza one night and Uch's birthday Crow's Nest dinner another. I have been feeling pretty guilty about our crap eating lately (Silver Bell ice cream dinners and concession stand food overload) and so we made an effort to eat at the real dining room table this week. The kids loved it and both Grey and Gem asked if we could always eat there.