Intentional Outdoor Hours: 629+ hours (of 1000)
Held steady this week with not enough to push me over the hour mark.
Reading The Astonishing Color After by Emily X.R. Pan. and The Girl in the Red Coat by Kate Hamer still and enjoying them both -but just moving really really slowly.
Chopping my hair off on Sunday because I'm pregnant and annoyed by it being one more thing I have to wrestle every day (hahaha, besides this belly into clothes and my little kids into socks and shoes and my big kids into the darn shower. sheesh!) I got about 8inches cut off and was immediately relieved. So less heavy, so much less to deal with. woohoo! Some people have noticed and then lots of people haven't noticed at all (!) B explained, "it's weird because it was so much cut off, but also somehow you look exactly the same still." niice.
Reminding myself of all the ways my husband is everything I love as I bite my tongue and find chores to do in other rooms as he butchers his deer on.the.kitchen.counter. Lord, patience is what I need - always patience, please.
Eating pizza, sipping hot chocolate, and watching the Polar Express with our besties as is our December tradition. We headed out to the Fiores' house to enjoy the evening and it was so nice to spend time with them for the evening and to keep the tradition alive!
Clapping for Grey and his school mates at the 4th&5th grade winter concert. We had the full crew in attendance (both sets of grandparents and aunts!) while the kids sang a medley of Christmas tunes and we all got to see Grey wear real pants (!) and a tie. A Christmas miracle in an of itself!
Debating whether to bail on Christmas cards or not. I tried to get a pic of the kids and that was a total fail (kids fighting with each other, dogs smacking kids off the face with the tail so that kids start crying...not holiday magic at all). And we are so close to Christmas at this point, getting them printed & delivered doesn't even seem feasible.....but there might be another option that I have in my back pocket. I'm not giving up on it yet because with every card we receive in the mail my soul aches to send ours out....so we'll see if I can pull something together in time!
Snagging gifts here and there - thank goodness for online shopping. I have lots of stuff ordered and I feel like I'm in okay place for being gift-ready so far. The big kids are kind of hard to buy for this year because they're in a weird stage of not wanting toys but also they definitely aren't getting tech-y stuff either...so then what? I'm using Gemma's enneagram to help me buy for her (she's a two too), so she's getting a cozy blanket and a succulent/cactus kit to take care as part of her gift. Grey wants a hunt in Alabama with his dad (LOL) but then I remembered months ago that he mentioned wanting a chin-up bar for his bedroom door - so that's ordered! He's getting a trail cam and waders too for his outdoor loving heart. The babies are still easy and Melissa & Doug toys are my favorite; puzzles, wooden food toys, and a car track rug. Target had an awesome sale that I was able to snag everyone's "Something to wear" items including three pairs of leggings for Grey to wear under his mesh shorts all winter (ugh).
Opening gifts immediately after school because Grey and Gem cannot wait to give their Santa's Workshop surprises for anything. They both had the workshop visit in school on Thursday, and everyone had to open them that afternoon! They were so sweet with their choices and they both picked a little something for their new baby brother too.
Swimming! Gemma's friend Mya had her birthday party at the Somerset indoor pool on Saturday and was so sweet to include Rusty and Violet on the invite. They felt so special to be included and get some swimming in even though it was freezing cold outside (blew Rusty's mind!) Gem got to have a sleepover afterwards and it was peaceful sleeping for the other two because nothing wears kids out better than swimming!
Winter sporting with the start of basketball games. Grey had three nights of practice and then on Saturday he had two games in the morning followed by his travel team practice. It was a long day of basketball for us to watch all day - and he was so pooped on Saturday afternoon but happy tired.
Teaching the Spanish Alfabeto to Spanish 1 including a recorded voice assignment that they both hated and loved. We had a listening "spelling" test at the end of the week and played lots of games to practice the letters. Spanish 2 continued El Silbón chapters 5-9 and Spanish 2 Honors created "invisible characters" for our class story. The reveal of the characters were hilarious and I was reminded again on what a valuable exercise it is to create characters through calling out suggestions in the target language ("la cabeza - "grande o pequeña?" Tiene un bigote? ..etc) while another classmates draws the character to match their thoughts. Spanish 3/4 Honors started watching Navidad commercials and completing worksheets to go along with them as we decide which Spanish Christmas commercials we like the best in a tournament style bracket.
Making chicken, potatoes, and brussel sprout Italian bake, crockpot swedish meatballs, pork roast and sauerkraut, crockpot salsa chicken over rice, and having appetizer night (chicken fries, soft pretzels, and cheese sticks!)
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