A glimpse into what it is like to live in our home just this moment.
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| first and last day of seventh grade |
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| first and last day of fifth grade |
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| first and last day of second grade |
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| first and last day of kindergarten |
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| reading to the guinea pigs |
Intentional Outdoor Hours: 184+ hours (of 1000)
A beautiful and sunny week here in Western PA - exactly the perfect entrance into summer break. It was almost intolerably hot on Saturday for the soccer tournament and a baseball game; although I definitely do not want to come off as complaining about sunshine and heat, because I do really love it...but it was hot as Hades trying to get that pop up tent down at 3p with cranky, tired, sweating children (and mother, hah). Everyone smells like sunscreen at the end of each day and that makes me so happy.
Reading and finishing Normal People by Sara Rooney. I really loved it; like a lot. The writing style and timeline of the book was so original and had me fully immersed in the relationship. I haven't seen the series on Hulu yet, but I'm anxious to get it started. Then I started reading Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid I bought both of those books (plus What If It's Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera ) at Walmart right before my eye doctor appointment because I didn't bring a book with me for the waiting room...also I needed to prep for summer reading....the kids and my students know that I believe summertime is for reading! (hahaha, nerd for life).
A birthday celebration week! B and I attended our friend, Pam's surprise 60th on Sunday which was hosted at my parents' house (yay!) Our Gigi's birthday was on Memorial day, so we spent the whole day swimming and grilling out and it was perfection. (happy birthday, Gigi! we love you!) and then our Rusty's 7th birthday was on Saturday. Party plans are in the works for next week - but we celebrated on his birthday with chocolate croissants for breakfast and then baseball donuts at his game with his teammates. I was actually icing the baseball lines on those donuts in 85+ degree heat on the only strip of shade I could find up against the school at the soccer tournament in between the girls' games and a random dude walked by and was like, "um, this is the most mom thing I've ever witnessed" (HAH!)
Memorial day picnicking at the Altimore's house on Sunday night (dance party as always!) and at Gigi & Pappy's house on Monday to celebrate Gigi's birthday. I am so ready for all the outdoor meals, yes please!
Eye check & new glasses. I had my eye doc appointment and got fitted for new glasses. I am the most boring shopper ever because I literally just buy the same frames every time and want to get out of there as quickly as possible.
Summer break cleaning. I got started in our bedroom and worked through laundry, clearing out clothes from the closet, and decluttering our nightstands. B had about 2 million dress shirts and pants that needed ironed (I exaggerate, but for real), there were random things that needed carted to the attic (like a roaster and some Christmas decorations - hah!), and we both had a bunch of clothes that needed hung up and organized in the closet. I kept shouting - "I think I can almost see the floor!" I remember being so judgmental when I was younger watching shows on HGTV like - why wouldn't this family just clean up their house and make the improvements while they lived there instead of doing it all just to resale it.....oh sweet, little child. because LIFE, honey. Most of us are just trying to scrape through to the next day of games, sick kids, appointments, dinner, and laundry when you got a house full of kids. Anyway...I still have a huge list to tackle at decluttering and cleaning this summer -but I feel good to have at least started.
Tearfully saying thank you and goodbye to our nanny Miss Emma. What an absolute blessing she has been in our lives this year. I was so anxious and stressed about childcare for our babies. But Miss Emma was so amazing for us. She was such a comfort to our babies, she did Gemma and Violet's hair some mornings before the bus, she helped everyone remember their school stuff (like Gem's trumpet, or library books), she got everyone ready to rush out the door in the afternoon if we had games to run to, and I got to chat with her at the end of each school day too - about life, or funny things the kids did, or weekend plans. She was honestly one of the best parts of the school year - knowing my babies were safe and smiling with her while I could focus on school and my students. Miss Emma, you are beloved to us.
Executing covert operations with our Studer family on Wednesday night. Our cousin Tausha celebrated her 40th birthday on June 1, so the cousins, aunt, and uncle snuck over to the Que to hang 100+ 'Wanted' signs for a Foxy & Forty Tausha and a giant poster at the entrance to the family rec area. It was fun and we were giggling the whole time trying to be sneaky and keep our staple guns to a reasonable noise level. Happy 40th Taush!
Shouting hooray for the last day of school for the kids! The first day vs. last day pics were brutal this year; so much change in 9 months. Time is breaking my heart constantly. What a gift to see it all happen in real time, but goodness - the yearly time markers of school crushes my guts.
So very grateful to all of our kids' teachers who supported, encouraged, taught, and cared for our kids this year. We had kids in Kindergarten, second, fifth, and seventh grade - that was 13 classroom teachers that saw our children everyday - Mrs. McCall who taught Rusty to read, and Mrs. Feathers who introduced Grey to The Giver, and Mr. Tresnicky who gave Violet the knickname Versus (her initials - VS). And then a multitude of other special teachers that supplemented their day with learning and growing - Mrs. Turner (librarian) setting aside books that she knew my kids would like, and Mrs. Evans (music teacher) who pushed and cheered for Gemma as she learned new songs on her trumpet. And then even more staff members - lunch ladies who were patient when Rusty was learning his lunch number and our bus driver who knew to watch for us at our "second bus stop" when we were late to the first one and Mrs. Rosa (principal) who smiled and chatted with our kids at sporting events. All of these people interacted with our kiddos every school day of the year, helping to bring a smile or encouraging word to their days. I am so very grateful for you all! Please enjoy your summer school staff!
Playdating with our nephews on the first official day of summer break. They won't be at our house every day this summer because my mom and Miss Emma will be with them - but I am always happy when we get to spend the day with them because they are the squishiest and sweetest darlings on Earth. Also, to see those baby cousins together makes me want to explode with joy. Olive and Wells are so hysterical together and have their own little secret language, I really can barely stand them. We played out on the back porch mostly (water table for the littles, and trampoline and Uno for the bigs) and it was a calm, easy transition into that summertime living.
Super annoyed with Osa right now. She really wants to 'play' with the chickens, but she doesn't realize that she's a giant beast and they definitely don't think it's playing. She has been trying to herd them back into the fence around the coop, but sometimes they panic and get stuck between her and the fence so she's just like, "oh, I'll just pick you up BY YOUR SKULL and carry you over" and then the kids or I are like "OSA!? put the chicken down!?" and then she panics and goes running with the chicken hanging out of her mouth across the yard. Oh Lord, it is such a chaotic mess. For the record, the adult chickens don't die, but it is definitely an assault. Ugh, my nerves can barely handle the mayhem of a puppy guardian learning on the job. Homesteading is not for the faint of heart.
Sporting with a baseball game for Rusty (he missed one this week due to fever). Violet had a sparks soccer practice, a tournament team soccer practice, two AYSO games, and played in the CT soccer tournament on Saturday (3 games). Gemma had one AYSO soccer game, one summer league basketball game, and played in the CT soccer tournament on Saturday (4 games). Grey had two city baseball games, one summer league basketball game, and the annual SHOFCO soccer tournament too (he plays with a group of friends and did well). B and I had to miss our volleyball game this week because that day we had two soccer games, a city ball game, and a fever kid.
Making frozen pizza, copycat Olive Garden chicken over pasta, ground beef tacos, cheddar brats & hamburgers on the Blackstone, and take out pizza. I made coffee cake for last day of school brunch and we had pancakes and bacon on the official first day of summer break for breakfast. I brought homemade mac&cheese for Gigi's birthday party! For the soccer tournament, we had meatball sub sammies in our travel crockpot.
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