Around Here Week 23: 06/04-10

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

mother's day mug from Gem

pedicures & photo cred go to Abba!

photo cred: Eva M

photo cred: Uch

photo cred: Uch

photo cred: Heather

Intentional Outdoor Hours: 215+ hours (of 1000)
Loving all the summer sun, but also wishing for a summer thunderstorm here and there! We haven't had a good rain in 10+ days. Our poor grass is browning up and we've been trying to stay on top of watering all our flowers/landscaping. Kind of glad we haven't (yet!?) planted our veggies because the rain is just not feeling it lately. 

Reading and finishing Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I loved the book so much. The writing style, the way each speaker was clearly their own person (I didn't even have to really read who was being interviewed; I could tell who it was by what they were saying it and how it came across.) and then the end! I loved it and THEN I got to the end-end and really loved it. Haven't been disappointed by a Taylor Jenkins Reid book yet! I also binged the series on Amazon Prime Video and it was good too - but very different than the book...I liked them both as stand alone stories, but I prefer the book version (by a lot). I started reading Demon Copperfield by Barbara Kingsolver after high recommendations from two of my trusted fellow bookies (thank you Jenn V and Shelly C!)

Brain Dump To Do List making for the summer. Although I set a very specific end date to "summer" as August 6 since that is the day before football camp starts. We need to tackle this list in the next two months before the real bonanza begins. It is an overwhelming list categorized by all the different balls we juggle, but it feels good to at least get the list created. 

Football season prep. There are a few things we need to get tied up in the early summer season so this week B and I were in serious brainstorming, planning, and decision making mode. Most of time I am just the sound board, but it still is occupying my brain space and I'll feel better when these few things are checked off our list. They are for the most part, first year coach type of things - like making the choices first time out the gate, but every year after this will be refining and learning from how it went the first time. Right now, it feels like a big deal but then it will be less stressful every year after this. 

Swimming at the Fiore's house - a real start to summer! So glad to have an afternoon with my bestie at her house with all our kiddos. The kids swam (literally from the moment we got there until I had to force them out when we were leaving) and had a pizza lunch and Kate and I got to catch up on a million things and it is so good for my soul. Plus I got to visit with her momma a little and that made me happy too because Nana is the best. 

Living in the haziness from the Canadian wildfires. We haven't really lost any visibility here in southwestern PA, but the sun is effected enough that you can stare right at it at sunrise and sunset and just see a giant pink ball. It's so bizarre. The rest of the day is mostly just covered in a weird hazy cloud that makes it look a little hot - like the wiggles that come off of the grill (says Rusty)

Ordering a new dishwasher! How old are you if you get excited about appliances? I am so excited for it to arrive next week and it can't come a minute too soon - this dishwasher is on her last breaths.

Clothes & Attic project week1: ugh. clearing out drawers and closets in the boys room. Anything that doesn't fit anymore or doesn't get worn ever - goes in a bag to donate, period. Get it out of my house. What a relief to get it done, but what overwhelming depression to go room by room and see the scale of madness. It's been three years of just stashing stuff (especially kids' clothes) and saying I'll get to it later...that was covid, 2 pregnancies, and 2 newborns worth of time. send good, motivating thoughts please.

Prepping the basketball court project and as is always the case - it will be a bigger project than just marking out the lines and pouring cement. Ugh. Thankful for Chummie who came and helped us map it all out and give us the starting point. 

Sending happy birthday wishes to my little sister Kitty this week. She was headed up to Canada on her birthday for a wedding followed by section-hikes down the Appalachian mountains in Maine and New Hampshire next week with her fella, Bryan. She's the absolute coolest and I am so proud to be her big sis. 

Summer playdates/sleepovers: Gem & Vi had a sleepover at my parents house (which included new flip flops and pedicures with Abba!) Vi had a playdate at the McDannells house and then my parents took Grey and Rusty on Saturday to our Adams family reunion all day (thank you!!)

Celebrating Rusty's birthday at his party at the Que. We had a Rusty Danger party (as in Kid Danger & Captain Man). He had some school friends and cousins attend and even though it was an overcast, chilly day - the kids still got in the water and played in the sand. We had Hawaiian roll sammies - peanut butter & jelly (Rusty's favorite), turkey&cheese, and ham&cheese (thanks for bringing the ham&cheese sammies, Heather), pasta salad (Abba), watermelon (Gigi), baked beans, and a donut cake! Gem and Violet helped color the Kid Danger signs we hung up, and Grey, Bryce, and Reed blew up the punching bag balloons that we hung from the pavilion. 

Sporting with two baseball games for Rusty (he had a triple and an inside-the-park homer; his first of both!). Violet had her last Sparks soccer game, her last two AYSO games and then the soccer tournament on Saturday. Gemma had  three basketball games, her last AYSO soccer game, and the soccer tournament on Saturday (2nd place, again!) Grey had weightlifting three days this week (baseline numbers!), four summer league basketball games, and one city baseball game. B and I played at 9p for our volleyball game (thank you to the sweetest neighborhood girl Fia, for babysitting last minute for us!) And Brandon had a youth football meeting this week and is still the vice president of the league and I got approved to coach majors cheer...because we are nothing if not gluttons for get involved in all the things. 

Making some summertime 'all day' meals: haluski and buffalo chicken dip(summertime all day meals are food that get made in the morning and then sit ready-to-eat in the crockpot so when the kids say they are hungry every 10 minutes, they have real food to eat instead of snacking all day or consuming 65 bowls of cereal). Vi made baked ravioli (her favorite!), we had pierogies and kielbasa, birthday party leftovers, and take out pizza (twice!). I also made two batches of cowboy cookies this week (5 dozen gone in 12 hours at our house, LOL and another 5 dozen for the soccer tourney).