Around Here Week 40: 09/29- 10/05

 A glimpse into what it is like to be in our family just this moment. 

jr high soccer team dinner!

photo cred: B

photo cred: Sam R

photo cred: B

photo cred: Onara C

photo cred: Stacy B

my former NS students Emma & Tyson! 

photo cred: Heather R

selfie cred: B

Intentional Outdoor Hours: 576+ hours (of 1000)
Still beautiful fall weather and I am loving my purple mums flowers and pumpkin on the front porch - thank you mum for surprising me with them! The kids are still earning tons of hours - mostly on the trampoline tackling each other while either playing football or WWE wrestling. 

Reading and finishing Okay Cupid by Mason Deavers. There was some cute butterfly moments, but I honestly just found myself saying, "get on with it already!" very slow burn, but too slow for it to be the good kind of slow burn. I wanted to read it before Gemmi who bought it during our last visit to Young Hearts bookstore. I also started a bedtime read aloud of The Wild Robot by Peter Brown because we want to read the book before the movie comes out! I started All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker. After the first page I had no idea what was going on because his writing is so non-linear, but by page 3 I was absolutely captivated and I am (as the kids say) LOCKED IN. So, so good. holy cow.

Listening on my commute to The Reformatory: A Novel by Tananarive Due

Planning and Organizing since we are impossibly at a new month again?! I had some much needed time with my planner both for the upcoming busy week with homecoming, but also to look towards the month of October. The kids are finalizing their Halloween costume ideas (reminder: get them ordered or made!) and I have it on my list to decorate for spooky season asap! 

Sunday with friends! First it was Sunday school, then Rusty had a birthday party, Violet had a birthday party, and Gemma had team dinner at the Hunsberger's house for junior high soccer! B and Grey had team dinner and film too and I got pockets of time to write on the blog, read, and get laundry done (hahaha, laundry is my friends -LOL). 

Happy half birthday for the Reddy Sketti! He was four and a half this week and growing so big. He has made leaps and bounds over the last few weeks - adjusting so well to preschool and even sleeping most nights (!) in his own bunk bed.

Basement den progress this week. Gem and B got some more of the ceiling painted and Pappy framed out the electric box so that it looks cleaned up and beautiful. Brandon and Grey helped get it all closed up while Olive walks around dancing and talking non-stop. 

CT Hoco Week mayhem! It was dress up days every week for the elementary school and high school (tye-dye, Disney, Hoco kings & queens, hat day and pajama, twins, USA, jersey, and Red&Black day). Then we all attended the Hoco bonfire on Wednesday and afterwards Gemma attended and volunteered at the MS dance with student council. Brandon and the football team visited the elementary school on Thursday to greet the students off the bus in the morning and then the football players went to the K-2 classrooms to do a read aloud. Grey, Bam, and Sarve got to read in Rusty's class (sweetest!) Gemma volunteered with student council to paint the community on Friday morning for the parade and game. Rusty and Violet both also had marathon fun day this week (!!) and Brandon volunteered at Rusty's day corraling K-2 kids in games and fun all afternoon. (thank you PTA for organizing so much fun for our kids!) 

Calling in the troops on this wacky week. Vi traveled with the Cable family to the birthday party on Sunday. Pappy picked up the babies from preschool once so that I could attend Gemma's away soccer game at Rockwood after school. Abba took Grey to his ortho appointment (his next appt will be the last one - he will be done with Invisalign! yay!) Then Abba picked up the babies from preschool on Thursday when I had to stay after school for Parent-Teacher conferences. All the fam showed up for the homecoming parade and football game and Pappy even got to stand on the sidelines of the game because he was substitute ball boy for the night! So grateful for family and friends who help us get through the logistical chaos of a big family. (thank you!!)

Hoco Parade on Friday night. Gemma rode on the soccer float, Violet cheered with the majors & Varsity cheerleaders, and Rusty walked with the flag team. The babies and I stood on the side of the road clapping and smiling while we collected buckets full of candy with my parents, Uch, Kev, and the nephew boys. So chaotic but I love this annual tradition for our family. This was the first time in years that I didn't walk in the parade with a youth team and it was honestly kind of nice to just sit back and enjoy it! B and Grey were doing their pre-game warm up before the football game. 

Hosting a sleepover for Rusty and his friend Liam. He got to come home with us after the game and have a sleepover before they woke up bright and early to play outside on the trampoline before we all headed over to the color run! Then it was getting changed and going to the playoff minors football game for Liam and Violet who both play for the team. It was a busy sleepover, but those two find every possible way to have fun and laugh! (thanks for letting us have him Laura!)

Color run on Saturday morning. B, the babies, and I all volunteered at our color run station with our speaker blasting pump up music at 8am. Rusty and Violet both ran in the race. (Gem stayed home to prep for her soccer game and Grey went hunting with Pappy). We had a blast spraying color and dancing while the community ran by us. We were covered head to toe in blue by the end of the race. Another tradition that I love so much! 

Grateful for this handsome husband of mine that he spent the evening at my parents' house helping with the deep ditch they were working on to fix the plumbing lines. Despite hoco week madness, volunteering with the PTA, a Friday night football game, a 7am color run volunteering, a soccer game, an away minors football playoff game, and the need for Saturday chores - he mustered up the energy to head over there to help Dad work on the lines. It was a huge job - like all home reno jobs, it is always a bigger job than anticipated - but they got to a place that they were okay to close out the night between my dad, mom, B, and the backhoe driver George. Happy you are knocking off those projects Abba & Chum! Love you, B, so grateful for you. 

Teaching at the elementary school this week with the 'watch' week. I am introducing the 4th and 5th graders to Legend Quest (a Netflix series from a Mexican director). The show is in English, but the setting and characters are all Mexican. We will watch an episode every 4 weeks to break up the learning a little bit. Grade 3 learned about and colored Alebrijes! For 8th grade Expo class, I got a new batch of kids so we started back at Week 1 again. Spanish 1 started Somos 2 (camina, corre, ve) and El Encierro de San Fermin. Spanish 2 started Somos 9 unit and got animals vocabulary list and flipped the perspective on a writing passage. On Thursday night, we had time for parent-teacher conferences but I didn't get any requests. I turned on the crackling campfire youtube channel and got a ton of things knocked off my school to do list (grading, copies, sending positive parent notes, and organizing student data for LMA passes). It was a long day, but productive! 

Sporting with two football practices and one cheer practice for Violet. She had her minors football playoff game on Saturday and their season ended with a loss unfortunately. She had such a great time playing and I am grateful for her coaches who push her to be her best while also making sure she is safe. She earned the Most Improved Player award after the game. Gemma had three soccer practices and three soccer games this week! Grey and B had team dinner & film on Sunday night. four football practices, and the homecoming game on Friday night. 

Making pierogies & kielbasa, sheetpan chicken fajitas, potato soup, baked pizza filled Hawaiian rolls, copycat Olive Garden chicken over pasta, and sloppy joes with shells and cheese at 10:30p after the Friday night football game (LOL). I made two pumpkin rolls to celebrate Reddy's half birthday and a batch of confetti muffins for the color run on Saturday morning. We also did inventory in the deep freezer downstairs and found some real (freezer burned) treasurers at the bottom - yeesh. Despite finding some things that just need thrown out, we did find some freezer meals that I had made this summer - so reheated enchiladas for lunch at work this week for a win! 

Around Here Week 39: 09/22-28

 A glimpse into what it is like to be in our family just this moment. 

photo cred: SDLP

photo cred: CT Football

photo cred: SHS Yearbook

photo cred: Stacy B

Intentional Outdoor Hours: 561+ hours (of 1000)
GAH, the leaves they are a'changing - like a lot. Our Somerset county is not humble when it comes to fall so the trees are bursting with so much braggadocious beauty that it is honestly obnoxious. I just drive around shouting, "You're beautiful" at all the trees (not kidding). The golden rod is glorious, the leaves are so bright - it is all so pretty I can't even believe we get to live in a world this vibrant. 

Reading Ok, Cupid by Mason Deavers, it's cute and a really easy read so that I can even read up a few pages in the 3mins between classes! 

Listening on my commute to The Reformatory by Tananarive Due. obsessed.

Surprising Violet with her 10th birthday party at the Que! I messaged Vi's friends' parents last week with the invite and the request to not even tell their kid until Sunday so they didn't accidentally spill the beans. Thank goodness for them all and their kiddos - no one said a thing, so Violet was truly surprised when she got to our picnic spot and all her friends jumped out from behind trees shouting "surprise!" It was the most beautifully warm fall day and Vi and her friends got to paddleboard (and "fall off") and run through the trees playing Green Ghost, and run wild and free for her birthday. Our family was there too (grandparents, Uch and the boys, Kuma) and it was the most perfect afternoon under the changing leaves. So grateful to celebrate our 10 year old (!!) with a surprise! 

A ten year old! Vi officially turned 10 on Wednesday. We had cupcakes with her football team at their scrimmage on Tuesday night. She took ice cream sammies to school on Wednesday to share with classmates and she took more cupcakes to share with her cheer squad at practice that afternoon too. Sheesh! We had 10 balloons in her bed on Wednesday morning and she had surprise cupcakes delivered by Abba! 

"National" sons & daughters days this week. Although it's just a silly social media tradition - I do appreciate the reminder to take a photo of my girls and boys together each year. What a dizzying feeling to compare their photos each year and see the changes in their faces. 

Recorder concerts each night. Violet is in fourth grade which means she's in her recorder era (LOL). It's Hot Cross Buns all day every day around these parts. B looked at me one night and was like, "oh boy, do I ever love the recorder!" hahhahaha, iykyk. 

Getting in some nephew snuggles when we got to watch them on Thursday afternoon while Uch and Kev attended the Jari 50th anniversary gala that Uch planned (proud big sis!) My nephews are the squishiest sweetie pies. We took them to the Varsity soccer game with us since Gemma, Rusty, and Reddy were lining up to form a tunnel for the senior soccer players to celebrate their senior night. Uch and Kev came to pick them up and we had all 13 of us in the kitchen laughing, talking over each other, snacking, and getting shot by nerf guns. It was the literal dream that I try to manifest daily: that they get to be our neighbors someday so it can be cousin chaos every day. 

Honored by students and players twice this week! First, I was asked to be at the soccer game from a student for Teacher appreciation night. All the educators were there and none of us knew which student athlete had picked us until the end of the ceremony (such a meaningful message and introduction!) My Spanish 2 student, Raisa, had picked me and wrote me a very sweet message on her card. Then on Saturday, I got an 'award' from one of my former cheerleaders, Allie, for being someone who supported her in her life. (Gemma gave her award last week to our sports trainer Jenilee, it was an assignment from their world cultures class, a yearly tradition from Mr. B!) Her certificate and message was so sweet, mentioning how I was her cheer coach from first to sixth grade. What a gift it is to work with young people - it can be exhausting and frustrating at times of course - but mostly it is an extreme blessing to get the chance to support and encourage young people as they move through their lives. I am so grateful for the opportunity to be a small part of their journey of growing up. #lovemykids #lovemyjob 

Time with favorites. Violet got a sleepover at Pappy's house for her birthday (dinner, shopping spree included! spoiled girl). I picked up Gemma, Payton, and Colby from soccer practice on Friday afternoon to take them and the rest of my crew to the away football game - the girls take over the playlist and we all eat takeout pizza on the long drive. Grey had two of his besties over on Saturday night to hang out and all three teenagers played on the trampoline with the little kids laughing and being goofy. 

Teaching during Hoco week at school! At the elementary school my fourth and fifth grade students finished their Frida Kahlo murals for Hispanic Heritage month. Expo is in week 4 (classroom items). Spanish 1 continued learning about conjugating SER and we did the student favorite activity: Running dictation in the JH gym. Spanish 2 finished watching the movie Canela (they loved it - always well received by students!) and then wrote a summary of their favorite part in Spanish. We did a fun scavenger hunt style unit review too. On Friday, we had a pep rally for homecoming and it is always so fun to participate and see the kids be brave and funny in front of the whole student body. The homecoming court skits/dances were great! 

Sporting with two flag football practices for Rusty, Violet had two cheer practices, two minors football practices and a scrimmage at Richland. Rust and Violet had their last regular season game on Saturday at Rockwood. Gemma had two soccer practices and two junior high soccer games this week. Grey and B had team dinner and film on Sunday night, then four football practices and played at Penns Manor on Friday night. B and the seniors visited St Francis Sharing and Caring to volunteer by unloading food donations on Friday morning too. 

Making chicken parm baked sammies, church picnic chicken on the grill (thanks B!), baked ravioli (Violet's favorite for her birthday!), and homemade stromboli. We ordered in pizza twice this week! For breakfast on Violet's birthday, I made chocolate croissants. For Vi's birthday party at the Que, we had hot dogs & cheddar brats over the campfire, homemade mac & cheese, and buff chicken dip. I cheated for her party cake and put together a bunch of Walmart's fall cookies, brownies, and donuts on a platter, stuck some candles in it, and called it a win (the kids gobbled it up!)