Around Here Week 36: 08/31-09/06

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

photo cred: Candance M

photo cred: B

the "beautiful tree"

photo cred: Stacy B

photo cred: Stacy B

Intentional Outdoor Hours: 469+ hours (of 1000)
It's starting to be a little camo around here with prep season under way. All the boys headed out to the woods to set up trail cams and hang tree stands on Labor Day - therefore, happy fellas! We got more time outside on the fields this week too. 

Reading and finishing Shark Heart by Emily Habeck. I absolutely adored it, the premise is so absurd  but the writing so beautiful and fantastical that you are able to get to such deep feelings on love, grief, loneliness, fear, and longing. It was so beautiful. Next up is Listen to Your Heart by Kasie West which is a book that Gemma bought for me for my birthday. I brought home They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera from my classroom library for Gemma to read for her first independent read of ELA. 

some of my favorite quotes from Shark Heart: 

"but Wren did not know how to enjoy anything, only perfect it." 

"And you know in eighth- grade science class, when they teach you that matter is not created or destroyed? Only rearranged?....Maybe we need to know these things young, because maybe we're the matter being rearranged. Maybe it's us." "You and me?"  "I hope"

"The ache felt like a material object lodged inside him, and while he could momentarily distract himself from its presence, the pain was always with him." 

Listening to The Story of my Life by Lucy Score for one of my book clubs! 

We made it to Labor Day and that is always a mini milestone in my book for the back to school stage. Everyone got a little toe back into the water and we are figuring out schedules and working through the kinks in the day to day. It is not a well-oiled machine yet in any sense of the word - but now we have a better idea of how we can work things out since we are out of the 'unknown' stage. So yay for us! 

Updating the fridge calendar for the month of September. All color coded and filled with mayhem of fall sports! 

Did I ever mention "Beautiful Tree" on the blog? It is a big, gorgeous wild black cherry tree on my commute into school. It is right across the road from a big red barn right in the middle of Somerset County farm land. Everyday I pass it on the way to and from school, I shout, "You're beautiful" and blow the tree a kiss, and now with the two babies we all do this little ritual on our commute to and from school each day. Her name is 'Beautiful Tree' and she makes our commute have a daily dose of gratitude for natural beauty; our friend the tree. We also say hello to an adorable donkey along the drive too. He's so cute! 

Visiting the high school for Grey and Gemma's open house night. I got to follow their daily schedule to stop in and hear from each of their teachers about the curriculum and expectations for the year. It was a busy evening (hopping between both of their schedules to try to catch as many classes as possible) and always nice to see friendly faces from other parents and teachers. I sure do love our school community and am so grateful for all those people who pour love and support into our kids every day. 

Giggling about the keychain surprise I had in my mailbox from my elementary school secretaries. They gave each of the teachers one to celebrate the start the year - a tiny dumpster fire. Hhahha, just a reminder that you can smile like tiny dumpster fire even if everything is chaos. Makes me smile every time I get my school keys out. 

Time with family & friends: Red and Olive got to spend the evening at Uch & Kevin's house with their cousins so that I didn't have to cart them all the way to River Valley for the football game (thank you!!) Rusty got to drive out to the football game with Abba & Chum because he had a late Minors football practice on Friday afternoon. Rusty & Vi got to spend the day with their friends the Cables Violet got to attend the Penn State Women's soccer game with her friend Lillian and her family (Evaley went with them too and then half the Sparks soccer team was there also!) We all got to spend time with family and friends like Uncle Jonny, Ninna, and their kids Tessa and Tristan, Aunt Mar, Uncle Terry, and cousin Wyatt, and Coach Sybil - when they all came to the football game. 

Teaching with another four day week thanks to Labor Day. I love the slow introduction back into the school year - I think we all need it (teachers & students!) My elementary students continued finishing their Mano flowers and then we started on classroom expectations for session 2. Spanish expo finished their intro week and started on week 2 learning about Corre and Camina and working on some writing. Spanish 1 worked through Somos 1, practiced numbers, and learned Los Pollitos Dicen song/dance (always a favorite). Spanish 2 started on Somos 8 and learned Cielito Lindo and got their food vocabulary words. I made them some Mexican street corn dip to try in class during our podcast on Friday and it got mixed reviews (hahha)

Sporting with three Minors football practices for Rusty and one cheer practice for Violet. The youth league played their first game at Meyersdale on Saturday! Violet also had one soccer practice Gemma had two jr high practices and two soccer games.  Grey and Coach Daddy had team dinner and family, four practices, and a game at River Valley. 

Making meatloaf, kielbasa and sauerkraut sandwiches, buffalo chicken dip, crack chicken sammies on Hawaiian rolls, Pioneer Woman lasagna, Mongolian meatballs over rice with green beans. For breakfast I made banana bread and I also made a batch of chocolate chip pecan cookies. To prep for team dinner (on Sunday), I made and packed up the mini zucchini bread loaves and prepped the cowboy cookie dough for team dinner too. 

Perimenopause is kicking my butt still (tired, moody, water retention, forgetfulness, restlessness at night, negative reactions to various foods and drinks...it's basically mayhem inside my body and brain right now and I'm blaming literally everything on perimenopause). But I've started this week adding lymphatic movements first thing in the morning (5 different moves to get my body awake!), walking 10,000+ steps, and focusing on getting 20-30g of protein at every meal. 

Around Here Week 35: 08/24-30

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

photo cred: Onara C

photo cred: Chum

photo cred: Shannon L

photo cred: Shannon L

photo cred: B

photo cred: Stacy B

photo cred: Stacy B

photo cred: Violet

Intentional Outdoor Hours: 455+ hours (of 1000)
Gemmi took a walk with me on Saturday afternoon and it was nice to spend some one-on-one time and chat. The boys fried chicken wings on Saturday night and we invited the grandparents over for wings and a fire on the patio. Still getting the most hours at the fields for sports though. 

Reading Shark Heart by Emily Habeck

Happy the outside of the house is all done! Mr. Darren came up this week and finished all the little parts that still needed siding (we had to order a few more pieces). He also made us beautiful custom steps for the front and the side. Brandon, Gemma, and I took turns powerwashing all the outside patios and the difference is insane. What a wonderful experience of immediate gratification it is to powerwash! Now if we could just keep the roosters off the patio (!?!!) 

A free fall (no parachute! hah) week into the back to school cyclone! Whew - we jumped right into the deep end and found our way back to the top before we ran out of air - so that's good. Hhahaha, but for real - that first few days of everyone back to school and trying to get into the swing of things is so wild. So many random things I forgot to do until I was needed (like putting money in the babies' lunch accounts), all the random paperwork that is needed for powerschool and behavior contracts and syllabus signatures, and book covers! It was pretty wild, but we did it and things seem to be okay so far. 

Celebrating my 42nd birthday! I had a wonderful day that was nearly exactly "normal" but with all the most special non-intrusive delights sprinkled throughout. The first day of school for my students (and the babies) fell on my birthday - so it was a day of firsts and figuring it out but so good. I wore new clothes (my bday gift from my parents - thank you!) and I had an incredible smoothie bowl from Good Day Juice Company delivered to my room by my best zero cousin Heather along with a bouquet of flowers and a bag of chocolate chips to keep in my desk from her (you know me so well - I love you! xxo). So many text message, voice messages, and comments wishing me a happy birthday. The kids and Brandon got me an ice cream cake for after dinner which B cooked for me (shrimp and scallop alfredo!) and two beautiful purple mums and lots of my favorite Aldi chocolate bars. I am loved so well and dearly by my people. What a gift it is to get older. I am so very grateful for this life and for all of you. 

Feeling pretty proud of myself that I had it all together on day 2 of full back to school. I got everyone to where they needed to be and checked in with B that the big kids were all covered. I was upstairs vacuuming with dinner already started when Rusty came upstairs and asked, "What time is my football practice?" THE GASP, I GASPED. Here I was thinking I had everything under control and I completely forgot about his practice which was 6-7:30p and he asked me at 7:15p. Your girl got humbled real quick. Good grief. 

Grey's first sports massage from the incredible Miss Emma of Peak Performance Therapy. He felt so comfortable during the entire massage and had his specific needs and pain points addressed. He had his first ever cupping session and said he felt a lot of tension relief afterwards (his back has all those crazy circle bruises - but he said it feels so much more loose!) He is already asking when we are scheduling another one! We have Miss Emma booked up bi-weekly through football and basketball season! What a blessing it is to know and love her. 

Getting into the after school groove. The babies take a short bus ride to the high school at the end of their day and they come upstairs to my room with some bigger teachers' kids (thank goodness for those Mayer boys!) Then they have some snacks from my giant snack bin while watching an episode of Wild Kratts while I 'close up shop' and get stuff prepped for the next day of school. So far so good (after the first day of tears when they thought I wasn't going to find them in the high school cafeteria!) 

Time with family and friends Olive and Redland had a sleepover at Abba and Chum's house and played all day on their official last day of summer break (I had a teacher day at school). Rusty had a sleepover at Liam's house. Violet got to spend Sunday at Kennywood with Evaley and her family (thank you!) 

Recognizing this narrative from so many books that I've read about historical regimes. It's dizzying to watch it all unfold and keep thinking, 'wait, I've heard this story before' and spoiler alert, it does not end well for the majority of us. Militarizing our own cities, speaking in divisive language and hyperboles like it is fact, creating false flags to hide the real policy and investigations that are going on behind the scenes. All while a literal genocide kills kids, babies, and entire families. I will continue to stay aware, I will continue to support those that I believe are standing up for decency and kindness, I will continue to love and raise my family (and support my local community) to build a world I recognize again. The only way through is through and so I continue with hope.

Teaching for the first week of school! In the elementary school we learned the words Mano and Flor because we are making unique flower decorations using cut outs of our hands. Expo started on Week 1, Spanish 1 picked out Spanish names, went over procedures and expectations, and had a little listening quiz. Spanish 2 got back into Spanish through review, writing, and some reading. Overall, it was a great start to the year and the weather was comfortable so my room wasn't too hot! 

Sporting with one Minors football practice for Rusty (because I completely forgot about the other one - oops!) and Violet had one cheer practice. Gemma had four soccer practices and one game at Berlin. Grey and Brandon had four football practices, team dinner and film, and an away game at West Shamokin (1.5 hours away!) Brandon and some of the football players spent Friday morning at the local food bank (St Francis sharing and caring) unloading food donations and organizing their supply room. I uploaded photos and videos to Blast and helped Grey film his Blast thank you videos (thank you to all our friends and family who have donated to the Blast fundraiser - I hope you are enjoying the update emails each week! If you have any interest in donating to the Varsity football team, you can do so here: CT Varsity football Blast Athletics) 

Making hot honey chicken with mac & cheese, ground beef tacos, copycat Olive Garden chicken over spaghetti, meatball sub sammies, and homemade chicken wings. For my birthday dinner, B made me shrimp and scallop alfredo (it was perfect!) For breakfast on Saturday morning we had chocolate chip pancakes at Coach Daddy's request because when you are the winning coach, you get what you want (hah). For desserts, we had ice cream cake for my birthday and I made a batch of protein oatmeal, peanut butter, chocolate chip cookies.