Around Here Week 37: 09/13-19

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

photo cred: Mr. Bihun

photo cred: Mr. Bihun

photo cred: Mrs. Feathers

photo  cred: Mr. Bihun

photo cred: Mr. O'Ship

photo cred: Mr. O'Ship

photo cred: Mr. O'Ship

photo cred: Peyton

photo cred: Coach Ginger M

Intentional Outdoor Hours: 492+ hours (of 1000)
Definitely starting to feel like fall. Chilly mornings and evenings and blazing hot afternoons (my classroom is a sauna). The yellow! The yellow everywhere is giving me so much joy even if I don't want everything to change just yet but it sure does look pretty with things making the switch to a new season. Still a lot of green, so that's a good, slow start.

Reading The Teller of Small Fortunes by Julie Leong for my Lit Ladies book club and I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith because I haven't finished it yet. 

Listening to Good People by Patmeena Sabit and really enjoying it. Grateful for it on my commute to and from work each day. I truly have no idea how the story is going to shake out.

Running to do list completed: 

• I got the contact information for one of my student's family that has a litter of lab puppies! 
• I ordered the gifts for the football senior night from Etsy (bracelets & pins)
• I got everyone's school photo forms completed and boy does this company hate to see the Studers coming (lol). They have a great program that with the purchase of two photo packages in the family, the rest are free; great idea of families of three and even four. But the Studers roll up paying for only 2 kids and get 4 free packages of the same value! Very thankful for that even if we are their worst nightmare! 
• Grey went driving for TDS driving school again and worked on his online courses

Thinking about ways we can try to tackle Gemma's 'episodes' now that we have to wait for the next round of blood work after the antibiotics. Some of the things she is willing to try is practicing breath work during games and practices (or when she feels like her heart is starting to ramp up) and possibly starting to journal or track symptoms and connections (sleep? hydration? etc). I looked into some nervous system reset exercises on Youtube but you know that sounds absolutely ridiculous to have your mother suggest that to her teenagers (ugh, eye roll galore). I just want our girl to feel better and I'm trying to grab at any straws while we wait for the next round of blood work and her cardiologist appt in October. 

Missing Gigi (always but a little extra) as Pappy came to be Gemma's guest of honor for the Cancer Awareness game at Somerset. He walked with her before the game in honor of "Gemma's late grandmother, Marianne Studer, who battled hard against Pancreatic cancer." It was a beautiful moment and Pappy was honored to be part of it. Thank you Somerset (and my dear friend Loni) who organized the event and invited CT players to participate too. 

Second lost tooth for Olive this week! She waits until it is basically dangling out of her mouth, so it's no trouble for B to just give a yank and it's free almost painlessly! 

Officially football on tv season (LOL, exactly what our family needs! more football!) and so it is on most nights. I know that Tuesday and Wednesday nights are open...but every other night, we got football playing on the tube. It is still warm enough that we've been hanging out and watching the games on the back porch though so that's nice and I'm very grateful we have all of our cozy furniture back there. B and I had a nice evening on Saturday night together just the two of us on the back porch - he watched the game and I got to read. Basically, my perfect evening! 

Mostly adjusted to the back to school schedule, but kind of laughing that by Thursday night, we are all pretty much running on fumes. Everyone is falling asleep with no problems by then (me especially! barely making it into bed before falling into unconsciousness!) Friday everyone gets a quick jolt of excitement because of Friday Night Lights and then Saturday mornings are for sleeping in and waking up slow. It's a steady rhythm that I really appreciate about the fall: total running craziness Monday-Thursday, then Friday Night games (home around 10:30p and yapping about the game while looking up all the articles), then very slow Saturday mornings. Kind of my favorite. 

Time with family and friends. Rusty got to sleepover for his friend Maddox's birthday party. Violet got to have a sleepover and spend the day with Pappy for her birthday. Rusty and Violet both hosted a lemonade stand at my parents' house on Sunday afternoon (thank you Abba & Chum for letting them live out these wild dreams - hah!) Gemma got to hang out with cousin Becky to get her nails done (thank you!) and went to the Varsity girls soccer hang at Gina's house. Grey went to a party with friends on Saturday night. 

Teaching our first five day week, but thankfully we had a regularly scheduled early dismissal for students on Friday...so still not exactly a full week (yay!) Elementary students learned to ask ¿Cómo te llamas? and we played a game which they all thought was hilarious. Language expo continued practicing camina and corre in reading and writing. Spanish 1 got a lot of new vocab including numbers to 100, colors, days of the week, and months. I also had Spanish 1 memorize and recite (or sing) Los Pollitos Dicen individually for a presentation grade this week and even though everyone was very nervous; they all did such a great job and felt very proud to learn a mini Spanish poem/lullaby. Spanish 2 continued Somos 8 and their food unit and memorized & sang Cielito Lindo for a presentation grade (everyone did so great!)

Sporting Reddy had one basketball practice and his first two basketball games this week! Rusty had one minors football practice, missed one practice (cough break), and one minors football game. Violet practiced with the junior high four times this week. Gemma had four Varsity soccer practices and played in three Varsity soccer games. She and Violet also assisted at the Varsity football game as watergirls and asst trainers. Grey had team dinner and film, four football practices, and a Varsity football game at United Valley on Friday.  I made the meal for Team Dinner & Film on Sunday for the football team! I worked the concession stand duty on Tuesday for the boys' soccer game, and we hosted the football coaches to our house for pizza and the PIT game on the back porch on Thursday. I also got some ordering and planning done for the football senior night that I volunteered to do for the boosters.

Making crack chicken sammies, beef roast over egg noodles with gravy, sheetpan chicken fajitas, buffalo chicken dip, takeout pizza, and copycat Olive Garden chicken over pasta. For breakfast I made egg/ sausage casserole. For desserts I made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies for our house. For team dinner I made 40 sausage and pepper sandwiches, 24 hot dogs and sauerkraut, a crockpot of baked beans, 144 pierogies in butter and onion, watermelon, and 4 dozen pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.