Around here thirty-six: 09/02-09/08

a glimpse into what it is like to live in our home just this minute.

Intentional hours outside:  429 hours (of 1000)
up 15 hours from last week thanks to a few evenings out by the fire, swimming on Labor Day at Gigi and Pappy's house to finish out the season before they close their pool, and celebrating our cousin Benny's 2nd birthday.  Our resident toad who we lovingly call Big Steve, had us all nervous last weekend when he was laying upside down on his back after Bullet picked him up in his mouth for a minute before spitting him back out.  Bully's mouth was all irritated for a little while from Big Steve's secretions and the kids were able to get up close and get a good look at him before he flipped over and hopped away just fine. And Grey, Brandon and the dogs got #80 of my 100 small things list finished up: camp in the backyard! (the girls, me, and Rusty all slept inside!)

Reading Home Field by Hannah Gersen and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by JK Rowling with Grey before bed (we're on chapter 11!)

Enjoying a fun 'preseason' cook out and fire with our friends the Hinton family laughing and chatting. Our whole family is excited about spending basketball season together!

Pulling off professional family photos with our entire crew thanks to the tremendous and amazing talents of Tab James of Adlive Collective.  We've only seen a preview yet of one of the photos but I can hardly stand the wait to see the whole set.  It was our first family of six profesh pics and I'm so glad to update our photos in the house since our Rusty man is missing from them still!

Cracking up about Violet.  The girl is cray.  She has a new trick where she leaps from the side of the couch and sit-jumps on top of Greyson and Gemma while all three laugh hysterically.  We're calling it her 'monkey jump.' She's been leaving approximately 36 selfies on my phone camera roll these days too that I find when I get the storage almost full message daily.  I'm busy planning her second birthday party (!!) and really enjoying this still-squishy toddler that she is for as long as we get to keep her that way.

Thankful for our babysitters to the rescue this week:  Aunt Dar, Chum, and Pappy!  We are hopeful to have our babysitter situation squared away and taken care of by the end of the next week.  If you have some extra good vibes, send 'em our way that we can find the right fit.

Meeting Grey's teacher and checking out his room at the open house this week.  He is really loving first grade.  He had his first spelling test and started homework too - which has been kind of nice, especially as it inspires Gem to practice writing and wanting to learn new things too.  The kids think it's hilarious now when I use my bonafide teacher voice ("is that how you talk to your students too, Mum?!) when we do homework and Gem is begging for some work papers to do too!

Making these cranberry-banana-chocolate chip muffins for an afternoon snack with the girls.  We had chinese green beans and ground turkey over rice (YUM) and I pulled an audible on my meal plan this week when the two biggest kids were sick and whipped up a batch of chicken, rice, and brocolli soup even though it was close to 85degrees outside.

the dazzling momentitos

this is going to be obnoxiously optimistic and flowery because i'm feeling so grateful and happy and inspired.  if you were to run into me after two glasses of champagne friends, this is how I talk, so you've been forewarned.  although I haven't had any champagne..and probs should - because life, man.

anyway-

it's been pretty hectic over here with the four kiddos, and greyson back to school and flag football practice/games, and a three month old who is learning so much and so fast, and an almost two year old (gasp!! how?!) and our gemmi ro who has all the drama of a fifteen year old squeezed into a four year old's body, and my part time working, and brandon's full time working....and life, man.

and honestly, it is so busy and plenty confusing and tiring - but so very very fantastic.  I don't know if its the awareness that comes with another birthday (whoot whoot 33!) or the perfect amount of time dipped into the adult world that my new job provides me, or doing something that I love and inspires me so much (teaching), or just life, man...but everything feels so wonderfully chaotic.

Even with our new schedules, it has felt that Brand and I have been rowing in sync along the great river of married life with each other - and if you've been married or together a very long time (going on year 17 for us!) you'll know what I mean and how that feels (and also how it feels rowing slightly out of sync...or when only one person is rowing or no one is rowing, hahha).

As always, there are these dazzling momentitos that remind me so fiercely that this wild, so very messy life that we have is one that is beautiful; so beautiful down to the root of the root and the bud of the bud.

here are some of my current dazzling little moments, just so I can remind myself if/when this elation wears off in the near future.

• Rusty's smile as soon as we make eye contact and his cheeks, and the smell of his head, and that squishy neck of his, and I can still get him into his 3 month footie pajamas but just barely.
• Violet's new favorite phrase, "Holy cow!" and her legs are currently covered top to bottom in washable marker and she painted her own toenails (read full toes) and vasoline in her hair - and she's so much the epitome of a stereotypical toddler these days that it hurts my bones in the best way possible
• Greyson asking for a bigolesnug daily for the past week and how excited he is about football and his friends and first grade and how obvious it is how much of a big kid he is and how that's going to be okay because he's mostly a good kid
• Gemma Ro saying everything is 'impressive' and making the biggest deal over my outfits for teaching like I'm the fanciest person on the planet and how she takes such good care of both violet and rusty and how the smallest gesture of kindness can completely turn her whole attitude around like getting twirled or holding her hand while we walk. 
• Brandon.  so much.
• the fog breaking on the hillside before McNally bridge when the sunrise is beaming through so strong and I literally (not.even.exaggerating) spread my arms wide open and soak up the rays for thirty seconds on my way to work in the morning. 
• green tea in my to go mug on my desk at work glancing over my day's lesson plan before the student's arrive
• the weather recently.  goodness, autumn is everything that's inside my heart.
• slipping into our bed at night with the windows open and the fan running and knowing everyone is in their beds and sleeping soundly 

sometimes I write in my gratitude journal in full caps:  REMEMBER THIS FEELING!! :) :) :) 

true story - once upon a time I responded to an email and the person that recieved my email meant to forward it to a colleague but accidentally pressed reply sending it back to me.  at the top of the email she wrote about me:

She! uses! a lot! of! exclamation! points!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

not even kidding.
and i just replied to her and said, "I think this was meant for" (the person she addressed it to).

no harm, no foul - because the thing was, she hadn't met me in person yet, so she didn't know that:  My regular voice is generally in exclamation points!

you gotta embrace your flaws friends.  hold tight to the circus that is your life.
because at the end of the day, it's YOUR circus in all its bold, beautiful dazzling momentitos of weirdness.

today feels like a gratitude journaling full of exclamation points and full caps.
xxoxx

what are the momentitos that you are loving right now?

Around here thirty five: 08/26-09/01

A look into what it is like to live in our home just this minute

Intentional Hours Outside: 414 hours (of 1000)
Up twelve hours from last week - we got in some outdoor time taking the dogs for walks, cheering Grey on at his football games, mowing, and doing laps around the house with a slightly fussy-growth-spurt baby.  I loaded all four kids up in the car one afternoon after school to head out to Greenhouse park for some playground fun and the three big kids got a chance to put their toes in the Stonycreek river while we were there because it was so low and slow-moving.  With summer winding down I keep feeling the urge to relish in all things summer before I know they'll slip away and winter will be here in no time and we'll be trapped in the house.

Reading Home Field by Hannah Gersen and our illustrated edition of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by JK Rowling with Greyson at bedtime.

Celebrating my thirty-third revolution around the sun.  thirty-three feels pretty darn awesome, like I know who I am and what I want and I'm young enough to dream big and old enough to have some experience and perspective to keep me realistically ambitious.  seriously, you guys, thirties is where it's at.  We had pizza and night swimming at Gigi and Pappy's house on Friday night and like a true 33 year old wild child, I took an hour and a half nap during my birthday party.  #lookoutworld Then, in annual tradition, my best friend Kate and I had our grown-ups only dinner date with our hubbies to celebrate our birthdays (her's is two days before mine) and we sent a little birthday wish out to baby James, our other best friend Karpy's newest babe who's birthday came right between Kate's and mine!  We're kind of like the coolest birthday club ever.

Feeling so grateful for this handsome hubs of mine who has been so supportive and interested in everything I talk about school and teaching (which is like 24/7).  The homework for last week in my class was to take a #spanishselfie with Spanish they found in their home or community - and didn't my adorable husband send me his #spanishselfie on Friday morning.  I was smiling and swooning like it was 1999 and we were in high school again.  seriously my man knows the hidden tributaries to my heart.

Laughing (sort of) at the state of our home which is mess to the max.  Between back to school for Grey, juggling a new schedule for me (not just the part time work, but the lesson planning and after school tasks), and Rusty being more interested and able to do some more things (neglect-a-saucer is out! yay! hah) - are house is in shambles.  I've been using our weekends to do some bigger cleaning and chore-makeup which keeps the sanity in check...but during the week...it is actually kind of comical. My bff Kate sent me a quote that I'm fully supportive of in the moment, "Treat the mess like fairy dust.  Someday it will be gone and it will take all it's magic with it."  yep, that's the way I'm choosing to look at in this season of our life.

Loving my girls' and Rusty's happy faces when I come home from school in the early afternoons.  They got to spend time with Daddy, Pappy, and Aunt Dar (thank you!!)  this week and they are thrilled to get to play and show off to undivided attention.  The kids even said last Saturday, 'aren't you going to work today? we want someone to babysit us.' (HAH!) I have been feeling guilty with the truth in my soul that I am so happy to be back in the classroom (you guys, I love teaching so much) and have this internal mean girl asking why I wasn't this completely fulfilled (is that the right word even?) as just a full-time sahm.  And I was, but I'm somehow more balanced now - as a human, as a wife, and as a mum that I have this thing that I'm doing that feeds my soul and brain and creativity.  I don't know - I'm still working it all out inside and I'm sure I'll write about it more, but I just feel so much more sane and happy and excited.

Getting through that weird back to school transition period when everyone is tired and out of swing with the new schedule.  Grey has loved first grade so far, but has also been pretty wiped out after learning all day (read: CRANKY).  His vocabulary seems like it's made a huge leap in just this first week and half of first grade!  He's been throwing out in casual conversation:  absolutely, irritating, furious, and suspicious like it ain't no thang.  He also has been sporting this 'big kid' attitude where he's waaay cooler than all of us, especially Gemma and I who know nothing compared to his first grade infinite wisdom.  #Lordgivemepatience It will all balance out here in a few weeks (we'll get used to this big first grade kid! and he'll figure out how to be big but without so much 'tude), so we'll just hang in there until then. Bedtimes and dinners are slowly getting more normalized and I'm working on getting into an afternoon snack planning rotation - because when booboo gets home he's STARVING.

Adoring Rusty's little smiley face as he reacts to us talking to him.  He loves having 'conversations' with all of us and Aunt Dar and the girls had him full-blown laughing out loud this week.  He is so loved and all three big kids will stop dead in their tracks of imagination immersion to lean towards him, kiss him on the head and say, "hi Rusty, i love you."

Cracking up at Gemma and Violet's collaborative play.  They spend most of the school day playing babies and pretending they're going to lunch with their boyfriends ("mine is really cute"-Gemma Ro) and making plans for a wedding they are always having to go to in the backyard. Gemma calls Violet girlfriend all day long - "Come on girlfriend! Let's go put make-up on" and the two of them stomp around the house with my flats and sandals while carrying purses the size of their bodies and half their weight.

Making Chicken supreme casserole which had me getting into a cozy fall/back to school mood.  The girls helped make a batch of these chocolate chip coconut oat cookies for an afternoon snack, and Brandon grilled these honey garlic pork chops one night.