around here: week 29 2020

{July 12-18}

See Josh's little kitchen helper?

Committed... to eating right and walking everyday this week.  I hit 210 pounds and I do not want to get any higher.  I am waking up early every morning to do daily meal planning and am walking after we put the kids to bed each night.  My goal is to lose 3 pounds this week.  Lots of water drinking and less dessert eating. 

Celebrating... Josh's 37th birthday with the kids.  They were so excited to have cake and ice cream, especially Carly, and I spent his big day baking bread and making tortillas to help the groceries last longer. 

Wondering... what our school district is planning for the fall as Josh's district rolled out their tentative plan to meet in person with AM/PM classes splitting the kids in half.  (City kids in the morning and country kids in the afternoon).  

I feel like no plan is perfect: Me homeschooling our four kids? Not great. (Well, technically only the boys would be homeschooled, as Carly isn't set to start kindergarten until 2021, but you know what I mean) 

Me facilitating distance learning with 15 teachers among my 3 boys? (7 teachers for each seventh grade twin and 1 for Wyatt who will be in fourth grade) Not great.  

Me sending my three kids to school, having to wear masks all day and be exposed? (Wyatt with his asthma, Logan with his seizures which can be made worse by illness or fever?) Not great. Not great at all. 

There is no perfect answer. 

So all I can try to do is stay informed, and then stay in today. 

Big, deep breath.

Sending... the boys off with their dad and Uncle Blake (and cousins Milo & Ferris) to go shooting at Grandma's land.  They had so much fun together, and when they got home they all got to go swimming, and Josh, Blake and I got to hang out and shoot the breeze.  It was really nice as I rarely see my brother-in-law.  (My sister and I always get together when he's at work to help her kill time when she's on her own with her crew. Hah!)

Carly was so sweet and shy with him, wanting him to read to her on the couch. Melted my heart. 

Watching... more Grey's Anatomy while Josh had the boys at the land.  It's so nice to have a show that I love that I can use to unwind when I need a minute to unplug from my own life. 

Swimming... lots this week, including a few times with the boys' cousin Alvin, and once with Josh after an evening walk.  It felt so good to get in that water! And it was so lovely to be in the pool without any splashing or screaming children. #momlife

Feeling... guilty that the tooth fairy has struggled so much to find us during quarantine.  Logan finally wrote her a note and left his tooth out and she left him $5, explaining that COVID has slowed her business.  ;) Her visit coincided with his visit to the orthodontist where he finally got his braces off!! He looks so handsome and is loving how easy it is to brush his teeth now that there are no appliances in there!

Loving... Molly & George spending more time snuggling together. It warms my heart!! 

Watching... Little Women (the 2019 release) with the kids for movie night after finishing the book with the boys for read aloud. We all really enjoyed it, especially the twins and I.  

Reading... Cesar's Way, Born to Shine, The Book of M and Family for Beginners.  I talked about Born to Shine last week. I am loving it.  Cesar's Way is by Cesar Millan and is about raising dogs.  It's so good so far! The Book of M is a post-apocalyptic book about people who lose their shadows which causes them to lose their memories.  It was such a good read, very reminiscent of Station Eleven. And Family For Beginners is one my mom bought me at Walmart when she was here, and I love the writing.  It's a fantastic family drama/summer read.  Highly recommend. 

I also started listening to The End of October, another post-apocalyptic novel that is knocking my socks off.  It is so good.  I am learning so much about illness (it's similar to COVID in that a flu-like virus spreads across the earth and scientists struggle to find a vaccine) and am blown away by how much research the author did. 

My favorite (chilling) quote:
"A kiss, a cough, a casual handshake, could kill."

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