Around Here: Week 17 2022

 {April 24-30th}

Walking... to the Little Free Library in our neighborhood with Carly.  She loves it.  Whenever we walk by she likes to peruse the offerings, and when we were sorting through her books she wanted to donate them to the LFL. 

Ordering... the books we decided on for book club for the next six months.  I ordered The Rent Collector by Camron Wright, The Wine of Solitude by Irene Nemirovsky, and The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix Harrow. I already have The Love of My Life by Rosie Walsh (from my Book of the Month subscription) and the other two I will listen to on Overdrive or Libby- The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis and The List of Things That Will Not Change by Rebecca Stead.  

Excited... that things are coming along at Josh's parents house.  The electric and plumbing is done and approved and drywall is up.  After they paint, Josh and his brother can get started laying flooring.  It's really getting close!

Subbing... in Carly's classroom this week. I love love love love kindergarten and first grade.  They're so much fun.  

Mommin'... super hard in the mornings as I drove stickers to the middle school one day when Logan forgot them and popped into the office at the elementary school to drop off some things, plus getting all the kids ready, dogs fed and in their crates and out the door on time each day, and running all.the.errands after dropping them at school.  Some days I have no idea how I get done what I get done.  

Watching... Under The Banner on Hulu and being drawn into the story.  Wow.  Also finding that I had a lot in common with the main character as he deconstructed his faith and tried to figure out what he really believed versus what he had been taught. 

Reading... with Carly every night at bedtime (or at baseball practice or games, depending on the day) and feeling so proud of her when I got a note from her teacher that she was graduating out of her classes highest reading group and into her own reading group. She has worked so hard (and been so motivated). It feels really good to see her work paying off with understanding so much more of what she reads (and reading more challenging books!) and with being recognized at school.  So proud!

As for me, I'm reading every chance I get, which this week meant at Wyatt's baseball practice when Josh said I could go by myself! Love that man!

Thankful... for the twins' friend group.  They have the best group of friends, and I love watching them all grow up and mature together. Specifically this week I was grateful for Jack's friend Ainsley who volunteered to go to the land with Josh and the twins to help move furniture and boxes for Josh's parents.  He got nothing out of it. Was just willing to help out.  What a great kid!

Waking... up from a nap and finding that Piper had climbed up on the couch and slept with me. Such a sweetheart. She really is my girl. 

Burning... the candle that Josh's sister Julie gave me. It smells so good and has the coolest wooden wick. Thanks, Julie!!

Attending... Wyatt's game and the twins' game and just feeling so proud of these guys.  They love the game, and it shows.  I just wish the weather would warm up! We are freezing our tail feathers off at these games!

Taking... Logan to the skate park and always feeling so nervous to leave him there.  Skaters have a bad reputation generally, and I don't want him getting mixed up in anything questionable or scary.  But every story he tells me is one of a culture of support and not tearing each other down. When they fall, they check on each other, they share water, or phones if need be, and really are quite good to one another. 

Smiling... at Josh being a good dad.  Carly wanted to try putting Tums in a soda and we figured out she wanted to see if it would explode, like soda and Mentos.  So when Josh was getting gas, he popped into the gas station and bought a coke and a tube of Mentos.  She was thrilled!

He also let her help him wash his car, and even took pictures for me to have. He's such a good dad and I'm so glad he's ours. 

Finding... our water bill was about $100 more than usual and freaking out.  It was so much more water than we used last month. Josh and I went over all the things it could be and narrowed it down to the sprinkler system or the toilets running.  Josh ruled out the sprinklers, so we were left with running toilets.  Josh replaced the gaskets (I think) on all three toilets and we're crossing our fingers that it does the trick!

Laughing... at the ridiculously tiny carton the buttermilk came in from the store. It looks like a tiny milk carton and it makes me smile every time I open the fridge. I bought it to make Amish bread, but the bread was a massive fail. Bummer. 

Researching... Logan's migraines and wondering if they are hemiplegic migraines.  He has all these strange symptoms that come (including arm weakness and an aura with vision impairment). So I called his neurologist (from when he had seizures) to schedule an appointment to discuss how to best treat these episodes.  

Enjoying... a party at my sister's house for little Royal.  He is the sweetest cherub and I love him so, so much.  He captivated our whole family, but especially Jack and I. It was so good to celebrate him. My kids partied hard (we stayed super late at my mom's) and they slept all the way home. Something about all my kids asleep in the car gives me all the warm, fuzzy feelings.  Like all is right with the world. 

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