Around Here: Week 22 2022

 {May 29-June 4th}

His hand resting on her head.
Haha! Oh, Wyatt!

Hosting... Carly's cousin (and BFF) Liesel on Sunday for a playdate. They did make up, nails, painting. They had a picnic, did leaf tracings, played dolls and restaurant. Having little girls around is just a different vibe than little boys, I tell you. It's so much fun!

Watching... Josh brush Carly's hair, and loving how gentle he is with her. She's brought out a side of him that just melts me. 
After her baths, he also blowdries her hair so she doesn't have to go to bed with it wet.  He's just so tender with her. 

Laughing... to find out that Wyatt's favorite singer is Rick Astley.  If you don't know who Rick Astley is (I didn't) he is the one who wrote Never Gonna Give You Up.  Also, much to my surprise, Wyatt knows every single word to that song. 
This kid never ceases to surprise and amuse me. 

Shopping... with Josh without the kids.  We left them home together, grabbed Taco Bell for lunch and got all our errands run. It was so lovely.  Our most exciting purchase was a new porch chair from Lowe's.  Now we're back to having four after one broke. 

Setting... up a workout competition for the family with our new home gym.  I printed calendars for each of us to keep track of our workouts/physical activity time.  I thought it would be a fun way to encourage the kids to be more active. 

Getting... my twice yearly check up at the dentist. After years of cavities at the dentist, I am now cavity free and we are just fixing up old fillings that are starting to fail. That feels great!

Deciding... on no backyard garden this year.  Josh was stressing about getting plants in the ground after such a cold spring, and I told him not to feel stressed because of me. We talked about it and decided that this year, we're going to give it a break.  Josh has a lot going on (building his parents' house, teaching summer school) and I have no interest in maintaining it myself. So we have the strawberries that came back themselves (hooray!) and lots of sunflowers that also came back on their own. 
But my favorite volunteers are the little tiny pansies that are everywhere in my yard. My grandma's name is Pansy, so pansies are a special flower to me. 

Relishing... the kids' last few days at school together.  Wyatt and Carly are in fifth grade and kindergarten respectively, and this was their one and only school year together. Next year Wyatt is off to middle school, and they'll never attend school together again.  

I'm not the only emotional one.  Carly is also sad at the thought of being alone at school next year, without her big brother. 

Subbing... a few more times this week as the school year winds down. 

Enjoying... that baseball season is over and we have our afternoons to ourselves again. Spring has also truly arrived with sunshine and warmer weather, which has us all overjoyed.  Josh and I even took Grady and Piper for a walk one evening.  Piper did surprisingly great.  

Reminding... myself that "being bored is good for them" when it comes to my kids.  The end of baseball means a lot of free time in the afternoons and evenings after school, which is screen-free time for our kids, so I am just letting them be bored and get creative about filling their time. 

Watching... Put A Ring On It (fun, trashy show); Under The Banner (very serious, interesting show about mormonism/fundamental mormonism. It brings up lots of feels about leaving my church back in the day); and lastly finishing up The Deep End about spiritual guru Teal Swan and her cult.  So fascinating.

Ordering... the cutest earrings and hair clips from my friend Brittany. They're both so cute!! I also ordered some sandals for Carly and me.  She got Saltwaters, and I got some with crystals/jewels to go with my new dresses from Marshall's. 

Getting... my haircut and deciding that I don't want a perm after all.  I discussed with my stylist and she said that most people aren't happy with their perms, and they cause so much damage, it's often not worth it.  
When I got home from my haircut, Logan immediately noticed and said, "Your hair is drippy, no cap!" (For those of you without teenagers, I will translate: Drippy means like "fancy, cool, nice" and cap means a lie. So he basically told me it looked nice, no lie. Haha!)

Noticing... this week the ways that Josh and I care for each other.  He puts gas in my car, changes my oil and makes the bed in the mornings.  While I do laundry for him, buy his favorite foods at the store, and replace his towel and soap in the bathrooms when he needs them. 
This week I also went grocery shopping (even though I loathe it) in preparation for being away this weekend.  I didn't want to leave Josh with a bare pantry and four kids to feed. 

Receiving... my second paycheck and oh my goodness does that feel good! It feels so good to contribute to our family.  I am so proud of myself for going back to work and balancing subbing with homemaking.  It has been so rewarding.

Heading... to a cabin for the weekend with some of my book club girls.  I jokingly sent a meme that said, "Give me a cabin in the woods with my books, and my dreams are made" and my friend Jessica was like, " Challenge accepted!" Haha! She booked us a cabin for a night, and Friday afternoon three of us headed to the lake. The drive felt like a blink as we talked and talked and talked.  Me and Christi have four kids, and Jess has five. Obviously, we all love reading. And we all work in education (from subbing to part time to full time) So we have so much in common. 

Exploring... the woods around our cabin and just exclaiming over every single detail.  The tree trunks, the moss... I just couldn't get enough. After exploring a bit, we kayaked the lake.  The launch spot was so challenging, and the current was super strong... but we powered up and made it out the center of the lake where it was so beautiful and peaceful.  I am telling you, I just belong in a kayak on the water. I feel so at peace out there. 

Driving... back home to our families after our night away, but enjoying lunch out at MOD Pizza first. Oh that pizza was so yummy!  
Once we got home, I gushed to Josh about the amazing dinner Jessica made for us.  She put a chicken breast with corn, beans, salsa and sour cream in a foil wrap and cooked it on the open fire pit.  I was skeptical because I don't love spicy food, but it was so good!!

Laughing... when Christi and Jessica dropped me off and Christi and I discovered we were basically wearing the same shirt. "Thankful, Grateful, Blessed." Aren't we just.  

Coming... home rejuvenated after my time away, and enjoying spending some time with my girl.  Carly and I painted our nails and then I made cookies & pizza for movie night.  The twins had a sleepover so it was just me and Carly upstairs for our movie in my room while the boys took over downstairs. Nothing like warm cookies out of the oven to get your weekend going right. 

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My favorite pic of me and baby Carly

I love this poem that Dash wrote.
His mom Kelle shared it on etst

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