Around Here: Week 13 2023

 {March 26-April 1st}

When art imitates life.
(Lore Pemberton art)

Lore Pemberton. Love her work.

Taking... care of Jack when he came home having crashed on his bike a block from home.  The poor kid crashed and landed on his side which broke not only his phone in his pocket, but also his airpods. 

Surviving... a busy Monday with practice for each of the twins, gymnastics for Carly and counseling for me. 

Subbing... in first grade one day this week and just remembering how much I love being in the classroom.  

Grateful... yet again that Josh is such a good dad.  He went to Jack's game and Logan's game this week so I could stay home with Carly and get homework done. 

Waking... up on the morning of Logan's orthopedic surgeon appointment to him shaking me and telling me I need to look! He shows me his shoulder and his surgery scar is open. And his guts are like, trying to squish out! What the heck! Thank goodness he had an appointment today.  
So we went to see Dr. Chough and he said that he's never seen that. In all his years practicing. That freaked me out, but he said let's try to just watch it and see if it can scab over and heal on its own. But let me tell you, it's so startling to look at! 
In happier orthopedic news, his x-ray came back great, his bones are healing, and he is free to live life again. Bike riding, dirt biking, working out... He is thrilled. I am so relieved and happy for him!

To celebrate my sister got us Crumbl cookies which was the sweetest!

Spending... so much time this week getting kids to and from practices. Every afternoon Josh and I text back and forth figuring out who will run which kid where. It's chaos. Not to mention trying to make dinner happen somewhere in there! 

Parenting... three of our four on my own when Josh was in Yakima for Jack's baseball game there. I am grateful he can be there for Jack, and that he's such a devoted dad... but parenting here at home without him is the pits when he's gone.  Especially if I have homework and the kids need help with homework. 

Loving... the kahlua creamer that I picked up at the store. It's so rich and delicious!

Relishing... how Carly loves Josh. "Daddy's home!" is her cry whenever she hears his car pull in the driveway.  It just melts my heart. I hope that they are always close!

Grateful... for the kindest feedback I got from one of the teachers I've been working with. She said I, "had a gift for teaching and it comes naturally for her." Gah! I mean that is just the kindest thing ever. It meant so much to hear that from a veteran teacher. 

Adore... listening to Carly play. I could legitimately listen to her play for hours on end. Her imagination, her vocabulary, her accents? It's all just too precious. 

Hating... how Carly can pop her elbows. Every time she straightens her arms they pop! What the heck?!

Seeking... support for my fibromyalgia.  I found a group on Facebook that is really encouraging and positive. I also started doing morning stretches from Cocolime and I found an Instagram account that was recently started by somone suffering fibromyalgia that's been really validating. 

Shocked... that Jack is officially taller than Josh.  I knew we were getting closer, but it still felt surprising that we hit his milestone. 

Feeling... devastated for the families in Nashville that were impacted by the school shooting.  What a crazy world we live in.  Sending my kids to school post-shooting was so hard. Like, so, so hard. And subbing the day after was also really hard because one of the teachers killed was a sub. 
I stood in the first grade classroom I was working in that day, talking with the other first grade teachers about what we would do in the event of a shooting. How we would keep our kids safe, how we would break the windows to escape, etc. It was honestly surreal. 

Changing... our date nights.  As our kids have gotten older, it's gotten harder to get them into bed at a decent time on Friday nights.  It used to be that after the kids went to bed we would make pizza or get takeout and watch a movie. But as the kids have come into their teen years, they want a weekend too.  We were both resistant at first, to changing the tradition we've had for over ten years, but we came around and our plan is to go out once or twice a month on a real date since the kids are old enough to be left at home together. 
This week we went to a ribs place near Logan's practice.  We dropped him off, got dinner, hit Winco when our dinner was over, and then picked him up and drove home to the other three. It was nice to get out, just the two of us, and have a few conversations uninterrupted. 

Doing... homework for most of the day Saturday, followed by pizza & cookies for the kids. 

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