Around Here: Week 17 2023

 {April 23-29th}

Carly drew this scene from Boss Baby on her white board. 
Gosh I love her.

Logan's scar is scabbing over. That's promising!

Realizing... that this Arizona State Law class is hard!!!

Watching... Josh thatch and aerate the lawn in an effort to have the lawn more green this spring and summer. We've needed to do this for many years, but finally got around to renting the equipment. Josh worked so hard. I hope it's worth it!!!

Taking... Carly to the book fair at school Monday morning and having so much fun letting her pick out a stack of books. 

Driving... to the high school with my glue gun plugged into the plug adaptor I have in the van so that Jack could come out to the parking lot and fix his glasses that broke yet again. I really want to send those glasses back for actual repair, but Jack won't wear any of his back up pairs so I haven't been able to do so. Instead he's surviving with a single nose pad, a busted lens and hot glued arms. It's killing me. 

Enjoying... a visit from my mom who came to watch Carly's gymnastics practice and then took us out to Baskin Robbins afterward while Josh was doing baseball with all the boys. Carly has never been to Baskin Robbins (which was my favorite when we lived in Vancouver) so we decided to have an ice cream date there with Nanny when she came to town. She also got the whole family Papa John's pizza for dinner which was delicious and much appreciated! Love when I don't have to plan or cook dinner!!
It cracks me up that when my mom comes we are all fighting for her attention. I want to talk to her; the twins want to talk to her; Wyatt wants to talk to her and Carly wants to talk to her. She's a very popular lady at our house!

Grateful... that my parents and sister were able to show up for Jack at his game in Wenatchee this week. He was so happy to have them there. Josh was there as well and I'm just so happy that our kids are so loved and supported. Especially when I'm unable to be there.

Baseballin'... all day everyday in our family. Stay strong sports mamas. We can do this!!!

Yelling... at all three boys for lying to their mama about various stupid things. I am going to lose my freaking mind if this continues. And I told them as much.  Lying about whether we did minor chores or brushed our teeth is just the stupidest!!!

Facing... a HUGE to-do list that is massively overwhelming me. Juggling school and kids and sports and home is just too much. Every week it feels like something is being neglected. Sigh. 

Acknowledging... that if kids are doing chores it means that sometimes things get broken or are poorly done.  And I'm mostly okay with that. Carly unloads the dishwasher, and that means we've lost the occasional bowl or two. And when the boys clean the bathrooms, they are not as clean as if I did it myself. But they are learning important skills and improving all the time. But my current favorite part of the kids doing the chores? (Other than the fact that if they didn't, the house would be a dumpster fire?) Carly puts away the plates and bowls in rainbow order. Oh the joy it brings me!!!

Visiting...  the doctor because Logan's scar has continued to just get worse. It's open even more than before and I'm worried it's infected. 
They did an x-ray to make sure that there's no visible infection, and his bone looks great! The bone is already starting to heal up. I just wish that his skin would heal. The doctor said because there's no redness or fever, he doesn't think there's an infection, but we should really go back to the surgeon.  When Logan plays with it (which he does because he's a fourteen year old boy) you can sometimes see the shimmer of the plate or screws underneath. {{shudder}} He did tell us that Logan should absolutely stay out of the pool, which is a real bummer since he's in Acquatics at school.

Searching... high and low for the Orange Juice we bought last week and finally running across it when I was pulling the meat for dinner out of the freezer. Haha! Somehow it got put in the freezer instead of the fridge. The same thing happened earlier this year with the brocolli.  Like I said, having the kids' help sometimes comes at a cost. 

Walking... Carly to school along with Grady. It made me feel so alive and rejuvenated. Loved it.

Loving... the smell of our freshly bloomed hyacinth. It is just the best smell!!

Encouraging... Carly to do Xtra Math everyday and put the stickers on her chart so she can earn a prize.  She still doesn't love doing it, but writing the number she got right has been motivating for her. 

Surprised... to learn that there is a colorblind setting on my Apple Health app. That's super cool for kids like Logan and Jack who don't see colors the same way as the rest of us. 

Thankful... for how thoughtful my sister is. She found the cutest American Girl doll sized dresser cabinet on Facebook Marketplace and bought it for Carly. Carly LOVES it! And I love how organized she has it. 

Reading... with audiobooks only on my Libby app courtesy of my library.  This week I'm reading Sea of Tranquility (very similar vibes to Station Eleven and other post-apocolyptic books I've read) and Exiles which was so good, but not at all about exiles. 

Doing... homework Saturday while Carly was home sick and Josh went to Jack's home game.  It killed me not to be there, but she's vomiting again. So there's nothing I can do. I put her to bed super early that night and am praying it doesn't spread. 

"The empty nest comes quickly.
Do not squander your most precious privelege
of participating in the lives of your children."
-Alan Hedquist