Around Here: Week 20 2023

 {May 14-20th}

Candle holder that Logan made me in Pottery

"One more crazy week, but you got it!"

Celebrating... Mother's Day with a new book and a new pool floatie (that I ordered myself cause that's how we roll.  I know what I want, and Josh never seems to mind.) The twins were at my mom's and had lunch out with cousins. So fun! While they were there, Jack was talking to my mom and told her that he's really glad he's a twin. It warmed my heart that he feels that way. 

Attending... Logan's final regular season game, which he won! This means they are off to the play offs.  I'm so proud of him! My sister, her kids and my mom came as well and it was really fun to all be there, together, cheering him on. Josh took them to their practices this week and attended a couple games by himself so I could keep

Doing... homework. It has been non-stop. I will tell you, though, that submitting a finished product is one of the best feelings in the world!!!  What wasn't such a good feeling this week was arguing with a fellow student when he was being homophobic.  You can read the exchange in the photos above but essentially he was saying that he didn't see the point of drag queens and didn't believe schools should have books about lesbian characters. I gave him a piece of my mind and told him that 45% of our LGBTQ youth considered suicide in the last year and maybe a little open mindedness and kindness would go a long way. Oooh I was heated!

Enjoying... my mother-in-laws farm fresh eggs.  She always arranges them so beautifully in the carton and they taste so incredible!

Ordering... some Book of the Month books this month and feeling so excited for them to come. Do you order Book of the Month? I love it. 

Joining... Carly's class on their field trip to the children's museum in Spokane. The kids were so well behaved and had a great time. I was mostly thrilled I didn't get too carsick on the bus and I was happy to join Carly as next year I will be doing my student teaching and I don't know if I'll be able to attend her field trip. So I am glad I took advantage of going this year. 

Loving... that Carly has a neighbor to play with. She went over to Ariyah's earlier this week and they got dinner together and her mom sent me that cute pic of them. Cuties!

Working... on my field experience hours this week and also helping with Kindergarten Round Up. Seeing all those parents and their fresh faced little ones made me so excited about my student teaching next year. (I will be student teaching January through May.) 

Helping... the twins with homework. They are SO behind from missing last week for Carl's viewing and funeral, and we are feeling the pressure.  We are watching Youtube videos and all getting frustrated with each other. Gah. It's the worst. I hope next year they have a little more ownership of their homework, assignments and grades and I don't have to ride them so hard. It's exhausting. 

Seeing... my counselor again this week and we talked about preparing mentally for my trip to Europe and about my not knowing what I believe right now. It's really hard to not know what I think, especially as Carly is asking all these questions about God and heaven since Carl died. I talked about my general sense of overwhelm, and she recommended that the twins (at least) start doing their own laundry. I took her advice and got them doing their own laundry and it's amazing how much it has lightened my load. (I swear they "need" a load done every other day.)  She also suggested having them help more in general, so one afternoon when I knew I'd be gone when they got home, I hung a note with their chores from the fruit basket so they couldn't miss it. Boy am I ever counting down to summer. 

Reading... The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese (who also wrote one of my all time favorite books- Cutting for Stone, about twin brothers) and listening to Demon Copperhead which is not what I thought it would be about at all, but is so good. Gosh I don't  know if I have ever cheered for a character the way I have cheered for Demon. 

Laughing... at George who is our guard dog. even though really he's a cat. Once the twins go to bed, he hops off Logan's bed and spends the entire night asleep just outside their door. What a good boy. 

Walking... Carly to school a couple mornings this week and loving the exercise and all the beauty we take in together. She's had a hard time since Carl passed at school because she doesn't want anyone to know he died. When she found out her teacher had told her classmates why she was absent she burst into tears. I'm not sure why she wanted it to be kept secret, but we worked through her feels and I think she's better now. Spending extra time together on our walk seems good for her little spirit. 

Happy... to see Wyatt getting some cousin time this weekend while hanging at my mom and dad's, swimming in their pool and watching movies. Those three boys (Ferris, Wyatt and Milo) are stair steps. They are going into sixth, seventh and eighth grade, and I'm so happy they have each other. 

Feeling... lots of feels about no longer being a stay-at-home mom.  I have to remind myself that even once I start teaching, I will still be a mom, and I can always consider myself a homemaker (it's such a part of my identity). Despite these hard feelings, I know that becoming a teacher is the right thing.  I love my kids so much, and I know that being a mom could easily become my entire identity. But if I do that (if I'm not careful) I will struggle greatly when they finally move away. So I am working to create meaning and occupation for myself (plus we could use the money- raising teenage boys is no joke, man!!!) in hopes it brings us a brighter future and eases me into having older/grown children. If you've gone from being a SAHM to working outside the home, I'd love to hear how you did it and how the transition was for you. 

Dealing... with so many freaking migraines. I have already had six in the month of May and it's only halfway over! And these migraines are on steroids. I tend to get really nauseous with them, which is the worst, and I am just over.it.

Poor Carly... has been up many nights this week with growing pains in her legs. Poor thing is stretching out! I give her some medicine and then rub her legs until she falls back asleep. Bless her little heart. 

Not sure... where Carly comes up with the nicknames she gives us. She has recently been calling Josh "Banjy-cam" and she calls me "Millie"... but I have literally no idea where she came up with that. She's such a silly goose. 

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