Around Here: Week 33 2023

 {August 13-19th}

My sister's in-law's backyard during Washington state wildfires.
Miraculously, their house was spared.

Carly's been busy planning her "Yes" day.

Starting... the week off strong, as always, doing chores. The boys rotate lists (each list has a bathroom to clean, a bedroom to clean and a couple other random chores) and their chores take about an hour usually.  

Counseling... with my beloved Dr. H. I am so grateful for her, to just have someone in my corner who lets me vent, who validates me, and who challenges me when I need it. (I use Dr. on Demand and my rate just went up $4, so now it's $22 each time I see her, but it's 100% worth it, and it's so convenient!)

Sending... Josh to work for some training. As we approach the start of the school year, he has more meetings and trainings and time that needs to be spent in his classroom. 

Journaling... and feeling grateful that that's a place I can vent and sort my thoughts when it all feels a bit much.

Swimming... during the afternoons and continuing to find ladybugs everywhere!! 

Laughing... as the boys eat their way to jar after jar of pico de gallo from my mom. She makes it with onions and tomatoes from her garden and they.are.fans!

Loving... Carly's imagination. Currently she had opened a zoo (in her bedroom) and she is both the zookeeper and the vet who cares of the animals.  The zoo, conveniently, also has a library and she is the librarian. She made Josh, Wyatt and me library cards so we could "check out" books from her room. She used her cash register (which beeps) to "check out" the books to us. So adorable. 

Reading... The Paper Daughters of Chinatown (the youth version) for book club, and listening to The Patron Saint of Liars. The Patron Saint is slow, but riveting. I still wish that the characters were more lovable, but overall it's a good book. The Paper Daughters was good, but I think I would have preferred the grown up (uncensored) version. 

Sorting, organizing and cleaning... the house as I continue to head towards another school year. This week we did the white medicine cabinet in the upstairs hallway, all three boys' closets, the downstairs coat closet and hats & coat rack in the laundry room. As I sorted through the boys' bedrooms & closets, I made a running list for each of them for back to school shopping. Doing this big sort is helping me feel a little more in control of life as we prepare for summer to end. Carly was so sweet helping me sort the downstairs closet. I love her enthusiasm for helping. 

Hanging... some art in the twins' room that we got from my sister. I fell in love with it when she had it in her house, so when she was getting rid of it, I knew I wanted it. But then Logan claimed it. Haha! I'm glad he likes it, and I think it looks great in their room, so I didn't mind too much.

Dying... at the photo my sister sent of her little Sweet P wearing German Shepherd pajamas. Can you even?!? She is SO cute!!!

Enjoying... a night swim as it was still 90 degrees after dinner one night. Gosh we had so much fun. For sure a highlight memory of the summer for me. 

Ordering... school supplies to be delivered to my house from Walmart.  I was too overwhelmed by the idea of school clothes shopping and school supply shopping for all four kids. So I outsourced the school supplies. First I went through all our craft and school stuff to use what we had, and I ordered the rest. The amount of pressure that order took off my shoulders was amazing. Highly recommend. 

Grateful... that Josh knows how much I love flowers and while trimming the sunflowers, he brought some in for me and placed them in a vase. Oh, the smile they put on my face!

Watching Carly Dipping... fries in her frosty just like her mama. Haha!

Fashun... shows at bedtime from Carly continue to be a thing. Lots of posing, jean jeackets and layering of clothing. Gosh she cracks me up. 

Dealing... with the intense smoke from Washington wildfires and avoiding time outside.  In addition to worrying about the smoke, there was a period of days where we were all very worried about my sister's in-law's brand new house, which was at risk of catching fire. It was truly a miracle that their house was spared, and we were all so grateful for the firefighters who fought for it. 

Doing... homework every morning so I can spend afternoons with the kids. Figuring out a homework schedule with all four kids home everyday has not been easy! That will be one nice thing about them going back to school, having that homework time sans children!

Laughing... hysterically at Carly's "cool" wolf... He's wearing jean shorts and a wifebeater (white tank top). It's actually an undershirt for one of her American Girl Dolls, but she put it on her wolf. It cracked me up. 

Surprised... when Wyatt brought home a Sponge Daddy for doing the dishes. He told my sister it was for me, but he's on dish duty this week, and I think he bought it for himself. haha! Truth be told, we ALL love it, and it has outlasted weeks of other sponges. 

School clothes shopping... for the twins with my mom and my nephew Ferris. I had been worried the day would be long (we drove from Moses to tri-cities for shopping) but I was determined to have fun and enjoy the boys. I went into it with a good attitude and also told them ahead of time my expectations (ie- try everything on) and the day was amazing. We had so much fun, there was so much laughter, and we really enjoyed each other. I feel so lucky my kids truly are people I would choose to hang out with, even if they weren't mine. 

Staying... awake until 1:00am and soaking up the last bits of freedom that summer brings. 

Recieving... pictures from Josh and the boys of their day at the sand dunes. They have been begging to go ride their dirt bikes at the dunes pretty much since they got them. Well this week Josh's friend Tom and his brother were in town, and taking theirs out, so it was the perfect opportunity for the twins to give it a go. Oh how they loved it!!! Once they can drive, I have a feeling they'll be spending a lot of weekends out at the dunes riding. 

Waking up... Saturday morning to walk laps around my house downstairs while on the phone with my Blog friend Tabitha who is walking a mile with 40 different friends leading up to her fortieth birthday. It was so fun to talk on the phone with her about all things motherhood and teaching, as she is a mom of six and a Spanish teacher. She encouraged me that I can be a working mom, which is just what my heart needed to hear. Especially from another mama who is doing it. I love you so much, Tab! Forever grateful the internet brought us together. 

Reading... Carly's "Yes Day" list after she asked for a yes day prior to summer ending and school starting. We will have it in two weeks.  She and Wyatt set a budget of $30 each all on their own, which I thought was really sweet and smart. 

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Way to go, Josh. It's a lot, but you're nailing it. 

My sister sent me this. 

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