Week 52 Around Here {2019}

Spending... time with my parents who came to stay with us after Romy's adoption.  It was the first time they met our new dog, Grady and I was so excited for them to see him.  We grew up with German shepherds.  First Buddy, then Kramer, so my dad is a huge fan of them.  And my mom loves all dogs.  So they were really happy to pet him and get to know him. They brought their dog Juno, who thankfully got along great with Grady, and they had so much fun playing together!  Carly adores Juno and spent nearly the entire time my parents were here in Juno's crate with Juno, singing her songs.

Seeing... Jumanji at the theater with my mom, Logan & Wyatt while my dad and Jack went to see the most recent Star Wars movie.  Logan vacillated about what to see until we got to the theater and saw a warning that the Star Wars movie had some light scenes that could trigger seizures in certain people and the decision was made for him.  (He has light sensitive epilepsy- during his EEG the light part triggered seizures in him) For that same reason we couldn't see the newest Incredibles in the theater.  As a mom, I'm just grateful they have those warnings out for kids like Logan.
And luckily he really liked Jumanji.

Ice skating... with my parents and my sister's crew during their visit.  We had so much fun! I was not sure if it would be a good time.  Especially when Carly said she wanted to come along.  (She's never been before!) But it ended up being great! She did awesome, as did my other three, and we all had a blast skating around together. 

Grateful... for my sister & her husband's thoughtfulness when they came to meet Grady for the first time.  They brought antlers for him to use as chew toys and he LOVES them!! Merry Christmas, Grady!

Hosting... a dinner for my mom's birthday (the 23rd) for my parents and sister's family.  Josh did the cooking while we were ice skating with the kids.  The night before, my mom and I made pumpkin pie and pudding pie.  Carly was disappointed we didn't have an actual cake for dessert since it was mom's birthday. Ha!

Opening... books on Christmas Eve, per our family tradition, and making cinnamon rolls while the boys read them.  Then we watched Home Alone and had pizza (our other Christmas Eve tradition) with four of us in matching jammies. (thanks mom!)  I bought Josh a special edition of The Giver quartet by Lois Lowry, which includes all four books in the series so he can read the additional three to the boys.  (He read the first one, The Giver, to them last month.)

Celebrating... Christmas with early morning present opening (hello 6:30am) and cinnamon rolls.  Yum.  It was a great, cozy, slow moving morning.  I spent nearly all of it on the couch watching back episodes of Alaska The Last Frontier and napping as my cold from the week before was coming back with a vengeance.
Then we hosted Josh's parents, brother and his girlfriend.  Again, Josh did all the cooking that needed to be done on our end.  He's just the best. His parents brought a lot as well and we enjoyed quite the feast.

Soaking... up all the snuggles and slow mornings while the kids are off school. It's so nice to wake up and stay in our jammies for hours while hanging out together watching TV, reading and playing games.  I know I will be ready for our routine when the new year comes and school starts back up, but for now, I am enjoying every relaxed minute.

Feeling... so blessed to have had such a beautiful holiday with everyone, all sides of our family.  I'm so grateful that it worked out for my parents to come up for some of the holiday for Romy's adoption, and that Josh's parents are living here where we are now.  It's been so amazing having them here.  And Josh's brother, too.  We're just so, so lucky.

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Week 47 Around Here {2019}

Dreaming... of water (flooding houses, overflowing toilets, waterfalls going down stairs) every night it seems.  I looked up the meaning of these types of dreams and it points to emotional turmoil.  That makes sense to me, as parenting my middle schoolers is quite challenging currently.  I am hoping that remembering I am the "eye of the storm" will help me to remain calm no matter how crazy life gets around me.  But boy is that hard!

Celebrating... my 37th birthday a little early with my sister and my bestie this weekend in Wenatchee.  Shana and I drove over and can I just say what a luxury it was to be in the car with her and to talk without interruption for an hour and a half each way?  It was so awesome. #momlife
Once we got to Wenatchee, Shana and I hit up Costco where she helped me comparison shop for a lot of things I normally buy at Walmart.  So many things will be a better deal in the long run if I get them at Costco!
After shopping at Costco (we got a few Christmas gifts for the kids and some household essentials) we met my sister for lunch out followed by a movie.  Lunch was so good and the movie was okay (3 stars at best) but the popcorn was amazing. Hah! I love movie popcorn, and the feel of a dark theater.  Luckily the company was awesome the whole day and I feel so lucky to have two such great girls in my life.

Turning... 37 on Monday with a gorgeous sunrise Josh alerted me to on his way to work ("If you have a minute, you should really go check out the sunrise this morning.")  Then I met my girlfriends for coffee and a farewell to my girl Jolene who is moving to Alaska with her crew.  Boy are we gonna miss her!!!  Then my friends Crystal and Becky stopped by and surprised me with brownies and gifts- so sweet! Then Carly and I made a cake that we ate after dinner with the guys. 
Josh arrived home from work with flowers for me (swoon) and Wyatt had made me a bookmark that melted my very heart. It has a drawing of us reading books together- my favorite!
My gift this year was a stack of books I got at Book Outlet which I was introduced to by my friend Ashley.  I got 5 books for less than $20!
It was a really great birthday, I felt loved & spoiled all day long, and I feel like 36 was a really blessed year.  Here's hoping 37 is too!

Counting... at least nine migraines in November and praying December is better.  I am only allowed to take 9 doses of Sumatriptan (my migraine medicine) per 30 day period (or I can get rebound headaches), so I am very lucky I didn't have any more headaches than I did.  They are just the worst.  I'm hoping it's just about my cycle and my hormones changing as I age...

Attending... Basin Brawl for the boy's wrestling club and getting to watch them wrestle for the first time in real matches.  Josh's parents were there to watch, which was really special, and I felt SO proud of them all.  I was that crazy mom on the side of the mat, yelling and cheering like mad, near tears when they did good and holding my breath when things weren't going their way.  Josh had a heart to heart with Logan after he lost a match and I just can't even put into words the love I feel for him when I see him being such a good dad. We are all so lucky he is ours.
Jack won a match, and when they held his arm up to show he was the winner, I was so proud of him I could have burst! The look of accomplishment on his face was fantastic. 

Enduring... freezy, foggy weather day after day this week.  It's been so cold and dreary!!!

Loving... Carly's new (to us) curtains!  They are so fun (polka dots!) and will look even better if I ever get around to painting her room.

Reading... Inheritance (on audio) and The Night Olivia Fell.  Inheritance simultaneously makes me want to and not want to take a DNA test like Ancestry or 23 and Me.  I loved listening to the story, and really enjoyed learning more about Orthodox Jews.  Before this memoir, I knew nothing about them.
The Night Olivia Fell was a fascinating mystery that kept me reading to the last page.  It was a solid 3 stars, and I enjoyed the story, but I like a novel with better writing.  I like a little more flair.
I also finished listening to Us Against You.  That, again, was good, entertaining, but not my favorite. It was a bit dark for my taste.

Getting... the twins flu shots finally.  I got mine and Carly and Wyatt's a month or more ago, but kept forgetting the twins.  They weren't very happy to get home from school and find out that's where we were headed.  Luckily it was quick and relatively painless.  Later Jack had a little swelling at the injection site (which is normal) but that was it.

Ringing... in the holiday season with a giant (Paw Patrol, because #duh) tub of Christmas popcorn.  Carly was SO excited when I said yes to this at the grocery store, and her brothers were equally thrilled when they got home from school to this snack.  It's a Christmas classic.

Hosting... book club for the first time at our house and feeling so grateful for that amazing group of ladies.  They stayed until 11 and I think we could have stayed hours longer, to be honest.  Being with other women, other mothers, just fills my cup in a way that nothing else does.

Posting... a house tour of our downstairs (since it was so clean for book club- hah!) on my Facebook page & Instagram. We are seriously feeling so blessed in our new digs.  If you've wondered what the new house looks like, click over and check it out!

Planning... for Christmas bit by bit.  Our plan is to get the kids 2 gifts each (and they'll get one from Santa), plus books for Christmas Eve, which is our family tradition.  They'll also have stockings, with some yummy treats and one small toy.  My budget for each kid is $50, which is very (very!) challenging, but it has to be done because we are living on cash now and I'm not pulling the credit cards back out for Christmas.  You better bet I'll be hunting for some good deals after Thanksgiving!

Being... overcome by an organizational bug that I think is a preemptive hit against all the toys and things the kids tend to get at Christmas.  Also in preparation for hosting Thanksgiving.  Whatever the reason, I am rolling with it, and sorting & purging all.the.things.

Crafting... with this color by diamond art.  If you haven't tried it, you really should. It is so much fun!!! (Thanks, Shana for introducing me!)

Enjoying... sending the twins off to their friends' house Friday night and letting them stay late (until 10pm) since we don't do sleepovers.  They thought it was super cool, and we were able to have date night once we got Wyatt & Carly to bed.  We watched Game of Thrones (we're into Season 7 now!) and had homemade pizza.  So yum!

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