Showing posts with label Christmas cards. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christmas cards. Show all posts

12.17.2020

Around Here: Week 49 2020

{November 29-December 5th}










{pc: Carly May}



















{2020 Christmas Card: front}

{2020 Christmas Card: back}
Wishing... for snow.  It snowed a little bit one morning, like a tease, and it made all of us wish for the real deal.
Using... my Stress Away roller to get rid of a migraine that was starting, and it worked! Hallelujah! I am up to my full dose of blood pressure medicine, which is supposed to help eliminate migraines (and as an added bonus, it might reduce anxiety as well!) and I can't wait to see how many I have during the next month. 

Breaking... the wish bone a few days after Thanksgiving.  It was Wyatt vs. Carly and Carly won!

Hosting... Alvin for a game of Monopoly with the twins. Some days they walk, some days they shoot hoops and some days they play games.  Checkers is a particular favorite.  It's a nice way to break up the day. 

Heading... back to (online) school for the kids after our long Thanksgiving weekend. The break was much needed and enjoyed, and now it's back to real life. Just a few weeks, though, until Christmas break. 

Enjoying... pizza at my parent's house during the Seahawk's game Monday night.  I was desperately needing to get out of the house (something I don't usually experience when I'm home for days on end) and this was just the ticket.  We enjoyed an evening with my parents, celebrating the boys' amazing report cards (all A's & B's for all three of them!) and watching the game. 

Playing... guitar with my dad for the first time. I have no talent... but I'm trying and it made me excited to learn! My first goal is to learn how to play the chords to Bill Gorgan's goat. 

Grateful... that my mom bought the kids Advent calendars this year. It has made every day of December so exciting for them.  The Advent calendars along with our Elf on the Shelf Dashy has made the start of our countdown to Christmas very festive. (They all got different Advent calendars- Jack chose a Funko Pop Harry Potter advent; Logan chose the Lego City advent; Wyatt chose the Hot Wheels advent and Carly chose the Littlest Pet Shop advent.)

Listening... to Ordinary Grace on audio and loving it. It's such a beautiful tale, and reminded me a lot of Gilead by Marilynne Robinson. 

Getting... school lunches everyday with the kids and stocking up on little milk boxes.  It is saving us so much money, I'm sure, and it ensures we get out of the house (even if it's just for a minute) everyday.

Taking... Logan to the doctor to get a fresh cast (the other one was funky!!) and having Carly get her flu shot at the same time. She was so funny, very nervous, but when it was over she said, "Owww! That didn't hurt at all!" Hahah!
Logan has just two more weeks with his cast. His break is 80-90% healed, but I don't trust that he would (could) be careful, so we're keeping it on a little longer for complete healing.

Sending... Christmas cards, which is probably my favorite Christmas tradition. I write a yearly Christmas letter, which feels so good- to look over the year and remember the ups and downs- and we usually have my sister take family pictures (thank you Roxanne!) which I then turn into a Christmas card on Shutterfly during one of their 50% off sales around Halloween. I really love when I choose a card that has a matching return address label. So cute!! #nerd

Thankful... that school is going really well right now with the kids. It is not my favorite, and this obviously isn't how school was meant to be... but we are doing well.  We are in a good routine and the twins' teacher is working really hard teaching them math at a distance, and Wyatt's classwork has simmered down some, so I am overall really pleased. 

Seeing... Logan's neurologist via Zoom and telling her that he is two years seizure free. What an amazing thing to say out loud. The next step is to have a sleep deprived EEG for him and see if he is seizure free during that. If he is, then we can try weaning him off his medication and see how he does. Fingers crossed that it all goes well, and that this means he has outgrown his seizures. 

Organizing... the pantry & the garage which is so helpful when we are all home (and usually in the house) during winter time.  The space suddenly feels so much smaller now that we aren't spending all our time outdoors. 

Obsessing... over Harry Potter alongside the kids. I still haven't read the books, but Josh is on the third one with the boys and they are loving it. It's so cute to hear them talk about it and to have them look forward to bedtime reading the way I do. 
They have been watching each movie as they finish the book, and that's made it really exciting as well.

Ordering.... things for pie making (a pastry cutter and a crust cover) to make it easier. I enjoyed making pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving, but realized that some tools might make it easier, and make me more likely to bake when it's not a holiday. 
Those items along with all our Christmas gifts started rolling in, and the empty boxes stacking up in the kitchen are quite ridiculous. 

Cracking... a twin egg while making breakfast one morning this week and calling all the kids to show them. It always blows me away that my body did that same thing. 

Watching... Carly dance to the music and pretend to snap her fingers. It's currently my favorite thing, and I really need to video tape it. You can tell she really feels the music in her soul. She closes her eyes and furrows her brow, and it's just the best. 

Coloring... while the kids do school in my new beautiful color book by Katie Daisy. It is so happy. 

Wrapping... up a good reading month. I read 8 books, hitting 99/100 on my yearly goal (wahoo!) and getting rid of 7 books off my Unread shelf, bringing my Unread Shelf down to 121.  I am toying with not buying books in 2021, in an effort to reduce my Unread Shelf... but the idea makes me kind of sad... so I'm not sure I'll do it. 

Reminiscing... this time three years ago when Wyatt was hospitalized in the PICU in Spokane for status asthmaticus (asthma that is not responding to treatment). It was a very scary time, and I am forever amazed at how his body eventually recovered.  And now, with us being home full time, he doesn't seem to have any asthma symptoms at all.  It feels like a miracle. 

***

10.26.2019

Week 43 Around Here {2019}








{November TBR}









{Catalina Magdalena Hoopensteiner Wallendiner Hogan Logan Bogan Was Her Name}


{The kid's orthodontist is so much fun! Haha!}






Making... my November reading list & feeling really excited about it. I have read twelve books so far in October, and feel confident I will hit 14 (maybe even 15) by month's end, so making my reading list for November was super fun because I feel like I will be able to get through so many good books!



Remembering... that I wanted to tell you all I quit Monat.  It seemed to help for a while with growing my hair back (after it fell out from stress) but then it didn't seem like it was helping anymore and with the cost, I couldn't keep buying it if it wasn't FOR SURE helping. I used it for a solid nine months, and I'm glad I did, but I am equally as happy to be done sinking that kind of money into my hair every month.

Creating... our yearly Christmas cards after we got a super cute snap of our family at the pumpkin patch last week.  Shutterfly was running a 40% off coupon, and I had a free shipping code, so I ordered them and now they are done!

Reading... Tuesdays with Morrie, and The Pull of the Moon this week.  I also listened to The Aviators Wife and Gift from the Sea (one is about Anne Morrow Lindbergh, the other is written by Anne Morrow Lindbergh; both are really good!) and also The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker, which reminded me of Station Eleven. I couldn't stop listening. It was so good!
I've finished 75 books so far and that is just mind boggling to me. Last year I only read 68 books total. So to be at 75 books with two months left to go is really exciting! (Could I be more of a book nerd? Hah!)

Nursing... Wyatt fully back to health after a scary week last week.  The oral steroids finally started working their magic (a little slower than I would have liked) and his breathing is back to normal.  I ordered him some new nebulizer parts and I am hopeful that having a fresh mask next time he's sick will help him.  Unbeknownst to us, his old mask had a hole in the tube, so he wasn't getting his medicine as effectively as he should have been.  Old Shelly would have blamed herself endlessly for this, but New Shelly knows that life happens and all we can do is move forward.  Deep breaths.

Adulting... and getting 3 cavities filled, plus my cleaning done at the dentist, as well as getting groceries (even though I did not want to go that day) and attending our school district insurance night.  (Josh's school district is switching insurance this year, so there was a TON of information to gather. Whew!)

Hosting... our old neighbors for chili & cornbread Sunday and feeling so happy to have them over.  We are all missing each other, so it was great to get together.
That day I suffered a migraine, so I took a nap before they came over and bless Josh, he made both the chili and the cornbread from scratch.  Yum!

Cooking... tortillas with Carly's help for enchiladas on Monday.  They were delicious and turned out great and Carly had a great (read: messy) time helping. ;)
I made some chocolate chip zucchini bread this weekend & it was super yummy with my coffee each morning.
I also enjoyed some chocolate eyeballs (a Cunningham kid favorite around Halloween time) and sweet potato fries that I had with our cheeseburgers Wednesday.  I find it ridiculous how much I love sweet potato fries.

Attending... Logan's first choir concert of the year.  I was so proud of him, and it brought back so many memories of my own years of choir concerts.  The only bummer was that Carly hadn't napped that day, so sister was a handful!!!

Loving... how when Carly is coloring she always has out markers only in an array of pinks, reds & purples.
And also loving how we spent our rainy Saturday last weekend- playing Play Doh, all four kids and I, making ice cream and french fries and popsicles; growing Orbeez (those cool little beads that grow when you put them in water) and playing with them for hours; and following all of that up with pizza & cookies for move night.  The kids watched Diary of a Wimpy Kid, which is hilarious, and we all really enjoyed ourselves.

Organizing... the very last boxes in the house thanks to the help of my bestie Shana.  You know when a project is so overwhelming that you just don't even want to start? That was this project for me. So when Shana stopped by and was willing to jump in with me, I was almost weepy with gratitude.  Seriously later that evening when I was thinking of my afternoon, I teared up.  I am just so thankful for friends who know when you need a little (or a lot of) help.

Enjoying... our family dinners lately which have been filled with lots of laughter & talking.  It also brings me joy that Josh started reading his favorite book from childhood (The Giver) to the boys this week. They are loving it!!!

Dressing... Carly and her friend Kamden up as Gecko & Owlette from PJ Masks during their playdate on Friday morning.  Kara and I had so much fun visiting while these two played, and we about died of cuteness after we dressed them up.

Listening... and crying to "I Know You By Heart" by JJ Heller.  Gah, so good.  You know when a song just makes you feel heard & understood? This is that song for me.

I see you packing all the lunches
Loading all the kids into the van
Tonight you'll tuck them in at bedtime
Tomorrow you will do it all again

... You are enough
You matter in this world

Every second I am proud of who you are
Although you feel forgotten and invisible
I see you and I know you by heart

{agreed!!!}
Missing... my kids as babies & small children.  It is so surreal to me that the twins and Wyatt are eleven and eight.  Lately especially I am wistful for the mornings from before we had to wake up and get them ready and send them off to school everyday.  It's hard to find the balance between reminiscing over the past and staying here in the present.
What is helping me lately is what Kelle Hampton says to herself when she starts to feel panicky about time slipping by: "There is more."  So when I start to panic about Carly approaching her fourth birthday, or the fact that there is only a year and a half before she starts school, I take a breath and remind myself, "There is more."  More memories, more laughter, more love.  More goodness, more stories, more things to someday be nostalgic for.
On the complete opposite end of the spectrum, I also agree with what Kelle said about supporting older kids' emotional needs.  I was not prepared for this, guys, and it is a whole different level than even newborn baby twins.  haha!  Middle school might just be the death of me.


Laughing:

Josh sent me this:
{accurate. the struggle is real.}

Loving this advice:

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