Around Here: Week 25 2021

 {June 13-19th}

Josh's sister shared this photo with us:
Josh's dad Carl, and his grandparents Jay & Donna

{One  night Carly's hair was across her face and it reminded me of a spiders web}

Finishing... the school year for Josh, which feels great.  It's been a long, busy year for him with students online, then in person, plus a student teacher, and the loss of a teacher at his school.  We are all ready for a bit of a slow down. 

Wondering... what has Carly asking me lately where Santa is. I don't know why he's on her mind currently, but she has asked 3x this week where he is right now and what he's doing.

Listening... to Dear Sugar, which I loved. It is a beautiful listen, somehow both heavy and easy, and so much of her advice is applicable to everyone, everywhere.  The gentle way she speaks (she narrates her own audiobook) feels like a gentle hug from a friend. Highly recommend.  Five stars. 

Enjoying... a massage this week which I scheduled a hundred years ago in February. I am so glad that I got to have it, but the masseuse talked too much for my taste and I wish it had been a little more peaceful.

Celebrating... Wyatt's tenth birthday.  That sweet boy is ten, and I just love him.  He is funny and sarcastic, smart and cautious.  He is empathetic and tender hearted.  I am so grateful for his teacher this year, Mrs. Jackson, because she really saw Wyatt for who he is, and she adored him.  I felt so happy for him, during this tumultuous school year, to have another adult in his life who cherished him and found him as fun to be around and as entertaining as I do. 

Hosting... a pool party to celebrate Wyatt's birthday, and feeling so proud of all the flowers I had in the vases on the back patio table.  We grew all of those in our front yard.  Josh bought those and tended them and watered them and now they are giving back to us, and it makes me smile so hard.

Watching... in awe as we had a thunderstorm.  It produced so much rain (rare here) and some beautiful rainbows.  I can't get enough.

Finally... hitting Wyatt's last day and the twins' last day of school.  I swear to you, I have NEVER been more ready for summer than this year.  I wanted to be done teaching, guiding, helping and checking Google Classroom.  I was ready for sleeping in and saying yes, and having.a.break.  The kids feel the same way, and we are all headed into summer pumped for a break!

Reading... 100+ pages of Lost Friends, only to find out it was the wrong book, and I already read the right book (The Book of Lost Names) earlier in the year for this month's book club.  Hah! Let me tell you, as soon as my friend Becky mentioned I had the wrong book, I could not put it down fast enough.  It was just super slow and I wasn't really invested in any of the characters. 

Finding... a leak from Air Conditioner Condenser up in the attic that is bubbling down to the carpet outside Carly's room.  Josh went up and fixed the tray to address the leak, so fingers crossed it will resolve itself.

Walking... and wishing that I got out to walk more.  But for some reason, I'm in a bit of a body movement funk right now. Trying not to get down on myself too hard, but I am hoping that this changes. 

Praying... the dinner plate hibiscus we moved from our old house blooms this year. We have little shoots, which are amazing signs that it didn't die during the transition from our old house to this one, but I don't know if they will get big enough to blossom this year. 

Shopping... with my girlfriend at Marshall's and Ulta and having just the best time. I needed to get out of the house and laugh and shop and just be Shelly, not Mom. So fun.

Making... homemade popsicles with the popsicle maker that I found at Marshall's after the kids mentioned wanting one.  So we are trying all kinds of juice popsicles. So fun!

Ordering... myself a big, cozy sweatshirt from the Holderness family that says, "I am doing the best I can."  I am imagining myself wearing it at camping, knowing I made it through the school year, and it's bringing me massive joy.

Watching... documentary Jesus Camp (on Netflix) at my sister's encouraging after saying I wasn't sure how I felt about raising kids not in the church.  GOOD LORD. I feel better.  My kids are gonna be just fine. Even if Logan did write about the crusades in history saying they were "Spreading the gossip", not "spreading the gospel."  Everyone is fine. We're all fine.  The kids are fine. 

Enjoying... strawberries fresh from our garden!  It's so exciting to see these sweet little red jewels come in the house in Josh's hand each day as he checks the growth of all our plants. I like them, as does Carly, but I think Josh loves them the most. 

***

around here: week 25 2020

{Logan's scene from Moana}

Witnessing... two rainbows this week.  They never fail to make me smile, reminding me of the storms I endured before Carly arrived in our lives. She is such a bundle of sunshine.
I also learned this week that when Jack sees a rainbow (he is colorblind, like my dad) he only sees yellow and blue. None of the other colors. He and Logan have what's called red/green deficiency, and for them it manifests such that when you add red to a color, they can't see it. So if you have blue and add red, you get purple. They still see just blue.  If you have white and add red, you get pink. They still see just white. If you have green and add red, you get brown, they still just see green. 
Their colorblindness fascinates me. I wish I could see through their eyes for just a few minutes!!

Stealing... two of my sister's kids for the day to give her a break on Monday (the 15th) which was also Wyatt's birthday.  Carly got to play with Erika and Wyatt got to play with Milo. They were both super happy and I felt like a good sister.  (Although I don't think one day was nearly enough!)
Wyatt and Milo are so creative together, I can't get enough of them. They built magic tracks and stacked all the chapter books on the stairs for some reason- I'm not sure why. They're so sweet together and play really well.
Carly and Erika had tons of fun as well.  I think their favorite was sharing Erika's microphone that they brought and convinced Wyatt to put batteries in.  Little rock stars.

Celebrating... Wyatt's birthday, just the six of us, with a "game" themed night, including a pinata and a pretty serious Cornhole Showdown where Josh thumped on me despite my trash talk (hah!) and Logan beat Jack despite previous games usually being won by the latter. Then Josh and Wyatt played and Wyatt won, so it was down to Logan & Wyatt... It was intense! In the end, Logan won, but gave his prize to the birthday boy, which made my mama heart so proud!!
As we went to take his picture with the Cornhole Score board, he leaned on the front door, which wasn't clicked shut, and he fell into the house. Goodness did we all have a laugh (Logan included)!
The kids loved the pinata- I had ordered candy and prizes from Amazon- and for a cake Wyatt wanted a cake that looked like a cupcake. It was really fun to try and make!  It's certainly not professional, but Wyatt loved it, and it tasted great, so it was a win in our book!

Letting... Wyatt stay up late on his birthday to play one more game with Josh and I.  We played Jenga with him.  It is one of his favorites, and he was so cute about it. Him and Josh are masters, but amazingly, I was NOT the one to knock the tower over. Hooray!

Loving... how Carly uses her hair pretties and jewelry to "dress up" her bubbas (what we call stuffed animals).  She puts the bracelets on her kitties as necklaces or collars and uses the hair pretties on their ears to make them fancier. She's just so much fun.
Lately when I go to check on her before I go to bed (to see if she needs to be covered up or anything) she has her glasses on and is surrounded by all her fancy bubbas.  Such a silly girl.
I am loving also that even though she has switched from saying "lellow" to "yellow", she still says, "Yet's go!" instead of "Let's go!" and I am savoring it every time she says it.  Because I know it all goes far too quickly!!  I still tear up when I hear videos of Wyatt's lisp. I didn't even notice when he stopped having it, it was so subtle as he slowly outgrew it. It just wasn't there anymore one day.
Oh why do they have to grow up?!?

Seeing... the endodontist for a root canal and finally having no more tooth pain.  The relief of that pain being gone is indescribable.  I am light without it.  Joyful. I don't think anyone has ever been so happy to have a root canal in their lives.

Letting... Molly start sleeping in the main part of the house downstairs with Grady instead of locking her in Logan's room at night.  She was waking him up and just being a total nuisance during the night. So we watched her and Grady for a few days really closely and I decided I felt comfortable having her left alone with him.  They've been doing great and Logan is a much happier camper now that he's sleeping again!

Worrying... over Josh when he suddenly got very sick one afternoon.  Thankfully it only lasted about 12 hours and we now think it was food poisoning, but in the moment it was hard not to freak out, especially since my aunt who had COVID had some of the gastrointestinal symptoms which can happen in less severe cases.
Eek! I feel like we dodged a bullet. But Josh kept reminding me that the likelihood of him having it was so low.  He only goes to store when necessary and only sees his brother and parents.  He hasn't gone anywhere else or done anything else that would really put him at risk. But I am SUPER good at worrying. Hah!

Taking... the twins in for their annual check up after they turned 12.  They needed one shot and to get their school forms signed to participate in sports (if there are any???).  Poor Jack hadn't been out since the beginning of quarantine, so he it was his first time in a mask and he was not a fan. I felt awful for him. He seemed to feel really claustrophobic in it. 

Wanting... to update you a week after we have allowed Fortnite into our lives.  The boys are doing really well with it, and I have been impressed with them.  They play in the mornings when they wake up (because #summer and #momsleepsin) and I give them a warning so they have time to finish their match before they  have to log off.  Then they have to complete their list of chores (I'll share these in another post, but basic stuff like- get dressed, brush, unload the dishwasher) in order to earn their afternoon screen time which goes from 1-3pm.  They love it, but it's not the only thing they do during screen time.  I still find them watching their favorite YouTubers or Netflix shows.  So it hasn't taken over their lives, which is nice. 
All that said, however, I am really glad we waited until we did for them to have it because I could see how losing, getting killed, or whatever could result in a legitimate tantrum for a kid who was a little younger emotionally than the twins are.

Reading... Beach Read and enjoying it. It's not the BEST book ever, but I did enjoy it.  In addition to Beach Read, I am listening to two books.  One Hit Wonder has been a slow start for me, but I love Lisa Jewell, so I am going to stick with it; and the other I am listening to is Clap When You Land which is SO, SO good.  Highly recommend.

Watching... so much Grey's Anatomy.  I am seriously addicted. I don't want to do anything else. Can Meredith and McDreamy just get together already?!? (I am only in Season 2)

Sending... Josh to Vancouver to help his sister with her final move to our town! I still can't believe she's going to live here, and in our neighborhood!! I am so excited!
While he was gone we played outside, making up a ball game and having a super fun chalk competition (the winner got a Hershey chocolate bar from our smore stash), plus we had movie night and played lots with the kitten. Logan won the chalk competition with his rendition of a scene from Moana. I was blown away!!

Beaming... with pride as we got the boys' grades from the second semester.  For the first time in middle school, Logan got all A's, B's and C's; Jack got A's and B's; and Wyatt passed with flying colors.  Homeschool during quarantine was rough, friends, but I am really glad we stuck with it, and that our hard work paid off.  The boys are so proud of themselves and so are Josh and I!

***