Week 31 Around Here {2019}

throwback :: july 2016

  Watching... our garden grow and eating cucumber and peas straight out of it.  It is so lush & green.  I think the sunflowers are my favorite.  They tower over all of us, and I feel like they're smiling at the whole neighborhood as they drive by. 

Loving... these last few weeks in our first house.  It's bittersweet to know that we are moving on.  We have made so many sweet memories in this house and built a beautiful life in our new hometown here.  I will miss how comfortable we are here.  I will miss our front stoop and flower beds.  Wyatt will miss our garden.  Josh will miss all the finished projects he's completed.  But all of us are excited for different parts of the new house.  The boys are mostly excited that our new house has stairs.  Hah!

Attending... the inspection on our new house, and getting to meet the current owners.  I was thrilled to meet the sweet couple who has put all that work into our new home and to tell them how excited we are to move in.  The wife is a sign language interpreter and I laughed as I told her that my husband and I met in sign language class in high school.  She had the same table cloth that matches the curtains I have in my current kitchen, and we share the same sentimentality about leaving behind the houses we have turned into homes over the years.  It's like it was all meant to be.
Spending an hour and a half at the house had me falling in love with it all over again, and I was so grateful when the husband took the time to show me all around the garden so I could console Wyatt's broken heart about leaving behind our gorgeous garden.  In our new house we will have cucumbers and watermelon and tomatoes, like we do now, plus raspberries and a few other things we don't currently have.

Enjoying... these days while Carly is in her "Mama's girl" phase.  If I am running an errand, she wants to be my sidekick.  If I am painting my toenails, she wants me to paint her toenails.  If I am gardening outside, she wants to be gardening outside. She is my mini-me, and I know from the boys that this stage won't last forever, so I am soaking up every second of it.

Splashing... with the kids at the waterpark two days in a row this week.  First we went as a family Monday so they could do the inspection on our house for the new buyer.  Then on Tuesday we met up with Roxanne's family so the cousins could all party together at the pool.  Carly & Romy played so cute together in the shallow water. 

Filling... out lots of paperwork, gathering necessary documents and doing lots of terrible "adulting" to get everything in order for the houses to sell/be purchased.  In addition to the inspection, we also had an appraisal this week.  It's a lot, but the good news is that it seems like everything is moving along really quickly and we should be moved in before the end of the month.  Maybe even before school starts for our kids!!

Driving... Jack to a truck stop to meet my sister and her crew so he could tag along with them to Vancouver to see my parents.  She offered on Tuesday when we were at the pool, and I couldn't say no.  Being one kid down during the crazy chaos of moving has been lovely.  And he, as you can imagine, is having the time of his life!!!

Reading... Moloka'i and enjoying it so much.  I am also listening to The Current, which is disturbing and I am dying to know who did it!!
I sadly closed out July with my "least books read" so far this year.  Three.  That's it.  Three measly books.  But getting the house ready to go on the market took a lot of my time, as did two trips- one to Vancouver & one to Lake Wenatchee- as well as taking care of four kids full time with school out for summer.

Crossing... my fingers that the starts my father-in-law cut off our dinner plate hibiscus bush will grow and be hearty plants that we can use to grow our own hibiscus at our new house.  I love that plant so much!!!

Mommin'... pretty hard this week with two playdates, a few trips to some parks and a trip to the library to get some fresh reading material.  I am so thankful for friends who take my kids off my hands (hi Emilia! hi Priscilla!) when life is gets busy.  And thankful for some quiet mornings (thanks to the twins' morning math class) that gave me the opportunity to visit new parks with Wyatt & Carly. 

Blogging... my little heart out in the calm before the storm.  I wanted desperately to get the blog caught up before we had to start packing for the move.  So today's post is being posted on the actual day it should be (hooray!) and tomorrow I am supposed to start packing.  Wahoo! I made it!!

Making me laugh:

{thanks betsy}

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Here's to having steady souls,

despite all the chaos that surrounds us.

Hugs, my friends.

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Around Here: Week 36 {2018}

{Medicine cabinet in the main bathroom}

{Under the kitchen sink}

Loving... the return to warm weather.  It's been a little warmer this week than last week and it's perfect walking weather.  Saturday morning the boys and I walked on the water front, and every other day this week we walked to school and it's been so lovely.  I am soaking up every minute of it because I know that before I know it, the weather will change and we'll be bundling up.

Enjoying... date night with Josh on Friday and drooling over how delicious the pizza was. I'm telling you, his pizzas are to die for. Sooo yummy!  We watched an episode of Blue Bloods, one of our favorites, and enjoyed the delicious dinner sans kids (who were already in bed) and it was a much-needed respite after a rough afternoon & evening parenting sassy children.

Reading... lots of books to Carly as she is suddenly loving books.  She's always loved books at bedtime, but now she is asking to be read to all.the.time.  Luckily there are many willing readers in our house.  The boys will all read to her, although Josh probably reads to her the most.
The boys are all reading a ton lately, too.  Jack just started the first Harry Potter book, which he's LOVING! And Logan is re-reading My Side of the Mountain, which I read to them a few years ago.  Wyatt can also be found with his nose in a book just about any time.
I am reading P.S. I Still Love You, the sequel of "To All The Boys I've Loved Before" and am listening to After Anna on audio.  Both are really good and I find I'm making lots of time for reading because of how engrossing the stories are!

Laughing... at some of the things Carly says.  For instance, the rose buds on our rose bushes she says need to "crack open", then they will be flowers.  And when we got a new wipes container that hadn't been opened yet, she told me it was "locked" because the plastic piece hadn't been taken out yet, so she couldn't pull a wipe out.

Spending... Sunday of Labor Day weekend with my sister and her three kids at the water park.  We had so much fun, even though we were desperately outnumbered by children! (7:2) Ha!
The kids were great about staying together as a group so we could keep our eyes on them, and even though we had quite a few mishaps (so many that it got quite comical, in fact) we managed to keep smiles on our faces.
Wyatt slipped as he was jumping in the pool and got the biggest goose egg on the back of his head that I have EVER seen.  It was the size of two of his fists above his neck.  But he didn't lose consciousness or have any symptoms other than a headache, so we didn't have to worry about concussion.  We iced and kept a good eye on him for 24 hours.  Then Carly fell off the picnic table bench onto the concrete, but recovered quickly.  Then Jack got stung by a yellow jacket on the belly, but also recovered quickly. It was crazy!
When we had had our fill of splashy fun at the water park, we headed home for store bought pizza and a movie.  The kids had so much fun together and it was a great last hurrah of summer.  I cannot say enough how grateful I am that my sister moved so close.  (She's a little over an hour away.)  It's been the best thing ever to get our kids together and spend so much time with her.

Grateful... the kids' behavior seems to have mellowed a bit as the week wore on.  I think that settling into school and a new routine and new teachers and classrooms and expectations took a little more out of them than I had expected, and we all paid the price the last few days.

Watching... our garden grow.  The pumpkins are starting to take off.  Our tomatoes are still producing like crazy (and are SO delicious!).  And we are all in AWE of Wyatt's sunflower, that he grew from a SEED back in May.  It's finally starting to open and the thing is taller than any of us, and bigger than Wyatt's head!  The stalk is so thick and strong, it's just amazing!

Organizing... like crazy on Labor Day with the help of the twins.  Their consequence for being disrespectful so much on Friday & Saturday was having extra chores on Monday, which was just fine by me! (hehe)
We did our regular chores (cleaning the bathrooms, vacuuming, and sweeping & mopping) and then we also organized the office, cleaned out under the kitchen sink, tidied the craft shelf in the dining room and (the BIG project) organized the medicine closet in the main bathroom (which was a DISASTER). I ran to Dollar Tree before I started on the medicine cabinet and spent less than $10 on bins and organizers that helped make the job so.much.easier!

Sending... Wyatt to the land (his parents' 40 acres) with Josh on Monday (while the twins helped with all the chores) so he could play with Grandma.  Josh and his dad and brother were working on Josh's parents' shop (they have built the entire thing!) putting in a garage door and Wyatt got to spend some special time with Grandma Carol.  He had so much fun, but came home SO filthy.  Haha!  I had to put him back in the shower twice because he had missed spots! Oh but the memories he made!!!

Making... smoothies all week and loving them.  This week I added some fresh berries instead of frozen ones (blueberries, raspberries and strawberries) and they've been super yummy alongside my bananas, apples and spinach.  Logan usually requests a smoothie as well, but this week even Wyatt has wanted one, so I'm sharing lots!

Cleaning... out my purse and finding not two or three, but nine pens total inside of it. ...I may have a slight pen obsession.
On another note, it felt really good to clean out my purse!

Forcing... myself to meal plan and get groceries during the week.  I used to go on the weekends so the big boys could come along and help me, but now that Carly is a little older, I am able to go on my own just fine during the week, and it's nice to have it done so our weekends are wide open without any agenda. The boys are tickled as well.

Meeting... up with a girlfriend for a workout followed by lunch this week, and it filled my heart up.  I was so happy to spend time with her, and to really embrace the excellent parts of stay-at-home motherhood like hanging out with a friend and going out to lunch.  I ended that day feeling so, so blessed.

Trying... yellow watermelon that Josh's parents gave us.  I wasn't sure what to expect, but it's very similar to regular pink watermelon.  It's just got a bit of a cantaloupe-y taste to it.  Carly and Wyatt LOVE it, Josh likes it.  I would say that I tolerate it, but that's only because I am not a huge cantaloupe fan.  It's really a beautiful fruit and was super fun to cut, though!

Playing... outside every afternoon.  Josh gets home from work early and we have been making sure we get some outside time in before dinner.  It's so nice.  He plays bean bag toss with Wyatt or catch with the twins.  Sometimes they play basketball.  I mostly sit in my chairs on the porch and read. It's so dreamy.  Especially now that we have our white picket fence to keep Carly corralled.  It's so awesome to know that she's safe and sound from the street.

Staying... up all night with Logan who was adjusting (poorly) to a dose increase on Lamictal and having really severe headaches from it.  Thankfully we had a neurology appointment yesterday (Thursday) and made some changes.

Driving... Logan (and Carly) to Spokane for Logan's neurology appointment.  His doctor wasn't happy with how many seizures he's having (about one a week) so she suggested a medication change.  We are going to switch him from Lamictal to Tegretol (which is what Josh takes to control his seizures) in hopes that what works for Josh will work for Logan as well.
Having watched two of his seizures on video, she has determined that his seizures are most likely focal seizures, not generalized and Tegretol will be a good medication for that.  His eyes and the fact that he's having lots of mouth movements during the seizures are what tell her they are focal (starting in one place in the brain) and not generalized (all over the brain at once).
In addition to getting new daily medication, we got rescue meds for when he has a seizure lasting longer than five minutes.  I got a dissolvable medication that I can place in his mouth in the event of a long seizure that should stop the seizure.
All in all, the appointment left me feeling very hopeful, and grateful for his doctor who told Logan her goal is no seizures and no side effects.  She believes we can get there, we just haven't found the right medication yet.

Visiting... with my grandparents and Uncle Steve who swung by on their way home from North Dakota last night.  It was a short visit, but it was so nice to see them, nonetheless.  Carly adores my grandparents, which warms my heart to no end, and I rarely get to see my uncle, so that was a treat.  I'm so grateful for every visit.

Rushing... to the office when I heard Logan had a seizure as I strolled up to the school with Wyatt Friday morning to drop him off at school.  The twins ride to school ahead of me (I walk, pushing the stroller and they ride scooters or bikes).  Apparently after they had parked their scooters this morning, Logan had felt a seizure coming on.  On the school's video camera I saw him grab Jack's shoulder, tell him he was going to have a seizure, then lean against the brick wall.  Jack got Logan settled against the wall, then ran to find an adult.  The seizure lasted about three minutes, then ended.  The staff handled it beautifully and Logan had been moved to the office just before I arrived.  He came right out of the seizure and his only side effect was a gnarly headache.  So he came home with me, took a nap and spent the afternoon resting.
We knew he was due for a seizure, as it had been eight days since his last one.  I am just so proud of how well and Jack handled it. It took all my self control not to cry when I told Jack how thankful I was for him and how proud of him I was.  He shrugged it off, like always, saying it was no big deal.  Logan, also humble, said the seizure was nothing, and he was fine.  They are two of the strongest boys I know, and I feel so lucky to have their example in my life.

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Making me laugh:

Making me think:

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