Week 37 Around Here {2019}

"Mornings" by Carly

Reading... Searching for Sylvie Lee on audio and finishing Maybe You Should Talk to Someone.  Searching for Sylvie Lee had me listening every minute I got the chance. It was really good.  Maybe You Should Talk to Someone was good (I loved all the psychology advice and the therapist's perspective #totaltherapynerd) but it wasn't a page turner like I thought it would be.  Just a 3 star book for me.

Shopping... for new furniture on Saturday while our mother-in-law (bless her!) had all four kids for us.  We found a new couch for the living room, a reading chair for my bedroom (swoon!), new mattresses for the boys' beds and a new bedroom set for Josh and myself.  It's white and looks like a sleigh... it's super dreamy!  I've never had a headboard and feel like a certified grown up now. Hah!

Anticipating... the next steps for my in-laws house.  It's been so exciting to watch as their house has been built from the ground up on the land they purchased nearly two years ago.

Hanging... curtains in all the windows finally.  It's really starting to feel homey and every room I walk in puts a huge smile on my face.  I am just feeling so blessed to be here.

Riding... the boys' four wheelers with them after a little shopping with just Jack on Sunday.  I have never even watched them ride their quads, let alone ridden with them.  (Because I know myself- and I knew that if I watched them ride I would never want to let them ride again. Hah!!!) But Jack convinced me to give it a try, and Grandma Carol let me borrow her cute pink helmet.
I think mostly I screamed, but it was REALLY fun!  Jack is the easiest to ride with cause he knew to slow down on the turns and always warned me before he went really fast.  Wyatt is a TOTAL daredevil, and I thought I might die while I was with him, or at the very least end up in the ER having to explain to some reasonable doctor why I thought it was a good idea to get behind the wheel while my 8 year old was driving. I couldn't get off that thing fast enough. Hahah! I would have never guessed that he was such a crazy driver!
Logan was DRUNK with power, knowing that I had no control while he was driving, so he kept going and going, taking me round and round at full blast, nearly tipping us over twice because he had trouble adjusting to my additional weight on the back.  It was an adventure, that's for sure.  These boys are keeping me young.

Weeding... the front yard with my sister while our crazy crew ran around in the house.  The front walk looks gorgeous now and I was so happy to be able to show her our new digs now that we're a little more settled.  (She had last seen it the day we were moving in.)  She brought some great housewarming gifts, too- new glasses and cutting boards- which was so sweet!

Receiving... two more amazing housewarming gifts this week as well.  One from my friend Shana- a set of new snapware for leftovers that is the cutest!  And the other is a set of 8 different colored Fiestaware plates, the medium size, which I have been wanting forever, from my mom.  Thanks ladies!!! You make a girl feel so loved!

Dealing... with a bully with one of my kids and really feeling that whole "Having a kid is like having your heart beat outside your body" quote.
So, so hard.
But we talked with the counselor and some teachers and I think the problem is solved.  At least I hope so.  The kid was name calling (regarding weight) and just really beating our kiddo down.  It was heartbreaking.  I am so grateful my son knew he could tell me and that together we could get it resolved after just a few weeks of it happening.

Getting... sick for the first time this season.  Yuck.  I didn't miss that this summer.  I am so snotty and my eye won't quit watering and I just want to sleep, sleep, sleep.  Logan and Wyatt got sick, too, but no one seems to have gotten it quite as bad as I did.  So this week required a lot of self care- naps, early bedtimes, good food and Netflix.

Shocked... that it's been four years since we found out Babyham #4 was a girl.  I still remember so clearly what life with all boys was like.  I still remember so clearly going into that ultrasound and telling her I wasn't finding out the sex, but if she could write it in an envelope for me to give my sister, that'd be great.  And I will ALWAYS remember the reveal and how my eyes instantly teared up when I saw the pink confetti floating down.  All my dreams of motherhood were coming true.
I had my boys, those three brothers, whom I loved fiercely, and now I would have my daughter, their sister.  A little one to soften our edges and slow down their growing up.  And she has done just that. 

Laughing... out loud when I read the answer to "Tell how you solved the problem" on Wyatt's math sheet.
"I'm smart" he wrote confidently.
I was dy.ing. when I showed Josh and he too busted up.  When Wyatt's big brothers saw they couldn't believe he had the audacity to write that and asked Wyatt what his teacher had said.  He said that she didn't say anything.  But we encouraged him to actually answer the question next time.  Even if his answer was funny.  And true.

Also laughing... when I found Carly's "phone" on Josh's wireless charger one morning after we had walked Wyatt to the bus stop.  When I asked her why it was there she said distractedly, "Oh, it's charging." Like, duh mom.

Discouraged... when I showed up for the twins' middle school open house (having left Josh and the two little kids at home for bedtime) only to be told that it was being run to mimic your child's school day, with bells signaling the end of each class, etc.  When I approached the principal and told her of my predicament (two students/one parent...) she laughed and said, "Just pick one, I guess" like it was no big deal.  Then Jack said, "Yeah, who's your favorite mom?"
There were at least two emails that went out about this, and a paper that went home as well, and none of them gave us an outline of the evening.  If the agenda had been made public, I would have shown up with Josh and we would have divided and conquered.  Instead I found myself trying to meet 14 teachers in 7 time slots and running all over their school like a chicken with my head cut off.  It was very frustrating.  And I know I'm not the only twin mom of sixth graders.  There are at least four of us.  And those are just the ones I know of. #twinmomprobs
On a less negative twin note- isn't it fascinating the size difference between my twins?!? Jack is SO much taller than Logan!  I find it really interesting.  Most identical twins only differ by two inches (at the MOST) in height.  These guys are closer to four inches apart.

Enjoying... my day-long break from Carly on Thursday.  She goes to spend the day with Grandma and I get a day to myself.  This week I unpacked more boxes, getting our room emptied and felt really pleased with the progress.

Searching... for an entry table for our new house, to hold our keys and stuff.  I'm looking for a half round table (like these).

Very happy... with how the twins' room turned out.  They are LOVING it, and despite it being a little cramped, it's actually super functional.  They are in there everyday after school using their desks to do homework.  I love it!
I'm also very happy with our new furniture, which was delivered Tuesday.  The couch is gorgeous (!) and the chair in my bedroom may just be my new happy place!

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Week 36 Around Here {2019}

(Logan, Adam's son Brent, and Jack)

The whole gang

Carly LOVED Nate's sweet dog Gabby

Hearing... someone say there are 12 weeks left this year and that's a great amount of time in which to start a new habit, to help you go into the new year with some of your goals already in motion.  I really like that idea!

Taking... the kids to Silverwood Theme Park on Saturday with the tickets they earned after reading over 600 minutes each last spring.  The weather was hot and it was crowded, but we made the best of the day anyway and had loads of fun.  Carly was, hands down, the most enthusiastic.  She was also sure she could go on every ride (even Panic Plunge) and was so sad whenever we told her no. (Sister is FEARLESS!) The boys fought over who got to take her on her rides, which warmed my mama heart to no end.  They're so good to her.
Logan, like Carly, is fearless, whereas Jack is more cautious.  Wyatt, like his mother, will get on a ride and then, as it's going, second guess whether that was a good idea or not.  Hah!  Luckily on nearly every ride he had Josh with him to talk him down and remind him to have fun.

Sticking... close to home Sunday after canceling our lake plans.  Josh wasn't feeling well (at all! poor guy!) so I worked on unpacking bit by bit while keeping track of the kids and checking on him periodically.  I got the towels unpacked and the linen closet organized while Josh slept.  I was super proud of myself when I built Carly's new scooter all by myself (!) so she could ride with her brothers.  Normally I reserve those kinds of jobs for Josh.

Listening... to The Last Romantics on Overdrive and really enjoying the storytelling.  Sometimes I feel like listening to a story is cheating (like it shouldn't count as reading) but lately I've been noticing how much I really enjoy my time when I am listening to a good story, and I have decided to do away with the guilt of not "reading" it, and just luxuriate in the deliciousness of a well told tale.

Reading... Eden's Outcasts for book club and struggling to get into it a bit. It's been hard to have a long stretch of time to really dig my teeth in.  Luckily we extended this one into next month, so I have a little more time to get there.  The book is about Louisa May Alcott and her dad, so the content is interesting to me... it's just not a page turner necessarily.

Praying... for my goddaughter Ilya whose aunt passed away after a tubing accident on the river.  It's a devastating loss for her personally (and her whole family), but also for their community where her aunt was so beloved.

Spending... Memorial Day at Josh's cousin Nate's house.  Nate and his wife Dunette have two kiddos and they invited Josh and Nate's other cousin Adam and his wife and their eight kids over as well, and we had the most fun catching up and letting the kids all play together.  Adam's kids and ours look SO much alike it's eery, and I love talking to Dunnette because she's so super real about motherhood. It was a great way to close out the summer, spending time with family.  Thanks again for hosting, guys.  It was so fun!!!

Getting... a phone call asking me if I had a cat.  I said, "Yeeees...." sort of slowly as Les, my "neighbor" (over two blocks away) explained that his wife had been looking out their back window when she saw a cat in their koi pond drowning and ran out to save it.
Turns out our boy cat George had gotten out when Logan was taking the garbage out that morning and had somehow made his way from our house to Les's house, two blocks (and then some) over and gone fishing in his koi pond, not bothering to determine how he'd get out after he caught the fish.  I rushed over to their house and found a soaking wet, very sad George in the grass on their side yard.  I brought him home, rinsed him off in our extra deep kitchen sink, feeling grateful for the sprayer this faucet has and rubbed him dry in a clean towel.  He definitely used one of his nine lives that time.

Enduring... total chaos everyday after school.  We are still in that "Sign All The Things/No Routine/Where Does Stuff Go?" part of school starting that comes when you have also moved the week school started.  It's ugly, people.  Add to that that the twins have started middle school (seven classes, each/fourteen total) and I am easily the most overwhelmed I have ever been at the start of school.
I keep wishing I could just video-montage my way through September and land somehow mid-October when all the papers are signed, all the routines are memorized and all the boxes are unpacked.  Instead I just keep plugging away, day after day, doing what I can on top of the regular daily life that often takes all my time.  (Dishes, feeding, laundry, cleaning... to name a few)

Loving... Jack's new loft bed that came on Tuesday!  Logan slept underneath Jack's desk, even though it's a loft bed and not a bunk bed since Logan's came a day later.  We are so happy with them.  They were my friend Shana's brain child and they have doubled the square footage in the boys' bedroom.  I can't wait to share pics of their finished room when we wrap it up next week!

Enjoying... how Carly plays with her new instruments with her stuffed animals.  A couple times this week I found her stuffed animals set up like a band, each with instruments to play, and whenever we go anywhere she wants to bring her music with her in her purse.  It's so cute!  Especially since Jack joined band and actually got a real trumpet and has to practice, so she's doing a lot of mimicking & practicing with him.  It's precious.

Finally... watching Season 3 of The Handmaid's Tale after being unable to watch all summer with the kids home.  I am riveted, wondering what is going to happen with June, Nicole and Aunt Lydia. Gah. It's all so consuming!

Also watching... "I Survived I Kissed Dating Goodbye" which was... well, I can't find the words for it...  It was validating, and sad, and proved in a way that what I felt was real.  (You can watch it free here) It confirmed that the Purity movement was not all it was cracked up to be and that many were hurt by it.  You can read Josh Harris' statement here- and I will admit that I did cry during the film when he apologized for any harm his book may have caused.  I personally was made to feel like an infatuated, over-the-top, boy-crazy harlot by the leaders of my church simply because I had a lot of crushes and wanted a boyfriend during a time when the church was encouraging us to give up dating, and to save not only sex for marriage, but also kissing and even handholding.  Looking back, I wish I could give 15 year old Shelly a hug and tell her what an amazing girl she was- how Godly and kind and good.  Instead I repeated the message in my head of "not enough" "not enough" "not enough"...  Especially when it came to holiness.  It makes me sad.
You can watch his TedTalk about admitting when we are wrong here.  It's so good.  It's been very healing to dive into this and explore some of these feelings that I had in my youth and that I still have today about how my religion shaped my sexuality.  It's all quite bizarre.

Organizing.... the house in some places while others remain in mass chaos.  For instance, I got the spice cupboard done this week, which is great for cooking; but I didn't get the desk done, which means it's pretty chaotic when I sit down to check my email or blog.

Sending... Carly off to Grandma School on Thursday, where she was overjoyed to work on her "ABC's and math". (That's what she told Logan she was going to do.)  Josh's mom has her for the whole day on Thursdays so I can have a day to myself, and I cannot even tell you what that day does for my mental well being.  Knowing I have an entire day to myself during the week, to do with whatever I please, is like being handed $1,000 every week.  It's priceless.  Plus, it's the highlight of Carly's week, too, so it's win/win!

Closing... out the week with some amazing pizza and a quiet Friday evening with my guys (Josh and his brother Samuel) which was just what I needed after a whirlwind of a week.  Here's hoping things settle down a little more for us next week.

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