Around Here: Week 12 2022

 {March 20-26th}

Taking... Carly to the pediatrician for her Well Child check up and finding out she is in the 75th percentile for height and weight.  Our tall girl!!
Also taking Carly and Wyatt to the park to play for the afternoon.  They were happy to get out of the house, and I was happy for the sunshine. 

And lastly, taking the twins to Quincy to meet up for a playdate with their cousins.  They ended their day with a hike with my dad, which was totally a highlight. 

Subbing... for a half day in Carly's class and deciding I absolutely love kindergarten and first grade the most. I also subbed in second grade this week, and enjoyed that. Really, I just love kids.  But kindergarten and first graders are just so darn innocent and sweet, they're really the best!

I work really hard in whatever class I'm in to learn the student's names.  I feel like it helps me connect with them, and helps me feel more in control of the room.  I enjoy seeing the students later in the hallways and being able to say hello.  I also really love seeing my own children at school.  It's like they have their own little lives and I love getting a glimpse of it.

Reading... Everyone is Beautiful, and enjoying the way that the story was so relatable.  This mom of three young boys moves away from everything she knows and her marriage starts to implode a bit, and it's just the sweetest, easiest read. I loved it. 

Listening... to Mariah Carey Fantasy and letting it take me fully back to eighth grade.  I think that listening to the soundtrack of my fourteenth year has helped put me back in my mindset at that age, which has made me better able to relate to my own eighth graders. I know that sounds silly, but I swear it's true.  Music has always been really emotional for me, and listening to music from that era in my life reminds me how life felt then. I'm not sure the boys have noticed, but I have. I'm more patient with them and more understanding of what is important to them right now. 

Hitting... five months old for Piper and wondering what she's going to look like when she's all grown up!

Having... counseling and feeling grateful that I can have the help I need to work through my emotions and mental health challenges. (I use Doctor on Demand and highly recommend it! We can meet anywhere I have phone service and do all the scheduling via their app. Super simple!)

Grateful... for my mom for her thoughtfulness.  When we were shopping last week at Costco, there weren't any kitchen towels in my color palette.  So she took it upon herself to get onto Walmart.com and order me the most recent Pioneer Woman hand towels.  They're seriously SO cute!! Thanks mom!
Also super grateful for my parents for helping so much with the boys' baseball expenses.  With three kids in one sport, it sure adds up!!!

Feeling... proud of Carly for starting to try doing her own hair.  She put it in the most terrible adorable pony tail ever! Haha!

Walking... to release stress that I could feel building up.  It's crazy how physical exertion so immediately makes me feel better. 

Enjoying... going to the movies with Wyatt, just the two of us.  That was how he wanted to spend some money he got, and I was more than happy to oblige.  Movie theater popcorn and candy? Yes please! After the movie, he also got to game a little bit with quarters I found in my wallet.  It made him so happy! I love this special way we spend time together. 

Loving... how Carly, Wyatt and I listen to the Encanto album on the way to school.  It's such a fun way to start our day.  Carly has been working on writing out the lyrics (see above) and her "best guess" spelling cracks me up! 

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Bits & Pieces:

Around Here: Week 11 2022

 {March 13-19th}

Listening... to the Garcia Diaries podcast (From Addiction to Conviction with Hannah Johnson), which was so interesting. They are just really real, unfiltered and fun to listen to. Bethanie's story is crazy. I listened to that as I drove to Wenatchee for a Costco run.  

Shopping... at Costco with my mom.  First we got lunch which was so lovely.  It's been two years since I sat down to eat a slice of pizza at Costco, one of my favorite past times.  And shopping with my mom was super fun, too, because she had lots of dinner ideas and new things to try that I haven't tried from Costco.  Plus we just always have a good time when we're together! 

Meeting... my sister's friends new baby boy and he is just delicious! My sister gets to baby-sit him occasionally, and seeing her little girl Romy with the baby is just the sweetest!

Dealing... emotionally with a scary situation at the twins' school.  Jack messaged me midmorning on Tuesday this week that his best friend had told him that a student brought a gun to school.  The kid had been apprehended, no one injured, but it was really scary nonetheless. This was a kid that ate at their lunch table, that they have classes with.  This friend of Jack's who is a friend of the suspect said he had heard him talking about a list weeks ago, but he thought it was a joke. I guess it wasn't (it had both teacher and student names on it) and the kid had mentioned his plan to bring a gun to a couple of his (really brave) friends and they both reported it to adults at the middle school that morning.  
The timing of everything was incredible.  Those friends told on him and then literally just after texting that he was about to get started, the police made a silent entrance into the school, located his classroom and came in before he had even taken the gun out of his backpack. In another lucky turn of events, the teacher in that class (whose name was on his list) was absent that day, delaying the start of his plan. 
My sister called crying after I texted her and my parents about it (and forwarded the news article to them). She said it was just so scary.  I agreed, and later when the boys texted for me to please pick them up early, I did so.  One of them stayed home the next few days as well. I let him be my guide, not pushing him to back before he felt comfortable, whereas the other twin was fine to go back the next day. 
For me, I just felt incredibly grateful.  For the staff that is there, for our police resource officer who's stationed regularly at their school, and for the students and friends my kids are surrounded by on a daily basis who know right from wrong. 
I spent most of the evening thinking of this boy and his poor parents and siblings, and wishing that kids knew how temporary and fleeting our time in middle and high school really are. 
It lead to some really good conversations with our boys about guns; "see something, say something"; and the emotional nature of issues we face at school during these formative years.  We told them that if they're ever feeling that frustrated like that to please come to us, and we will help in whatever way we can. Meeting with teachers, counselors or intervening with friends or students who may be behaving in hurtful ways toward them. 
Josh and I feel incredibly lucky that our boys are very easy going, water -off-a-ducks-back, type of kids who don't let rude comments or asshole-ish middle school behavior get under their skin.  As a mom I could have never guessed how much heartache this saves me. 

Grateful... Josh did the grocery shopping this week.  Making the meal plan, writing the list, and executing the actual shopping is very mentally taxing for me (I am an enneagram six and decision making is NOT my strong suit) so I am always so thankful when he will do the actual shopping for me. 

Taking care... of a very sick Carly.  She had been super emotional the day I was in Wenatchee shopping with my mom and which is unlike her.  Recently she's been super afraid of bugs (not sure why) and Josh had taken her to the park, but there was a bug on the slide.  She ran to him, crying, and didn't want to go back to play anymore after that. 
Well, come to find out, she was beginning to get sick. She spent the whole week at home with a terrible stomach bug.  Monday morning before school, she had a chocolate muffin on her plate for breakfast, and I knew instantly that something wasn't right when she ate only a bite of it.  She fell asleep randomly on the couch one afternoon, and on the rug in her bedroom another afternoon. 
In addition to taking care of Carly, I also found myself taking care of Wyatt who came home with asthma on Wednesday and then developed the same stomach bug as Carly, which Jack also succumbed to by the weekend.  He had been participating in a running challenge in PE when he started coughing and couldn't catch his breath. I could hear him coughing in the background as the health room aide called me, and I FLEW to pick him up, thankful that Jack was home so he could stay with Carly who still wasn't feeling well.  
Jack, knowing that I would get home and likely need the nebulizer for Wyatt's albuterol treatment, got it out of the closet and all set up while I was gone.  My eyes welled up when I saw what he had done for his brother and me. I am just so damn grateful for these kids. 

Picking... Logan up early on another day with a sudden migraine that sent him home and had him vomiting all over my bed. (Oops!)  He had another migraine later in the week that came on during a skateboarding session at the skate park and he vomited after that one too, but thankfully in the toilet. We are going to have to meet with the doctor about these migraines again, as the medicine I give him does nothing to help.  The only thing that helps is throwing up, and then sleeping for two or three hours.  It's an effective cure (he feels better afterwards) but it's miserable. Something's gotta give. 

Reading... Atlas of the Heart on audio and feeling it falls short compared to Brene's other books. Have you read it? What did you think? 

Being reminded... that boredom is good for kids.  My friend Tabitha always says that and I am so grateful.  Leaving Carly & Jack alone in the family room as I made dinner one evening lead to them creating a pillow fort and laughing harder together than they ever have.  Without Tab's words on my heart, I'm not sure I would have left them there.  I likely would have directed their activities and told them what to do. 

Laughing... at Carly putting on Jack's gaming headphones while he ran to the bathroom. It was her cousins he was playing with, so she chatted with them and tried her hand at Fortnite.  Silly girl!
I also laughed as she did my hair for the first time, putting two sparkly bows in it, and telling me how beautiful it looked. 

Sending... the twins to baseball tryouts with Josh and hoping they get placed on a good team.  Jack is a good pitcher and Logan loves first base.  Together they are an amazing team, Logan being a lefty and all. We'll see what happens!

Watching... the teenager episode of South Park with Josh and cracking up. Oh my gosh it was accurate on so many accounts. Then he shared it (here's a clip- WARNING: swearing) with the twins, and they were cracking up. It's Season 25/Episode 5 if you're interested. It's not super appropriate, but we aren't as concerned with that as we once were. They are in eighth grade, headed to high school next year. There is likely not a lot they haven't already been exposed to, so we are a little more relaxed on certain rules than we ever have been. 

Enjoying... the kids' playing four square in every way after school.  Sometimes it's regular four square, but often it's just a two-square version of the game between Wyatt and Jack or Wyatt and Carly.  I am also enjoying watching Logan skateboard.  He is really loving skating and I'm so happy for him to have a hobby that brings him so much joy. 
I am also enjoying the spring (ish) weather.  The sunshine on my face and the pull to do bits of spring cleaning.  The only bummer is that Piper enjoys eating flowers, so I have to really watch her around my tulips and my hyacinth.  Little trouble maker!

Spying... the moon peeking in my high living room window at me as I sat up late one night.  Somehow that is always so comforting to me. 

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Bits & Pieces:

It's the "Mommmmmmm" that got me. 
haha!