Around Here: Week 7 2022

 {February 13-19th}

For the 101st Day of School, the kindergarten teachers dressed up. 
How cute are they?!?

Noticing... details about our little Piper pup.  Details like how both her ears are up now, and how she has eyelashes.  Grady doesn't have eyelashes, but our sweet girl does. They're so beautiful. 

Mommin'... as always, with Carly's hair do.  For Valentine's I did a heart (sort of) and I was really happy with how it turned out. 

Dreaming... of someday owning land with Josh and adopting all the old German Shepherds.  We joined a German Shepherd group on Facebook when we adopted Piper, so now we see all the available pups at any of the local shelters. We joke that we will run a German Shepherd Retirement home when our kids are grown. 

Feeling... happy as I attended Book Club Zoom this week.  Those girls always leave me feeling loved and connected. 
Also feeling relieved to be reminded that all the stories I have inside me bursting to get out, will wait for me.  My Mine To Tell writing courses have been amazing, but the thing I will take with me when they end is that the stones in my pockets, those little ideas of stories, will sit patiently until I pull them out, one by one, when I'm ready to get them down on paper. 

Doing... high school registration with the twins this week, and feeling so verkplempt that time is passing so quickly. 
But also realizing that parenting as the kids grow up doesn't get easier. It just gets different. I am less physically exhausted, but more emotionally exhausted. Case in point:
We were leaving registration at the high school (so my emotions were already heightened) and the twins wanted to go home and game.  I broke the news to them that we were actually going to go  home and do chores (dishes and cleaning their rooms) when one of them said, "You don't do anything. We do everything around the house. You only do laundry." 
I promptly pulled the car over and when they asked why, I told them that I don't run kids around town, I only do laundry. 

Apologies promptly followed and I drove them home to do their chores. 
Oh, teenagers.  They just know everything!

Missing... Wyatt's basketball game this week, which felt terrible, especially since my parents made the trip, and I didn't go to last week's game. But I had a killer migraine and sitting in a gym with bouncing basketballs and yelling parents would not have been the right thing.  

Watching... Lennox Hill this week. Gosh it was so good! Like Grey's Anatomy, but real! I also watched Love Is Blind on Friday while Josh was off and the kids had a half day. I was emotional and PMSing, but petting George and blogging helped. 

Laughing... at Carly singing all the time.  Her made up songs are the cutest, funniest, most tender things you ever heard. 

Trying.... a personal values card sort with Josh and finding our answers very indicative of who we are. 

Struggling... with starting the week behind, especially in regards to laundry.  Also struggling to get ahold of the couch warranty people as I was on hold for THREE hours. I was so frustrated!!!

Crossing... framing the kids' art off my to-do list.  It started with Carly coming home with the most beautiful rainbow she made at the Art Station in kindergarten.  That inspired me to find my favorite pieces of art from all the kids (some finger painting the twins did as toddlers, and a picture of our first house that Wyatt made in kindergarten) and purchase frames to fit them all.  I'm unsure where I am going to hang them, but I am so happy to have them safely framed and ready for hanging. 

Celebrating... a super fun Super Bowl with a party at my parents' house with cousins and my brother.  The half time show (I cannot even!) was so, so good! The food was also good and the love I got from my niece was beyond heartwarming! Most of the time she is a mama's girl, but since my sister was home with Lulu's sick brother, she was my little sidekick for the day! 

Learning... about intuitive eating and hoping that I can implement some of those ideas into my life. 

Making... some hard decisions about setting down old friendships that don't support the LGBTQ community.  It's too important to me that we love & accept everybody to tolerate close mindedness and hate.  But oof if these decisions aren't heart breaking and tough to make. 

Loving... working on the blog. I enjoy looking back so much on our regular, ordinary days.  I also love our movie nights lately- pizza and cookies and a movie, and all four kids, snuggled up cozy on the couch together watching a movie. 

Thankful... that Josh's love language is acts of service, and most often, I am the recipient of those acts.  This week he re-hung the tennis ball in the garage that I use as a measure of where I should park; moved the snowblower out of the garage, giving us so much more space to access both the van and the standing freezer that has all our pig meat in it; and got me a new van key as mine (the key with the fob on it) was breaking apart and getting hard to use.  I am so lucky that he wants to do all those things for me and always does them with the best attitude. In addition to all that, he got me the most beautiful roses for Valentine's Day.  I am so lucky he's mine. Thank, babe! 

And grateful... that my parents got the twins an experience for Christmas that they were able to do this weekend.  They tried snowboarding for the first time, which they got to do with an instructor, and it was 100% fun for Logan and while it was less so for Jack, they both had a good time. 

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Around Here: Week 6 2022

 {February 6-12th}

Enjoying... some Goodwill shopping all on my own. I had a small list, picture frames and whatnot, and it was a very successful trip. I found the frames I needed, and a shelf for the bathroom along with some other things. 

Feeling... like a good mom and aunt today for having my nephew Ferris over for a sleepover.  Wyatt was especially thrilled. So cute. 

Doing... a little running around for Josh this week, and ending up at his parents' land for one thing. He's working on finishing his the house and it makes me so proud of him. 

Mommin'... with little girl hair dos, and getting Carly ready for Hundreds Day. (She wore grey spray in her hair, so funny!) 

Reading... Hamnet, which is about Shakespeare's son Hamnet who died; and reading Chernobyl aloud at bedtime to the boys; and listening to Station Eleven on audio. That's the second time I've listened to it, and I enjoyed it so much. We watched Station Eleven, the series, on HBO Max, and while we liked it (and I would recommend it) it differed quite a bit from the novel. 

Watching... Piper go to her crate when we tell her (she's been able to be in there for up to six hours!) and feeling so proud.  She also waits to be fed, sitting in front of her dish like a good girl, every time we feed her. She also isn't having an accidents.  We have a really cool bell that we've used for Grady, and now Piper has learned to ring it if she wants out.  Her ears are down currently, which the vet tells me is due to teething. She is three months old  and I am just blown away by how quickly she has mastered everything. 

Laughing...  hysterically at this interaction Carly had with the lady at the eyeglass place inside Walmart:

The lady, after filling my eyeglass spray container, told Carly she loved her purple glasses.  Carly said, "Thank you! My name's Carly. I just turned six. My mom threw me an "after party" and my grandma and papa came."
I was cracking up as a worker we weren't interacting with popped his head up, hearing Carly mention her "after party". I explained she meant that her party was simply after her birthday, but we all just kept laughing and as I left I said, "You do only turn six once!" 

Trying... the new Jim Gaffigan special for date night (on Netflix, highly recommend. He's so funny!), and we included Taco Bell as we were both too exhausted (mostly emotionally) after the week we have had to make pizza from scratch like we usually do. 

Struggling... with homework battles, teenage relationships ending (oh the heartache of a break up), parenting in general (have you heard of Omegle? If you have a teen, ask them about it and make sure they're not on it) and a HUGE physical fight between the twins. This week was a doozy.  It makes me grateful for a good partner, who shares the burden with me. 
We just struggled in general with adulting this week, bills, house stuff, and discussing end of life care with loved ones. It's all so damn heavy. It makes me super grateful for my counselor. 

Crossing... organizing the second pantry off the list. I also organized our closet, and Carly did my earrings. She was such an enthusiastic helper. I love that about her. The second pantry has lots of our arts & crafts, and it's been a source of pain for some time. This is probably the sixth time I have cleaned it out and tried to make sense of it all.  But this time I bought some baskets and I really think it will stay manageable.  (fingers crossed)

Celebrating... Carly's birthday with Josh's side of the family and having the best time.  Josh's dad was able to play pool a little with our nephew, and Carly was so touched at being sung Happy Birthday, she teared up. I love that sensitive little soul so darn much. 

Learning... that social time for me doesn't have to be in person.  I attend book club on Zoom, and have taken to facetiming with some friends of mine once a week, and goodness if it doesn't fill my soul. So thankful for them, and for technology. 

Loving... the flowers Josh brought back from Costco for me.  They were so colorful and happy and not something I would normally have picked for myself. 

Grateful... for Carly's zest for life. She is so inspiring to me. Reminds me to find the joy all around me. Also grateful Josh got some time with his dad at lunch this week.  Just imagining them together, eating and talking, made my heart swell with gratitude.  

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