Around Here: Week 23 2023

 {June 4-10th}

"Hard Work" is my word(s) of the year for 2023.
Every once in a while I make a new lock screen to remind me. 

One morning I came down and Carly had "locked" the fridge and only she had the code.
I was trapped in the dungeon, apparently. 

Her fridge lock. :) Her creativity always makes me smile. 

Like any kid, she prefers to only eat the marshmallows from the Lucky Charms.
This morning she stacked them up in like towers and then goes, 
"Look mom! It's a graph!"

Josh got this beautiful cactus basket from his coworkers when his dad passed. 

Get a dog, they said.
It'll be fun, they said.

The details are amazing. On the bedside table she has a water bottle and a box of kleenex.
She drew my comforter (complete with flowers) perfectly. She has a stuffed animal named "Long kitty" who is in fact a two foot long, super skinny stuffed cat (seen in bed beside  her). I was for sure sad when she was sick (see my frown?) and she slept with me for three days (see the "Zzzz"'s by her head?). Gosh she's magic. 

Meeting... my dad to pick up the boys from Quincy. My parents are over an hour away from us, so we often meet in the middle to trade kids. It's so nice. After I grabbed the boys, we came home and did chores to set us up for a good week. 

Finishing... both my classes with A's! Yay! I am going to enjoy the last few days of break between classes (we normally don't get a break, but my next class didn't have a start date until a week after my last one) and try to catch up on life in general!

Seeing... the doctor for my scalp- I have all these clogged pores that I keep convincing myself are skin cancer, so I saw him to put my mind at ease and to get a dermatology referral. 

Planning... my trip, making lists, creating outfits and praying I can make it all fit in my carry on. 

Counseling... again this week and talking about forgiveness.  She said forgiveness doesn't mean you have done the healing yet. You still have to feel the feels. Also, sometimes you need to discuss the thing before you can really forgive it. So much work to being a well rounded grown up!

Getting... more hours in on my ESL classroom field experience for summer.  I have been annoyed that the summer classes still require field experience hours.  Like, hello! School is out. How are we supposed to get time in a science or English Language classroom when no one is there. Annoying. 

Smiling... so big when the twins' friends said to make sure they are there on Tuesday (their birthday) because they have something big planned for them. It makes me grateful they have good friends, and grateful that they are good friends. 

Smiling even bigger... when those sweet girls sent me pics of the twins' at-school celebration. Those boys are just so cute and so fun, and they're so lucky to be so loved. 

Surprising... them with the biggest surprise we've ever pulled off! We went out to the land to celebrate their birthdays (do I write birthday? Since it's the same day? Or birthdays since there are two of them?) with Grandma Carol, Aunt Julie and Uncle Samuel. Then I asked them to join me in the garage to see the chicks and there were their dirt bikes. They were shocked and so excited! They immediately grabbed helmets and gear and hopped on to give them a try.  They couldn't believe how powerful and fast they are compared to their old ones. (Thanks Carol and mom & dad for pitching in on this huge gift. We are all so grateful!) 

Making... smoothies almost daily with Carly.  Bananas, some yogurt, frozen strawberries, applesauce or apple slices and ice. So yum!

Watching... Carly's class perform "Fifty Nifty United States" and hoping that she always remembers the song because that is a GREAT way to memorize all fifty states and I gotta be honest, I'm not sure I could name them all!

Shadowing... Mr. Brown the PE teacher at Carly's school to get some hours for my second class that will start later this summer. It was fun to see all the kids and I was impressed how much all the kids love PE. 

Starting... my new class on Thursday this week and doing all.the.homework. I sat in the parking lot at Winco one morning just sobbing my eyes out, overwhelmed. I know this now, but starting a brand new class tends to be really overwhemling for me as I don't know the material and the assignments feel beyond my ability level. But by the time I am in Week 2 or 3, I feel a lot better. 

Reminding.... myself of my "word(s) of the year" which is "Hard Work".  It reminds me that it's okay to buckle down and do the tough work. To go downstairs and switch the laundry one last time before bed. To run the extra two or three errands while I'm out.  And to stay up late doing the research if I need to. This season won't last forever and I'll be so glad that I worked hard and made it through once it's all over. 

Grateful... that Logan's surgery scar is healing up really well this time. They took his stitches out last week and it looks so beautiful. His surgeon is really part magic. 

Reading... The Living Remedy on audio which is just meh (the book, not the audio) compared to her first book (All You Can Ever Know by Nicole Chung) and The Covenant of Water which is like 700+ pages but so, so good!!!

Walking... Carly to school a couple mornings this week and, again, just loving that time with her and the happiness that being outside brings me. I love how she notices all the little things and how she wants to talk about anything and everything under the sun. I definitely find I enjoy her more than I maybe did the boys at this age because now I know this nonsense chattiness will probably stop someday. The boys are a little quieter and less apt to tell me every single thing that crosses their minds. So I cherish that Carly still does. 

Finding... Carly asleep on my bed when I had to use the bathroom at bedtime and she snuggled up there to wait for me. I think walking to school everyday is extra wearing her out. Haha! Sweet babe.

Listening... to Dani Austin's Podcast (De-Influenced) and just loving it. I follow Dani on Instragram and she has the cutest kids and marriage. She is 100% an influencer, but she's also really real and really likable. The podcast is like listening to your best friend (and her husband) gossip and share what they really think of things. It's highly entertaining and I'm  here for it. 

Receiving... the cutest pics of Carly and her first grade friends at Day of Awesomeness at their school.  They had bounce houses and all kinds of cool stuff set up for the kids.  She had a fantastic time!
I also got pics of the day they had an octopus exhibit in kindergarten and all the grades got to swing by and see it. Carly was very brave touching the octopus. I was so proud of her!!! 

Watching... the Duggar documentary, Shiny Happy People, and feeling so angry on behalf of their children. It's really terrible. 

Scoring... a new best time on Solitaire. haha! It's truly the little things that bring us joy. 

Cherishing... the way that Carly says catapillar "calla-pitter" and knowing it won't always be that way. Oh if I could just bottle her up exactly as she is, I would. 

Enjoying... a slow Friday night with a little homework and some blogging. Just what I needed after this crazy, busy week.

Sending... the twins off to Josh's parent's land (it feels weird to call it his mom's land, even though his dad has passed) to ride dirt bikes on Saturday. Wyatt went too, to ride the four wheeler, and I had a special day with Carly.  Well, actually, it started with me locked in a dungeon with no access to the refrigerator (see photos above) but it ended with a little homework snuck in while she did her tablet; some time spent filling out my gratitude journal; brushing Grady (holy cow that dog has a lot of hair!); and a movie for us girls. We even made pizza (yum!) and cookies (double yum!) and I saved some cookie dough for Josh since that's his favorite. 

***

I sent this to Josh.
So grateful for him.