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A glimpse into what it is like to live in our home right now. Intentional Outdoor Hours : 7+ hours (of 1000) I racked up another three plus hours these past two weeks with some warmish, sunny days sprinkled in there. I took the kids to the high school parking lot on Gemma's birthday for some bike-riding and rollerblading (one of their fav after school activities!) and we stayed until the moon was pretty high in the sky! B met me for a few laps around the track during lunch, Rust and I took the dogs for a long walk, and I carted the kids to the playground for an hour on a sunny (but actually pretty cold) afternoon. The weather has continued to be totally wacky. We had rain, snow, and then extreme wind that warranted a canceled school day for the big kids and a 2hr delay for me. It has been really frustrating as I'm never quite sure to what extreme the weather is going to be, but I'm trying to take the nice days with as much gratitude as possible and believe I will do better

A glimpse into what it is like to live in our home just this minute         Intentional Outdoor Hours : 4 hours + (of 1000) This winter has really been so wacky. I know I keep saying that, but in this month alone, we've had a snow day, 2 hr delay (both for snow), and an early dismissal for flooding (because it warmed up and poured). I must be better though, because my soul needs it. Reading and finishing The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin . I really really loved it and finished with tears rolling down my cheeks. Brandon was right beside me as I was finishing it and said, "How about you choose a book next that doesn't make you cry?" haha, he doesn't get books. I read and finished Fiesta Fatal by Mira Canion which is what my Spanish3 Honors kids will be reading in a few weeks. Laughing with my sisters. Kayla spent a long weekend back in PA and the three of us attended Mardi Crawl (good job Uch!) for laughing, dancing, and karaoking. While Kitty was in town, she squ

One of my favorite quotes credited to Ayesha Siddiqi says, "Be the person you needed when you were young." When I was young, I needed someone who had a different perspective - a wider lens of life and humanity and culture and experiences than our small (albeit beloved to me) town. I wanted to see more and learn more and experience more. And I was lucky enough that my parents and teachers could see this in me that they pushed me towards those people. My parents (with reluctance but good faith) put me on an airplane headed to Honduras with a group of doctors and dentists when I was sixteen. They also became what I needed themselves, my Dad the curious researcher and questioner - my Mom the ever patient listening ear while I went on and on about some new thing I learned. As a teacher now, I see everyday that what so many of my students need is someone who simply has the time of day to notice them. I have students everyday starved for meaningful connection. The person our young p

A glimpse into what it is like to live in our home just this minute. Intentional Outdoor Hours : 3 hours (of 1000) Gosh, the weather this winter has been so wacky. Dipping down in the negatives only to zoom up to the low 50's later in the week. It's given me this weird indignant attitude towards being outside like, "if you can't make up your mind, I'm having nothing to do with you!" hahhaa, but seriously, it's very hard to get motivated to go outside in the cold when it might just warm up in a day or two. That's a lousy excuse for my outdoor performance this year so far, but it's the truth.  We've been holding semi-consistently with our #screenfreewednesdays (forgot one wednesday two weeks ago), but the kids are all in because it means we play together as a family to get through the evening without screens!  Grey had me belly laughing when I told him I was going to do some laundry on Wednesday which prompted him to tape up a sign "Laundry