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a glimpse into what it is like to live in our home just this minute. Intentional Hours Outside :  445 hours (of 1000) Up only eleven hours this week, as we I felt slightly trapped inside taking care of sore throats and fevers while trying to get chores down too.  It was a weird week that felt really rushed for time, even more so as the first day of fall (Thursday) marked the official move into less daylight hours now.  uh oh.  hah.   I got in a nice jog on Sunday to try to prep (or at least make sure I could do it - HAH!) for my 5K this weekend on a beautiful local trail. Reading (still!) Home Field by Hannah Gersen .  I'm moving so slowly through as I'm not being very good at carving out reading time.  I listened to a big chunk of Tell the Wolves I'm Home on audible while I took my jog on Sunday afternoon.  Also reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Illustrated edition to Greyson before bed. Celebrating our Violet's second birthday, a little early, last Fr

my little momma heart is gushing over our profesh pics from the incredibly talented Tabitha James over at Adliv Collective .  We signed up for one of her Labor Day mini-sessions and spent the morning running around the house like a maniac to get everyone ready for our first legit family photos since our Rusty has arrived.  (One of my 'secrets' is to not put on anyone's shirts until we are walking out the door!).  And then we finally arrived with one kid with a bellyache (Gem), one overly tired and cranky kid (Rust), a hungry kid (Grey), and a pretending-to-be-shy Violet. Tab was awesome though and had everyone cooperating in no time.  And honestly, the proof is in the pudding when she magically managed to pull off these beautiful pictures of my favorite humans when getting all six of us to even look in the same direction at any given time is a miracle in and of itself.   I got the email from Adliv  giving me access to the photos while Brandon and I were lying in bed (was it

tis my favorite season of the year.  The rustling of the fallen leaves in that cool autumn breeze while the sun shines down with the fading summer warmth.  One of my favorite fall traditions is to visit our local county fair with my parents and sister (and Kev) for the yummy eats, amusements, and all the small town Americana goodness.   The giant slide was the biggest hit of the night, especially with our Va-vi who wanted to ride it several times in a row by grabbing each of our hands and pulling us towards the entrance gate as soon as she reached the bottom of slide.  Greyson tried the rock wall this year and after a few minutes of hesitation, it took only the challenge of getting to the top like the older boy in the next harness for him to perk up and scale that wall like it was easy.  He was so proud! We had dinner, played some games, and of course hit all the rides the kids requested.  Violet was tall enough to ride the little roller coaster this year, and just like her older bro a

What it is like to live in our home just this minute... Intentional Hours Outside :  438 hrs (of 1000) ugh.  Up a measly 9 hours from last week.  I was reading back through my Around Here posts from April and we were averaging almost 20 hours a week back then!?  I need to step up my game big time.  Once I get back in the early afternoon from work, my first instinct (after nursing Rust) is to dive right into chores which take me almost nearly until when Grey gets home, then it's homework and dinner and clean up and bedtime and I squeeze in almost no outdoor time at all.  With working now, even though only part time, I think I need to re-arrange my chores a little bit so that I have more time during each day to get outside and PLAY with the kids.  less pressure for all the things to get done, and more focus on fun with the wild things a little more each day.  Reading (still...slow and steady, hah)  Home Field by Hannah Gersen and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by JK Rowli