Journal: House on the market

Out my window: 70. Humid. Not too bad.

Around the house: Crazy cleaning, organizing, decluttering, house projecty stuff the last couple of weeks. See the "Thinking About" category for why :)

Clothing myself in: Jeans. Stripy maroon shirt. My mom had a ton of striped shirts- this shirt reminds me of her.

Toddler: Hit a bit of a snag with the babysitter. Being defiant and *ahem* hot-tempered. Lots of biting :-/  I am really looking forward to staying at home with him again, I think it'll help.

Kiddos: They have all been enjoying summer school, which is done in a couple of days. I am glad they have had a chance to do that, keeping them busy with fun, brain-stimulating activities.

In the kitchen: Gah. Don't even ask. My menus are so boring lately. Two jobs, ya'll. We do what is easy.

Crafting:

Bringing me joy: Nursing my Georgie- Boy at bedtime on the nights I have off. Yes, we still do. Such a lovely time to reconnect. We chat, nurse, chat. I neeeeever imagined breastfeeding a more-than-one-year-old when I started having babies, but I am so glad I was at least open to it. It's a gift.  Back deck time with the hubby, snuggling my Delle.  Sitting on Issy's bed with her.  Clean house. For Sale sign at the end of my driveway....

Thinking about: .... which brings me to this. To preface: before the kid's school closed, but when it looked like it was going to happen, we prayed. We prayed for the school to stay open if it was God's will. But more than that, we prayed that if it closed, that some good could come out of that sad situation. As you know, it closed in April.  And then we decided to homeschool the kids again, which meant I was going to have to leave my job at Catholic Word.

Joe has been working remotely from the rest of his team since shortly after he started. So at the end of April, we got the go-ahead from his bosses to have him work remotely... from the mountains.

It has been on our hearts since before we ever left Idaho that we should be in the mountains. It was crazy hard to leave in the first place. And we have talked and dreamed many times about returning. The timing seemed about as ideal as it could be. So we have been working the last two months to put our house on the market.  We are (trying fervently to be) realistic in our expectations- it often takes houses in this area a while to sell. But it's a beautiful house and it'll be perfect for another family. I am glad we get the chance to pass it on.

Next up: Mountains. Home.

Picture to share:

Journal: Anniversary Edition

Out my window: 65 degrees and goooorgeous.  It was the perfect day, weather-wise. And with a little bug spray, the mosquitoes weren't terrible in the afternoon.  Blue skies, a few puffy clouds, a ton of sun. Lovely.

Around the house: Laundry room is done!  We just need to buy some new things to reattach threshold and a new vent cover and bam. Finished! I loooove it. It is so much better than the linoleum. Like a gazillion times better.

Clothing myself in: Blue jeans, blue lace trimmed tank top, lightweight black cardigan.

Toddler: Pretty great, for the most part. He seems to be doing really well with the babysitter other than mostly opting out of a nap.  I think maybe he likes not having to compete with other kids his age. He is starting to love books and being read to. It's one of the activities he will actually do for more than 10 seconds. It's wonderful. Potty training is going ok.

Kiddos: Summer school starts tomorrow. They are all excited. I am hoping it is as fun as they hope it's going to be!

In the kitchen: Lots of the regular this week. But for our anniversary today, Joe and I had the house to ourselves and had a delicious meal- grilled German sausage, homemade au gratin potatoes and beer bread. Delish.

Crafting: Sigh. No. I miss it but I just don't have the energy to do it.

Bringing me joy:  Quiet time on the back deck with Joe, warm sunshine on my face, staring at the moon, doing laundry in the lovely laundry room, mom's group with friends.

Thinking about: How I am kind of a homebody and it really zaps me to be "busy".  For as much as I am an extrovert, I find people pretty tiring, if even in a good way. I don't really like running from one thing to another, but that is the season I am in currently.  I suppose it'll slow down eventually, and I can cope okay, but man, I am just Done by the end of the day.

Also, it was a super lovely anniversary. I think we will have to have a relaxed afternoon without kids every anniversary!

Journal: Hi, June.

Out my window: 67 and rainy. Our air conditioner is having some sort of issue :P so it's kinda warm in our house. It is supposed to be a bit cooler this week, so hopefully that'll help until we can get it fixed.

Around the house: Wow! So much stuff in the last couple of weeks.  I completed the Laundry Room Organization Project. So glad. Hopefully it'll be easier to maintain.  While Joe's parents were here, him and his Dad and the boys painted the back deck.  This weekend, we worked on ripping up the linoleum and tiling the laundry room now that it is all clean and organized.  We are going to grout it tomorrow evening.

Clothing myself in: Purple tank top and cropped pants.

Toddler: Better this week.  My friend Heather who was babysitting him over the school year was done on Friday and now we have two high school girls taking turns coming to the house over the summer. Since he is going to be here all the time, potty training is in full swing.  He managed to stay dry during his 3 1/2 hour nap (!) this afternoon, so I know he has the capability to potty train. It's just the motivation that could be tricky. But I'm tired of buying diapers, so we are going to give it a go.

Kiddos: Glad to be on summer vacation, I think.  They were very helpful getting the house ready before Mom and Dad came. They are going to be starting "summer school" next week, which is a morning program with a couple of fun classes. It runs until the end of June.  That'll be nice for them and a little be easier for the babysitters, just having to run after George in the morning.

In the kitchen: Uh, Italian chicken. And crock pot chicken. Taco soup. Man, life is so busy, I am having a hard time remembering my menus lately.

Crafting: Nope. Although, if you look in the last post, you can see a picture of the aforementioned green shrug. It was super easy, once I worked on it. I might do it in a different yarn for more stretch if I do it again. If I ever have the time/motivation to knit again someday.
 ~~~Continued Monday morning~~~

Bringing me joy: The way that George talks so excitedly about Grammie and Grandpa, watching the kids snuggle on the couch with Grammie and Grandpa, creating order in a chaotic room, working together with Joe to improve our space, having less and less stuff to be attached to, reading books with George, the boys spending hours outside playing with a frog, Sunday afternoon thunderstorm.

Thinking about: It's super cliche, but how fast time goes. How can it possibly be June?