A Practice in Gratitude

 

Every once in a while I realize that what I do at work could only happen because I lead an education department. One of my big goals as department chair is to help people take time to celebrate and create a true team culture. Thanksgiving is a great time to do all of that, and so I launched two gratitude activities yesterday!

To celebrate our individual gifts, I made hand turkeys:

We will each draw a random person and write what we are grateful for about them on the feathers. We will then exchange them at the last meeting before Thanksgiving!

Our students have also been driving us nuts; it's that time of the semester, so I made a giant turkey for the office door:

Faculty are adding things we appreciate about our students to the tail feathers, and by Thanksgiving we should have a full tail.

I was giddy, and people are excited to participate. It's simple, and it's a great way to model these kinds of activities for our students. And really, who couldn't use a little more practice in gratitude. 

Date Night

Brad has been on sabbatical for the past three weeks. He's been doing all kinds of projects and giving himself some time and space to transition to his new job. We had big plans of sneaking in some lunches and maybe even a quick trip to the mountains, but my job was nuts and Issa got the plague and it just didn't happen.

Yesterday was Brad's first day at the new job, and ironically it was the first time we found a window for a date night. Mom picked up Evan from wrestling so Brad and I could go see The Banshees of Inisherin. It is a beautiful film in the true sense of film. I laughed and cried and we both loved it. And we even managed a selfie when we got home:

 

Sweet Babies

We had a relatively quiet weekend. Issa had a lot of dance. I did a lot of yardwork. That was about it. That said, this is my new favorite morning moment:

 All three of these babies now line up for breakfast, and it is the best way to start my day.

A Taste of Holly Jolly

I am very much a one holiday at a time kind of girl However, Issa and I had to make a stop this morning:

That first peppermint mocha of the season is just pure bliss.
 

In the Out

Issa had a miserable virus all week last week. She missed the entire week of school and all of the Halloween fun at the studio. Thankfully, she started to turn the corner late Friday, and by Saturday night she was in desperate need of different walls. We had planned to go to AR Workshop to do some holiday crafting, and I am so glad we were able to go:

Issa made a super cute gnome key box:

And I made a lazy susan for our kitchen table. Thankfully Issa helped with the trim work:

We were thrilled with the final projects, and I was so glad to get some time with my girl: 

Happy Halloween!

We had a fabulous Halloween! Thankfully Issa got well just in time for us all to go see Dracula at the ballet:

It is still one of my favorite pieces they do.

Yesterday, Issa and Allison went to their history class as Hamilton and Eliza to get extra credit:

Issa said the professor really couldn't recover. Meanwhile, I was Tigger for the day:

I'm embedded at a school on Mondays, and our behavior team took a trip to the 100 Acre Wood:

Last night, our house went for the Nightmare Before Christmas theme:

Brad was very proud of Jack with the gingerbread:

We were all characters:

 Since the kids didn't trick or treat, Evan spent the night sneaking up on people as the shadow. I was his favorite target, which made for a very fun Halloween for all!

This Was New

I've presented at a lot of conferences in my career, and several years ago I stopped getting nervous...until this week.

I was invited to present at the North Carolina School Psychologist Association conference about family involvement this week. I've done a lot of research there, and I genuinely love presenting about it. It was a bonus that this is the first time I've ever actually gotten paid to present. It was not a familiar audience, though, and this is what was waiting for me when I got there:

They told me to expect about 30 people split between the room and zoom. I didn't realize that they had hired a firm to do the filming and zooming and running of my slide deck. I also ended up with 78 people in the room and 30 on zoom. I was nervous.

But...it went well. I genuinely enjoyed the session once we got going, and participants seemed appreciative at the end. I learned a lot from a different perspective at the conference, and I would definitely do again--just maybe with more lipstick next time.

 

We Finally Made It!

Brad and I have lived in NC for 20 years, and we have never made it to the State Fair. It just felt crowded and like something we didn't need. Once celiac entered our family, we thought that certainly the fair was not for us. However, Evan desperately wanted to go this year. We started doing some digging, and we realized we could probably make it work. 

Friday, as soon as the kids got home from school we headed to the fair. We parked in the park and ride lot, and were pleasantly surprised to board a charter bus that was waiting. We were at our gate in less than ten minutes from the time we parked. 

That bus also dropped us off at the back of the fair, which was ideal for our crew! Local artisans are set up there. We got to watch the blacksmith, and Issa bought a ring. We saw potters and carvers and all manner of handcrafts. 

From there, we fulfilled Evan's whole goal at the fair: 

Deep fried oreos. He was thrilled. And Issa found a smoothie in a pineapple:

We all found great dinner options and thoroughly enjoyed every bite:

We also got to see a lot of animals, and we all loved the produce hall. Just look at those pumpkins:

The shuttle was just as easy on the way home, and we truly had a blast! We already plan to spend a whole day next year!
 

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Happy birthday, Brad! 

We had a very low-key celebration yesterday. The plan was always to make pizzas and have a night in, but it got even more cozy since Issa was home sick yesterday. Brad's big gift is a sauna we are installing in the garage. It's for the whole family, though, so we wanted to get him something small, too. Unfortunately, Amazon delivered his fountain for his meditation space without an extra box, so the surprise was a bit ruined--or so he thought:

He was making a big deal about wondering what it was when he was opening it:

We got him:

We actually took the fountain out from the bottom so the tape was still in tact and replaced it with the rat we hide for each other around Halloween:

He was terribly amused as he opened the second box that actually had the fountain.

He is so easy to celebrate. 
 

Back Home

I spent the past three days in a cute little town in upstate New York:

 I was onsite to do an accreditation visit for AAQEP. This is the first time since before Covid that I have travelled for work, and it was so lovely to spend time with colleagues in another state and see how they do things. The faculty there was wonderful, and I'm certain we will stay in touch. 

That said, it was awfully nice to be back in my own bed and see my people last night. 

It's Getting Real!

Issa got some very exciting mail this week:

That would be the junior recruitment packet from Meredith. She is starting to really dig into her college search, and she is loving getting all of the mail and email! It will be really fun to see where she ends up!
 

Favorite Fall Tradition

This weekend we went back to Springhaven to carve pumpkins with goats:

I absolutely love this tradition! We all know I love goats, and I love that all of the pumpkin mess gets gobbled up by their cuteness. I think we all had a good time:

And the goats were very excited to nibble:

And snuggle:

This little guy used Brad's sleeve as a napkin, much to all of our delight:

We all had carving success:

Brad said his pumpkin spoke this design to him:

Evan did something more abstract, and we didn't get a final photo:

I kept it simple so I could snuggle more:

Nana went traditional:

Issa is spreading love this Halloween:

Once we finished carving we explored the rest of the farm, including these little babies:

They were too little to snuggle, but we got good quality time with the highland cow:

I just love the whole experience, and I can't wait to do it again next year!
 

A Fun Night

Traditional Viking music stresses Issa out, but the rest of us love it! So Wednesday night, we went to DPAC to see Wardruna:

It was a great show. Wardruna really focuses on the music. No set. No props. They use the light and shadow to highlight the instruments. 

After the show, we got to the car and Evan spotted a mouse IN THE CAR. Y'all. I don't do rodents. Brad and Evan spent 15 minutes trying to find the little guy, and we really thought he got out. However, Brad saw him again yesterday. Poor Brad deep cleaned the car, and we are hoping he has moved on to a new happy home. Until we are sure, though, Issa and I will only be found in the Subaru. 
 

Catching Up: Settling Into Fall

The past week has been a bit or a blur and a lot of routine. We are settling into fall and just generally enjoying. A few update...

Squirrely Shirley did in my pumpkin:

I hope she is very happy and full!

Saturday evening we had our first family fire. We laughed and made s'mores. I also got this crazy photo of Evan:

Issa also went to an Autumn Equinox party with some of her dance friends:

It was her time pressing cider, and she is in love.

I've been working longer days lately. I'm in the throws of my case study data collection, spending a full day a week in a school support BTs and behavior, and being department chair. It's a lot, but I love it!

 

Hygge

This weekend was declared Hygge Weekend. Hygge is a Swedish concept embracing all things cozy, and a rainy weekend seemed like a perfect time to get a little extra cozy--especially since we were some of the lucky few who never lost power!

I finally perfected a whole grain gluten free bread loaf:

Which paired perfectly with chicken noodle soup:

I simmered the stock all day and made some extra:

Even the animals embraced the cozy:

We watched movies and played board games. Tora is super good at board games:

We also decorated the front porch. Please meet Squirrely Shirley:

She has made my pumpkins her own buffet. Even when we are on the porch she doesn't move!

It was just what we needed, and I love that fall invites us to create more of these moments.