School year 2020-21

Well, we’ve finished week 2 of distance learning, and have what feels like eternity left to go. It’s not easy, it’s disappointing and frustrating and difficult and sometimes maddening. 

But we’re doing it. 

There is a silver lining, we are learning a new way of going about school work, and we have experienced more family togetherness than we have in the last 14 years (....is that a good thing!? haha!). 

Bonus, the toy room got a little cleaned out! 

We rearranged the toy/game room to accommodate this table set up for Lincoln and it’s working quite well. 

He knows when he sits there, it’s time for school. 

We aren’t perfect, we’ve missed a google meet (because whoops!) and sometimes his assignments don’t get finished until late in the day. But he’s in first grade, and he needs a lot of help to understand the lesson and so I give myself grace. Having 2 parents working full time means we don’t have the luxury of sitting beside him 6 hours/day to provide instruction. So instead, life becomes a lesson. 

For example, Regan took him on a bike ride the other day, he asked about a yard sign with MLK’s picture. She gave an excellent (first grade) lesson about MLK as they rode home. 

The girls pretty much hang out in their rooms for their "school" day, participating in their video classes or doing assignments. They appear to grab breakfast, lunch or ask a question, and then disappear back to their rooms. We are incredibly blessed that they are self-starters, self-sufficient and just get it done day after day. We know they don't love it, and would much prefer to see their friends in person. Although on mornings like today, where Regan missed her alarm and rolled out of bed at 9:05am and still wasn't late for class, I think she sort of appreciated it :) 

 

Life during the pandemic

I want to be able to look back on this time in our lives and remember what life was like.

Social distancing

Schools moved to online "distant learning"

Parents moved their offices to home

Grocery store shelves went bare (que hoarding!)

Toilet paper, paper towels and Clorox wipes flew off the shelves

A few photos to capture this strange time.

Lots and lots and lots of screen time, including fun apps for kids to have chats with kids and family members all while different face filters create all sorts of giggles.

Game night. Pretty much any  night of the week. Our kids have learned card games, new board games, puzzles, and more.

All gyms closed, and so I dug out any workout/exercise items we had laying around. Lincoln took it upon himself to open "Lincoln's gym". We workout daily.

Memes like the one below flooded social media.

I liked this one

We cleaned out the garage, and pulled out all of the toys we haven't used in forever. Stilts and a pogo stick to name a few!

Lincoln face timed me, and laughed himself silly with these filters :)

While it might have been the nicest April on record so far, there is no softball practicing allowed. I liked this meme on a softball group facebook page I follow.

Jimmy Fallon (and any late night talk show host), moved filming of their shows to their homes. This show in particular makes me laugh, because his kiddos often come into the view of the camera and it reminds me of how it feels for all of us trying to work from home with kids underfoot.



Did I mention we are having a LOT of screen time?

But at least they are huddled in front of the warm fire together :)

We are giving ourselves grace on this whole screen time. They're (fairly) happy and frankly, just trying to figure this all out themselves too.

We can't really do a lot of home "projects" because that would entail going to the store to buy necessary items. But we are cleaning out drawers and closets.

I finished Lincoln's baby book (better late that never!) and in the process, cleaned out a drawer holding all of these expired epi-pens.

There's a lot of expired money sitting right there.

We're contemplating getting a dog (like so many other families right now). We're stuck at home, it's the perfect time. Ryan has nicknamed our fake dog "Covid" already; ….for the record, he's not on board with this idea.

 At all.

However, a month ago our neighbors brought home this adorable pup.

She found a hole in the fence and comes over daily for a visit and to burn off some energy.

The kids adore her, and so do we :)



I taught Regan how to play Yahtzee.

And then beat the pants off her :) HA!

The first official "stay at home" request looked something like this.

Although we had been staying at home two weeks prior to the start of this.

Doing our part. Fully expecting this to be extended beyond 4/10.

Some of my teams started Zoom meetings.

never had I heard of such a platform for meetings, but we all quickly learned to talk fast because there is a 40 minute limit and we are used to 60 minute meetings!

(and yes, I'm sitting outside on this particular meeting, because Ryan and I share the quiet space indoors for meetings. And he beat me to it during this meeting, so I went to the next option for some quiet: outside)

More of Lincoln having conversations with family, this time Grandma Jan. He made her laugh so hard with these dancing bear filters.

Distant learning with Lincoln is a lot of hands on help. The girls take care of it on their own, and for that we are thankful!

Here is Lincoln's teacher "reading" to the class. He giggled and smiled when he heard her voice. It was almost like she was right there in the room. Sadly, by day 3 of story-time, he was over it. It's just not as much fun when we aren't at school. Hang in there buddy.

Passing time with "art" class: dyeing Easter eggs.

More screen time.

Silver lining, she's hanging out with us a little  more :)

The problem with not driving your vehicles very often....the batteries tend to die.

Seriously, Ryan's truck died TWICE in one week because we didn't start it every day.

Fine. you win.

We now make a point to start it daily.

These are some strange times. Scary times. 

Hang in there folks! Stay safe! 

Hanging in there-COVID 19

We, like the rest of the world, are doing our best to stay healthy and avoid catching this terrible COVID19 virus. We greet text messages and emails with a "we're hanging in there" reply. But what does that really look like?....

Our lives these days are dramatically different than the usual. We have now "sheltered in our home" for the last 12 days. By recommendation of the Governor, but not ordered until today. That means exactly as it sounds. We leave only for a walk in nature, or around the block (and again and again and again), or for me to go to the grocery store. I do still have to go to the hospital, so Ryan suggests I take one for the team and also do our grocery shopping since I'm already more exposed. My shopping trips are very limited. I'm in/out as fast as possible, grabbing our supplies, then wiping them down with a bleach wipe before putting them into our cupboards. Is that overboard?, I hope we never have to find out.

What else does it look like....

School from home....we haven't formally started distant learning (this week is spring break in our district). We had a few attendance/check in days, and we have all of our packets and chromebooks and websites ready to go for the official start. However, Lincoln is in Kindergarten, and needs a lot more guidance than his sisters. So his learning will look different. And I've opted to take spring break as an opportunity to start some of his assignments, a little learning everyday. And always reading. Thank goodness we have our own library of books, workbooks and flash cards.

Plus, I've memorized his matrix learning grid and instead of sitting down to do "school", we incorporate it into everyday activities. One lesson was "teach a parent a song from school". Both sisters helped a little on this one, as he (with their leading), taught us the school song. It was a blast from the past as Regan tried to remember her elementary school song lyrics. But so much fun :)

The pantry is fully stocked with snacks, though they are not asking for snacks all day long. This surprises me. We do, however, eat every meal together, which is a huge change for our busy family. This also means we run the dishwasher everyday!
With the weather still chilly, we still go outside for walks in the neighborhood. Or bike riding. We also still have a lot more fires in the fireplace. The kiddos ask for one daily, but with our wood supply dwindling, we are spreading them out to every few days. And sometimes I use it as a method for my cinnamon rolls to rise :)

Our kids are getting a lot of screen time. It's not all they do, but they do a lot of it. With two parents working, it keeps them quiet when we are on calls or trying to meet a deadline. BUT, we are also doing non-screen activities like play-dou, puzzles, painting, etc. Our most favorite activity, however, is when the neighbors use social distancing and put their new puppy into our backyard so everyone (puppy and our humans) burn off some much needed energy. It's a win for everyone!

We also have a plethora of softball paraphernalia and so practicing, albeit much different than anyone prefers, is still a possibility. We can pitch and hit into the bownet, we can practice grounders against the rebound net, we use chalk to create the training "ladder" for agility.

But it's not as motivating when we aren't amongst our peers. We miss our friends. We miss our routine. We miss softball and dance and volleyball and yes, even school. And so there are tears and tantrums, sass and anger. We're trying hard, we're doing our part, and will continue to "shelter at home" until this is all over.

Winter-little things

As we sit in the midst of this COVID-19 pandemic, I wanted to quick look back and remember the fun we had this winter season of 2019-2020. Before we all were isolated in our homes (except yours truly who must go into the hospital every day). I cried today for the first time since this all started, and I cried 4 times. Fear for the unknown. Sadness for what is lost. Hope that we will get through this untouched.

 

But I can't live in that space too often, life moves on. So up with the bootstraps!

 

 In no particular order, here's some random photos off my phone.

 

The elementary school collected 2 liter soda pop bottles for the ring toss game at the carnival. They collected loads of these bottles. And then Sidney proceeded to bring EIGHT back home. The girl is a master at ring toss!

 

 

We woke up on Regan's birthday to our house being TP'd.
Our security cameras actually caught the little buggers on video the night before and woke me up, but it was minutes too late and they were already headed down the street.

I laughed. Because really, who doesn't want some fun loving TP on their birthday!? And we cleaned up 7 rolls of it!!

Although she asked around, the little vandalizing fellas haven't come clean.

 

(side note: I wish I would've kept all that TP now that we can't find any on store shelves).

 

We had lots of fires, and cuddled up around them after a busy weekend or long day at the rink. There is something about the smell and heat of a fire that just brings us all together. We tend to congregate around the fire, often me and the girls huddled up on the hearth. But this time, I caught Ryan and Lincoln snuggled in together.

 

Grandma Jan came back from a quick Arizona trip, all tanned and filled up with Vitamin D. I'm thankful now that she's here this winter and can isolate herself and not be traveling.

 

As the snow began to melt, we busted out Lincoln's new bike from his birthday last year. He was hesitant at first, but is already cruising around on that thing like he did with his little one. And he's so proud to be riding this bigger one.

 



 

I thought I had seen it all. And then, while volunteering, someone showed up with this dog in a sling. I took a double take, and then a photo. Because, it's a dog in a sling!?

 

Lincoln picked up on reading, thanks to Dick and Jane. They really are the best. They're short and repetitive and easy enough to finish in one setting. He's already graduating onto bigger books now.

 

His teacher sent home some of his work from school.

Ahhhh, I giggled and giggled reading his "brave" spelling as I thought back to both girls in kindergarten with the same types of work.

Sound it out: 'uvn'

 

 

Regan and I volunteered with her summer club softball team sorting and sorting nearly 300 pizza orders from her team. The association sold pizzas for a fundraiser. Thank you to those who supported her!

 

And finally, sometimes I fail miserably at taking pictures with the girls. Here we were watching Lincoln play hockey. I had one girl with the giggles, eager to take a picture, and another one who was annoyed and cold and not in the mood. Can you guess which description fits each girl :)

 

And now, as the winter season slows down, we are met with the most unique situation of quarantine and isolation and social distancing.

The kids are doing online school for the foreseeable future,

 Ryan's working from home, and I'm being greeted at night with "were you safe today?"

meaning was I able to avoid close contact with anyone.
People are hoarding paper products, the store shelves are empty.

Softball is cancelled.

Volleyball is cancelled.

We're filling our time with games and bike rides, more fires, movies, arts and crafts, play dou and family time.

Trying to make the most of this and taking one day at a time.

 Each day, we are one day closer to this being over.

From baby to kindergarten to high school registration

It almost doesn't feel real to even say out loud: high school registration.

I'm only 29, how can I have a high schooler :) ha! Yea right. 29.

 

Oh this sweet baby girl who loved me to pieces, wore whatever I put on her and loved to play in my arm....., she's growing up so fast!

 

I remember getting this pamphlet in January of 2011 and thinking "kindergarten....already!"

 

 

And now here we are, a mere 9 years later, staring at this not-so-tiny-book below, wishing we were looking at that pamphlet. A time when we were worried about lost loveis and missing favorite toys. There's some truth to what they say "little kids, little problems; big kids big problems".

 

Tonight, I sat in an auditorium filled with parents of soon-to-be-freshman and listened as all of her options were laid out before me: geometry, world language, STEM classes and fine arts. Don't forget AP and honors courses and if you want to be considered for something extra-special, there's the pre-ACT requirement next month.

 My head was spinning and my hand was writing frantically.

Us moms gathered afterwards to compare notes, huddled around my cell phone looking at websites to hopefully help our kiddos make the right decisions to prepare them for a future.

One that their 8th grade mind has no idea what it wants (nor should it!).

The pressure is huge, and I vow not to ask her "what do you want to be when you grow up?", so she can choose the correct high school classes.

At least not this month.

 

 

Oh baby girl, your future is bright. And although I still cannot believe we are heading to high school, we are so excited for whatever your future may bring! This mom who loves to learn, is begging you to take me along on this journey because I'd love to take some of those classes with you!

 

 

Pretty please!

First days of school

We are 6 weeks into the school year and I’m finally getting around to posting the first day of school photos. 

Regan started first, the day after Labor Day. Though it was warm and sunny, she insisted on needing a big chunky sweater because all of her classes are in the basement this year. She was chipper and excited to be back into the swing of things. Though 2 weeks in, she admitted that she missed summer and should’ve better taken advantage of those weeks off from school. 

Lincoln and Sidney got an extra day at home with me, where we ended up taking Sidney in for an ear infection (good way to start the school year) and visiting their classrooms for assessment day. By the time their big day rolled around, they were both so eager and anxious to start a new year. 

Lincoln headed off to kindergarten without hesitation. He loves his teacher, has made new friends and from his self-report, is not one of the naughty kids in the class :) 

He wants to be a tiger trainer or race car driver, and is most excited about adding. We worked on reading last night and I’m blown away by his skills already! And in true kindergarten boy fashion, his favorite subjects are lunch and recess.

Sidney entered her last year of elementary school, and her only year sharing a school with Lincoln. She’s excited to be the oldest in the school and ready to take on her role as Kindergarten Bus Buddy, ensuring several kinders each day get to the right bus after school. 

She adores her teacher, wishes she was with some of her besties, but is happy with her friend group in class. 

They let me walk them into school, but Lincoln stopped me at the door and told me he was good from there. Oh baby boy, growing up so fast :)

I opted to bring lunch to Lincoln and Sidney one of the first days, mostly so I could peek in and meet some of their buddies. Love seeing them amongst their peers.

I'm thankful that she still lets me join her lunch....and I know all too well that this will likely be the last year she lets me do so.