October/November 2020

Let't not even talk about how late this post is.  Just pretend it's not mid December. 

Poor Abigail inherited a tiny mouth from both Nathan and me.  Way back in January she got expanders on top and bottom.  We crank then once a week to help expand the pallet in her mouth.  She is making great progress.  Then in October she got 8 braces put on her top front teeth.  They make her look WAY to grown up.

                                     

We had to get creative this year for Halloween because we were very hesitant about trick-or-treating.  Of course we already had our idea for our family themed costume....we'll just save it for next year.  Nathan and I made up scavenger hunt clues that led the girls to their buckets of candy.  Then we ordered take out for dinner and ate while watching Nightmare Before Christmas. All in all a fun day!  Our church also put on a fair in their parking lot with games, rides, and fair food.  Everything was social distanced, hand sanitizer everywhere, and everyone wore masks.  So much fun!

We had to do Thanksgiving differently this year too.  We spent the afternoon with my parents and sister like usual.  But we spent almost the entire time outside and we wore masks except when we were eating.  Thankfully we had beautiful weather so it was really nice.  We put every household at their own separate table for dinner.  We were very thankful for time together even though it looked different.

August/September 2020

 We're still having fun doing puzzles.  Sometimes all three of us work on a 1000 piece and other times the girls do a smaller one together.  They are always surprised how quick the 200-300 piece puzzles are to complete after doing all the harder ones.  😁

School started Aug 13.  Everyone in our district started remotely until after Labor Day.  Then parents had the option to stay virtual or continue face to face. You are allowed to make a change at the end of each 9 week grading period.  The girls are sticking with remote learning through the end of the semester,.  The teachers have worked really hard to make virtual learning much more interactive than in the spring. It's amazing what time to plan will do!  😜  Both girls have been working really hard, they miss their teachers and friends, but have enjoyed more interaction.  We did go ahead and take our traditional back to school pictures even though they haven't actually gone into the building yet.

Now that it's cooling off just a little then girls have gone back to playing outside in the back yard.  My mom came up one day and snapped this SUPER cute picture!

The girls got to spend the night with my parents over Labor Day weekend like they have the last few years.  Nathan and I enjoyed having some time to hang out alone.  Masks were worn and extra precautions were taken, but thankful for a little bit of normalcy.  The girls favorite part of the weekend was getting to play with the two sweet kitties that live in the neighborhood.  They are strays, but several people on the street feed them and take care of them.  They have gotten super friendly and come running for pets and love when they see the girls.  The girls also had fun making an adorable paper kitty craft. 

We decided that since they girls are doing remote learning I would only sub for the teachers who are teaching remote.  I have worked 2 days so far and have another 2 lined up later this week.  It is REALLY weird to teach in an empty classroom.  And there is definitely a learning curve to on-line teaching.  But I am super thankful to get back into the classroom a little bit.

July 2020

We are still mostly hanging out at home to try and stay safe.  We live right on the edge of Allen and Plano and we got lucky that both cities put on a 4th of July fireworks display on different nights.  We had fun watching in the parking lot for the back of Nathan's truck. 

We have always been thankful that my parents have a pool, but ESPECIALLY this summer when we are trying to spend most of out time outside!  The girls are little fishies and just love being in the water.  My mom got some great photos with her underwater camera.

Our church has been doing a hymn sing on the first Sunday night of each month and live streamming it.  Last month they invited the choir and orchestra to attend in person.  We enjoyed singing all those great songs!

This was our 3rd annual Christmas in July.  My mom has gotten really into cookie decorated and has made them for several holidays this year.  That also means she's learned a lot of great new techniques.  She gave us some pointers and I was really pleased to see how much better the girl's (and my) cookies turned out this time.

June 2020

The girls spent LOTS of time out in the backyard at the beginning of the month (before it got too hot).  They love their play set and even picnic lunched a few times.  We added mulch as ground cover so the project is officially complete.  So thankful for my dad and all his hard work

Our church has done a few outdoor events so we could see people but still stay socially distanced.  We attended a kid's ministry drive in where we sang songs, played games, and ate Popsicles.  Then at the end of the month we did Greatest Games.  We spent ALL day Saturday outside playing family games and then did a photo scavenger hunt.   Everyone ended up back in the church parking lot for a rally to finish off the day and get prizes.  Our family one the "spirit award".  We had SO much fun and made lots of memories.

One of our favorite teachers got married and invited us to the wedding.  It was beautiful ceremony and she was a gorgeous bride.  We chose not to attend the reception because we weren't sure how close we would need to get to people.  Hoping to connect with this sweet teacher before school starts to give her our gift.

We decided to enroll the girls in enrichment summer school since it was on-line and free this year.  Both girls really enjoyed their classes and learned lots too.  I was super impressed with the creative activities the teachers came up with. We were all excited to start doing piano lessons in person again (after 10 weeks of virtual lessons).  We are all wearing masks and taking some other precautions too.

The girls have and I have also finished a bunch of puzzles.  So glad they enjoy doing them with me.  They have plays lots and lots of Legos and read a bunch of books too.  Thankful the library is letting us reserve books for curbside pick up since they aren't open to the public right now. 

So thankful that my parents have a pool.  We are over there once a week to swim.  The girls are little fishies.  Love watching them!  Can't believe the summer is already half over.

April/May 2020

Not a lot of updates because we haven't really done much....like everyone else.  But this is my memory book so posting anyway.

I can't believe we've been sheltering in place for, I haven't even counted, weeks now.  We have definitely settled into a new normal routine.  The girls are ROCKING on-line learning.  They get started right after breakfast and we are usually done with school and piano practice between 11-12.  We really miss our friends and awesome teachers, but the extra free time is nice. Our school has been doing virtual spirit days each week.  We don't participate every day, but it's fun to do at least a few a week.

crazy hair day

super hero day

Disney character

Disney character

Sundays still feel REALLY weird, but our church is doing an AWESOME job of providing lots of ways for us to worship and stay connected.  Each week the kids ministry has links to the Bible story, teaching lesson, and worship songs.  Our adult Sunday School class meets together on Zoom to catch up and share prayer requests.  Then we stream the service each week.  Thankful we serve a God we can worship anywhere and any time.  

We did a few fun Easter things this year.  The girls made some fun crafts and our church paired us with other members of our congregation and had us drive by their house parade style.  It was really fun and nice to get out of the house.

We met my mom and sister for a social distance walk and photo shoot one weekend.  It was nice to see them in person and not just on a screen.  We didn't get close since my dad is still going to work as an essential employee.  The girls were asked to be flower girls in a friends wedding in May.  It was forced to be a family only occasion, but I really wanted to get a few pictures of the girls in their beautiful dresses for bride.

Typically May is a crazy busy month with school ending and end of year performances and such.  It felt really weird this year that we just stayed at home.  The girls were able to do a virtual piano recital and their kids choir did a virtual performance as well.  We had a social distancing picnic with my family for Mother's Day.  It was REALLY good to see each other in person even though we didn't get close.

I'll close this post with last day of school pictures.  Like everything else this day felt very anti-climactic.  Proud of the girls for how hard they worked during virtual learning and very thankful for their teachers all the hard work they did to keep the kids engaged.

Ready for Summer!

February/March 2020

This time I combined posts for 2 reasons....I forgot to post on February and we didn't have much going on to write about.  Daddy was gone for a week doing work travel and I worked a bunch.

We did have a fun dress up week at school for the book fair.  Our favorite day was "Dress as a Favorite Book Character".  Abigail is Pinkalicious, I went as Splat the Cat, and Hannah was Dorthy.

The girls also played in a piano festival and received the highest grade.  They worked really hard and and played very well.  It's nice when that gets rewarded.

March started off great, one week of school then we were out for Spring Break.  We hopped up to AR for an overnight trip to see some friends and family.  It was a whirlwind trip but lots of fun. Then we came back and ran a bunch of errands, played outside when it wasn't raining, met friends for lunch, built lot of Lego creations and relaxed at home.  Then everything changed as things began to shut down due to COVID-19.  I know this has affected everyone everywhere, but I definitely want to document it.

Our school district extended Spring Break one week and there was no formal plan for learning.  Some of the teachers put a few suggested activities online.  That week we chose to do a mix of fun and relaxation along with structured learning.  I got to pull out my teacher hat and get creative.  Starting March 23 the girls officially began online instruction.  I have been super impressed, but not at all surprised with all our teacher have done.  They are awesome! Both girls have ROCKED their learning.  They working independently and having a plan to follow.  Most days assignments and piano practice are done by lunch time so they are loving the extra free time.

We miss our friends, teachers, and my family (we are staying away even though we live in the same city), but are very thankful for video calls.  It's weird not to have any outside activities or go anywhere beside the grocery store.  However, we have LOVED getting to take walks, play in the backyard, watch family movies, and play games together.  All in all trying to make the best of the situation.