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.

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.

May 2019

This was another whirlwind month.  May is always crazy and almost as busy as December.

We started off with the girls piano recital.  Abigail was excited to play this year and not just listen.  😁They both did really well....all the students did.  Then later that weekend the kid's choir performed their spring musical.  It's always amazing to see what the kids can pull off.  Both Hannah and Abigail had a small solo and Abigail's dance class performed too.

The music teacher at our school worked to get a grant and brought in a really cool program called Day of Drums.  Each grade level went to the gym for 45 minutes during the day to drum.  Each child got their own djembe drum to use.  The guy leading them did an awesome job and all the students were so excited.  I was subbing that day so I got to sneak in a watch (and take a few pics).

I helped at both girls end of year parties, but didn't take any pictures.  It is REALLY nice to be out of school already.  We started a week earlier in August so we could be done before Memorial Day.  Both girls had a wonderful year and had fabulous teachers.  We couldn't have asked for more!!  Check out how much they've grown since the beginning of the year.

We spent Memorial Day with my family and had a blast as usual. The girls couldn't WAIT to get in the pool.  Hannah jumped right in and swam around like a little fish.  Abigail had to do a little practice to remember what she was doing.  But by the end she was able to swim the entire length of the pool.  They will be spending lots of time in the water this summer!

August 2018

Our summer was so full of other activities that we didn't fit in swim lessons until the summer was almost over.  We did plenty of swimming at Grammy's but wanted to do one more set of official lessons.  I am so amazed at the girls progress.  Abigail had mostly taught herself by watching Hannah, but during lessons she picked up some new skills and gained TONS of confidence.

Another school year has started....can't believe we have a 1st and 3rd grader!  Both girls love school, so they were super excited to start.  They adore their teachers and are off to a great school year!

I am subbing again at the girls school this year and have already worked several days.  I've gotten lots of sweet hugs from kids I worked with last year.  We love our campus and all our teachers!! It's always a pleasure to go work up there.

May 2018

The month of May is always CRAZY busy and this year was no different.  I can't believe another school year is almost over.  It seems like just yesterday we were getting ready to start school.  I am however excited about summer and getting to spend more time with my girls!

The month started off with a bang with 3 events in the same week.  The kindergarten classes at school did a performance for all the parents entitled "Going On a Bear Hunt."  It was so cute and they all did a great job.  Our music teacher is awesome and I know she worked really hard on getting the kids ready for this.  I didn't get any great pictures, but I promise Abigail is up there in the middle.  😁

The next day we got to hear Hannah play at her piano recital.  She did awesome as did the rest of the kids.  Hannah truly loves to perform and doesn't seem to get nervous before playing like I always did.  Abigail is counting the days until she gets to start lessons....mid June....so very soon!

Then that Sunday the kids choir at church did their spring musical.  This year it was called Let's Rock and taught the kids about how we all have to work together as the body of Christ.  No one job or talent is the most important.  Hannah sang another solo and Abigail's class this semester was black light puppets.  They performed a song too.  Abigail is the orange puppet in the front between the skeleton and green one.  Hannah picked a drawing class this time and loved it.

Every grade at our school gets to go on two field trips each year.  One is to the Outdoor Learning Center which ties into the science curriculum.  They have nature trails and lots of indoor rescue animals.  It's a neat place.  Both of Hannah's field trips ended up being in May this year and I was able to go on both...yeah!  I am a little sad that Hannah only wanted to sit with me on the bus on the way back to school on both trip and with a friend on the way there.  Guess that means she's growing up...sniff!!  Their other field trip was to the Sci Tech Discovery Center.  They had lots of cool hands on exhibits. We were there about a little over an hour and then we headed to a nearby park for a picnic and some playtime.  It was a state testing day for older kids at school so it was really nice to be gone almost all day. It was a really fun day!! Here's few pictures from both trips.

I volunteered at Field Day by myself this year.  Abigail was super excited to be an official participant this year and not just my assistant. 😁  Everyone had lots of fun despite the heat and humidity.  Let's just say I had to come home and take another shower when I was finished.....yuck!!

We finished out the year with the end of year party.  Kindergarten had a summer theme with a popsicle craft and then they got to eat real popsicles for their treat too.  2nd grade went super easy and had ice cream sundaes and then played on the playground. 

Even though both girls LOVE school they are ready for more play time and a relaxed schedule.  We have several things planned so we'll stay busy this summer.  I did my substitute renewal training last week so I'm all set to work again next year.  I really enjoyed being back in the classroom but with the flexibility to do volunteer things as a parent too.