Pandemic Update

We are almost at 6 months into this pandemic and man it's just still so surreal. Although life has been decently back to normal there still are some new 'norms' we are all getting used to. Wearing masks is part of routine but it's still shocking to the kiddos sometimes, especially Will. The kiddos still have rarely been in a store. We miss Gramma and Poppa and seeing them all the time. And we live with this daily fear of grandparents or any older relatives getting this virus but try to not let it take over our lives. Derek and I have never been healthier and although the kiddos attitudes are still a bit out of control they have, for the most part, had a fun 6 months as we have shielded them from anything we could to try and maintain normalcy. I saw someone post this question and it had me thinking. "If you could erase this time knowing what you know now, would you?" Would I erase the stress that was the first couple of months and how much of a toll it took on me as a parent and wife? Sure, but then I'd miss out on all the extra time with these 3. It's a deep question to think about and not sure I can answer it to be honest! So, for now we'll go get ice cream and enjoy some board games as well as hugs from our 'circle'. :)

 

My Little Squishy

This sweet hammy and I will be spending every Tuesday and Thursday at the park together this fall and school year. With him also fighting naps lately we HAVE to get outside and get our energy out so that momma gets that afternoon nap. Thankfully we have a couple of buddies who will be joining us but I'm definitely looking forward to our time together! 

Remote Learning

 

Drew and his BFF who lives just a couple streets over decided to tackle remote learning together this year for the first few weeks they aren't in school. As of right now they are set to go back in person on September 14th with a ton of mandates (ie: masks, etc) but we are just hoping and praying they do go back in. Sure he's self sufficient compared to our friends who have smaller ones that struggle and cry daily. It's  not right for children to be on zoom calls or watching the screen for 6-7 hours a day and I HATE it. Our entire city wants to go back in teachers included and it's frustrating we're stuck trying to teach these kiddos at home. When they have breaks I make them hope off the computers and go outside to ride their bike, play or play a board game. It's just such a weird time right now and our current words are flexibility and grace. We talk about them daily and try so hard to live them daily as well. For now he's doing great with remote learning as he's just such a smart guy who catches on to everything quickly but for his mental health as well as his friends they NEED to go back in. This virus isn't hurting children nearly as bad as adults and we shouldn't be teaching our youth in this manner for something that has a 0.00% death rate in children. :(

1st Grade

As we enter the 3rd week of 1st Grade this little one is rocking the school year already. She's gotten so many solid grades and her first spelling test she got 100%! We are in a unique situation being able to see how she's doing by sending her the grade up than we had originally planned granted it's private vs public. The ratio is only 10:1 as opposed to roughly 20:1. She LOVES her teacher and loves going to school. The other day I thought she was playing with toys but ended up bringing me a piece of paper with quite a few sentences she wrote. This girl has NEVER gone off to write sentences on her own and even when prompted still would have daddy or I sound out words with her. I literally had tears in my eyes I was so proud of her. So yes, will we waiver back and forth about if we should hold her or not every day? Probably. But in the end it's still just an age and longevity issue for us. Do we want her so young compared to classmates? Can she handle college classes younger than everyone else? Will she be pushed so hard that she will lose her love of school? Should we hold her back and build her confidence a bit? For now we are still leaning towards repeating 1st in the public school next year but only time will tell. 

 

End-Of-Summer Pampering

One of Ady's girlfriends had a credit at a local salon from her birthday party that COVID ruined and she decided to just use it for some end of summer pampering for this little group of best buddies. She absolutely loved having her nails done, hair done, makeup done and then enjoying a bundtlet after a dance party! 

Love this sweet group of girlfriends and their mommas SO much! 

 

First Day of School Pictures

We have THREE different start dates this year so we did pictures the weekend before! I sure do have some adorable kiddos!!

William started first on Monday the 17th in the 2s room! 

Ady started on Tuesday the 18th in 1st Grade! I need to put up another post about our changes for this year but we are sending her on to 1st Grade. COVID messed up some plans of ours but flexibility is key and we are excited for her to be in a classroom with only 9 other children and a wonderful teacher!

Drew started on Thursday the 20th with remote learning until the district goes back into the classrooms in September. He'll be doing school with some friends over the coming weeks and although it's quite different and very weird he'll rock this new challenge!

Playtime For Kids And Adults

The kids spent the night at Gramma and Poppa's one last time before school. We have seen them super regularly and enjoy our Sunday evening dinners every week but they are going to be pulling back a couple of weeks until we see how school pans out. I think everyone is scared of getting the sickness when school resumes so we are going to give some space until a few weeks in. 

So we met our friends at Top Golf for some adult fun while the kids were away!

 

Ady's Allergy Shots

We've had Ady on allergy shots now for about 14 months and life is good! She goes every 5-6 weeks for maintenance shots and her sneezing and coughing is basically non existent. Now, she is still on 2 inhale steroids because of her attack in February and that's probably a big reason as to why she's doing so well but whatever is working is WORKING! As we were about to walk into shots, Will asked to wear a mask too so I whipped one out and he put it on! 

Isn't he so cute with a mask?!?!?! 

 

Hawaiian Falls

For our last visit to Hawaiian Falls we took daddy and enjoyed the day as a family minus the little one who stayed home with our sitter. We had SO much fun riding all of the rides and showing daddy around the park. Our season passes from Gramma and Poppa were used probably 8-10 times this summer and definitely got their value plus a ton! 

 

Summer Fun

Can't believe our summer fun is coming to an end already! We have soaked up so much outdoor time over the last few months! 

Water park with friends..

Drew had golf camp which he loved...

Family pool time! 

We went to Burger's Lake for a day of rope swings, slides, sand and water play!

Will doing his favorite thing ever... painting!!

Lots of bike rides and walks in the early mornings before it got too hot...

Another day at the water park with more friends...

Summer is fun but tiring!

Drew and Poppa found a turtle while fishing so 'Roger' is our newest pet.

Quick splash pad fun after these girls had soccer camp!

Kayaking Lake Grapevine with a sweet friend!

Driveway church experiments...