We took our third annual fall trip up to Eagle River last week, and it was another fun one. It didn’t seem quite as fun to me as the past 2, but looking back as a whole, I’m so glad we went again.
I’m not sure why the difference, but I think a lot of it had to do with the big 3 doing school up there. Lana and Morrison didn’t log onto their live meetings and Della was only on hers for 2 out of the 3 synchronous school days we were there, but they did still keep up with all their posted lessons on their own so they didn’t get behind. So that was a big chunk of their days. A prime example of the mobility of virtual school being both a blessing and a curse. 😉
Also, the pool at the resort was closed due to COVID-19 this year and they didn’t think the pool at the other resort that we used last year was quite up to standards, so we didn’t even bother taking swim suits. That was always a highlight of the time for the kids, so that was missing this year, too.
However, there were plenty of great times. Ryan took the big 3 on 2 cool hikes; I took the twins on walks around the resort grounds, which they loved; the deer friends were out in force this year, which we did miss last year; we had fires daily, which I loved; I played a number of fun games with our friends; and the wine was good and plenitful, a vacation must. We got a couple dustings of snow again, too, which make everything look and feel so festive.
So all in all, a successful trip #3 to Eagle River. We stayed in a different building than our previous visits that was right across from the playground and at the end of the little bay the resort is on, which was a setting I liked so much better than the other building we’ve stayed in.
Another big thank you to our friends who are our connection to this place – we’re already looking forward to trip #4 next year!
In August, our school district decided we would have 2 options to begin this school year:
A hybrid, in-person model, where students would go to school with half of their class 2 days a week; have virtual learning 2 days a week, where they’d see their teacher in the classroom while s/he teaches the other half of the class, too; then Wednesday is an asynchronous day with only online lessons, no live instruction. Students with last names A-L would be in person on Monday/Tuesday, virtual Thursday/Friday. Students with last names La-Z would be in person on Thursday/Friday, virtual Monday/Tuesday.
Fully virtual, where students would get real-time live instruction from their teacher, not prerecorded online lessons like last spring. Asynchronous Wednesdays just like the hybrid model.
And you only had to commit to whichever modality you chose for 1 quarter at a time.
We chose the real-time virtual learning for the first quarter, mainly because we had absolutely no idea what was going to happen and 1 quarter seemd like nothing. As soon as I heard you didn’t have to choose for the entire school year, my mind was made up. We knew there was better infrastructure in place than last spring when everything shut down, but I was convinced that schools would close within weeks because of spreading COVID-19 cases and everyone would be home anyway. We were wrong, and our district actually stayed open the entire first quarter. At the beginning of the school year I had said that if that happened we would send them back to the in-person option the following quarter, but we’ve decided to keep them home again for second quarter. I know, liar, liar.
Here’s the thing. Although the schools never closed, there have also never been zero active cases AND zero quarantine cases in all the schools. I’ve watched the COVID dashboard that’s released weekly, and there are either some active cases in some of the schools or some quarantine cases in some of the schools, but it has never been zeros across the board. The high school actually went fully virtual for the shortened school week this week because enough teachers/staff are out with it, but that’s the first time for any of the schools this quarter.
Here’s the other thing. We’re going into the usual annual flu season. Put the regular flu germs being passed around on top of the COVID germs? No thanks. I’ve been elated we haven’t had to worry about lice for months – I don’t want to have to start worrying about a nasty viral double decker now. I like having that tiny free space in my brain for other stuff. Like… I forget.
Here’s another thing. The kids are doing great. We had no problems last spring, so I honestly wasn’t worried going into this school year staying virtual. And man, have the teachers stepped up their game! Each grade level had enough students choose the fully virtual option so that there is a dedicated fully virtual teacher (no splitting attention between virtual students and those physically present in the classroom), and it makes ALL the difference. They log onto a live meeting every morning, stay live pretty much all morning, some have a break for lunch then back to a couple smaller live meetings in the afternoon, some are finished after the lunch break, and Morrison has a live closing meeting every day. Personally, I love it. The teachers have done an absolutely amazing job with this setup, whether the platform is Seesaw or Google Classroom, and they have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that they deserve about 100,000x their current salaries forever and ever and ever. What they’ve done to make sure OUR kids are getting the education they need in this time of insanity is nothing short of incredible. Especially since we all know so many of them have their own children trying to navigate these systems, too. And it’s funny – when the school year started, almost every teacher I spoke to who has kids in elementary school was sending them back fully virtually as well.
And to continue on the another thing, to be perfectly honest, I’m being a little selfish, too. Not having the morning onslaught of getting 5 kids up, dressed, and fed; then making sure 3 of said kids are ready for school – lunches packed, snacks packed, water bottles packed, heads sprayed with the lice spray that actually works, runners/rain boots/snow boots/coats/snow pants/hats/mittens/none of the above on depending on the weather, teeth brushed, gone pee and/or poop; then out the door by either 7:20 or 7:35 depending on if we are walking or driving… You have no idea how much that saves my sanity. We get into that routine easily once a school year begins, but just knowing I don’t have to do all of it when I wake up every morning makes it that much easier. And I employ the easy button whenever I can in life. Try it, you’ll like it. I don’t even have to set an alarm clock! The big kids all get up, get dressed, make their beds, get their own breakfasts, brush teeth, and get their school stations set up for the day on their own. The twins? Oh, I’ll be changing their diapers and pouring their milk and raising them forever.
And some more about the another thing. They all love their teachers. Lana’s grade actually had enough students choose fully virtual that her class is half Cumberland and half Richards, her teacher is at Richards, and we pick all her supplies up at Richards on pickup days, so she thinks it’s great that she’s kind of going to another school. 😀 When I asked if they wanted to switch to in-person classes or stay virtual, as soon as they heard that they’d all have different teachers and classmates if they switched to in person, they all wanted to stay virtual. (Yay!) They haven’t missed out on any fun, either, all having had pajama parties, reward parties for good behavior, show and tell, our own fun lunch, costume day and parties for Halloween, etc.
And the last part about the another thing? I love having them here. I get to see and/or hear what they do in class all day, I get to help them if they need it (although I do constantly tell Morrison to sound out his own words when he asks how to spell everything because I wouldn’t be there in his classroom), I get to hear what questions they ask their teachers and how they ask them, I get to hear the silly things they say to their friends and classmates whether on their microphones or in the chats, and I LOVE that they always want to have their own Zoom meeting and chat with each other when the school day is over and all assignments are finished. After their school years they’re going to be gone from this house pretty much forever, so I will soak up these extra days with them for as long as I can. And I remind myself of that over and over again on those days when I want to send them all back to school RIGHT NOW. Trust me, I know how fortunate we are that I’m home with the kids full time and we are able to roll with fully virtual. It’s what works best for us, not everyone.
So. I totally lied about going back to in-person school after everything stayed open and healthy for a full quarter. I truly didn’t think it would happen. On one hand, I’m really happy that all the precautions and rules that are in place are working. But on the other hand, I don’t really trust the upcoming season. Milwaukee just reversed its coronavirus orders and put more restrictions on gatherings, bars, restaurants, sports, etc., since Wisconsin is apparently incapable of getting this shit in check, so I don’t need to have added worry with trying to send our children back to school buildings when virtual is working perfectly for us right now. Plus they’re happy and thriving and their teachers all had nothing but good things to say at their virtual confereces last night, which is the main goal of all this.
2020, you’ve really fucked things up. But I have to thank you, too. I’ve gotten almost an extra year of time at home with these little pieces of my heart, and for that I will be eternally grateful.
Lana just turned 8, and I can’t believe my littlest girl is already turning into a big kid! We don’t have her well check until January, so I’ll fill in her stats when I have them.
**ETA: We had her well check on February 17, 2021, so here are the official 8-year stats:
Height: 53.5″ (86%)
Weight: 62 lbs. (62%)
BMI: 15.2 kg/m2 (34%)
Blood pressure: 98/55
She had an absolutely amazing day, and it made my heart SO happy to see her skipping around all day saying, “This is the best day ever! Thank you so much for my birthday!”
Then and now – 6th birthday and 8th birthday.
She got a boatload of presents, which was fine by me because I feel like last year she kind of got jipped. Her favorites were this awesome glass pen that Ryan got her that came with glitter ink, ocean kinetic sand (thank you, Auntie Mer!), and a smart watch (thank you, Grandma!).
A week or so earlier I’d asked what kind of cake she wanted for her birthday this year, and she requested marble. Little did I know that required combining 2 different batters, but I figured it out and it actually turned out pretty great. I made a double batch of buttercream frosting and it’s a good thing I did, because we ended up making it a double-decker cake and used every last bit. Lana came up with a dia de los muertos skull design and decoration scheme, and it turned out awesome! She helped crack the eggs, cut out the skull shape, and frost with the piping bags, and she was SO excited about it. It was delicious!
Her birthday fell on an asynchronous day for school, so we didn’t have to worry about watching the clock to sign on to live class meetings. This allowed us to just follow a fun birthday schedule. She opened a bunch of presents in the morning, saving just a couple for later in the day after Daddy got home from work. They did their school work until about 10:00 that morning, then we headed out for a couple “field trip” errands. We picked up school supplies for D and M, picked up our online grocery order, stopped to take her picture in the beautiful frame her Girl Scout troop leaders made this summer for their bridging ceremony from Daisies to Brownies that never got to be used because of the pandemic, then we checked out a really cool house that’s right down on the edge of Lake Michigan and has a yard full of sculptures. The woman who lived there was an artist known as “The Witch of Fox Point,” and the kids were studying her that week in art. It’s a pretty cool sight to see, and they thought it was fun to see something from their studies in real life.
Then they finished up their lessons during the afternoon, Ryan took them to the park when he got home because it was the only beautiful day in a week full of rain, I picked up her requested sushi for dinner, and she opened the rest of her presents that night. Talk about the perfect way to celebrate a birthday! She was in heaven. We even sang “Happy Birthday” to her twice, because the video camera malfunctioned during the first rendition.
Lana is an absolute wonder. She is still the most creative person I know, and her fairy spirit is alive and well. She is loving her virtual classroom this year and is doing a great job in school. She just had her first play date of the year, inviting one of the girls from her class who goes to the other elementary school over to play outside for an afternoon. Another girl in her class sent her her first chain letter a few weeks ago, a sticker club, so she’s enjoyed mailing letters to her friends and getting stickers in the mail as well. I just love how her eyes light up and she starts literally bouncing up and down when she’s excited about something, and I never say no when she wants to read me something she’s written or show me a new background on her computer for school. The other night she wanted me to carry her to bed, and she said, “I want you to be able to carry me forever.” I do, too, my love; oh, how I do, too.
Happy 8th birthday, Lana Marie! Words can’t even express how much I love you, and you make us prouder by the day. It still takes me a couple tries to get you to hear me when I need to you do something and you are the queen of shoving toys wherever you want to put them instead of actually cleaning up, but I now know that’s just you, it’s not deliberate misbehavior. I will never, ever forget the night we brought you home from the hospital – the early darkness of a fall evening, which I usually hate, could do nothing to dampen the elation I felt having another baby girl in the house. Don’t ever let this world take your gorgeous essence away. It is the most defining part of you, and I couldn’t love it more. May your days always be filled with twirling, Nigh-Night, and love, my sweet baby girl!
Despite living during a pandemic, we managed to have a really great summer vacation. Screw you, COVID-19!
We started things off with a family trip over to Paw Paw, MI, for a nice 4-day weekend with my mom and stepdad. We’d never been to their cabin there before, and it was wonderful. (P.S. All of these trips will have their own gallery since we take millions of pictures, so please click on each pic to enlarge it if you’d like a better view.)
Two weeks later, my dad came up for the weekend to celebrate Morrison’s birthday, so it was fun having Grandpa in town for a few days. (Please see Morrison’s 5-year post for those pictures!) We were home for a few weeks after that, then I took the kids down to my mom’s for a week after the 4th of July. My sister and her kids drove back to spend that time, too, so we all had a great visit and got to celebrate my niece and stepdad’s birthdays. We hadn’t seem them for exactly a year, which is crazy!
A quick half week later, and we went on another family vacation. That never happens twice in a summer, so it was awesome. Our great friends found a last-minute rental opportunity about 3.5 hours north of here in Crandon, WI, so I said count us in! We definitely did not regret it. It was an incredible place with a perfect property and lake for the kids, and we all had so much fun.
A couple weeks after that, I took the kids back down to my mom’s for another week of Grandma and Grandpa days. We were the only visitors this time, and we celebrated Della’s birthday. Another round of relaxation and fun – just what we needed!
I’m in love with these clutch purses and mini pouches I’ve discovered how to make!
We also sprinkled in a couple treat days around here – Bookworm Gardens, hunting for sea glass, donuts and the playground at school, backyard fun (we finally have grass!), the zoo, and I transformed our front porch into a perfect little sitting spot that I love.
He pulled tooth #2 by himself already!
New glasses!
His first pair of glasses!
Glasses brigade
Can’t be left out!
So now we prepare for the start to our strangest school year ever. We’ve chosen to have the big 3 attend school fully virtually for the first quarter, because I can’t bring myself to make them the guinea pigs in all this. Our other option was a blended model where students go in person 2 days a week and virtual the other 3, but I’ll see how that works before sending ours in. If everyone stays healthy and school stays open the whole time, we’ll all be happy to send them back to the classrooms with their teachers and friends. But I’m just not convinced it will all work so smoothly right away. I want them back as much as they want to be back, but I also don’t need to take any unnecessary risks. Plus we don’t have an extra room for quarantining!
So, another summer break in the books. And an excellent one at that, even with masks, social distancing, and basically nothing operating like a usual summer. Who knows what these upcoming seasons will bring on all fronts, so I will cherish these last couple days like nobody’s business. Cheers!
Della turned 10 a few weeks ago, and I can’t believe she’s in double digits! I always say it, but since we’ve had kids, to me it doesn’t feel like time has flown or stood still. It feels like it’s gone just right. Yes, I can remember the day she was born like it was yesterday, but it doesn’t feel like it was yesterday. It feels like we have known her for 10 years.
She is an absolute dream. (Sidenote: For some reason, it just dawned on me that I think I used to write these age update posts in the first person, like I was talking to each of the kids. Or the direct voice? Whatever that’s called. Geez, I’m embarrassing myself as an editor here. But anyway, I like this descriptive tone better, so I’m sticking with it.) She has a humongous heart, and we could not have ordered a better oldest sibling for the rest of our brood. She cares like a mother, and she takes care of the other 4 without even being asked.
She has become quite the chef! I keep telling her I love to see this, because I have never ever liked to cook, especially as young as the big 3 are. She can make a full meal, dessert and all. They get a monthly kids’ cooking box from America’s Test Kitchen Kids, and she’s all about it. Just the other night she made pan-seared brined chicken breasts with a chimichurri sauce (Morrison got to help with the sauce), chocolate semifreddo for dessert, and Lana made salted green beans with a lemon dressing and zucchini muffins. We were so impressed, because not only did they do it all themselves but it was delicious!
Ryan combined it all and put it over noodles, but that wasn’t how their gourmet meal was originally served. I just didn’t get a picture of the chefs in action. 😉
She’s definitely looking forward to 5th grade this year, and I just really, really hope she gets to spend some of it back in the building since it’s her last year at their elementary school. We’re starting the big 3 at home virtually for the first quarter of this school year, so I can see how everything pans out with COVID-19. If everyone stays healthy and properly distanced and school stays open, we will all be happy for them to go back to the classrooms with their teachers and friends. There’s just no way I want them to be the guinea pigs for it all. Plus, if one of us catches this miserable virus, we don’t have an extra room for quarantining! None of them relished the thought of spending 2 weeks alone in the basement. 😉
She picked up the 4th Harry Potter book again at the beginning of summer, then blew through the rest of the series within a matter of weeks. She loved it! Now we get to work through the movies, which I’m loving, too. I had only watched up through the 3rd one, so I’m enjoying them as much as she is. Math isn’t quite as high on her enjoyment list as reading is, but that’s not exactly surprising. She still loves to ride her bike, play outside, read in her new pod that hangs from the swingset, and play with friends. She’s starting to get to the point where she doesn’t want to play what Lana and Morrison are playing all the time, which makes them and me sad – I don’t want them all to grow up! But every now and then she joins right back in, which they adore. Especially now that she’s read all the Harry Potter books, their trio is back together more often.
Happy 10th birthday, our incredible Della Jolee! You gave me the surprise of a lifetime the day you were born, 8 days early, and my love for you has grown ever since. You are a fantastic kid, peanut, and I know life has wonderful things in store for you. We love you so much!!
Morrison turned 5 last month, and we just wrapped up his final celebration this weekend. He got Grandma as a surprise visitor on his birthday (our first overnight guest and in-person family member sighting since the start of quarantine/shutdown!); cousins from Ryan’s side of the family came down that same afternoon to shower him with silly string, a bull horn song, and gifts; and this weekend, Grandpa came up for a belated birthday visit. Lucky kid!
Here are his official 5-year-old stats:
Height: 46″ (94%)
Weight: 46 lbs. 1 oz. (79%)
BMI: 15.3 kg/m2 (46%)
Blood Pressure: 98/57
I really could not ask for a sweeter, more pure-of-heart, first-born son. His incredible little smile lights up my life, and he is definitely my mama’s boy. I always start to worry when he talks about sometimes he’s sad for no reason or just feels sad some days or doesn’t like himself for whatever reason (always his eyelashes, oddly) since we have a lot of mental health issues on both sides of our family and I try to be ultra-wary of early warning signs, but thankfully that’s about 1% of his days. He truly is a happy little kid.
Last nap! (they get to stop taking naps when they turn 5)Last night of 4!Last sleep as a 4 year old!
He made me so proud this entire K4 year, his first year of school. His teachers constantly told me how hard working and kind he was and how he was such a good friend to everyone in the class. There was one special-needs friend in particular who he kind of took under his wing – he always made sure this friend was involved in everything the class was doing, always made sure to help this friend when needed, always went out of his way to make sure the friend was doing ok. This side of him often brought me to tears with pride, because I’d never seen it in action before.
He loves to run, jump, skip, scooter, cannonball into the lake, make art projects like his sisters, play outside, play with the twins (especially chasing through the house, much to my chagrin!), play video games (one of his newfound loves), and ask questions. Constantly. I always try to answer, though, because I know one day they’ll be done. He still loves Cuphead, Star Wars, the color green, and dinosaurs, too.
Why does he look so grown up here??
I like to watch him do stuff, because I really could not possibly love him more. Even when he annoys the crap out of me with all-day chattering and questioning, ha! He is ridiculously smart and has an amazing mind for numbers. The speed with which he does some of his math problems has always astonished me, even before he started school this year. He loves to keep track of sports scores and numbers, which led me to give him the nickname “Stats.”
Happy 5th birthday, my sweet Morrison John! You are a magnificently joyful spirit that I hope never fades. I absolutely loved my half days with you this year with morning K4, and I will miss you dearly when you start all-day school with K5. Never stop questioning, never stop playing, never stop smiling, and I will never stop loving you. We are so proud of you, my lovebug, and we all love you so very, very much. I can’t wait to see you celebrate so many more happy birthdays!
So, what have we been up to since our safer-at-home order ended 2 weeks ago? Oh, you know, eating at restaurants every day, playing at crowded parks, swimming at the beach with everyone else, hanging out in groups larger than 10 inside peoples’ houses… All without wearing masks! Freedom!!
Jokes.
It’s actually been much of the same as before, since we’re still really not going anywhere. And don’t worry, we do wear masks when we go out. The big 3 wound down the school year, which is always so hard to believe; Ryan is still working at home through the end of this month; and we’re going on a little 4-day trip to kick off our true summer vacation.
This school year end just felt so heavy without having been in the classroom with the teachers for the last 3 months and with everything else going on in the world right now. Especially Morrison’s. The end of K4 is always hard on me, but this one was incredibly so. Plus the teachers all made an amazing farewell video for the kids, which about killed me to watch. Lots of tears, lots of tears.
He couldn’t wait to finish the last 2 letter projects that were sent home in his bag from school!Then and now!His last K4 class video meeting 🙁Then and now 🙂Last video meeting of 1st grade 🙁Last video meeting of 4th grade 🙁
Thankfully we were able to see most of our teachers during the last couple days of school, which was so great. I sent them all pictures of the kids holding the bouquet of peonies and weigela flowers that I normally send in for them during the last weeks of school but obviously couldn’t this year. Morrison’s K4 teachers are 2 of my most favorite people ever, so it was absolutely wonderful to see them again. Lana’s 1st-grade teacher was a fantastic fit for her, and she said again how amazing, creative, and incredibly smart Lana is. She said Lana was, by far, the best artist on Seesaw (their class’s online platform for virtual learning), and I agreed that her creations impressed me every single morning. She even said how quickly Lana’s mind works and that she’s like a sponge when it comes to learning – constantly wanting to know more. That made my heart about explode with pride, and I told her that fits perfectly with what Lana’s already said about not wanting to have summer break because she’ll be bored without school. Lana and Morrison even started their summer workbooks before the last day of school! Della was sad that we didn’t get to see her teacher in person but she wrote a very heartfelt reply to the flowers email, and I know she and Della will definintely miss each other.
Morrison turned 5 at the end of May and we had a surprise guest for the celebration, but that will be a post unto itself. The big 3 have been playing outside with friends again, something they weren’t able to do before the safer at home ended. That always makes their days fun. They also had virtual Family Campout Day, since they usually have a campout day at school during the last week. This year the teachers posted links and videos for all the games and activites, which ended up being a lot of fun. We got everything to make s’mores like they always do at school but didn’t end up getting to them until that Sunday, but I said that was the nice thing about having virtual Campout Day on a Friday – we could make it last all weekend.
We also witnessed the intense resurgence of Black Lives Matter protests nationwide in the wake of the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, which was incredible to see. We were even put under a curfew for a couple nights in a row as it all played out in Milwaukee. I talked to the kids about why it was going on, why no person is better than another simply because of the color of their skin, and how I’ve never understood why people with peach skin (what they call white people) thought they were better than or in control of people with brown skin. We watched the CNN/Sesame Street town hall video that dealt with racism, and the girls were very interested. When I told them why all this was being brought to attention right now and what had happened to George Floyd, Lana asked, “But aren’t the police supposed to help us?” I made sure to emphasize that yes, the police are supposed to help and to never be afraid to ask them for help if you need to. Only a small number of police officers are bad, just like not every person is bad, but those bad police are the ones doing all these horrible things and need to be stopped.
No one should ever be made to feel less than or hurt or in danger just because their skin is a different color than anyone else’s. I walked in a protest march here in our village, and the kids were very interested about what we did, what our signs said, what we chanted, why we did it. I could especially see Della’s gears turning, trying to make her own sense of it all. I asked if the kids with brown skin in her class ever seemed to be treated differently or got different attention or acted differently, and she said no. Then Lana made up a little song that went, “It doesn’t matter what color your skin is, it doesn’t matter what color your skin is, as long as you always have fun!” And that night Morrison typed in a little document full of emojis that I keep on my phone that he likes to add to every once in a while – “Don’t be mean to different color people” and “Stop being mean, police officers!” I hope that the skin color blindness they know now stays with them forever. The racism in this country must end, and a lot of it is going to be up to their generation. I hope this recent momentum is sustainable and that one day (soon??) every person is truly seen as a person and treated as equally as her neighbor.
I actually found this little note Della wrote in her document on my phone just the other day without me knowing it, and it made me so proud: No matter the color of your skin, black, brown, peach, white or tan; we are all equal. So all the people that see this message (which won’t be any) please don’t judge someone by the color of their skin. The only thing that matters is the way that they act. We are all equal. 👩🏿🎓👩🏿🎓👩🏿🎓👩🏿🎓👩💼👩🏿🎓👩🏿🎓👩🏿🎓 NO RACISM!
Umm… what else? My gardens have made me so happy this spring, and I still stand by my claim that everything is blooming more vibrantly than usual this year. I finally figured out that the flowering bush in the corner of our back yard is a weigela, and I actually saw a hummingbird feeding on it for the first time the other day! I was thrilled, because I have never seen one back there before. I read that weigelas are attractive to butterflies and hummingbirds, so I hope they come back! Our special birthday visitor helped me add some beautiful planters to the front steps (the white pitcher and pots were my great-grandmother’s!) and I got new outdoor pillows for the porch, so I love the little space I’ve created out there now. Lana got her turn with a Zoom birthday party, and they even dropped off a treat for everyone beforehand! I’ve made some more bags and added 2 new styles that I love to my repertoire. I haven’t made any more masks yet, and I think I’ll wait to see if the kids will need them for school next year before I spend more time on those.
So here we are. Post the (first) great shutdown of 2020, and thankfully we all stayed healthy through it. Unfortunately, COVID cases in Milwaukee County shot up 21% in the first week after we reopened, so we’ll see where that goes. Virtual schooling worked out so well for us, but I do hope the kids can go back to school in the Fall. I know both they and the teachers will be heartbroken if we don’t. Or at least a combination of in person and virtual – I think that face-to-face interaction is vital.
I have 2 bleeding hearts that are half white flowers and half pink flowers!
This post feels like a hodge-podge conglomerate recap compared to my weekly shutdown posts, but that’s just kind of how these past couple days have been. Getting everything done as best as I can, keeping track of all the last days of school to-do items and trying to make it as fun as it usually is, processing the emotions of everything happening around us right now, and making it all work through my ever-present exhaustion. So thank you for bearing with me here and following along through those 10 weeks of much more pleasantly organized summaries. It’s been a trip, that’s for sure. And now a hurricane is moving up through the Midwest. Seriously, 2020 has been a year like nothing I have ever experienced so far. I can only imagine what the rest of it has in store…
