I don’t know how many times I’ve said it, and I know I can’t stop saying it, but I STILL can’t believe that Della is finished with elementary school. Our school year ended in June, and the notion that she’ll never be walking back to that school with us again just keeps boggling my mind.
As you know, we went back to in-person school for the fourth and final quarter of this school year. It was, by far, the best decision for us. I was perfectly happy with all 3 staying virtual and at home for the first 3 quarters, but by the time that last spring quarter rolled around and the school week switched to 4 days in person with 1 asynchronous day and the COVID-19 cases didn’t skyrocket and the nice weather started to arrive and the cabin fever started to set in, I was ready to send them back. They were ready to go back, too. And we were SO fortunate that Della and Morrison got to keep their teachers, whom we all loved, because they both went back in person, too. Lana’s virtual teacher ended up not even having her own classroom for fourth quarter so Lana couldn’t have kept her anyway, but she did start helping out with reading groups in Morrison’s class! Plus Lana loved the new teacher she got for that quarter, so win-win-win.
Last time wearing her last-day-of-school dressLast walk home from school all together 🙁One last pass by the dinosaur and purple giraffe house with all of them
I absolutely love our elementary school. Della has had nothing but wonderful days and experiences there, and I’m so sad it’s over for her. Our middle school seems pretty amazing, though, and I know she’s looking forward to her days ahead there. I just can’t wrap my heart around the fact that we’re splitting up. We won’t all be together anymore. She’ll be going there while the rest of us still go the other way. It’s just a fact of life, I’m fully aware, but it still tugs at me. The first piece of my heart is growing up and walking right away from me before my eyes.
Last walk to school together…
Thankfully the school calendar for next year is going to allow us to take Della the first couple of days before Lana and Morrison start. I already promised I wouldn’t get too close if she doesn’t want me to, wheeling the stroller with the twins right up to the 6th-grade waiting area. 😀 Once I have just those first couple dropoffs with her under my belt, I think I’ll be ok. My heart will get those few little moments to keep it full. The start and end timing of the different school days is just close enough that I wouldn’t be able to drop her off first and get over to the elementary school in time walking with everyone. I think if we drove we’d make it, but the walks to/from school are important to me. Believe it or not, I learn a lot in those short times together with all my kids.
Through those doors for the last time…
I’m going to miss her terribly. I know she’s not actually going anywhere and will be home right after us each day, but still. She’s mine, and I miss her when she’s not with me. I think it’ll be weird for the other kids, too, not having their leader with us. I told Lana she has an important role now as the biggest Rau kid at the elementary school. She’ll be in charge of getting Morrison at his door on those winter days when I drive to pick them up and they have to come meet me at the car. And she’ll have to help him get to his door on those same mornings. I hope she’s up to the task!
Oh, my sweet little peanut. I canNOT believe you’re a big middle schooler now, and I hate the fact that our school-days gang is breaking up. But, being the amazingly beautiful person you are, I can’t wait to see where this life takes you. Dream big, my love – you’ll do incredible things. ❤
Was a big day around here. The big 3 went back to in-person school for the first time in 174 school days, and it was mine and Ryan’s 15th anniversary.
Last virtual reading groupLast day of virtual school for this crew!Last virtual P.E. class togetherLast virtual day picture with her teacher.She adored Miss Safer at Richards!Thumbs up – all done!
The kids are so happy to be back in the classrooms with their teachers and friends, and so am I! We were elated that Della and Morrison’s teachers switched back to in person, too, so they got to stay with them. Lana’s virtual teacher actually didn’t keep her own classroom this quarter so Lana wouldn’t have been able to stay with her anyway, and Lana’s new teacher seems wonderful. Plus, her virtual teacher now helps out with reading groups in Morrison’s class and Lana gets to see her for an hour each Wednesday during asynchronous office hours, so that worked out great. As much as I miss not having them here all day anymore, I feel with every fiber of my being that sending them back for this final quarter of the school year was definitely the right choice for us. Even the walking to/from school routine feels good again. We’ve still had asynchronous Wednesdays, so I do get to keep them with me those days.
Gotta celebrate with a Fun Lunch!
They hopped right back into the school swing, too. They unload their backpacks right when we get home, wash their lunch boxes and water bottles, do any homework (usually only Della), give me any papers out of their folders (usually only Lana and Morrison), then make their lunches and snacks for the next day after dinner. I absolutely love the independence they’ve gained in these chores. They enjoy making their own lunches and I don’t, so it’s a win-win!
First morning walking to school in over a year!
We didn’t have a big celebration for #15. Ryan sent me a beautiful flower arrangement, I hung up the decorations Lana had made for Valentine’s Day that we were saving for this, and I opened a nice bottle of sparkling wine before dinner. I put on my wedding dress, too, which Avit absolutely loved helping to arrange.
Lana’s anniversary present for us. She made it immediately when we got home from school and had me send a picture of it to her teacher. 🙂 It says “Here comes the bride all dressed in white.”
I say it pretty much every spring, but I can’t believe we’re in May already and nearing the end of yet another school year. Della and I had her middle school tour last night (what the?!?!?!). I will be a total mess the last week of this school year with all the fun activities and celebrations they have planned for the 5th graders’ sendoff from elementary school. Even though the middle school looks incredible and I know she’ll love it, it’s breaking my heart that we’re not all going to be walking to and from the same school together each day anymore, and she won’t be at the same school with any of her siblings again until her senior year of high school. I know these are all just steps in life, but they’re scary for me. I know my kids little, and I love it this way. I obviously won’t love them any less as they grow up, but I’m having a really hard time letting go.
The year started off so great: A new decade! So exciting! So hopeful! The next 10 years! Remember?
That train went off the rails pretty quickly, eh?
A global pandemic that’s killing millions. Mother Nature hating humankind – raging wildfires, a million hurricanes and tropical storms, floods, blizzards. Murder hornets. Swarming locusts. Economies on destructive roller coasters. Widespread unemployment and shuttered businesses. The bastard racism alive and well. Nationwide protests. An election that tested the foundation of this country and shook us to our core. Holidays spent mostly apart from family and friends physically but connected electronically. Social distancing. Zoom. Virtual. Synchronous. Asynchronous. Wear a mask! A new normal.
Safer at home and lockdown last spring were actually not that bad. As I’ve said time and again, being home and not having to load all 5 up to go anywhere is my specialty. The big 3 did great with virtual school during that time and got a couple chances to connect with their teachers again by the end of the school year, even though we weren’t in classrooms anymore.
{If you’d like a little year-end review of those posts, here’s what happened during weeks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and post.}
However.
As summer vacation rolled in and our normally relaxed, unscheduled days dawned, the coziness of all 7 of us being at home together got a little less cozy by the hour.
If I heard, “I’m on a call!” once more… If the boys ran through the house at top speed and crashed into something or each other once more… If the girls bickered over who went first for whatever or got to control the remote to watch whatever or just whatever whatever once more…
As a normally very even-keeled person, experiencing a constant, humongous range of emotions became exhausting. Happy! Crabby! Chilled out! Angry! Elated! Enraged! Loving! Crying! Laughing! I lost my shit more times than I have in my entire adult life before March of this year, and I began questioning things that I held as rock solid in every aspect before the stretch of time that was 2020. I honestly don’t know how I didn’t kill 1 or more of us daily.
Actually, wine. It was probably wine that saved all of our lives.
I kid. Kind of.
I had also planned to finally take all 5 kids to Canada with my mom and sisters for a vacation this summer, but obviously that didn’t happen with the border closure. We did take a couple of shorter trips within the Midwest, though, so those helped to get the ants out of our pants a little. And then Ryan went back to work in his building in August, and we started to slide back to a slightly reduced level of insanity. And rage on my end, I won’t lie.
As you know, when school started again in September we chose to keep the big 3 fully virtual. With the success they’d had at home last spring and the complete uncertainty of how everything was going to play out with in-person schooling and the spread of covid-19, we felt it was right for us. Fortunately it’s worked out great so far, with each grade having enough students choose fully virtual that each of their classes has a dedicated fully virtual teacher, not splitting her time between those students in class and those on screen. And again, that not having to get everyone out the door at a certain time each morning thing… I’ve gotten very used to it! We get to choose virtual/in person by quarter, and I think we’re going to stick with fully virtual all year. The kids all love their teachers, as do I; they’re doing an excellent job; and they haven’t missed a beat instruction-wise or socially.
And now here we are, the calendar about to flip yet again. The kids and I did get a little in-person family time before Christmas, and the rest of this holiday season we enjoyed here at home, the 7 of us together. I definitely don’t have the same excitement going into 2021 as I did coming into 2020, but I do have a take-it-as-it-comes attitude. I think that’s what 2020 taught us; well, me, at least – you have absolutely no idea what’s heading at you next, so take it as it comes as best you can. I count my blessings daily (literally, believe me!) that we all have our health, Ryan still has his job, I am still able to be home full time with the kids, the roof over our heads is still standing, and we can put food on our table.
(*click on each image in the gallery to enlarge it*)
Gobble, gobble!
So very thankful
New Santa bags!
School at Grandma & Grandpa’s!
Our own private Nutcracker party this year
Franz, our waiter, ha!
Starting off winter break with a breakfast of hot cocoa and candy canes
Snow day!
So, 2021, here we come. 2020, you can fuck off. We survived you, and we’re thankfully still going. As my grandma says, “Cherish the days. March on.” That, and I just restocked the wine cellar.
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!
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!
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…
Week 10?? Double digits. We’ve been under the safer at home order, which just expired last night, for 10 weeks. Crazy. And to be perfectly honest, I’m not sure I’m ready to have everything open back up. I like being home, knowing we’re staying safe and not needing or really wanting to go anywhere. Like I said in the first week of all this, that’s kinda my thing.
I have a feeling all these extraordinarily smart, wise leaders of ours will be a little sorry rushing to open everything back up this soon, especially since new cases and deaths continue to rise even in our area, but hey, who am I to suggest anyone use common sense anymore? </sarcasm>
But anyway, back in the land of Rau… Last weekend brought us a whirlwind of weather, with Saturday keeping the sun of Friday but not quite the warmth, then the start of over 5″ of rain on Sunday. Thankfully I got the rest of the mulch and plants I needed on Saturday, got them all in, then mowed both yards next door and trimmed those front bushes before the rain fell down. The only thing I’m missing is a big hanging basket for the front shepherd’s hook. Now we just hope all the new grass seed in our yards didn’t drown.
During the deluge on Sunday, Ryan gave both the girls haircuts – Corona cuts. I’m planning on taking them to my stylist sometime this summer for a little “cleaning up,” but he actually did a pretty good job.
If anyone is still reading, here’s what you’ve been missing:
Monday class video meetings. I love how they always get to say hi to everyone and share good news from the week or show some of their favorite things – they’re never about lessons or schoolwork, just camaraderie.
Morrison’s class got to celebrate the wedding of Q and U (since words are always spelled with QU-, never just Q…), one of my favorite activities during their K4 year. Unfortunately it wasn’t in the classroom for him this year, but he was still excited to wear his bow tie anyway. And he got a piece of gum from Della as an extra piece of candy after dinner, since we didn’t have any wedding cake.
Wedding dancing!
May 19, 2020
I made my first mask today, and it turned out pretty well. I already have one cloth one and the kids have some nice felt ones with actual respirator valves that Ryan got them, but if they do go back to school in the fall and have to wear masks, I want them to have at least a couple to swap in and out. I designed the slider knot fastener cord in the back so they wouldn’t have to worry about tying anything behind their heads on their own or elastic ear loops chafing. Plus I don’t have any elastic, so I wanted to be able to use supplies I had on hand. Anybody need one?
Lana made us an adorable pizza stand for our nightly movie tonight. And she paid us to take the pizzas – excellent!
Filter pocket between the 2 layers
May 20, 2020
The rain finally stopped and the clouds cleared out, so I got to take my new running shoes for a spin. First new pair in 3 years! What the heck?? I think I should’ve tested them with only 3 miles instead of 4, though, because my feet were burning by the end!
After my run I got the veggie garden cleared of most of the weeds. We just need to till up the front part to get all the bluebell roots out, but I got all the greens pulled anyway. With my new stone border, this is going to be great this year! And the raspberry bushes survived the winter and are spreading like crazy. I hope we get some good berries this summer.
All 3 big kids helped me make dinner, which was a huge help since I detest chopping. They did 2 green peppers and an onion for me – awesome!
The big 3 are taking turns sleeping in my bed for some reason, so tonight was Lana’s turn. Morrison was scared without his best bud in their room, so Della helped him out at bedtime. 😉
My next bag – these fabrics go so well together!
She made a bee out of 2 cups from a paper egg carton, duck tape, colored paper, and googly eyes!
May 21, 2020
Happy birthday, Grandpa – 94, amazing!! I hope, someday!
Morrison made me a train show tonight, complete with tickets. I watched it and rode all the way to the west coast then up to Alaska. It was so cute.
Tonight was Morrison’s turn for sleeping. And Lana was scared, so into her bed Della went this time. She is such a great kid.
She slept there all night!
May 22, 2020
Lana has been working so hard for weeks on her school report on bees, and they finally published them yesterday. She bound it and everything. Tonight we celebrated with dinner from Kopp’s and dessert from Dairy Queen, and she earned all of it! (And I wore my mask picking it all up!) I was so incredibly proud of her, especially since she did all the work 100% by herself. And it was adorable – she dedicated it to Morrison, her favorite brother. 😀 She presented the whole thing to us between the cheeseburger and Blizzard courses.
Today was technically a half day for the girls, even though they had the same workload as usual, so Morrison had no school. I didn’t realize how nice that was going to be. Now they are all off Monday for Memorial Day. It seems very strange having a 3-day weekend when we’re not even going to school and most people aren’t currently going to offices for work, but I’ll take it for sure.
Tonight is Della’s turn to sleep with me, so hopefully Lana and Morrison best buds survive.
So I guess we’re not technically in a shutdown anymore? The kids are finishing the school year at home, though, and I don’t know when Ryan goes back to work, so I think I’ll keep updating at least for these last couple weeks of school.
I hope I’m proven wrong in my premonition that we will regret ending our safer at home earlier than I think we should, but then again, I’ve been wrong before. Shocking, I know! So stick with me a little longer to see how this great shutdown of 2020 plays out…
