Let the Quarantines Begin!

A lady who works at the school texted me this week and said, "OH MY WORD!  How many times have your kids been quarantined?!" 

First it was Kate, then Natalie, then Scott, and Scott again, and now Kate.  Thankfully the kids have stayed pretty healthy.  These two week quarantines are getting old though.  Surely this is about over??  The Sunny Days School District has been open more than I would have liked this school year!:)  Scout enjoys having classmates home though.

 Kate's latest argument when trying to convince me of something...

"Everyone else in my class wears short sleeves in January, and they are still alive."

"_______(a classmate) sits in the front seat, and she's still alive."   

We were playing a game of Taboo and it was Kate's turn to give the clues..."Mom does this A LOT!"  I was stumped.  Laundry??  Chauffeur?  Help with Homework?  Clean?   

Time ran out..."What was it, Kate?"   

"BELCH!" she said frustrated.  How could we not guess it with such an obvious clue?!  (Gasp!)

One more Kate "funny"...Kate loves to wear the same heart dress to church.  It's her go-to outfit, for sure.  So I encouraged her to choose something different to wear one week.  "You wear that a lot.  Can you choose a different dress?"

 Kate:  "It's okay.  My teacher (a man) wears the same thing almost every week too." 

Kate & Natalie were inspired to shoot hoops on a cold January day after watching the high school girls' basketball team win another game.

Couple of cat pictures- Upside down Prince and Piper showing you how she feels about too many quarantines!

The grandparents have taken up puzzles again in the new year.  Here is Mike with a puzzle of Rocky Mountain National Park- a place he enjoys visiting.  

 

Here my parents are with their biggest puzzle yet at 3,000 pieces! (I don't think they would recommend it!)

NEW YEAR

The kids are finally back to school.  After four full days of school last week, the girls were lamenting on Saturday night.  "We only have 1 more day off and then it's back to school. We've gotten used to longer breaks than just a weekend!"  The early morning alarms have certainly been an adjustment for all, but we are thankful that they can be back. 

Rapunzel got 8 inches chopped off of her hair this weekend.  She was excited for the change!

I attempted to teach the kids some new card games recently.  What a helpful dog I have!

I was clearing out old clothes from Scott's closet and showed him a shirt that he got last year at school that had "FIFTH GRADE" written on the back.  I said, "This would still fit you...would you wear it?"  Disgusted at the idea, Scott replied, "Why would I wear a shirt that says 5th grade on it? That's like wearing a silver medal when you've won a gold medal."  OKAY....pretend I didn't ask!

 Stinky dog before her bath...

Beautiful dog after (Petco might want to use this as advertisement!)...She smelled and looked amazing for about 2 hours. Then a taunting squirrel ran across the muddy back field.  Well, we tried.

Christmas Day

Don't wager any money if you take on Scott in the Andy Griffith trivia game.  I had no clue how this would go, but this boy knows almost every answer to these obscure questions that none of the rest of us know.  It was cracking me up!  He does love Andy Griffith!  Maybe the grandparents would have a better shot against him.

The girls were surprised and excited about getting some new-to-them dolls!  :) 

Scott's ready for some warmer weather now...

Sweet pic with Great Grandma...

As Jon presented the Christmas devotion this year, I was reminded how thankful I am for him.  He leads our family so well, and seeks Jesus daily along the way.  Despite a crazy year, we have so much to be thankful for and have peace and confidence in our Savior. 

 It was a wonderful Christmas!  2021, here we come!

Christmas Eve 2020

For the month of December, we read the Nicene Creed each night.  On Christmas Eve, I recorded each kid saying it all by themselves.  I wish I could memorize as easily as they can now.  Hopefully this will stick with them as it is full of great truth!

Family Pictures...

 

91 year old Grandma Joyce...

Kate was SO excited about getting this cardboard house.  She spotted it in a craft store several weeks ago and talked about her "house" all month long!  Who knew this would bring so much joy?!

Outdoor Christmas Eve Service- brrrr!!

December HIGHS and LOWS

(LOW) The month of December was a whirlwind.  I spent many days in my pajamas.  Was I sick you may ask?  No, I was just completing second grade for the second time in my life.  I learned how to do subtraction regrouping using new techniques, did online word searches, watched several YouTube videos learning how to say Merry Christmas in various languages, and revisited plural possessive nouns (now that was tricky!).  I gave Kate plenty of pep talks and encouragement, and called my mom for plenty of pep talks and encouragement, as well.  I occasionally visited 5th and 6th grade too, which seemed like a breeze compared to 2nd.  Thankfully, that is now behind us, and we hope not to return to that for the remainder of the year.  

 

 

 

  

"Let's all ZOOM in a fun Christmas hat!' says teacher.  Kate was thrilled, can't you tell?!

 

 

 

(HIGH) Scout enjoyed having everyone home more! She quickly caught onto the idea of the nightly advent calendar for dogs. 

 

 

(LOW) Firewood.  Chop, Split, Stack, Repeat.  (Some may not rate this entire process as a low, but they aren't writing this post, and they do not have a thermostat that fails to rise no matter how hard they work.)

(HIGH) Friends, Christmas at the Zoo, Snow fun, Gingerbread houses, and Triple Chocolate Brownies after a day of e-learning.