So Long Sweet Summer

 I am so many mixed emotions as I sit here tonight. I am filled with excitement and relief, worry and anxiousness, gladness and sorrow.... it's amazing how it seems like we can feel so many emotions at one time.  The girls are tucked in bed and their bags are all packed and hung up all ready to go.  The clothes are all laid out and water bottles filled.  They are both overflowing with excitement for school to start back but I must admit, I am a little sad to have to lose these sweet precious summer days with them.  

I've been working from home since March.  Jarrod was home the first few weeks this all began but for the last several months, it has just been the girls and I home each day.  And I am so thankful for this time we have had together.  I have so loved our early mornings and spending my days listening to them play and chat.  We've gone for lunch time walks or bike rides to visit our family almost every day and cuddled and talked and played so much. It's been hard at times trying to juggle work and taking care of everyone all day but the good far outweighs the bad. I will never forget these sweet simple days.

I bought these shoes for Hunter Claire the Saturday right before all of this started.  We bought them to have some cute spring shoes that she could wear to school. They never got worn to school.  We never went back to school.  But what started as these bright sparkly shoes have rode lots of miles on the scooter, enjoyed lots of lunches on the patio, swung back and forth a million times on the swing, and taken baby dolls to the backyard playground.  I've picked them up out of the middle of the floor a million times and put them in the basket by the door to be quickly grabbed and put on for our next neighborhood adventure the next day.  

I took the girls on Friday on a little prayer walk/drive.  We went around to all the schools in our city and prayed for the schools, the students, the leadership.  We prayed for health and safety and fun times for all.  I hope we can make this a new tradition.  With so much worry and unknowns and anxieties surrounding this school year, I just pray that our God put a hedge of protection around my babies and their classmates to stay not only physically well but also mentally well too.  I know these little ones are not near as worried or anxious as us grown up who think we have to control everything but I just pray their little fear and worries are eased and they can learn and grow and be a blessing to so many who are hurting and struggling these days.

We went to a wedding for the daughter of a friend of mine on Saturday.  It was a super sweet wedding and we all had a great time but it made me a little sad.  I met Maggie's dad, Jeff about ten years ago when Hadley wasn't much older than Hadley is now.  And here we are in what seems like no time watching sweet Maggie get married. Oh how fast time flies!

We've enjoyed these fast days soaking up this sweet sweet summer.  I'm not sure what I am going to do all by myself tomorrow while I work from home and the girls go off to school but I do know I will be waiting as soon as the bell rings to hug them in my arms and savor some more time with them before it too, passes by way too fast.

Happy Mother's Day

We had such a wonderful Mother's Day!  We celebrated Saturday night with Jarrod's family enjoying a Shrimp and Crawfish Boil. I woke up to breakfast cooking and a gift basket from the girls then, we enjoyed a special online Mother's Day church service. Sunday, was also my nephew Baylor and uncle Andy's birthday so we spend most of the day celebrating them with a party with my family before heading to Jarrod's mom's to visit with his family as well. It was a beautiful day and I am so thankful to not only get to celebrate all the mothers in my life, but also be a mother to these special little ones!

My sweet gift basket from Hadley

Corona Life

I never imagined I would be a homeschool mom. I never imagined I would help teach third grade multiplication or first grade reading... but here we are! We’ve successfully completed almost three full weeks of this e-learning life and it really hasn’t been all that bad. We’ve had to make a few adjustments but we tried to stick to a schedule and have a plan for each day.

We got in a little more of a rhythm after the first few days. The girls have done really well about following their teachers guidance and completing their assignments. HC wants a snack break every five minutes but Hadley refuses to even take a break until all her work is done.

Balancing working from home and schooling from home is definitely not for the faint of heart. It’s hard balancing deadlines and meetings, assignments and activities, grace and discipline, and all fiftyleven emotions that seem to hit like a roller coaster every day. These days may be long and complicated and draining but I can’t help but think we will one day look back on this time with great pride and satisfaction that we did it and we came out of all of this better than we ever were before.  It took a little practice but I’ve finally figured out how to juggle working full time while sharing my desk (aka the dining room table) with my students. And we have really enjoyed the extra time playing outside for sure. We may could actually get used to this new life!

We've also got to experience some fun "non-school" stuff over the last few weeks as as well.
We attended a drive thru birthday party this week! Hadley said this should be a new thing that we always do for everyone’s birthday! We've enjoyed a few extra outdoor play dates, picnics, and sister sleepovers. The girls colored their hair with markers and hair chalk and "set it" with foil. They were soooo excited about it. And the girls even treated Jarrod and I to a special date night, complete with dessert at Kreme Delite.

It's been a good few weeks... we are all still a little sad about some of the thing we are missing out on but I did hear some good news over the last few days of the world opening back up and getting somewhat back to normal!