September

Many parts of September feel ordinary.  

 We picked apples and made applesauce and are waiting for a crisp fall day to make an apple pie.  It's coming, we can feel it!

We celebrated Emma's 17th birthday!  And even with the pandemic she said it was one of her favorites.  And I believe her!  We ate great food all day long, and spent the day doing whatever Emma pleased.  Which included lots of time to talk and walk and just hang out.  

The balloons showed up in Forest Park just like they always do.

But there are lots of other reminders that this September is not at all like any of the others.

The balloons showed up but the people did not.  

Our 17 year old attended her first college fair in our dining room on Zoom.

And apple picking with masks on makes apple eating pretty tricky.

We've had some pretty hard days. Being a child during a pandemic hurts.  Being a parent during a pandemic hurts.  It's just a whole lot of saying no, not right now, we'll have to wait and see, and let's keep praying.  Praying that people will put the whole before the individual.  Praying that we will care about one another.  Praying that we'll keep seeing this as an opportunity to be the people we really want to be.  And remember,  it is still September!

Just keep going

Some days are like a bike ride with an empty water bottle and sun in your eyes.

And some make you feel like you just can't even get out of the car at the end of the day.  It's too much and you pray that maybe you can go directly from the car into your bed where you'll sleep until sometime in mid-2021.

That's the real of right now.  Some of it is not that pretty.  But the truth that has held throughout this whole mess is that if we just keep going

we will wake up in the morning and the sun will rise.  And if we're lucky enough we'll see it.  

And with a full water bottle and sun glasses we are pretty unstoppable.

New Year! Day 2

Today marks day 2 of the 2020-21 school year.  Like so many things that we've done over the last 5 months, if my 5 month ago self had a peek into yesterday or today I would have thought I'd lost my mind.  Gone crazy. Needed an intervention.  None of this is normal.  Kids at desks in the hallway, multiple Zoom calls going at once, me homeschooling and starting a new part time job that takes me outside of our little remote school, plus Kevin working in the basement.  Oh my goodness, this is bananas.  But, life in a pandemic is bananas and when you realize that, well, everything is actually a ok!

Eleanor is now in high school!  Classes are all virtual until at least the middle of October.  As expected she's super organized and totally ready for the rigor of high school.  She rarely complains and when she does (because honestly, there's a lot to complain about)  it's not long before she's flipping the complaint around and figuring out how to make something positive out of the situation.

Emma is a junior this year and so ready to get back to work!  She is taking three AP course, is a section editor of her school newspaper, and co-conductor of the student run musical.   Things will be very different online but she's focused on making the best of it!  Also, she's now driving and is such an incredible help to our family, running errands, including chauffeuring her sisters!

Lucy is in 4th grade at Family Homeschool!  We are using Oak Meadow curriculum but I'm supplementing quite a lot using the curriculum from Clayton, which thankfully I have easy access to because the school I'm teaching at this year uses the same curriculum for math and literacy. In addition she is taking two dance classes and violin.  Plus, she now has 3 animals!  I know that we will have really hard days but the last two days have been amazing.  In fact today was one of my favorite days in very long time.  It included having Lucy read aloud to me under a fort, taking a long walk and taking pictures of trees so we can later try to identify their type, zipping through math because it's just review and boy doesn't that feel good to zip right through something,  and reading aloud to Lucy on a blanket in the middle of Concordia Park, in a spot I've named our outdoor classroom, and Lucy thinks is so goofy but it also makes her smile great big like she knows I'm right :)!

And here I am all masked up in my classroom.  Again, no way I would have thought this would be a thing 5 months ago.  Back in a school and so, so, so happy!  5 minute commute, wonderful learning community where I get to teach literacy to 5th and 6th graders.    Pinch me. 

I know, I KNOW, there' s a pandemic!  It's scary.  

And yet, I still feel this way. 

 And Kevin! His work hasn't let up one bit so even though he's home working, he's not really home.  Thankfully he has a spot away from the sometimes chaos of upstairs.  He makes sure everyone has what they need and is always willing to take a bike ride, or a walk, or watch a show or movie.  And honestly, right now, just having someone who will be with you in all of this unknown is such a gift.  

Not bored

Today marks the beginning of the third week since we've been staying home because of the pandemic.  I have a lot on my mind that I don't want to forget but today I have just a quick story to share that I think says a lot about our days. 

Eleanor finished her school work late in the morning.  I asked her how she felt about that and if she was frustrated with her new school situation.  She said, "No, I'm fine. I'm actually not bored.  I was more bored before all of this than I ever am now."  I asked her if she'd tell me more.  She explained that before she had to stay home she always had things she had to do, things that felt like they were weighing her down, and when she had a little bit of time--like 45 minutes, that felt like pressure too, like she had to come up with the perfect thing to do with that time, so it was hard to make a decision and she felt like she wasted the time, leaving her feeling bored." 

Lysol and cleaning wipes

We have two sick girls.  Each with a different type of ick.  One woke up in the night with thedreaded stomach virus!

  Oh, December!  

We have a real knack for getting stomach bugs in December. I've even blogged about a couple- 2012 2011.  Plus there was the year Kevin and I got sick over Christmas in Columbia.  And last year a stomach bug hit Lu right before Christmas and took me down on Eleanor's birthday :(.    And of course I'll never ever forget 2005 when I was 9 months pregnant with Eleanor and landed in the hospital with a stomach virus.   

What gives in December?  

Not enough sleep- true

Too much sugar- also true

Lots of time around other people in enclosed spaces-yep 

It might be too late for us this time around but those stomach bugs will be waiting all December long!  So today I cleaned every surface with disinfectant wipes.  I sprayed everything down with Lysol.  I'm washing all sheets, towels, coats and any laundry just hanging around.  

And I'm thinking positively.  

We can make sleep a priority.  

We can be smart about sugar.

And we can be careful about how much time we spend indoors.  

Today I'm thankful for Lysol and cleaning wipes!

An afternoon snack with Olaf!

Picking right back up

December 1 is here and so is the first day of Advent!  Today I'm thankful (so it didn't work out to blog daily in November--oh well, there is hope for December--there is always, always hope!) for an ordinary Sunday.  It's been a few weeks since we had a run of the mill Sunday and it felt so good!  After a great dinner, a family devotional, and a family meeting to lay out the week I am fully satisfied and grateful!

We have a easily visible calendar for evening activities, this is also something to give thanks for!  

Two More!

I'm thankful for Mondays!  I work from home on Mondays and most weeks I just work a half a day.  I catch up from the weekend and get set for a great week.  This week in particular I was grateful for Monday because most of my weekend chores were left undone since Eleanor and I left for Chicago on Friday morning.  I cooked and did laundry and cleaned up the house.  I got my calendar straight for the week and took a long walk.   I was able to return work email from my dining room table and the one meeting I had was at the Starbucks up the street.  Monday might not be my favorite day of the week but it's still a pretty terrific day!

This pretty much sums up my Monday :)!

Today I'm also thankful for Richard Rohr.  I was introduced to his writing a long time ago but didn't really read anything until a couple of years ago.  Now I read something of his almost daily.  His writing is brilliant and makes me really think about my lived faith.   Here's a devotion I've been re-reading lately.