Picture Day 2020

Picture Day at school is today (on the 8th day of school, in hopes that it will be said & done before any remote learning plans are put into place!  Teacher appreciation week is also underway for the same reason, I presume).  Hopefully I'll remember to send Little Guy in a nice shirt. ;) 

I had to fill out the order last night ... and bought the bare minimum.  (I don't even think the grandparents will get a 5x7.) The hair clippers I ordered from Amazon should arrive by 8 pm tonight... a few hours too late.  And would my initial hair cut even be Picture Day worthy?!?

He will have a 1st grade school picture for a keepsake ...  a 2" x 3" 1st grade school picture with long scraggly hair & jagged front bangs cut by Mom two weeks ago.  If he needs photographic evidence of his 6th year, we already have a beautiful shot from our porch photo shoot in March.  :)  

How do/did you handle School Picture Day?

2020-2021

It's been a week!

We tried going to bed early & waking up early. It almost did me in!

But on Wednesday morning, we got up, dressed, had breakfast, and were first in line for drop-off at Little Guy's school just down the street!

And Wednesday afternoon, a very kind aide at the school who was working the car line, gave me a personal orientation to car line. Because we were new to the school, but not in Kindergarten, there had been no orientation for us.  Now we know the rules. 

(It made me think of all the times I helped newcomers to Japan.  There's no way to know what someone doesn't know until you or they realize they don't know it.)

I'm thankful for:

• school being in-person in our rural district
• how hard the administration & staff are working to change virtually everything to make it "safe"
• a 4-minute commute (woo-hoo!)
• a mom who initiated prayer time in the park the first morning of school
• so many moms in our district who are interested in Moms in Prayer
• Little Miss being registered for in-person preschool 5 mornings/week at a small Christian school
• hot lunches!!
• kiddos who don't mind wearing masks
• more masks on the way (thank you, Old Navy!)
• an FM system at school so that Little Guy can hear, despite the masks
• neighbor children to play with
• late summer evenings running around in both yards
• aunts & uncles & grandparents who love our children

Saying good-bye

My first solo trip with a baby (after Little Guy was born) was ... to Target! :) 

Jim had flown home to work the day prior, while I remained out-of-state with LG waiting for the two states to work their magic with the paperwork.  We were staying in a timeshare, and moving the next day to the home of friends.  I knew I could not convey all our luggage and baby items from the timeshare unit to the car while carrying a baby.  

So, I braved my first trip with LG, drove to Target, purchased an Ergo & newborn insert off the shelf, went back to the timeshare, watched the "how to wear" video dozens of times, and then wore LG during my multiple trips to load the car the next day.
 
The Ergo went with us on so many hikes, and to the grocery store regularly.  Little Miss traveled through airports coming home in the Ergo, and again on a family vacation we took to Florida.  The Ergo is in so many of our photos (including sweet beach photos)!

It continued to live in the back of the van, ready for use, for probably 12-18 months beyond the point that we used it. At the beginning of this summer, I made a list of baby & toddler items that we could pass on, and the Ergo was on the list (along with the double stroller {sigh}, potty seats, Pack & Plays, etc.).  I am almost too happy to get rid of items as our children move on to the next stage, but not the Ergo.  It's the most sentimental baby item we had.  

Within a few days of making my list, we learned that friends were adopting and would have Irish twins.  It broke my heart to drop the Ergo off on their porch the next time we were in town ... but my heart leapt for joy the other day to see a photo of our friends, with the newest little one snuggled up in what was formerly our beloved Ergo.  I'm glad it's still in use, still helping a mama out, and still comforting a little one.  

But I miss it. :(

 

Library

I chose that title because, basically, it's the theme of our summer & our life.

Today will mark the third time in as many days that we will have visited ours for curbside.  Tuesday we picked up InterLibrary Loan books. Wednesday was the last day to turn in reading logs for the summer reading program. And today we have 8 more books form ILL to pick up. :)

And somewhere ... under our couch or lost in a bedroom or buried in the book box in the van ... is a book we had checked out BEFORE everything shut down.  I thought it was a Goodwill book, so didn't return it. Ahem! We shall have to tear the house apart. :)

But, honestly, given the 100s of books we've checked out over the years, and the hiding places in our house, and a global pandemic (!), I'd say one lost book is a good track record.

After completing three libraries' summer reading programs this summer, can I just tell you how FREEING it was to read a book today and not have to write the title down?! :)

1000 Gifts, Vol. 6, #23

How did a whole month go by without recording more of God's gifts to me?!

221.  the rhythm of summer

222.  longer daylight (which I can already notice is disappearing)

223.  visits with extended family (both coming to us & going to them)

224.  family reunion

225.  library (-ies') summer reading program

226.  barefoot children in shorts and t-shirts

227.  bug bites and skinned knees

228.  fireflies and dew

229.  hikes in the woods

230.  creek stomping :)

Ten

Ten years.

Seems like we met just yesterday, and also like we have always been together.

Love & respect grow, yet never grow so much that they reach a point where they can stop growing. 

Quarantine (with all of its isolation & anxiety), the increased energy of our children, and an increased therapy schedule for them (speech, OT, etc.) made Year Ten fuller than seemed possible.

Three cards grace our mantle (even weeks later) with heartfelt messages.  "Ten years of sunsets and life side by side.  Adventures ..."

Sunsets  ~ About a month after our wedding, we spent a week farm-sitting (we live off the farm), and Jim took time out from chores to walk down the lane away from the trees to show me the sunsets.  (You don't get sunsets in the mountains.)

Side by side ~ through health struggles, church struggles, adapting to not being single ;), our 3/11 Japan visit, burying Jim's mother, the road to adoption, etc.!

Adventures ~ exploring, growing, making new friends, parenting, aging, etc.!

The actual day came and went, filled with hospitality and out-of-town relatives, and night-before-prep for a reunion celebrating our heritage.  We usually go to a certain restaurant, and at times we have celebrated with an overnight away.  Maybe we can eat take-out together by the lake next time we go to Wisconsin. :)

How did you celebrate your 10th? Any books you particularly recommend  ~ or advice in general ~ to keep growing in our marriage?

Over the river and through the woods

I have not routinely made photo books of our family's life, so I have loved it the past few weeks as Facebook shows me my memories. So many trips to see my parents. So many pictures of our children with their grandparents.

We arrived home late last night after another visit.  Little Guy wanted to stay all summer.  When we asked what he would do, he was quick to say that he would watch TV and have root beer floats.  :)

He loved stomping in the creek and seeing the animals at the nature preserve.  I loved our family hike in the woods.

As we pulled onto our street, he said, disappointedly, "We didn't go to the carousel."  Indeed we did not, LG. We'll save that for a post-pandemic trip, and hold on to our memories of Andy Griffith, root beer floats, wild rides with your big wheel, creek-stomping, animal habitats, hiking, read-alouds, big bubbles, and water balloons.