So Long September

More than six weeks of virtual school, and it's going pretty well. We're supposed to decide this week on whether we're switching to in-person instruction or continuing with online for the next 9-week grading period. We're on the fence because I know they would benefit from socializing and physically being with their teachers (plus my day would be freed up!), but Owen doesn't want to wear a mask all day (who can blame him?) and Hadley thinks it will be safer after another 9 weeks (based on what, I don't know). To their credit, the school hasn't had any major outbreaks, and local numbers seem to be flattening. In the meantime, the kids have been meeting up with some other online students from the neighborhood for socially distant lunch and recess at a park. It's been a great way to get in some socializing and lunch packing. (Owen wanted me to pack his lunch on the first day of school even though he was at home!)

Once a week, we're even getting the 5th graders together to run a mile for their PE credit. They usually have a school club called Read, Deed, Run where they run a mile every week, read books, and do good deeds. It's so sad that these kind of activities are all on hold, but this will have to do for now.

Thank goodness that college/pro sports figured out a way to continue. I'm on the local Texas Exes' chapter board this year, so we went to a game watching party for the Longhorns' first football game of the year. It was on a channel we don't have, so the whole family came.

Football games are long, but luckily this place had some free diversions for the kids, like cornhole and shuffleboard. I even taught them how to play pool. Needless to say, I didn't see much of the game after the first quarter, and we headed home at half time because it was a night game and nearing bed time for some of us.

We've been trying to figure out how to get the kids involved in an athletic activity after such a long, lazy summer, but indoor gymnastics still seems a little questionable. Hadley said that she'd like to swim, and at least you are doused in chlorine in the pool. Unfortunately, most of the swim teams in the area use the school district's pools, and those are not available for public use under the current restrictions. So, H went to a swim evaluation, but we are waiting to find out the status of the pools before we can see what their schedule would look like. In the meantime, our neighbor let us use their pool to practice and play. If the pandemic stretches until next summer, I will be figuring out a way to get one of these in our own backyard...

For the boy, flag football fell through after we were a little late to get him signed up. Before our first practice, the coach basically said their team had already been practicing together for a month, and that the league needed to create a new team instead of just taking people's money, and Owen shouldn't expect to get much playing time. While we appreciated his honesty, we didn't really get warm fuzzies from the experience, so we cancelled. Anyway, I did come across a free lacrosse clinic, so we tried that out. Owen said he had fun, although it was too hot. So there's still a bit of a question mark beside his fall activity, but maybe between the weekly mile and some informal tennis practice, we'll be okay.

Master Blaster Room Redo

Just a quick post to document our master bedroom overhaul. The paint color was really grating on me after we changed all the other paint in the house, and I've been wanting to change it almost since we moved in. But the paint color is limited by the furniture color, which limits the bedding, which also dominoes into changing the curtains, and that all seemed a bit much. The curtains actually drove this project because our back neighbors installed a super bright light that peaks over the fence right into our bedroom windows at night, affecting my sleep. The windows are recessed, but take up most of the wall, so our current, Granna-made curtains just couldn't cover the full expanse. We finally went for it, with the help of Labor Day sales! Once again, the kids were eager motivators, preppers, and painters. I love their helpful nature, even when we have to clean up paint from the floor more than once.

I really love the wall color (another variation on grey-green), the cliche "spa-like" feel we were going for, and I know we've had that bedding since at least 2005, so it felt pretty luxurious to get all new stuff! The curtains were a bit shinier than anticipated, but they do cover the whole window seat, so we'll live with them. The tray ceiling was another question mark, but I think it looks much better with the softer color, so I don't need to do anything fancy at this point. Last thing on the list is a rug to go under the bed, but no hurry on that. Now for the before-and-afters - forgive the lighting changes.

Ah yes, and it's really not done without throw pillows. Phew, we're good for another 15 years!

Ranch Rebuilding

Faced with a long weekend and slightly cooler temps (90 instead of 97!), it was time to go see Granna and Grandad. Between the pandemic and fire, the kids hadn't seen them since they came to Houston back in February! So, we donned our masks and drove to see them. (We did pretty well at wearing our masks for most of the visit, but I wanted to see smiles in this picture!)

They are surviving in their tiny rental house, but they can't wait to be back in a house on their property. In fact, word from the builder is that they should be in by Christmas! Building has been going full steam for the last few months, so we wanted to go check it out. G&G were able to find an old blueprint (I think from their insurance company?), and since the foundation was able to be reused, they decided to build pretty much the same house. 

We lucked out in that the cabinets had just been installed, and the fireplace was recently finished, which made it a little easier to visualize some of the rooms. The kids said they'd never seen a house in progress before, so I think it was interesting for them to see how all of the pieces come together.

One of the reasons that construction was delayed was the water well. The old well wasn't working properly when the crew was initially trying to wash off the foundation. When they pulled the old pump up to take a look, it apparently fell off into the well, which meant that they'd have to dig a new well. Sometimes it seems to just be one issue after another, but the new well was finally completed, and hopefully it will be smooth sailing from here on out.

Despite the heat, the kids enjoyed the fresh air and being back at the ranch. Owen was bummed that his "good stick" was on the porch when the house burned, but luckily, the surrounding woods offer an endless supply of potential, new favorite sticks. There is a lot of work left to do, but it was so good to see them and feel a little normalcy to the world again.

Yes, That's the Book for Me

Well, we've been virtual schooling for over two weeks, and it's going pretty smoothly. There is still a lot of down time throughout the day, but that's fine with us. At least lessons seem to be progressing, and assignments have been related to the teacher's instruction. Hadley has learned how to email the teacher to ask questions and set alarms for herself based on when she needs to login to her next meeting. Isn't that how you remember 3rd grade?? Other than that, I've got them doing some typing lessons (all this online assignment submittal stuff has made that a new priority!), and H is working on her gymnastics at home.

The only other thing we've had going on was to get H's 3rd grade Bible from church. This was a big deal because we hadn't set foot in church since the pandemic began (or worn our nicer clothes for about the same duration). Picture time!

She was handed a wrapped Bible by the pastor, and her name and picture were up on the big screen!  

I think they said there were about 40 3rd-graders at church, so they had to split them up into smaller groups throughout the afternoon. This is usually done during regular church service, but we haven't restarted in-person church yet.

The Bibles were wrapped in 4 layers of different paper, each symbolizing the importance of the book they were holding: brown paper = ancient, gold = valuable, comics = stories, white tissue = pure gift from God. Each kid also got a pretty sugar cookie because cookies! It was nice to have something to dress up for and look forward to. Not great to document it in facemasks and a nearly empty sanctuary. Strange times indeed.