April 2019

Here is April 2019, minus Ramona's 10th birthday:

Storytime at the library:

Skipping home from preschool (this girl skips when she's happy)

Unicorn horn + light-up unicorn rain boots

Refreshments after an orchestra meeting:

The kids got one Friday off of school that month. We used it to take a trip to a granite supplier near Denver to choose our kitchen countertop. About this time we were getting ready to demo the entire kitchen and hire a contractor to make it pretty. Here is the countertop we picked out to go with the floor and cabinets:

After making our choice at the granite place, we stopped at Chick Fil A for lunch:

Then we went to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science:

Wylie got bored with the exhibits after a while, so he and I spent a long time going up and down the escalators. He LOVED that.

Neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt (on a very cold Saturday)

Ramona with her friend April Ottley:

Ramona with her friend Izzy Sheridan:

Living room recital with Myers/Palmers

Somehow, it bacame a tradition for the kids to put on a play after our recitals. This time it was "The Gingerbread Man"

Easter: Kids woke up to a Hatchimal surprise (little eggs that have toy animals inside)

Egg hunt behind the Eccles' home:

Wylie lighting up his Hatchimal with a flashlight:

preschool easter party

Miss Stacie hid wooden letters inside eggs for an egg hunt

Paula + Wylie + Elephants

Wylie and his tools

He became especially interested in tools around this time, watching the kitchen demo take place. Here he is hammering on the pantry closet that we were getting ready to swap out for a double oven surrounded with some cabinetry:

Bethke Spring Showcase--

Ramona performing a dance with her friend Ella Coy:

Ramona operating her robot for a tech club demonstration:

She was disappointed to not make the lottery for show choir that year but tried to make the most of her extra time by joining this club. Initially, all fourth and fifth graders were invited to join the choir so we signed her up, but the numbers were so big that Mrs. Adams decided to put all the fourth grade applicants in a lottery, disregarding their previous acceptance. It was very frustrating at the time, but doesn't seem like that big of deal after being plunged into a pandemic. Pretty cool that Ramona got to play with some robots as a fourth grader.

Mika and Paula in the computer lab:

April 27 cello recital

This was my student Faith's last recital as a senior. She sent me such a sweet note afterward, I still keep it in my music cabinet.

Faith's note and graduation card:

Wylie got a bloody nose on the way to church one day. It was so bad we had to go home to clean him up and were a little bit late to sacrament meeting. Isn't he a handsome mess?

Something about snow on spring flowers is so beautiful. You feel sorry for the buds that pop up, expecting sunshine, yet admire their resilience for blooming, despite the circumstances.

Paula had an ancestral flag project in preschool, and we of course had to make a flag for Japan. Tiny red origami cranes in a circle with some glitter, set inside a piece of styrofoam:

It's strange posting this on the same day I sent Wylie to preschool with HIS ancestral flag project. I guess it further emphasizes how far behind I am on blogging. 😖

Inauguration Day 2021

All four kids are at school. 

Elementary children were allowed to return to school five days a week starting yesterday. Middle School kids are attending twice a week and today was Ramona's day. Wylie is at preschool with his ancestral flag project:

Wylie made a Japanese flag with pictures of tofu and a red plate with okonomiyaki

Watching the end of the Inauguration of Joe Biden on TV while Forest lays down some flooring on the main floor bathroom. He took on the project of remodeling it this month--so far, it has new paint and part of a new cabinet. I got to play some of my Beethoven Sonata earlier . . . I am hoping to actually get together with a pianist and try it out in a couple of weeks. Maybe now I will get to some more old photos. Perhaps April 2019? So many possibilities when my house is just home and not a branch of Poudre School District at the same time.

Fingers crossed that we can keep kids in school and keep our new president alive and well. Happy Inauguration Day!

So Long, 2020

Hopefully 2021 tastes better than 2020 did

Happy New Year!

So long, Solitude

Today marks my last home-alone Wednesday morning for a while--it's the final in-person instruction day for the girls this semester. Next week they return to 100% remote learning and will continue with that format until Winter Break.

Here is Ramona getting ready to leave for Preston Middle School this morning:

Here are Paula and Mika getting ready to walk to Bethke Elementary:

And here is Wylie, getting ready to ride his bike to preschool. No word yet on whether or not his school will have to shut down, but if Colorado gets a stay-at-home order in the coming weeks, he may have to say goodbye to Ms. Stacie for a while.

No one is thrilled about doing school from a computer, but we are planning to reward our efforts with Chick-Fil-A meals and Disney Plus. And we will probably continue to watch Marvel movies every week--that has been essential for our morale the past few months. 

I have a few more minutes until I get to greet my little preschooler and bring him home for lunch. Let's see if I can finish our 2020 Christmas card . . .
 

Another Wednesday Morning

 It's Wednesday morning again. Hello. The kids were allowed to go to school this week (miraculously), and I got another stretch of quiet time with the house all to myself. 

It appears as though Joe Biden will be our president next January. But things still feel pretty unstable--Trump won't concede, and he has taken to lawsuits to try to win back what he believes is rightfully his. A lot of people are on his side. The nation feels as divided as ever.

A vaccine is on the horizon but people are still getting sick. No stay-at-home order, yet, but I started teaching lessons with a face mask this week. It's better than trying to teach over a computer. 

Time to go get my little boy from preschool. Can't wait to see his grin. :)

US Election 2020

It's Wednesday morning. The kids are all at school again (for the third time ever) and I am here on the blog again. I'm not sure how much longer this in-person instruction will go on--COVID numbers are steadily rising again in our county, state, and country--but I will take these quiet moments while I can get them.

Speaking of country, yesterday was election day. But we still don't know who are new president will be in 2021. As I am writing this, Joe Biden has 238 electoral votes and Donald Trump has 213. They are still counting ballots in Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin and pretty much all six states are neck-and-neck in percentages. Whoever wins, a lot of people will be upset about the results. I saw a news report that the City of Denver was asking store owners to board up their front windows with plywood in anticipation of rioting and looting. Our nation requires so much healing--this week, and moving forward. 

Perhaps now is a good time for me to take a peek back at some photos from good ol' April 2019 . . .