First day of preschool for Millie

 My friend texted me in August that there was an opening at a neighborhood preschool, and I jumped at it. Millie had gone to the 3 year old program at our high school, but we had no idea if it would continue this year in-person. This one is a great fit. The hours and carpool so far are working really well. And it is only a couple streets over.

And her teacher is so sweet. (Miss Collette. Millie thought it would Aunt Collette at first!)

JB took her to back to school night, and I took her on her first morning (which was cold and windy!)

Miss Collette texted me this picture, because Millie said "Look, I made Olaf!"

She gets tuckered out on preschool days. This is in the car lane waiting to pick up James and Andrew one afternoon.

She wants to wear a dress or skirt as much as possible. She says pants make her look like a boy!

First day of school for Ben and Max

Max is now a sophomore and Ben is a 7th grader.  But I have no pictures of them on their first day of school, because it's just been so....not normal.

JB did take these pictures of Ben waiting for the bus for the day he was assigned to go to the school to pick up a laptop and get some training. It was just him and one other kid on the bus.

They were delayed 2 weeks already, then the windstorm hit and each day we weren't sure whether there would be or school or not. Then they officially finally began their online work this past Monday. Max had an 8am zoom but Ben's schedule started with remote assignments that day. 

Ben has asked me a few times for help figuring out the system and juggling his 7 middle school classes. Here's the flow chart we were sent to figure it out (before the principal sent an easier-to-understand schedule): 

Max is doing pretty well (the high school cut it to 4 classes each term....which means though he'll have big breaks without learning half the material). At least they each have a device from the district and we are not juggling!

I go back and forth between being sad they have lost so much, and angry the board voted for this. But then telling myself to try to keep a good attitude about something I cannot change. I am trying to have empathy for others and their fears, too, during the pandemic.

I am even more grateful a few days in to this that we got the two little boys into classes in-person (and I pray their school will keep it that way). It takes a lot of tech support and help and supervision and internet access and enough devices.  While both of us parents work full-time from home right now. I've heard from other families how difficult it has been with their little kids. Fingers crossed it gets better.

Windstorm

 Last Tuesday, northern Utah had a severe windstorm. Very high winds knocked over huge trees that took decades to grow.  It knocked out our power for one day (others on the next street for 5 days!) and our internet for several days.

Our beautiful tree-lined neighborhood lost so much.

It also canceled the already-delayed start of the Salt Lake City School District by another week, because it is remote-only and no one could log on.

We are so grateful our next door neighbor's huge pine tree, which shades our driveway, did not fall the other way and hit her house -- or our house.

See below how the top half of the pine is gone? Oh, and look at all the branches we swept up from our front tree (which now looks pretty thin)

Here is the huge tree at our friend Ann's house one street over.  We are also glad it fell the other way and not on her house. Many years we rake her leaves that are all over her lawn. No more, I guess. 

This is our neighbor two doors down. We water for her and mow their lawn and play in their playhouse.

Four doors down from us, the front drive strip tree toppled over

Across the street my friend Sherida lost all four aspens in the front yard. All that shade is gone. 

Our back fence blew over, but it came back up pretty well. JB is on the other side in the picture below.

We spent days cleaning up. JB and the big boys were constantly sawing, hauling, raking, mowing, and picking up tree limbs for neighbors. It was great to see everyone working together, and we are glad no one was injured. But we sure miss those trees. 

Funny side story, we had internet come back briefly Wednesday night, then disappear again for days. JB saw a generator by a pole and wondered if he should fill it up or not. I mentioned it to our  neighbor, who filled it up Sunday morning and magically the Internet/TV came back on. Then they finally fixed it for good by that evening. 

We read books and went to bed early in the dark when the power was out (each kid had a flashlight). When the power came back on but the internet/TV did not, we watched DVDs and I liked how each kid was not on a separate device. But I did miss watching some shows!

School starts

James and Andrew are on a new adventure this year. They started last week at a new school in a new school district.

Our school board voted in July to not give parents a choice of online or in-person like the other districts. It said we would only be remote learning. But the school district just a couple blocks south of us has an in-person option. 

So I fought to get them in. I called and went to and applied at many schools, finally getting them into one that I was told was "a hidden gem of a school."

I cried about this probably every night. But this week I have praise and gratitude for this opportunity for them to learn and grow. 

Andrew has already made a few friends. James gives us a report on the food every day on the drive home. They quickly caught on to the rules of distancing and hand-washing, but they are not allowed to touch the playground equipment, which I think is too extreme.

I also tried to get Ben into the other district's junior high (which is a closer drive than our district middle school btw), but I think they were inundated by parents like me. And, last spring he tested into the Honors/Extended Learning program, so in the end he's staying in our district. So is Max, who is a sophomore also in the honors/ELP program, and on the tennis team. A very hard thing to transfer.  

They both got their school-issued laptops this week and will log on at 8 AM next week and I'm already getting an inbox full of emails. PTSD from the spring is coming on strong. My eye twitches, my jaw clenches....what is this feeling? Burning like a flame...does it have a name?

It's so hot

 

Boy, were we grateful to hear from an old friend inviting us to use their backyard pool in these triple-digit temperatures. We went on a Friday evening and had it to ourselves. 

Max and Ben shooting hoops

I also fill up our backyard kiddie pool, and it's Millie's favorite. Especially if daddy comes out to sit and soak with her. (James and Andrew boys beg for it, then splash for a second, squeal "HE'S GETTING ME WET!" and stomp back inside.)

Sometimes I take these littles on a walk around the block and stay under shady trees

The boys rigged up a swing in our back yard.

Millie is <kind of> trying out the Strider bike. We should probably help her fix the helmet and wear it the right way.

We try to get the kids outside in the morning to be active before the heat of the day. One morning we shoved everyone outside at 8AM, and it was 75 or 80 degrees and Millie asked for a jacket.  

JB's birthday

Summer birthday season is now over for the family (we have four in a row). We ended by celebrating JB's birthday with treats and new bike gear for him. 

I usually make him a carrot cake, but this year I overdid it on the carrot cakes. Our daily lunch we go drive-through and get from school almost always comes with carrots and applesauce. So I made lots of cakes and we needed a step back. So he had yellow cake with chocolate frosting and to be honest, that's a great birthday cake.

Here's a picture of JB and the girlie that will keep him young forever!

 

Recommendations continue

Movies

Hamilton -- I listened to the soundtrack when it started to get so much buzz on Broadway, and watched YouTube clips of the actors, etc. Then I saw it in London with my brothers earlier this year. Now that it is on Disney+, it is fun to just scroll through to my favorite songs (although purists would say you must watch it beginning to end to fully appreciate all the musical themes)

Mrs Miracle -- Doris Roberts seems to magically make everything better. Forgiveness and moving on are a theme.

Two Turtle Doves -- Hallmark but not sugary sweet. The characters are dealing with grief and loss and talk about it a lot. 

Family for Christmas -- I have some issues with the way they portray a newsroom and reporter, and could talk your ear off about career/family balance and how that's portrayed, but I would watch this again. It was funny and sweet to me.

A Veteran's Christmas -- Any Hallmark movie with the troops I will watch (Holiday for Heroes, Operation Christmas, Christmas Homecoming, etc). This one has a female veteran and missing her K9. I smiled a lot and laughed out loud to JB about how cheesy it was. But let's be honest, no small town I have ever lived in is anything like this one.

Once Upon a Christmas Miracle -- based on a beautiful true story of organ donation. I DVrd all these Christmas movies mentioned above for Christmas in July on Hallmark (I tried others but they were one and done for me).

In Love and War (2001) - Based on a true story. An English soldier is captured then escapes and is helped by Italian families, especially one young lady who teaches him the language. I loved it and recommended it to my in-laws.

Leap Year -- Amy Adams and Matthew Goode. He later said he hated this movie. I love this movie. It makes me laugh every time. She goes to Ireland to propose to her boyfriend on Feb 29 but gets stuck and needs help getting across the country to Dublin.

The Fifth Element -- Ian Holm recently passed away and I loved him in this movie. Bruce Willis and Chris Tucker are hilarious. Not watchable with kids in the room, though.

That Thing You Do -- I hadn't seen it in years and checked out the DVD from the library to show the boys. Super good. So quotable. "As in, I wonder what happened to the O-ne-ders?"

Pizza My Heart -- Two Italian families feed over their pizza restaurants until a son and daughter fall in love.  It made me laugh and want to eat pizza (I saw it on demand on Freeform).


Books

Dear Mr. Knightley -- A modern day Daddy Long Legs, chock full of Austen lines that the main character, Sam, quotes to help her relate to others and get over her past. I stayed up too late a couple nights reading it.

The Orphan Band of Springdale -- My library's twitter account asks what book you just finished or what your favorite book is, then they suggest a new one. I had just re-read The War That Saved My Life, and they suggested this one next. Easy, quick read. Enjoyable.

The Founder of Our Peace, by John Hilton -- JB enjoyed this and then the library needed it back so I requested it again so I can read it. There's a wait list so hopefully our county is feeling some peace.

Where the Crawdads Sing -- meh, I don't think I actually recommend this one. I just wanted to make it look like I'm reading as much as I'm watching movies. I just don't believe a 7 year old could survive alone in a shack and then grow up to be a great author while never leaving said shack. Great nature descriptions, though.

Emily of New Moon -- I'm re-reading this series by L.M. Montgomery, though Anne Shirley's adventures will always be my favorite. This series is a little darker, and I cannot stand the Dean Priest character, but I am fascinated by the way of life 100 years ago. And I love the descriptions of Prince Edward Island. 

Timmy Failure series and Origami Yoda series -- 9 year old Andrew is loving these. Thankfully I can do pickup holds at the library, even though we are not allowed in.  Timmy Failure is like Diary of a Wimpy Kid Style. The Origami Yoda includes titles like, "Emperor Pickletinee Rides the Bus" and "Art2-D2's Guide to Folding and Doodling." It's two of Andrew's loves, Star Wars and art.