As the summer came to a close, the beginning of the school year was still up in the air. With all of the COVID-19 quarantines and shut downs, the first day of school kept getting changed and we didn’t know if kids would go back to school in person or if they’d have to start the school year online. We wanted it to be as normal as possible, but we still finished off our summer by staying home and not really going anywhere. Tyler started going back to work but only working half days. I was asked to work full-time at the school, but my job would depend on what the school district decided to do as well. We just tried to have a normal end to our summer by enjoying our time together as a family and preparing for a new school year. Abby had one of the girls take some pictures of her to end the summer and these were a few of my favorites. She’s made the best of this whole quarantine situation and has used all of the “down time” to work harder on her exercising and volleyball. She’s spent time doing her drivers ed courses, reading the scriptures, and reading a lot of books which is a new hobby for her. She says she’s been “thriving” during these times and used them wisely by setting goals and achieving them. I’m so proud of her and her hard work and determination to make the best of a weird, unknown situation. She’s grown up so much and I just love her!
Taryn has done a lot this summer as well. She loves to play on the computer and sing at the top of her lungs. She and Aubrey watch music videos from their favorite movies and they recreate those movies themselves. Taryn was able to keep up with her friends through a Kids Messenger app and she loves to use the filters on that app to take pictures of herself like this second one in her fancy hat. She keeps us entertained with the videos and pictures that she sends to me through the app that we find at random times. She’s looking forward to the 3rd grade, but really hopes that they’ll be able to go to school at some point so she can see her friends.
Aubrey likes to take pictures of herself and use the phone’s filters as well. They always seem to do this whenever they use my phone, so I end up with these cute pictures in my camera roll. I knew I needed to include them in the blog to remember these cute girls when they would steal my phone and take their own selfies. One of our Sunday activities is to do indexing for family history. One Sunday, my parents came over early before dinner so they could have the teenagers show them how to index. It was a cute picture to see the girls showing Grandma and Grandpa the easiest way to work on indexing. I had to have a picture. I also really wanted the picture because my parents decided to move to San Antonio this summer to be closer to Scott and Nevla and their family so that they can be a help to them and their little kids. They put their house up for sell and they sold it within a couple of weeks. So when they were in town, as they packed and prepared to move, we had them over as much as possible to eat with us and play games. They wanted to make sure they got the help they needed from the girls while they could and we loved having them here for the last four plus years.
Well, with all of the unknowns of the new school year, it was decided that school would start on August 17th, but that everyone would start virtually. They even sent out a survey to see how people wanted to do school - if they wanted to do virtual or in person. But the school district pushed out the in person start date to September. So Taryn’s meet the teacher was done virtually through zoom. I took this picture as Taryn and I met her teacher and the other kids who would be in her class. It was a first for us, so I knew we needed to document the beginning of this very different school year. Taryn’s teacher is Mrs. Orton and we like her a lot.
Here are the first day of school pictures. I had the girls go outside with their backpacks to take a picture even though they were just heading back inside to start their first day of school on their computers. I still wanted the memory of their first day.
The hardest part about the first day this year was that I had to go into work on the first day of school, so even though I should have been taking Taryn with me since I work in her school, I had to go to work while she stayed home to have her first day online. She was very sad that I wasn’t with her on her first day, but the other girls made sure everything was ok for her and they all had a good first day logging into all of their classes and meeting their new teachers. I worked in the school office answering phones, answering questions, and organizing supplies. Eventually we will get back into the schools, so we’ve been trying to get the school all ready for when that day comes.
Here is a picture of all four girls together and then one with them showing their grades. Abby’s starting 10th grade, sophomore, Tessa’s starting 8th grade, Aubrey’s in 6th grade, and Taryn’s in 3rd grade. These years seem to just fly by as these girls get older and older. I just love them so much!
Because of these different times of the Coronavirus and starting school online this year, I wanted to get a picture of each girl as she’s “in school.” We made sure that the girls had a nice setup with a desk and work area so they could do school from home without too many distractions. For Tessa’s birthday in March, she had asked for a desk for her bedroom, so that worked great for online school. We did rearrange her room before school started this year and this is her set up now. She loves her room and her new desk.
With my parents moving to San Antonio, as they packed up their belongings and sold some of their furniture, Abby asked for their front room chairs to make a little sitting area in her bedroom. She was a little sad that she’s the only girl without an official desk, but with two TV trays and her comfy chairs, she’s made a nice school area where she does her school work. We rearranged Aubrey and Taryn’s room so that we could add a little table and make a space for Aubrey’s school space. She has a desk and bookcase and with the new school laptop that she was given, she started out the school year happy. She’s picked up the tricks to doing school online like submitting assignments and work by taking pictures of it and uploading it online to her class. She’s adjusted to middle school really well considering it’s so different from elementary school. She now has 8 teachers and so many classes, but she’s done well keeping up with assignments and conference classes. I’m so proud of her.
Taryn is the only one not in her own room, but she’s ok with it because she gets the entire workspace by our family computer. She’s supposed to be getting a laptop from the school, but she hasn’t received it yet, so she has to do all of her conference classes on my iPad, but then she uses the computer to work on her assignments. It’s worked out for her and she’s happy to be in the 3rd grade, but she really is looking forward to be being back in class with her friends again.
Taryn has already done some assignments that involve science experiments. She watched a video and then was asked to recreate the experiment of adding vinegar to baking soda. She needed to wear an apron and glasses to protect her clothes and eyes, so I took this picture as she was working with the ingredients. We took a video of the reaction and then Taryn had to write about the results. It was fun for her to see the reaction and get to try it out at home. Now that Aubrey is in middle school, she has switched from orchestra to band. She tried a couple instruments that we had at home, but was really drawn to the flute. We borrowed a friend’s flute that she practiced on her own and when tested by her band teacher, she was told she can play the flute. So we went to the music store and purchased her own flute and she loves it! She practices a lot and has even taken some lessons on zoom with her cousin who plays the flute. I wish I could help her more, but I know nothing about the flute, but I love to hear her practice.
Tyler’s birthday was on August 21st. The girls and I made a chocolate trifle to celebrate on his actual birthday so I took a picture of him with the girls on his 43rd birthday. On the Sunday after his birthday, we celebrated again with the Kasallis family. They made him a chocolate lasagna birthday treat and wrapped up presents inside other presents, which is Tyler’s signature present-wrapping move. They even went so far as to wrap an individual jelly bean and stuff it inside a tiny bubbles container and the presents just got bigger from there. We were laughing so hard - it was hilarious. We had a great time together and Tyler had a great birthday.
