Dancing with Daffodils

I wonder when I will stop labeling each blog post by week. When will life not be marked by the start of the pandemic? Anyway, it has been a pretty good week. Monday I did laundry, ironing, cut the grass, tried to can peaches and got six jars done before I decided to wait on the others because it was such a pain to peel them, helped the kids with school and then I taught the Wiests their piano lessons. I just started both girls and it is fun to teach kids I already like and it is fun to have a reason to see Leisa each week. We used to work out together and talk then, and hopefully we'll get back to that, but I like that we have scheduled time each week to at least see each other and catch up. We have even talked about doing dinner together some weeks so that will be fun. It was a really busy day and it felt good at the end of it to have accomplished a lot. Tuesday I read all day. I was off by a week and thought I still had another week to finish my book club book (Lucky Boy) but I d...

 Another week has gone by and it was a full of ups and downs. Monday was Labor Day and since we had had fun all day Saturday, we used Monday to rest at home and get some work done and then we had the Wiests over for dinner. Josh is still playing around with his new pizza oven and I am not loving the pizza he is making in it yet. I don't know why he had to change things but he insists I am going to love it so I am trying to be patient. Sam and Leisa were kind guinea pigs though and the kids had a lot of fun playing and it was a beautiful evening for eating outside.  Tuesday was a busy but good day with school work and I painted a wall that I am going to turn into a beach wall. I am going to print a picture or more from each year we've gone on a beach vacation and mark where we went and with whom. We have gone every year since 2009, except 2010, so that's 11 years so far. I have been looking for picture frames and going through all our beach pictures and it has been a good st...

September! Here we are. The first week of school went pretty well. It was kind of boring for the kids because a lot of it was learning how to use the platform for virtual learning and reviewing healthy practices and doing get to know you stuff, but I imagine this week is going to be busier. Brandon only did a 30 minute meeting and then one assignment so a pretty slow start to kindergarten for sure. He spent the rest of the day playing, having recess and lunch, listening to books on Epic and doing handwriting practice that I gave him. He is anxious to be independent and I am thrilled they announced this week that kindergarten kids can go back to school on Oct 5 for two days a week at least. It is going to be so good for him and then hopefully everything will go well and all the kids will start their hybrid learning on October 19. They will go two days a week and be home for three, which still isn't ideal but I feel like seeing their teachers and being able to turn things in and be a...

 This was our last week before school so I felt a lot of pressure to make it amazing. I recognize that I put that pressure on myself but I wanted to finish our summer kind of summered out and tired and ready for school to start. That didn't quite happen but whatever. Monday was a hanging out kind of a day. I did laundry, cut the grass, we cleaned all the sheets and the kids tidied up their rooms. Josh hasnt been to the pool once this summer and one of our favorite family activities in the summer is to have him pick us up a pizza on his way home from work and meet up at the pool for dinner and evening swimming. We planned to do that Monday but the kids and I were at the pool for half an hour before they closed for a thunderstorm. Such a bummer. We went home, I made dinner and then we had a nice regular family night.  Tuesday I taught a piano lesson and then we spent the rest of the day at Annemarie Gardens. It was a beautiful day and the kids had fun playing while the moms had ...

Monday was Lily's birthday and we spent the day at a fun park we hardly ever go to. She has entered into a weird stage where she is too old to stay busy and have fun at a playground for as long as the younger kids. I suppose it is part of nearing teeanger-hood. She was ready to go way before anyone else but I made her wait since all the other kids were happy. We brought dougnuts to share (I made her waffles for breakfast) and played until about 4pm. I enjoyed talking with my friends as well and it was a beautiful day. We came home and they watched TV until Josh got home then we went out for a special seafood dinner. We usually do that while we're in NC but didn't feel comfortable with that there so we saved it for Lily's birthday. We told her she could have all the hushpuppies she could eat and she orderd the crab mac and cheese but said it had too much old bay so Josh switched dinners with her and gave her his fried shrimp, which made her happy. It was a lovely evening...

Well it has been an adventerous two weeks. So two weeks ago Lily did a dance intesive which meant going to dance from 9-3 every day. She has never wanted to do one before but felt up for it this year and it was a really good experience for her. She got lots of attention for corrections, learned from a member of the Washington Ballet, had classes on foot care and pilates and general health and well-being, and she got to try different styles of dance like Afrikan, Irish Step, salsa and contemporary. I think it was challenging but she liked it and worked hard and I was proud of her.  The rest of us cleaned and dealt with difficult situations and tried not to be too tired or grouchy. One day I remember feeling particularly overwhelmed with all of these problems that needed to be solved and feeling unable to solve them. But one day we did go to the pool with some friends for the entire day and it was super fun. We also packed and got groceries and prepared for our trip.  Saturday w...

This has been an okay week. I have felt pretty low-energy and kind of down all week, I think because my parents left and I was sad after having such a nice visit, as well as just virus fatigue. I am tired of talking about Covid-19, I'm tired of hearing about it, I'm tired of the news being all about it, I'm tired of thinking about it and worrying about it and having it affect every aspect of my life all of the time. I just want temples to open, my kids to go back to school and to get on with life instead of being stuck in this weird holding pattern.  Anyway, Monday was a nice day and we spent all afternoon at the Schoeny's pool (who are out of town but let us use their pool anyway) swimming with our summer crew. I was not a good friend that day because I really didn't feel like talking and was just kind of bummed about life but the kids had fun and can't wait to do it again. We stayed too late and that bumped our dinner and family night and everyone got to bed l...