Jane and Sydney at 13!

 Jane and Sydney are 13!!!  We celebrated with family members stopping by the night before their birthday.  

Then on the actual day, they had a few friends over and hung out in our backyard.  It is a tough year to have a big party!!! They played volleyball, ate dinner and watched a movie.  And screamed.  There was a lot of screaming.

I was glad we were able to celebrate the girls, even if it wasn't a huge bash.  

Here is a little about the girls at 13:

• Sydney is enjoying choir this year....even though she won't admit it!  She sings all of the time, and she has a pretty darn good voice.  I keep bugging her for a solo next year!!  Here she is before her first choir concert.

• Jane loves all things comfortable! Here she is in one of her birthday gift...The Comfy!  She loves to end her day snuggled up in her bed and watching Tik Toks or youtube.

• Both girls tried out for and made the middle school basketball team.  We are so excited to watch them play in January!

• Sydney loves to do hair and nails.  It is so nice to have someone to do my hair when I need it!

• Jane is such a good sport.  She'll help me in the kitchen; she'll go watch her brother play sports; she'll ride with me on an errand.  She will even pose for pictures for me.

• Sydney got her braces off in August.

• Jane got her braces on in June!

Jane and Sydney continue to brighten everyday!  They are so fun, and I am so thankful they are mine!

A Thanksgiving Recap

Thanksgiving was at Deedee and Papaw's this year, and we were lucky to have a beautiful day!  

One thing I have learned during 2020 is there is no one that I'd rather be stuck at home with than these people!  So thankful for this family of mine!

There was delicious food that made us all feel like this....

Of course, Deedee had lots of fun stuff to do.  We made gnome ornaments and decorated gingerbread houses.

It was a great day!  Thank you Deedee and Papaw!

 

Halloween 2020

 Halloween has come and gone!  I'm not going to lie....my heart wasn't in it this year.  But the kids made their own plans, and they had a great time!!

Jane and Sydney decided to go as cows with their friends.  Deedee did a photo shoot with all of the cattle!  The pictures turned out so cute!

Clare and her friends decided to go watch a scary movie....in Christmas pajamas!

Graham picked Iron Man from the store!  Easiest costume he's ever worn!

He went trick-or-treating with some friends, and they scored a lot of candy!

Here are the fab four in their non-coordinated, non-themed Halloween costumes! 

Life Lately

 School has been in person for about six weeks now, and we are smooth sailing!  Things are certainly different, but I continue to be thankful for the option to attend in person.  Here's a little bit about what's been going on  for the last couple of months!

We went back to church!  It was so nice to be back in person.  

And fun to see church friends!

Graham has started playing tackle football.  I had some reservations at first, but was overruled.  He is loving it....almost as much as Casey is.

He is also continuing to play baseball for the Thunder.  He's a good little ball player, and his teacher even came to watch.  I can't say enough good stuff about his teacher. 

Jane and Sydney made the volleyball team!  It is so fun to watch them play.  They have only had one game so far, but they are enjoying all that goes with it...except maybe waking up super early.

Clare is loving the freshman center, and she is making great grades.  She keeps me busy driving her to and from all of her social events.  I know it won't be long before she is driving by herself, so I am trying to soak up our car rides together.

Back when Clare was little, I would post funny things that she would say, and I called them Clare-isms.  Now I have a new updated version.  Here is the latest comment that Clare posted on Instagram.  What does this even mean?  I think all teenagers speak their own language.  She got a big kick out of the questions I asked about this comment.

Jane and Sydney had a group of friends over Friday night.  We are lucky that so many of their friends live close by!  (Hi Avery!  You made the blog!)

Casey is still working from home, and I'm working two days/week at Graham's school!  That's a look at life lately!

Back to (Virtual) School

 This year everyone headed back to school, virtually. Our district has said only three weeks virtually and then fully back to school! They are headed back to the classroom on September 2nd.

Everyone has zooms all day everyday! The girls' schools both have it set up as "A" and "B" days. They have different classes everyday, and its been going pretty well for them. We've had a few technical difficulties along the way, but nothing too major.  I have been very impressed with our school district's management of this virtual time.  

Graham is in 4th grade, and he has a fabulous teacher.  He is loving school already, and I can hear him laughing and participating all day long.

He even got a virtual shout-out!

Jane and Sydney are starting 7th grade at a new school.  They actually have one class together this year.  They have adjusted to this new schedule well, but they are both anxious to be in person!

Did I mention that we split up Jane and Sydney into their own bedrooms? I am so glad we did it, so that everyone could have their own space to do school.  More details on that soon...

Clare is a freshman in high school!  She will also be at a new school this year, a freshman center.  She is rocking her classes so far!  

Everyone is ready to go back to school, but I think it will be kind of bittersweet.  It will be so quiet here when all the kids are back at school!  We have had some long days, but I have (mostly) enjoyed this crazy/exhausting time of virtual school.  

Colorado during Covid

We decided to head to Colorado for a longer trip this year.  Since Casey has been working from home, and we were all desperate for something to do, we hit the road early!  We were jam packed in the car, but the kids were troopers.  Thank goodness for downloaded movies!!!

We had such a great trip!  Lots of family time, outdoor activities, games, and so much fun!

The annual cousin pic!  Fittingly, the bear on the shirt wore a mask this year!

We had a great hammock set-up!

The kids spent lots of time swimming this year.  After every trip, they would come home saying it was too cold and they were never doing that again....but they couldn't resist!

Clare attempted a mud mask.  All natural!

Adults night out!

A new addition of horseshoes this year.  Casey was crowned the horseshoe champion after our make-shift tournament.

Hiking!

The girls did some embroidery.

Jane's Lane!

Sydney even led us in a church camp sing-along one night.  It's not the best picture, but it made me laugh.  She was using pens/markers as her conducting sticks.  That girl loves to sing!

There was lots of time for fishing this year.  Everyone went, and everyone had success!

Casey and I even went out for a day of fishing.  I hadn't been in many years.  What a fun day!

We taught the kids how to play Rummy this year.  Graham loved getting the jokers!

Lots of target practice with the BB gun!

 Megan and I went with the kids on an awesome horseback ride.  What a beautiful shot!

Colorado is such a special place to us, and this year it felt like even more of an escape.  It was a literal breath of fresh air to get out town and not think about all of the craziness in the world.