Awarded Aidan!

 Aidan, you were recognized by your teachers for your hard work at the Upper School Awards Ceremony!

Not just everyone won an award, I want you to know; and you were honored with two.

Now the categories are definitely important here, but more importantly is what these awards represent: you have worked so hard, and so diligently, with such a big heart, and an open mind. 

You are committed to school and learning, and it shows!

We are So proud of you!

Mr. D., your STEAM teacher, said that YOU put in the work in STEAM and not many others do and that he's very proud of you!

Coach C. said that you put in the work hard every day and you're a great kid!

We couldn't agree more!

Fistful of...

Since you've been back at school, and I've been working from home, I've been able to pcik you guys up from school way more frequently than the "extremely rare" occurence of it when I was working from the office. Another silver lining of this whole thing. 

At any rate, y'all got in the car, we pulled over to buckle up and hand sanitize, and I say "Okay kids, give me your hands to I can put in hand sanitizer."

Aidan, you had your fist closed and looked at me reluctantly.

I said, "Okay, buddy, you can put down whatever's in your hand so I can give you hand sanitizer."

You looked at me reluctantly again, but then slowly complied. You turned your fist over, hovered it over the door handle/arm rest, and released....a fistful of WORMS!

You, me, and Julia looked at eachother in shock. And then...you said "Dad, These are the Worms I DIDN'T want to feed to the chickens!"

And the three of us erupted in laughter.

Gut busting, tear-inducing laughter. 

It was a GREAT afternoon, and an Epic Story. And I'm happy to report that all of the worms were released into the wild in our front yard, and lived happily ever after. 

End of an Era and First Day of School: 2020 Edition

It's the first day of school- 2020!

But this year, the first day of school means something a little bit different than it normally does...and it normally is a big, monumental deal.

But this year, you're going back to school in the middle of a pandemic. That's right...I bet you'll still remember 2020 whenever you're reading this because of the Coronavirus. Or "this coronavirus thing," as you guys refer to it. A global pandemic that shut down countries and schools and business has been raging across our earth since around spring break of this year. I took off for spring break, and never went physically back to work.  In fact, you guys came home for spring break and never went physically back to school. You both- and your fellow classmates and awesome teachers (including Mommy)- did Home-Learning to wrap up your spring semester, while I worked from the kitchen. But, it was a longgggg time without actually being back at the building. Everything was looking good for you guys to go back to school in August. The school spent the summer remodeling and redesigning and rethinking everything about how school works to make it work in this day and age of coronavirus. And then the cases started rising again in Texas, forcing the Dallas government to postpone physical school. But, since our school had prepared so well, and since Mommy had volunteered to teach a preschool class (which has to be done in person), you all became "essential worker kids," and got to go back to school with new teachers, and in new groupings of kids, and with new protocols including social distancing and masks and lots of hand-washing and daily pre-school health assessments and as much outdoor learning as possible. And you are loving it. No matter the initial complaints about all-day mask wearing and not being able to hug your friends (this is one of your chief complaints, Aidan... "I want to hug someone!"), you say it is far superior to doing school online. You are energized, and you are growing fast. Your vocabularies have expanded in the first couple of weeks, as well as your curiosity and exposure to new things. And...you are gone!

I am still working from home and for the first time since March...I am home alone. 

You might have noticed, but my blogging since the pandemic started has been brief...and not many written words to accompany the photos and videos. That's not because a lot hasn't happened. A LOT happened...a lot of good, some bad, some sad, some challenging, a lot of triumphs, and family time, and learning more about eachother than we ever knew before. It' because while we were all together I found myself not missing you guys....I could hear your voices and hug you whenever we wanted. We ate lunch all together, went on walks, you kept me company while working, we had movie nights every night and ice cream and swimming and backyard campouts. But now, now that I'm without your voices and 'pitter patter' every moment of every day, I miss you. I miss our weird little "castaway" experiment with the four of us. Toby isn't as good of a conversationalist as you guys are. And I am SO thankful for the 'break' from our all-too-fast-moving daily routine...for the opportunity to help you learn during the spring semester...for the opportunity for you to teach me so much in the past 6 months. And I will cherish it forever.

I may not blog as much as I have done in the past. I finally got that 'paternity leave' with y'all. I still like to chronicle our lives, but if covid has taught me one thing it's to not spend too much time archiving when you can spend that time living. So, I'm on my lunch break right now. I already ate, swept the floor, took Toby for a walk (he turned around and dragged me back home...probably because it was our second walk of the day...but moreso because it started to rain)...and before I jump back to work, I decided to put these emotions I'm feeling in paper.

You're back at school. Julia, you're now a second grader. Aidan, you're now a fourth grader. And, as I say every year, I can't believe how much you've grown. But this year, you've grown- we've all grown- more than we expected to. And I'm SO proud of you...and all of us. We are a better family because of, or in spite of, Covid. And I love you, and can't wait until you come home, so I can tell you that to your faces once again.

And now... on to the first day of school!

Look at you both!  So excited! So much fun!

And listen to what you both had to say about yourselves, your expecatations for the year, and your messages to your future selves. 

You are both so cook and so ready for this! 

And look at how much you've grown!

We love with all of our hearts!

Open House

Wow. Just wow. You two just had me and mommy up to your school for Open House.

We've gone to open house before, and it's been fun. It's been a challenge in the past: late in the evening, surrounded by friends, a lot of excitement, tired kids at the end of the day. We've come to expect just a glimmer of what your lives at school are like from Open House. 

But this year....this year was something magical! You both sat still long enough to show us SEVERAL of your favorite works from your classrooms. We got to watch you navigate in your daily learning environment, and watch you show off your passions and strengths and teachers and classrooms...and mommy and I couldn't be more proud!

Julia, you went first. You showed us the movable alphabet in cursive and an awesome numbers work. Aidan, it was a challenge, but you succeeded at waiting patiently and watching Julia demonstrate her favorite works!

We even ran into your old young friend Teddy! It was a sweet reunion!

Aidan, in your classroom, you showed us your animals and the metal insets work, and how you make puppets! Julia, it was also a challenge for you to wait patiently as Aidan showed us his works, but you did so calmly and respectfully too!

"Thank you Mom and Dad for tucking me in at night. Aidan"

Then we got to visit the music room, and even explore the middle school room and after school care rooms too!

We got some great feedback from your teachers. 

Julia, Ms. Mary told us how you have been such a guiding voice in the classroom for the younger children, and how wonderfully you, Penny, and Zoey lead the children. She also noted, of course, how talented and prolific you are!

Aidan, Ms. Gwynn told us that she and others have noted what a rock star you are in the class. You have grown so much socially, and you really aim to help the class stay on task and within the order of what is supposed to be done. 

This was all so good to hear and was so consistent with what we've learned and observed from you both through the year.

Aidan, some of mommy's co-workers (your other teachers) share photos and stories from time to time about you, including this one from Spanish class:

...and this picture and story from Miss Ginger: 

Holly, you have to know that Aiden really made a positive impact on a student in class today. He was a gracious and kind leader, helping another student when he was stuck building shapes with such a gentle, encouraging attitude. This other student felt so valued and more capable because of it, based on the little things he would say and the way his eyes went from confusion to twinkling. It was good stuff! 

You proudly share your works with us, including this awesome metal inset: 

...and you are an amazing story teller, working as a sponge for every story and movie and book and show and song you've been fascinated in.  You weave a rich tapestry of a tale, my boy. Your teachers report this back to us all the time, and we get to see your story telling more and more at home!

Julia, your productive, creative, enchanting, detail-oriented works you share with us every Thursday tell the tale of a bright young, dedicated, creative, friendly student. We are so proud of you as you continue to explore written language and math and color. Word is you're writing a book...which we can't wait to see!

amazing self portrait, which even includes a mosquito bite and a beauty mark on your face: )