Emmett's 2-Year Photos

After dropping Ella and Logan off at school and leaving Lia at home alone for online school, Emmett and I went to our JC Penney studio so that he could get his 2-year photos taken.  Since any photo shoot with a baby or toddler of mine is always unpredictable, I had no idea how Emmett would do.  Much to my surprise, he wasn't shy at all and totally cooperated with the photographer who was pretty stellar which isn't always the case when I visit this studio.  Due to the photographer's skills and Emmett's cooperation, we got in and out of that studio in a matter of minutes.  I didn't even break into a sweat which is rather amazing!  Due to Covid-19 protocol, the studio is no longer allowed to provide any sort of props, so I brought in Emmett's new, stuffed football that he got from Ron's Aunt Blanche for his birthday and some toy cars and trains.  Emmett was more than willing to play with these toys to produce some darling photos that I will treasure forever! 

 

Logan's 1st Day of In-Person School

Well, much to my surprise, Logan returned to school part-time today.  Due to our state, our county's Department of Health, and our school district being so strict since the pandemic first affected us last March, I honestly did not think that I would see this happening during this school year, but it did!  Unlike Ella, who started going to school four days a week this week, Logan will only be attending school two days a week on Wednesdays and Fridays.  Due to the new state guidelines, our children are only allowed to be in school IF their class is less than 15 students.  Since Ella's 1st grade class consists of 13 students, her entire class is now allowed to meet together which means that she can go to school four days a week instead of two days a week.  Since Logan's class is larger than 15 students, he is required to meet with only half of his class two days a week until this requirement is lifted which could not happen this entire school year.  So, although I would absolutely love to see him attending in-person school more than two days a week, I will take whatever we can get at this point.

Since Logan does not like change and new situations, he is usually quite nervous for the first day of school.  However, since he has been meeting with his teacher and class online since the beginning of the school year, it already felt to him like he was going into a familiar, comfortable situation.  As a result, he had absolutely no first-day-of-school jitters and was nothing but excited and happy to be returning to school.  Of all three of my older kiddos, Logan has definitely grown the most tired of online school and staring at a screen for hours five days a week.  We packed up all of the things that he needed to bring to school yesterday which was a LOT since he had to bring school supplies, his computer, and all of his textbooks and packets that he has been using this school year on top of his backpack, lunch, and water bottle.  He went to bed happy as can be last night and woke up this morning just as happy.  After getting dressed in his outfit (including his new pirate shirt), combing his hair, and eating breakfast, Logan headed out to the porch for a quick first-day-of-school photo shoot before climbing in the car with Ella and Emmett in tow.  

Once we arrived at the school, we gathered up all of his bags and made the long walk from the side street to the door where the 1st and 3rd graders are now assigned to enter.  I was thrilled to learn the other day that Ella's and Logan's grades were assigned to the same door so that they can walk together every morning after I drop them off since parents are no longer required to walk their children to their entrance.  Logan happily got his hand sanitizer while I asked which way he should go to find his new classroom.  He then gave me a happy wave over his shoulder as he walked through the door with Ella behind him.  I was just so grateful to have him returning to his school almost a year later!  Since Lia is totally self-sufficient and basically takes care of herself each day during her online school, I didn't have to worry about rushing home.  Instead, Emmett and I ran four errands after dropping the kids off which is something I used to do on a weekly basis before the pandemic closed schools last year.  We then came home and Emmett was able to watch some Elmo while I made some phone calls and cleaned up the breakfast dishes before sitting down on the ground with him to play choo choos before lunch time.  It was such a relief to be able to spend our morning doing the things that we used to do before this craziness all happened.  The house has been so much quieter today and it has been so nice to spend the morning the way that I want to spend it while knowing that my two children are receiving the quality education that they have been lacking for so many months now.  We are hopefully starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel...

Logan posing for his traditional, first-day-of-school photo on the front porch.  I can't get over how tall and grown-up he looks in the photo.  He is definitely no longer one of the "little ones" at his school.

A close-up of my cute, 8-year old boy who is soon to be nine!

A happy Ella joined her brother for a sibling picture.

Logan and Ella all masked up and ready to walk to school.

Emmett, Ella, and Logan paused for another picture before we all entered the side gate and onto the school grounds.

Ella and Logan waiting in line to enter their designated door into school.

One last photo of Logan before getting his hand sanitizer and heading into the building!

Logan and Ella hopping off their bus almost seven hours later.

A close-up of these bus-riding cuties.

The kids "smiling" for me behind their masks as they call it a day and climb into our car.  Logan had a great, first day of school, but he was sure pooped!

Logan's Second Day on the Slopes!

Since today was MLK Day, Ron was able to take both Logan and Lia back up to White Pass to spend the day "skoarding" with Lia's friend, Elle, and her dad.  Ron decided to skip paying for a second lesson for Logan and just be his instructor instead.  As a result, they spent the entire day working together while Lia skied with Elle and her dad.  This is a the perfect solution since I am unable to be on the slopes skiing with Lia this year due to my knee injuries while Ron works with Logan.  Today turned out to be a beautiful, blue-sky day and Logan did such a great job!  After only two trips up the magic carpet and down the bunny hill, Ron was able to move Logan onto the chair lift!  Logan and Ron then spent the entire rest of the morning and all afternoon boarding down the long, green run that is off of the chairlift located at the bottom of the mountain.  Logan really improved so much and had a great time with Ron.  They also enjoyed skoarding on and off with Lia, Elle, and Noel as the three of them had also bought the basic, lift ticket that only allows use of the lower chair lift.  So, by the end of the day, Logan was totally skoarding with the rest of the group.  I was so thrilled to hear about his progress and so proud of him for picking up this sport so quickly! 

Logan heading up the magic carpet at the beginning of the day.

A cool picture of Logan inside the magic carpet tunnel.

A selfie of Daddy and son on the chairlift.

A great shot of Logan sitting down on the snow.

Logan boarding down the hill.

Although Logan didn't wear as many layers this time on the slopes, he was still burning hot!  Here he is stripped down in the parking lot while breaking for lunch.

Another selfie of father and son on the chairlift in the afternoon.

Since Lia spent all day with her friend and her father, Ron only managed to get one picture of her while waiting in chair lift line together.

Go, Logan, go!

Our cute boy cruising down the hill.  I just can't get over how little and cute he looks as a snowboarder!

Ella's 1st Day of In-Person School

Well, the day that I never thought would arrive actually did today.  Ella went back to school.  I still really can't believe that it happened even as I write this.  Right before Winter Break in December, our county's Department of Health finally came to their senses and changed their recommendation for a "safe" return to school to be changed from a .75% infection rate to a 3% infection rate.  This change caused a ripple effect that convinced our school district that it would be safe to start planning on returning our elementary age children back to school.  They sent out an email right before the break informing us that Kindergarteners and 1st graders would be allowed to return to school twice a week the week of January 12th and that 2nd and 3rd graders would be allowed to return twice a week the week of January 26th.  Since I have learned to trust nothing that anyone says about anything in this pandemic when it comes to reopening dates or ending of restrictions, I took all of this information with a grain of salt and didn't even bother to tell Ella or Logan the news.  Much to my surprise, after we returned to school last week after vacation, Ella's 1st grade teacher started sending out emails with information and announcements regarding the return to in-person school this week.  I couldn't believe that it was actually happening.  

When this week started and the "A Group" (the Tuesday/Thursday group) returned to school on Tuesday, I actually sat down and read through all of the information and watched the videos that Ella's school had provided.  Tuesday afternoon, we packed up all of Ella's supplies and belongings (which was a lot because it included things like a laptop, text books, and a math kit on top of her regular school supplies) that she would need to take with her on Wednesday morning.  We also picked out Ella's outfit and she laid it out on the floor.  Needless to say, Ella was so excited!  She didn't have a single nervous bone in her body.  I tucked her into bed on Tuesday night with all sorts of well wishes for a good night's sleep before her big day the next morning.

And then the storm came in.  Yes, that's right.  A massive rain and wind storm blew in on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, knocking out our power and internet around midnight.  Although we woke up to power on Wednesday morning, school was cancelled due to how many houses and schools in our district were still without it.  I just couldn't believe it.  We had been waiting TEN MONTHS TO THE DAY since our kids' last day of school on March 13th for one of them to return to school, and when the day finally arrived, school was cancelled due to a storm.  Oh, 2021.  You certainly are not starting off on a good note.

So, with a heavy heart, I broke the sad news to Ella on Wednesday morning after she woke up.  After a few minutes, she bounced back and all of us enjoyed a homeschool-free morning and took advantage of a sunny, yet cold, morning to go on a bike ride on the Orting bike path with some friends of ours. After completing another day of homeschool on Thursday, I tucked Ella into bed last night with the hopes that she would really get to return to school today...and she did.  Ella woke up so excited again this morning.  She was as cool as a cucumber which I just couldn't believe since she wouldn't have her brother or sister to be with her like she did every day last year.  She was nothing but a bunch of smiles and enthusiasm as she got ready, ate breakfast, and headed out the door with me.  After leaving Emmett home with Logan to watch him (since his online classes were cancelled last minute by his teacher which freed him up to watch Emmett which was a huge help to me), Ella and I drove to her school and parked along the side gate.  Right after we parked, one of her good friends pulled up in front of us which was such a fun coincidence as the number of kids going to school right now is minimal compared to a "normal" year.  We all walked the long route from the car to the back door where 1st graders are expected to enter.  After a quick picture and a quick goodbye, Ella got a squirt of hand sanitizer and walked into the school completely unconcerned that she didn't know where her classroom is located!  After I asked the P.E. teacher to please direct her to her classroom, Ella waved goodbye over her shoulder and headed off down the hallway to her class where her teacher and only five other students would be waiting.  Ella is supposed to attend school twice a week on Wednesdays and Fridays for the next two weeks before returning to school four days a week (Tuesday through Friday) with her entire class of 13 students the week of January 26th.  We shall see if this actually happens.  If it does, it will be a miracle that will bless both Ella and me in numerous ways!  

Ella taking her 1st day of school picture on our front porch with a Valentine's wreath hanging on the door behind her.  How bizarre is that?

A close-up of the cutest, 1st grader around.

Ella giving me a smile after we got out of the car.

Ella posing with her friend, Elise, who pulled up right next to us on the side street.

Ella getting ready to enter the school through the back door designated for the 1st graders.

And, she's off!  Ella walking into her school for the first time in ten months and two days!  Who would have ever thought that it would be this long before she returned to school when it was first cancelled on March 13th.

Since today was scheduled to be a half day before the holiday weekend, Ella only got to go to school for four hours this week.  Oh well, it's better than nothing.  I thought about her all morning long and wondered how she was doing in her tiny class of six kids.  I was also a little nervous about her riding our friend's bus home as she had two siblings and three friends from their family ride with her every day last year.  After making sure that both she and her teacher knew which bus she was to catch, Emmett and I made sure to get to her bus stop about 15 minutes early as I did not want her to miss getting off at the right stop.  When her bus pulled up, Ella said that she was glad that she had seen us as she had no idea that this was the correct stop.  Ella jumped off and came running over to us smiling from ear to ear (behind her face mask).  She apparently had had a wonderful day and enjoyed everything that they did.  She was simply just so happy to be back in school.  There are two girls in her class and she enjoyed making friends with one of them at recess and participating in all of the classroom activities.  I can't even begin to explain how grateful I am to have Ella back in a classroom two days a week.  She had been my most challenging and needy child of my three that I homeschool (simply due to her age and inability to read proficiently) and it is such a blessing to have her education taken care of two days a week by someone else who is trained to teacher 1st graders.  Ella is also so grateful to be out of our house around some other children her age and NOT staring at a computer screen multiple hours a day.  

Ella running across the street to us.

Ella posing next to Emmett after the bus pulled away.  What a relief to have the first day done!