Thursday, March 19, 2020

Start of the Year

I really thought I posted for January already but I guess not...sorry.  We're always busy but I don't feel like I have a ton of pictures to show everything.  So this may be a little choppy.  

Michael went to Donuts with Dad at Jackson's school.


Jackson wanted to make blueberry pancakes for dinner one night so he did. 



He made his Pinewood Derby car into a Big Pink Eraser...he was so excited when he won first place for the design!  He worked hard on it.  His Den also earned their Webelos badge that evening.  





We found a new sushi place that we all loved.  It's called Revolving Sushi and you can grab individual pieces as they pass you on a conveyor belt.  It's a good place to try different kinds.  


Another cub scout event at a Canine Assistance place.  They raise dogs to be helper dogs.  It was a neat place and the puppies were so cute!!!



At the beginning of February, we had a few flurries one morning while at school - I thought that might be the only snow we got so I went out and took a picture... That day was crazy at school - two separate incidences of trees falling on power lines and causing the power to be out at our school.  The second time it lasted over 4 hours.  What a day!


Jackson and I at the Mother Son Bingo Night at his school.  



His last day with his braces on the top teeth.  And below a couple of days later - no braces and a haircut.  He'll have to get them again in a few years - waiting for the rest of his molars to come out now.



Rachel got 8 inches cut off her hair!  



And you can see by the background that we finally got a little bit more snow.  It was the following day - and it snowed for about 2 hours or so... Enough to cover the ground for a few hours, but it was all gone by later that afternoon.  At least we got to see it for a short time!






Sweet Lucy...



Rachel finally was able to compete in a swim meet a few weeks ago.  She's been limited for the last few months because of her back pain, but now that we got that under control, she's back to normal.  



Beautiful sunset at one of the first soccer practices for Jackson.  The season has started back and he's on a better team this year.  






Rachel had another band concert - this is her and one of her friends. 


We went to Bruster's in our pajamas to get a free ice cream cone.  Yum!


Jackson and the bottle rocket he made...that was fun!  Some of them went really high up into the air!


And the big story of the week/month/year is this Coronavirus.  Wow - how crazy is this.  Everything is shut down for the rest of the month - maybe longer.  Schools, work, sports, etc... So we're all at home with each other.  The kids have digital assignments to do for each class online each day.  We're on day four so far and it's going alright.  Rachel's has taken an average of 5-6 hours each day and Jackson's has taken 3-4... We have to do more hand-holding with him though.  Michael is working from home as well, so everyone is set up in their areas on their computers... Rachel is already ready to go back to school and Jackson seems bored half the time.  The novelty of being at home didn't last long! 

Lucy on the other hand wants me to hold her all day.  I need one of those baby carriers so I can just wear her.  This was her on the first day...just laying against me.  Sweet girl... 



Sunday, January 12, 2020

December

So now that it's mid-January, I thought I'd post our pictures from December... It was a good month overall.  We got our house decorated and Michael and Jackson did the tree outside again.  



We went to see Santa at a new location and it was so nice and relaxing!  Someone feels like she's getting too old to sit and talk with Santa, but she did agree to a picture...







Jackson's cub scout group was in the Woodstock Christmas parade again this year and he walked beside their float the whole way giving out candy.  






Michael, Jackson and I went to a German Christmas festival downtown one afternoon.  We enjoyed some sweet treats and Jackson insisted on playing in the fountains - even though it was freezing outside!!




Rachel bought her a "cute" Christmas sweater this year and loved it!  
It even had a chili pepper on the back...



She got to play the tympany at her Christmas band concert. 


We went up to Charlotte the weekend before Christmas but unfortunately the trip had to be cut short because Rachel had the flu.  We knew she wasn't feeling good but didn't realize it was that bad until Sunday morning... so we only got to see part of the family and these were the only pictures we got.  





On Christmas Eve, Jackson and I went to the Christmas Eve service at church.


Our annual Christmas art project that Rachel organizes each year...


We drove over to a house in the area that went all out with Christmas lights this year to see them on Christmas Eve.  Very cool!



New jammies for Christmas and a photo shoot with Lucy!




Luckily, Rachel woke up without a fever on Christmas morning.  The day before she was starting to improve as well.  So we went over to Barbara & Dawson's on Christmas and hung out there. 


Nannette's niece, Arielle was here with us for Christmas as well.  Jackson even talked her into playing Monopoly for several hours that day!  



Mimosas!


We had a nice Christmas and enjoyed our break - I enjoyed having a week and a half off even though it still went by fast.  Michael and the kids also went to Six Flags and to see the new Star Wars movie the week after Christmas. Jackson was finally tall enough to ride several of the big roller coasters so he was really excited about that.  And they went on a day where there was a chance of rain, so the park wasn't crowded and they were able to ride a lot of rides over and over!  







 Happy New Year!