End of Summer and Onto Fall

 Just trying to keep this thing going, so time to catch up on the past three months. After we got back from vacation, we just had a couple weeks before school started up. Andrew continued his recovery from his accident, but still struggles to this day with shoulder pain. We got in a few last swims, Jackson continued football practice, and we got a new puppy. Andrew and the twins left one morning to go to Corydon, Iowa to pick out a puppy from an ad Andrew saw on Craigslist. They were Australian Shepherds and he came home for a cute little girl. They went with my idea of naming her Jovie after Buddy's girlfriend in Elf. She was pretty timid, but that just lasted a day and she's been crazy ever since. Ellie is the most in love. Jovie is the little sister she never had. The boys are crazy about her too unless she runs away from them. They seemed a little hesitant though as she did make them miss Buddy. And Jovie and I have had to spend a lot of time together since the kids went back to school soon after getting her. For a while, I had to have her in my viewpoint wherever I went. So she hung out with me while I worked out. She even went with us to Kansas City for a weekend right before the kids went to school and everyone loved meeting her...even if she did pee and poop in Caroline's house.

Ellie helped out by organizing all the school supplies. Meet The Teacher day was very different this year. The three younger kids weren't allowed into the school or classroom. We just drove through the bus line at school and handed their supplies out the car window to their teacher. Jackson and Ellie did get to go to their school to get their schedule and see where their lockers were. The lockers didn't matter too much as they only get to go to them in the middle of the day. Other than that, they are supposed to carry everything with them in their backpacks and they eat lunch in their 4th hour classroom. Lincoln ended up with Mrs. Hunsicker and had a lot of friends in his class. The twins were originally going to be in different classrooms, but with all the unknowns with Covid, I requested they be put in the same one again. So they got Ms. Findling and also had several friends in their class they were excited about. The last couple of days before school began, we had a lot of kids hanging out around our house and Ellie made good use of her shaved ice machine. The twins and Lincoln swam in Granny's pond and went out on her paddle boat. And we had our back-to-school dinner.

Lincoln and the twins are all at Ray Miller this year with the twins in 3rd and Lincoln in 5th. We started the year out on Level 2 which meant they got to go to school all day, every weekday. They did have to wear masks and their specials teachers came to their rooms except for PE, which they would always try to do outside. Jackson and Ellie did a hybrid schedule and would alternate days at school and home. While the younger kids started on Tuesday, Jackson and Ellie didn't start until Wednesday since they were in Cohort B. The first day of drop off and pick up were crazy. Each kid had to have their temperature taken before they could get out of the car. Thankfully it all got better as the weeks went on. And no one really complained about having to wear masks. They seemed to get used to it. While things weren't ideal, the teachers were working hard to make it work. But still, there were some stresses and anxiety that came with the all the changes. The hybrid schedule for the older kids maybe didn't allow for the best learning environment as they didn't have any instruction on the virtual days. It was just doing extra homework. And it seemed like Jackson was always doing homework. We made it this way until almost halfway through the 2nd quarter. With all the people that had to be quarantined, staff was running low and they decided to shift to all virtual for 2 1/2 weeks and reevaluate after Thanksgiving. So they have all been home for 2 weeks now. It is going okay, but again, not ideal. The three younger are set up in the office and Jackson and Ellie are in their rooms. It is different than last spring and the current virtual days, as they have to be checked into their Zoom classroom at 8 each morning. The younger three are done by noon while Jackson and Ellie go a little longer.

We were grateful that fall sports were able to happen and we got full seasons in. Jackson played on the JV team and had a great season. The team only lost one game and were fun to watch. Jackson saw a lot of playing time but not many people got to watch him. They limited spectators to 2 per player and you had to have a special ticket to get in. We ended up only going to one varsity game and then gave our tickets to a senior parent so more of their family could come. Jackson dressed out for varsity, but didn't play so that was okay. That family ended up giving us their tickets for the JV games and eventually my parents, Andrew's parents and the siblings got to watch him play a little bit. It was a tiring season for Jackson though between practicing with varsity and JV, school work and working at HyVee. But he survived and their varsity team ended up with their first winning season since 2013. Then Lincoln had his first season of tackle football while also playing soccer, so he stayed pretty busy. He had fun with football mainly because he got to see other kids. He didn't see a whole lot of playing time, but got a little more at the end of the season and actually caught his first pass at his last game. Their team had a good season too, only losing one game. Then the twins had their flag football season. I think Andrew was appreciative that it was pretty short as his patience was in short supply and he was still in some pain. And as I mentioned, we had soccer too. Ellie and Lincoln played on the rec league and travel league teams while the twins just had the rec league. They are all so fun to watch and are becoming some good soccer players. With rec league, we would have games Saturday morning and then we would have travel league games that afternoon either in Kirksville, Moberly or Columbia. It culminated with a tournament in Columbia where Lincoln's and Ellie's team both had some nail-biter games. Lincoln's team came away the champions and Ellie's team was second. Then they were all supposed to go to the ShowMe games 3v3 Soccer Fest this weekend in Columbia, but after practicing for a couple weeks, it was decided by the board to not send them as Covid cases are on the rise.  They were all bummed. 

Of course, one of the big events over these last few months was Molly and Brad's wedding that had to be rescheduled from May to September. We couldn't imagine that the Covid pandemic would still be going strong by now, so they still had quite a few people back out last-minute on attending. But it was still a wonderful day and it was kind of nice having a little smaller crowd. We started decorating at the reception site on Wednesday and finished up on Thursday. It was fun getting everyone together and it all went smoothly. Since the wedding was on Friday, we had the rehearsal Thursday evening in Edina followed by the dinner at Jackson's Stables. It is crazy how the family has grown since when Andrew and I got married. Wedding morning was full of hair and makeup and then I got the boys out of school early. They all did a great job and Molly was beautiful. It was neat seeing her walk in with my dad and Brad got teary-eyed. The music was so beautiful. Then it was on to the reception where the kids took over the dance floor and made it such a fun night. The next day we got together for a brunch and then the kids got all of their floats they got as gifts blown up and took over the pool.

And then to fill in with what else we've been up to. We got to celebrate Andrew's 44th birthday. Jackson had a ballgame that night, so we had some pumpkin pie before we left for the game. 

I decided it was time to redo our basement, so I tackled that this fall. I cleaned out all the rooms and got rid of a lot of stuff. Then it was repainting all the rooms, doors and trim. Andrew and boys built a shiplap wall for me, I got some new furniture and rearranged everything plus getting some new pictures. I really like the way it turned out and it seems like people like hanging out there more now.

I took over as board president for KLife at the same time we were getting ready to start up a new fundraising campaign and also dealing with changes because of Covid so it has been a little time-consuming. It wasn't something I really wanted to do but knew I should. Ellie helped me sell ducks for the Duck Dash at Hy-Vee a couple times. KLife was partnering with the Rotary Club and we received some money from them for helping and they are going to put some soccer goals behind the K-Life house which will be great. And while we were at Hy-Vee we got to catch up with Jackson. One day he was thankful I was there because he forgot his wallet and I was able to buy him some pizza for his break. And the kids also helped me put together some finals goodie bags for all of our volunteer leaders at K-Life since they were doing finals before they left for Thanksgiving break. Then just today we went over to the house to pull weeds. 

Andrew had taken the kids out to the ranch to do some work and ride horse. Jovie has warmed up to the idea of chasing cows and loves running around out there. She is still pretty little though, so it may be a little while before she can really get in there.

We've had some beautiful weather which was great for the kids to get out and play. Their most recent game is roller ball-basketball on roller blades. And Jackson helped me get our Christmas lights up while the weather was nice. We did have our first snow before Halloween though and I got to run in it (it was light).

The weather was really nice for Halloween too. A perfect night. We had dinner at our house and my parents, Lissy, Caroline and family and Leah joined us. The boys were excited to go out on their own to trick-or-treat and I felt comfortable with it because it was still light. They were pretty much done by the time we started with the Brawners and it had just gotten dark.

The boys are finishing up deer season and it was the first time the twins got to go. Andrew took them to practice shooting a couple times before they went out. They flipped a coin to see who got to shoot first and Bennett won. They both shot at smaller deer, but Andrew just wanted to get that first shot off instead of waiting for a big one. They were both successful and happy boys. Then Lincoln went the next weekend. He was disappointed to miss a big 10 point on Friday night, but he got it done on Saturday and got a nice 8 point. 

We have started up basketball. Jackson decided not to try out this year and while I'm sad to not see him out on the court, I understand his decision. He wants to have more time for school work and plans to lift and train for the upcoming track season. Ellie started practice in mid-October and loves her new coach. Her husband is a dental student, so they'll only be a couple years. But she has been great for Ellie and made getting up for 6am practice everyday a little easier. Andrew started practice with the twins at the beginning of November and Lincoln started with his team around the same time. Finding gym time is the main problem (of and wondering if the season will actually happen). We rent Willard gym for the twins' team and Lincoln practices in Brashear. Ellie had her first game in Canton and we were able to have 4 spectators, so my parents rode with us to the game. Ellie was super nervous, but she had a great game and they won by 1 point. But sadly, that was their last game for a while. When the school went all virtual they decided to "pause" winter activities too. We'll find out on Tuesday if they get to go back. So, they haven't been able to practice and have missed four games. Ellie was so bummed but has been trying to get some practice time in our backyard and at the gym before the twins practice. 

Ellie also had a nice honor in being chosen as the Optimist Student of the Quarter for the middle school. Jackson received the same award when he was in 8th grade. She was honored at their meeting at Pancake City. It started at 7am, so she went to practice for a little bit and then to the meeting. They brought her forward, asked her a few questions and then presented her with a check and a certificate. 

And since things haven't been quite as busy and we've had more time at home, I've slowly been putting up our Christmas decorations. Today I put out the last of the decorations outside and am officially done. This may be the earliest that it has all been up. But we'll enjoy it for now.