Sadie's Dream

This pandemic/quarantining/social distancing has gotten everything so mixed up in our world. This is how crazy things are at our house right now....

Happy Birthday, Audrey!

How is it that our Audrey is 9 already? I had a sinking feeling this week as I realized she is halfway to graduation. Time goes too fast! 

Audrey has grown into a passionate, caring, artistic, tender hearted, stubborn-at-times, deep thinking young lady. More and more I see that she is growing up and seeing the world through others' perspectives. We are so lucky to be her parents, as she is a pretty fantastic kid!

Our unusual year of 2020 brought a different kind of birthday for Audrey. No big family party, no friends over, no in person school. We tried to make the celebration as special for our sweet girl as we could, and I think we succeeded. When she went to bed that night, she said, "I woke up a little sad today, Mom, because I wasn't sure I would have fun today. I had a great day, though. Thank you." Oh, Audrey. 

For this 9th year, Audrey, we wish you confidence. Confidence in knowing your best effort is always enough. Confidence in knowing you're a wonderful person to get to spend time with. Confidence in knowing your curly hair is beautiful and makes you even more awesome! And finally, confidence in trying new things and believing in yourself. You can do it, Aud! We love you.

Audrey's Nine-Year-Old Interview

Our big girl turned nine yesterday.  How can that be?!  I will do a birthday post with a picture shortly, but here is her nine-year-old interview.  Some answers don't change each year, which makes me think we might have a teacher on our hands and a girl who really doesn't like eggs.  :)

Here are Audrey's interview answers for her nine-year-old interview:

Favorite Food:  Tacos from Mexican restaurants
Foods I Don’t Like: Eggs and gnocchi
Favorite Thing to Learn:  Art
Favorite Color:  Teal
Best Friend:  Katelynn, Lillie, Kaylee, and Kate
Favorite Game to Play:   Playing babies with Kate
Favorite Books to Read: Ramona, Babysitters Club, and books by Raina Telgemeier
Favorite TV Show:  Raven’s Home, Masked Singer, Cole and Sav’s blog, and KC Undercover
Favorite Holiday:  Christmas
Things I Do Well:   Art
Favorite Place to Go: Vacation houses and Grandma and Geeka’s house
Favorite Thing to Do With Family:  Play outside
Favorite Thing about House:  My pets
Favorite Thing to do Outside:  Swinging
Favorite Chore:   Cleaning my room
Least Favorite Chore:  Scooping dog poop
Favorite Song:  “Watermelon Sugar”,  “Believer”, “Rare”, and Z102.9 music
When I Grow Up I Want to Be a:  Teacher or Animal trainer
Place I Want to Visit:  Hawaii
Favorite Part of Each Day: Going to school
Favorite Drink: Root Beer, Cream Soda, and Hawaiian punch/Kool-aid
Favorite Sport or Activity to Play:  Taking Sadie on a walk
Something New I Want to Learn How to Do:  Train Sadie to do more tricks
Best Part of Your Family: My pets

Virtual School

We had too many staff members testing positive for Covid to maintain staffing levels, so we had to transition to online for a couple weeks. This timed out well for Kate having to quarantine anyway from an exposure at school, so what this added up to was the girls learning at home! Jeremy and I are splitting the days right now, so that neither of us has to use leave. He is in charge of the vast majority of learning while I am working at school in the morning, and it has been going really well! The girls are working hard, Jeremy's kept his patience, and Belle is back to getting a ton of attention during the days. We are hoping this is just temporary, as we do miss seeing people in person. Zooming with some kindergarten kids is not an ideal way to learn, but it is entertaining!😁

Belle's extra attention added up to dressing up in a Millwaukee Brewers toddler sized shirt. She resembled a small piglet.

The girls immediately set up a learning space in the dining room and had to add lights and decor!

Sadie's Pumpkin

Sadie chewed on another pumpkin we had, and I think her creation looks like a heart! She has a hidden talent. 😉

Pumpkins

The annual pumpkin carving commenced with Jeremy and the girls, and this year was, by far, the best year for girl involvement. Audrey and Kate both totally scooped out the seeds from their pumpkins, and Audrey even almost entirely carved her pumpkin by herself. It is fun to watch this event evolve over the years!

Here are the pictures:

Kate chose a witch for her pumpkin. 

Audrey carved a llama and a succulent...two things she loves!

Halloween

Halloween was especially exciting this year, as it was the holiday that could be approached with the most normalcy in this crazy year. Sweet Kate dressed as one of her favorite movie characters from the movie The Descendants. She really looked the part, especially with her blue hair and dramatic makeup. 

Miss Audrey dressed as a mom, which was a perfect costume for her, as her sweet mothering skills come out all the time in her play with Baby Easton. She looked very put together, so she must be a calm and organized mom!

As always, our tiny town was the perfect place to experience trick or treating, and the weather was gorgeous. We saw lots of friends, gathered lots of candy, and ended the night with a big Jack o' Lantern pizza. Our stomachs and our hearts were full after a fun night as a family.

Happy Halloween!