August of 2020

Hello? Is anybody there?

Hello?

I think I just took the longest (unintentional) blogging hiatus I have ever taken! I started a new job that is requiring a lot more of my time, my blog got spammed out and I couldn’t access it…and the biggest reason of all: I just have no idea what to even write about anywhere.

“5 Ways to Clean Your House?” No way. I don’t have that kind of information.

“Our Vacation Last Month” Pssshh. What vacation? And even if I did go on a vacation, I probably wouldn’t write about it, because I’m sure someone would take the time to stop in and remind me how irresponsible it is to take a vacation during a pandemic.

“Teaching Ideas” Nope. I’m LOVING my job and I think I’m doing a good enough job, but certainly not good enough to share any tips or tricks!

“Current Life Thoughts” Well, I don’t think anyone really wants to hear about what life has been like for a law enforcement family these past few months. It’s like the most Debbie downer (and controversial) subject out there and I don’t think the internet would hold my thoughts and opinions gently. So, that seems out.

So, I guess I will just pick a completely neutral and boring topic and recap the month of August. Maybe I will even impress myself and ALSO recap the month of September on the blog! Don’t get your hopes up, though…

We started out August with a beautiful summer weekend up in Northern Michigan for the Hines family reunion. We were cautiously optimistic about this happening, especially because of all the medical workers in the Hines family (3 doctors, 3 nurses), but somehow we managed to get together! It was a blast, we had drama and worked it out (one thing I LOVE about the Hines family) and NO ONE got sick (which is quite a feat even pre-pandemic). Also, this weekend officially marked one year since Theo shredded his hamstring. Glad we didn’t have a repeat of THAT event!

When we returned from the family reunion, I hit the ground running getting ready for school. Not only am I a first year teacher in a pandemic teaching at a school with a unique educational model, but I also had to move all the 1st grade desks and supplies to a new room and get it all set up.

I logged a lot of hours those first two weeks of August! The kids were with me 95% of the time, and I do think that it took me approximately one week longer with them around, but I also wouldn’t trade the skills they are learning for anything. One thing I’ve learned in starting this job is that it is HARD to work with my kids always at my fit, but it’s worth it to keep them around.

The pandemic also stole the sunflower fields from me, and I will admit I was incredibly sad about it. So when a friend texted me to tell me that there was a small farm near her house with some sunflower fields, I loaded up the kids and got to breath in the pure beauty of a sunflower field. SO HAPPY.

Tera turned SIX on August 8th and for her birthday we gave her a room makeover. It was SO FUN. I put her to bed on the 7th like normal, then after she had fallen asleep we moved her out of the room. We changed the bed, hung twinkle lights, rearranged all the shelves and toys and then put her back in her new bed. She woke up in the morning to a completely different room!

I was also able to get away for a little weekend trip with some friends. This trip did my soul so much good.

I so badly want to be the kind of Mom that has fun themed dinners/days…but alas, I don’t know if I will ever be that Mom. Instead, our back to school night tradition is to measure the kids on the wall and then go out for ice cream! I’m not mad about it.

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL. Wow. What a day. I would like to say that it went well, but let’s just say that there has been MUCH IMPROVEMENT since then. But, seriously…there is no tired like end of the first day of school teacher tired.

We spent most of the rest of August outside soaking up the sunshine. The summer was not an easy one for me and I’m thankful for the weeks of August and September that still allowed us to enjoy the gorgeous weather.

We ended the month of August with a fun birthday celebration for this lady’s 40th! Natalie is incredibly wise, humble and a lot of fun and we wanted a birthday celebration for her big 40th! It was quite the adventure getting this planned. We planned to “kidnap” and surprise her with a progressive birthday party. We picked her up with big balloons, took her out to dinner, then had a photoshoot at a park, gave her some gifts and finally went out for ice cream. All outdoors/COVID friendly. And we had a BLAST!

And that is (finally) a wrap on August!!!