Another Lock Down?

 Here we are November 13, 2020.  This is year is nothing like I could have expected, imagined or anything.  As I learned in March, never take a day for granted.  The lock down had some positives (spending more time together) however it was mostly a challenge for everyone here.  We like our normal.  We like going to school and work.  We like having friends and seeing family outside of our household.  

Once the lock down was lifted and the weather was nice outside.  It was nice to get back to an almost normal.  We always wear our masks out in public.  We follow the rules.  Watching Austin and Sydney strive in school.  They were happy again.  They enjoyed sports and just being kids.  

Now Ohio has more than 6000 cases a day.  The governor made reference that restaurants and gyms may need to close.  Trust me, I get it.  We have to do whatever needs to be done to save lives.  I am trying to embrace this uncertain time.  I am trying to enjoy the time I have with the kids.  But I so wish covid would go away!  

The kids are still in school right now.  They had a case that involved a staff member.  However they were able to stay open at least for now.  No one knows what tomorrow will bring.  

My job has been stressful. Brian is always extremely busy.  Austin and Sydney are busy with school.  Austin got his glasses this week.  He has gotten use to them.  He likes them as much as he can.  He only needs them for reading.  Austin has been playing tennis once a week.  Sydney is back in cheer.  She is also doing a tumbling class once a week.  It good to stay busy.  And we will wait to see what happens in the next few days or weeks.  

Austin needs glasses

 

Everything is always harder for Austin.  We know about his hearing issues.  With having ear tubes four times phonics and reading has not been Austin's strongest subjects.  However since last year, his hearing test was normal.  So we would think that school would be easier.  Unfortunately that has not been the case.  

Honestly we were at a lost of why.  When Austin was in second grade, I had his eyes checked and they were normal.  So I didn't think it could be his vision.  But really didn't know what it could be.  Kind of assumed still related to all of his hearing issues.  

The school has been great and helping us.  The teachers notices a lot about his reading and writing.  They suggested we get his vision checked again.  So I took Austin to another eye doctor.  Austin was adamant that he was not wearing glasses.  I encouraged him not to worry about that and for us to just figure out what is wrong.  Again I didn't really think it was his vision.  

After an hour long eye exam, it was determined that Austin needs glasses for reading.  When he had the glasses on he could read so much better.  I was relieved.  I was worried it was something much bigger.  To me this seems like an easy fix.  However Austin doesn't see it that way.  I understand where he is coming from.  He doesn't know many people with glasses.  And he doesn't want to wear them.  I am grateful that he only needs them for reading.  

The doctor put some drops in his eyes to check for glaucoma.  They stung a little bit and that upset him.  He was very upset but I did bribe him with Dairy Queen.  That seemed to work.  He is fine with the glasses right now too if he gets Dairy Queen every time he goes to the eye doctor.  Diary Queen is right by the office so it works out.  

We ordered the glasses.  They should come in a few weeks.  I really hope this helps him and that he wears them!  

Welcome Fall

 October has been busy with school and sports.  It's nice that the kids are going to school in person five days a week.  So far, there have been no covid cases. Austin has a lot of homework as usual.  He takes him longer to get things done. Sydney has some homework but not too much.  

Austin has been busy with cross country.  Practice has been three days a week with meets on the weekends.  Austin continues to enjoy it.  Sydney has been busy with cheer, soccer, and piano.  She has enjoyed it all.  She usually has something every night of the week.  She has been good a scoring in soccer.  In one weekend, she scored four goals.  When she played last winter, that helped her a lot.  

Sydney also tried out for a travel basketball team.  Unfortunately she did not make it.  However after we learned more about it, we think it would have been too much for Sydney.  She does get burned out easily at times.  Especially when she's doing one thing.  She seems to enjoy the variety.  

On one of their days off school, I took the kids down to Ramseyer Farms.  It was awesome.  I am not sure how I didn't know about that place until this year.  Austin and Sydney both agreed it's their favorite fall place.  We usually go to Patterson's and they have a nice one too but Ramseyer had more and more spread out.  That was important for this year.  

So far, things seem almost normal other than having to wear a mask all the time.  We still can't have large gatherings however at least the kids are still in school and able to play sports.  

Halloween 2020

 

This year, Austin decided to dress up as London. He found a blow up costume of a dog.  He really likes the blow up costumes.  It was really big.  Then he decided to dress London up as Austin.  London wore one of Austin's shirts and Austin bought him a hat a Petco.  

Sydney decided to be a police officer.  She originally wanted to be a vampire however she did not find any costumes that she liked.  We did all of our Halloween costume shopping online.  Sydney found a cute police officer outfit and she wanted special boots to go with it.  

We went to the Akron zoo like we always do with our friends.  It was a little different from years past but we still had a great time.  The kids liked dressing up and getting treats.  

We also celebrated Halloween with my mom the week before Halloween.  We did a drive my scavenger hunt to several different locations in the city.  We took London with us. He liked it until he threw up on my mom.  He always throws up in the car.  Hopefully he will outgrow it.  

The school did trunk or treat.  We were not allowed to pass out candy this year.  But we decorated our cars and the kids walked by.  It was cute the see them.  

On Halloween, Brian took the kids out to a few houses.  They didn't go crazy.  They took London with them as well.  Once they were done, they watch Monster House in the backyard.  It was too scary for Sydney.  Austin liked it.  

Even though Halloween looked different this year, it was nice for Austin and Sydney to still be able to have some fun.  

London eats everything!

 We knew when we got London, it was going to be a lot of work. And some days are much harder than others.  Last week, while I was staining the playground. London was outside with him tied to a tree.  We didn't think there was anything he could get into.  Well he got into our rock garden.  I knew he had something in his mouth.  When I got closer to him, he swallowed it.  It could have been a rock, sticks, chalk, leaves, who knows.  But it was big.  He vomited afterwards and ate grass like crazy.  We also induced vomiting to try and get it back up.  I never saw a large object.  

That week, London had diarrhea and kept me up a lot at night going to the bathroom.  Luckily he is potty trained and doesn't go in the the house (unless Brian is too slow finding his shoes then he does).  Towards the end of the week, London had a fever and was lethargic.  I took him to the vet on Saturday.  He was given antibiotics and probiotics.  The same prescription a few weeks ago.  Sure enough, it cleared it up.  He started feeling better.  

Also this week, London ate Austin's math homework.  Austin was devastated.  He completely freaked out and thought there was no way he could go back to school the next day.  Finally Austin realized there are much bigger problems in the world than London eating his math homework.   Homework is not allowed to be let on the floor.  Sydney was playing with London when it happened but London got away quickly.  

School and sports have kept the kids very busy!  They have about an hour of homework each night.  Especially Austin, it takes him longer to get his stuff done.  It doesn't help he doesn't stay focused most of the time.  This lack of focus developed since COVID.  He was much better focused in the spring.  

Austin has done amazing with cross country.  He loves it!  And he's fast.  He is running 7:10 mile splits.  I can't run that fast.  I am so glad he tried cross county this year.  

Sydney has been busy with cheer and soccer.  She now likes soccer better than cheer.  She has sports most nights during the week.  That is overwhelming her a little bit.  She is going to try out for a travel basketball team this winter.  There are not enough girls to do basketball at her school.  We will see what happens.  

Getting back into the school routine

 Austin and Sydney have been back to school for three weeks now.  It has been a little bit of an adjustment.  We are very fortune that our school offers in person five days a week.  We feel the kids really need to get back to school. We did okay in the spring with online learning but they do best in the classroom.  

Austin is back to getting up extra early (including on the weekends when he could be sleeping in).  He also likes it when I bring London up to his room to get him up.  London sleeps in his pen so he's not allowed in the bedrooms at night.  The kids like packing up their stuff for school in the morning.  I find it a lot annoying and rushed but it seems to work for them.  They each have a chromebook that needs charged daily.  

The homework is real.  It's back to real school with real work.  I was kind of thinking we would be eased into it but it's back to a lot of work.  I am not complaining.  I think it's great.  It's just we went from 0-60 very fast!  

Austin is loving cross county.  He practices three nights a week.  He had his first meet last weekend.  He did great!  He had to run 1.5 miles.  I was super proud of him.  I know I can't run that much so fast.  

Sydney has been cheering at football games.  She will also start soccer games this weekend.  She loves both of them.  She's is very busy but loving it.  She continues to do piano.  

Brian celebrated a big birthday this week.   With everything going on with school, we didn't get to celebrate much.  Austin made him a slideshow and Sydney made him a card.  We had cupcakes after practice.  And his gift was solar panel delivery.  Brian is excited to put solar panals on our roof.  I am not nearly as excited as I know how much work it will be.  But I was happy to see him excited for his delivery.  

London is almost 4 months old and weighs 27 pounds.  He's going to be a big dog.  Overall he's not too bad.  He still needs a lot of work though.  He likes to jump up especially to get stuff on the table.  He ware working on his walking around the block.  And he still likes to bit the kids when playing.  He continues to go to puppy class once a week.  

First Day of School

 Well here we are are.  The first day of school after being out for almost 6 months.  Yes in the spring we did virtual school but it was not the same.  Austin and Sydney were so excited to go to school.  They were ready.  

Sydney set her alarm clock to get herself up.  Austin got woke up by me placing London in his bed.  They had their normal breakfast. Austin had oatmeal with a hot chocolate and Sydney had bread with chocolate.  They got ready fairly quickly.  Then it was time for first day of school pictures.  The kids said it's the least favorite part of their day.  However this year it went well because London got to be in the pictures.  

Brian and I took them to school.  We walked them towards the school.  They were happy and ready to go.  We picked them up after school.  They played for a little bit with their friends.  We stopped at the library for Austin to get a book.  Sydney wasn't too happy about that.  Then we came home.  Sydney had piano and cheer that evening.  

It was a good first week of school but the kids were tired.  They are still not going to bed as early as they should.  Plus getting back into the routine is hard.  Sports are keeping them busy too.  

We know that covid is still out there but it's nice to have a little sense of normal.  We are all okay with wearing masks.  Austin even said it's not that bad to have to wear one all day at school.  Kids are amazing!