This Is 40!

 I had an amazing 40th birthday this year (and I still have one celebration coming next weekend).

My friends at work totally spoiled me!

I came in to some great treats and beautiful decorations!

I really work with some amazing people.  They made my birthday so special!

And then I had the best helpers to help me scratch off my winnings of $18.00.

We had a nice dinner at my Mom's house.  I love these turkeys.

Besties.

Overall, it was a great birthday!!!

My plan was to do another Spartan race for my 40th.  Since those were all cancelled I did this virtual race instead.  I ran 70 miles "to Rochester"!

On another note, Oliver has been really obsessed with dogs for the last few months.  He spends hours researching different dog breeds and everything he can about them.  

He used his birthday money to buy this gigantic book.  He has been carrying it everywhere with him and it is pretty safe to say that he knows almost everything about dogs.

We have all been begging Mark to get a dog for like 10 years.  Oliver has really been kicking up a notch and has taken to writing persuasive writing pieces to Mark about why we should get one.  I must say that I think Oliver may be the one to wear him down!

School 2020

So starts the school year we will never forget.  Hybrid learning for my kids and fully remote for me.

Claire's Goals:

~ Dress nicely every day

~To get high honors

~Play field hockey and lacrosse

Papa is loving that Claire's bus is coming later this year and he gets to see her in the mornings!

But Papa is still sad that this is his last year getting the kids on the bus!

This year marks Oliver's last year in elementary school!  I can't believe it, it feels like yesterday that he was in the same spot going to Kindergarten! We already got an email from  his teacher saying what a nice boy he is!

Oliver Goals:

~  To read a lot

~ To score goals while on defense

~ To get to the next reading level

 Mom:

~ To do my best teaching my students virtually and still make this year amazing for them!

~To stay in shape while the gyms are closed.

~To stay positive!

~To take care of myself.  With everything going on it gets very easy to put myself last.  So one of my goals this year is put myself and my family first!

Mark:

~ He's thinking about it....

Birthday Celebration #1

 Well it is happening.  I am turning 40 this year.  I can't even believe it.  I remember being young and thinking that 40 was so old!  I am a firm believer in the mindset that you are only as old as you feel though.  I still feel like I am in my 20s and I plan to stay that way, so bring it on 40!

Yesterday was my first birthday celebration at the beach.  By the time we got up there we didn't get any actual beach time but we still had a blast!

The kids loved their homemade milk shakes!

The kids had a blast playing together!

Then this morning it was back to learning about all of this distance learning!  I can't wait until all of these kinks are worked out!  But really I can't wait until all of this over and my lil monsters are back in my room with me!

More Stuff

 With school starting back and trying to get everyone ready for the new school year, I haven't blogged much.  So here I am to do another picture dump of what we have been up to!

Claire is growing up more and more everyday.  She is a lady of the 90s and I just adore this gal.  

We did our school supply shopping and got some fun stuff.  Who knows how this year will end up but we at least I have my planner and that is the most  important thing!

I have been keeping up with my walks and also my treat towards the end.

I am loving my iced coffee treats each morning!

I am navigating my way through all of this new technology stuff for school.  I am pretty good with this stuff and I am still struggling.  I would love to say that I am handling this with grace and staying calm.  The truth is, I am not.  This is literally harder than student teaching was.  I am trying to stay positive and not lose my mind but it is definitely not easy.  School is ALWAYS on my mind and I can't wait until I feel like I can breath again. 

In the midst of all of this, we had an estate sale for Mark's grandparents.  It was actually fun.  We had a lot of laughs and people got some really great things.

I plan to blog a lot but I have a feeling I am going to be all over the place for the next few weeks!  Wish me luck!