Hockey & Pumpkins

Last weekend was a hockey filled weekend.  Claire had her first field hockey game.  The game ended  in a 0-0 tie but the girls played hard and the game was fun! And I proud to say that Claire was chosen as a Captain this year!

Oliver had his first hockey tournament/game and it was so great to see him out on the ice!

We miss our buddies from last year but everyone on this team is amazing.  It is always hard starting something new but the kids and parents on this team are amazing.

While it wasn't the same tournament that we are used to because of the COVID we still managed to have a lot of fun!

In between games we snuck out to a pumpkin patch/corn maze for some fall fun.

The maze was crazy big but we made it out!

Oliver was in heaven with the goats.

We all had fun shooting the pumpkin gun!

With all of the stress of being back to school it was so nice to take a break and hang out with my favorite people.

My babies are getting so big!

Luckily the weather was gorgeous so the boys were able to play outside together since we had a lot of restrictions at the hotel. 

It is really such a great group of boys and they all had a blast on and off the ice.

Our team was 4-0 and Oliver scored a goal!!!

We won the championship!!!

So proud of these boys!!!  It was a great way to spend the weekend!

More Birthday Fun

 Last weekend Mark took me to a delicious dinner and then we stopped for a few drinks and some friends met us out!  And we had a much needed night of fun and laughs!

I love getting together with these ladies and we do not do it nearly enough!  My stomach still hurts from laughing!  Love you ladies!!!

September Blues

 

This September has been anything but normal.  For the last 35 years of my life September meant back to school clothes, back to school supplies, meeting new friends, and getting back on a schedule after the lazy days of summer.  This September however has been very different.  The remote teaching is happening but it is nuts.  I am love getting to know my students and I do love the fact that I go to work every day but I miss EVERYTHING about a regular school year.  This is much more difficult than I could have ever imagined.  I cannot wait until school goes back to normal and for now I will just keep trying to make this experience as great as possible for my kiddos.  

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!

Extras

I missed some blogging before we went camping.  So here is some random stuff that I  missed.

We had a great day swimming at the Hunters' house!  

We had a delicious dinner and some drinks with great friends (on the right night this time).

This summer I have loved watching the rain (the few times that we got any) from my favorite chair!

I have also loved rewatching Law and Order!

Claire had field hockey clinics 3 days a week. They were at 8am, which for anyone who knows me knows that is like 4 in the morning to most people.  I used to just drop her off but then I realized that was a waste so I started running the track (while listening to Hamilton) while she practiced.  It was perfect!  It was also a really nice to time for her and I.  We would grumble the whole way there and laugh and say how much we loved our workouts on the way home!  We loved "being those people" that got up early lol.  It was also nice to be able to watch her practice while I ran.  She is such a natural athlete and I love to watch her play sports. On our last day of the clinic (and let's be serious the last day I was getting up that early to run 4 miles or probably run 4 miles at all) we decided to stop and celebrate with some amazing smoothies.

Oliver loved his week long hockey camp.  And he was beyond thrilled when his team won the final game!

We celebrated Claire, Oliver, Camden, and Liam's birthdays! Oliver loves just sitting and chatting away with Grandma.

Love these birthday babies!!!