I decided to revisit this blog after a few year hiatus. Now that I've spent the last 30 minutes tearing up reading all my old posts and realizing how quickly my babies are growing up, I know it's time for an updated post. 2020. I'm sure it's a year I won't soon forget, but then again, after reading my past posts I already am realizing how much I had forgotten about the boy's younger years.
2020 is the year that we added some new words to our vocabulary: coronavirus, covid-19, pandemic, social distancing, and masks...amongst many others. Beginning in February/March of this year the virus began being reported in the United States and in March the U.S. essentially shut down. The fear of this virus kept us (and most other people as well) from even being around Mom and Ron for 5 weeks! Everyday the news shared stories of how many people had contracted the virus and how many people were dying. Reports of hospitals potentially exceeding their capacity resulted in tents being set up in hospital parking lots, even in our town, to handle the potential influx of patients. The kids left school in March and participated in e-learning through the end of the school year. Remote learning was new for Unit 5 so it was challenging to say the least. Drake was in kindergarten and Kellan was in third grade. I tried to supplement what they were getting from their school teachers with workbooks and we focused on working with Drake on his reading. We ordered our groceries online and most stores and restaurants were closed. State Farm closed down the week before Unit 5 and so Andy started working from home 100%.
The pandemic continued through the summer but thankfully we were still able to go on our yearly Destin vacation. It was a breath of fresh air being able to do something that felt normal. In Destin, masks were not required as strictly as they were in Illinois so we were literally able to enjoy the fresh air! We had planned a big family Disney trip with Grandpa Anderson for Cooper and Kellan's 10th birthdays that we did have to cancel because Disney World was shut down. In July thing slowly started to re-open. Non essential stores could open with capacity limits, restaurants in our area could reopen with outdoor dining and then slowly phased to indoor dining with 6 feet between tables. Playgrounds and parks also opened back up around this time, which was amazing.
As summer came to a close it was clear that our school district was still all over the place as far as what their plan was and so we made the decision to homeschool the boys for 1st and 4th grade. We started our school year the first week of August. Overall, we are happy that we made the choice to homeschool for this year. It has been a rollercoaster ride for those in public school in our town and just this week some students were allowed to go back to school 2 days a week. I asked the boys if they were upset about not going back now that there is some in person learning and they both said no. We only homeschool four days a week typically, and it usually only takes about an hour and a half for Drake and 2-21/2 hours for Kellan. Thankfully there are tons of kids in our neighborhood so they have been able to play with friends and socialize plenty throughout this time.
From my perspective, homeschooling them this year has been a blessing. I have been able to spend so much more time with them and we have really been able to focus in on areas they each need the most help with. Homeschooling and pandemic life in general also has come at a cost though. This year I have virtually zero time to myself (which I remind my self often, that this is only a season). I am still teaching with VIPKid each morning during the week so my alarm goes off early. I did reduce my number of classes I'm teaching each day from 6 to 3 since I have started teaching the boys. I really need that extra sleep to have the patience that is needed to handle all that each day holds. Right now, I am getting up at 5:20 to teach but once the time changes after next week I'll be getting up in the 4:00 hour. That will be an adjustment, and one I'm still trying to figure out how best to balance.
I always love to include things about the kids in these posts because I want to remember what they were like at these ages.
Kellan. He turned 10 this year, and as has been the case for years now, he acts so much older than his age. He is fun to hang out with. He is incredibly witty and doesn't miss a beat. He is very knowledgable (because he is always listening and picks up on everything) regarding current events and things happening around him. During the height of the coronavirus craziness I stopped turning the news on when he was around because I knew it was a lot for me to handle, let alone a 9 year old. His love language has always been quality time and so all this togetherness has been something he has really enjoyed. He continues to be an outstanding reader (although he doesn't enjoy reading for fun). He loves to play video games, specifically Fort Nite. His favorite thing to do though is being outside with his friends. I knew that the time would come where he would much rather be with his friends than hanging out with his parents, and we have arrived at that time. With the craziness this year has brought I am so glad that he has friends in our neighborhood that he is still able to see daily. While he seems so grown up in many ways there are still things that he loves that remind me he's only 10. His night is made if we say we can have a family movie night with popcorn and m&m's, and he still asks me to scratch his back and snuggle him when I tuck him in at night. I am cherishing these times because I know before long he probably won't ask me to tuck him in. Kellan still feels big feelings and sometimes can go from 0 to 100 in what seems like 10 seconds but he has made such huge strides in being able to calm down and think rationally on his own. A few years ago if he got really upset it would easily take an hour for him to calm down and recover. Now, if he gets really fired up about something he can usually calm down in about 20 minutes or so and mainly on his own...which is huge and I am so proud of him! He's such an awesome kid with a good heart and really, he is the one who teaches me so much.
Drake. Oh, Drakey. He turned 7 this year and while I still think of him as my tiny baby, his soccer coach affectionately named him, "Drake the Tank". I had to laugh when I heard him call him that because I would have never thought my tiny 3 pound boy would ever earn that nickname. This was his second year playing soccer and he continues to gravitate towards playing defense. He is so protective of that goal, and as soon as he's old enough that goal keeper is an option, I have a feeling that will be his favorite position. Drake continues to have the most laid back, easy going personality. From personality to build, he is Andy's mini-me. He has a heart of gold, just like his Daddy. Just yesterday, I found him leaving a surprise on Kellan's bed for him to find later. He found some old pictures of Kellan with his Dad, so he put them on Kel's bed along with some of his own money underneath. He told me he just wanted to make Kellan smile and feel good. Being homeschooled and the whole pandemic in general hasn't seemed to phase Drake. When I say it's time for school he's happy to come to the table and get started. His main focus this year has been on reading. He has made huge strides in his reading this year and I am so proud of him! Through homeschooling Drake I found that Math is his strong suit it seems. He seems to pick up on the math concepts very easily so we have been breezing through his math curriculum. Drake's favorite activities also include playing with friends and his newest activity, playing Fort Nite with Kellan and Andy. Just recently we allowed him to have an "account" as he calls it on the game so that he could actually play with them. To say he loves it would be an understatement. We do limit their game time because if given the opportunity they would play it all day. During such a crazy year, it's been fun for them to have something new to do with Andy, and they also can talk to some of their friends through the game too.
As the kids have grown, we've also changed what we use the rooms for in our house. Sounds boring to write about but I know I will want to remember this. :) We used to use the downstairs formal dining/living room as one giant play room and it was filled with toys. Upstairs the boys each had their own bedrooms and we had a guest room/game room with an extra TV in it. A little over a year ago, the boys had been saying they wanted to share a room so we moved them into the old game room and bought two twin beds. We moved the game room to Drake's old bedroom, and are using Kellan's old bedroom as our office. I use it for VIPKid in the morning and Andy (still working mainly from home) goes in there when he has a meeting and needs to be in a quiet space. Toy-wise the kids really have grown out of most of their old toys. The things that they consistently play with are legos and magna tiles. Bey Blades are also a fan favorite for Drake right now. They have all their toys and their gaming stuff upstairs in the game room now. Last weekend I even got rid of their pottery barn name chairs :( They had outgrown them and wanted "Big Joe" bean bag chairs up there, so we made the switch. I did all their monthly baby pictures in those PB name chairs, so I was a little sad to see them go.
With all the toys upstairs and in one room it left our downstairs dining room/living room wide open. We now use the dining area as a school room and we have a second office space in the formal living room area. Andy uses that for work when he isn't in a meeting so he can still be around us, which is nice.
A 2020 update would not be complete without mentioning the newest member of our family, whom we added right before the beginning of the pandemic. Lucy Mae Anderson. She also goes by the nicknames "Lou", "Lou-Belle" and "Lu-Lu". She was born on December 1, 2019 and we brought her home in February. That was another reason we had to move any remaining toys upstairs and install a baby gate again on our stairs. At 10 1/2 months old she still easy anything she can get her mouth on. RIP Birkenstock sandals, Reef Sandals, Andy's slippers, and I'm sure many more things that seem to have slipped my mind. While we love her dearly, there were many weeks where Andy an I looked at each other and thought "what have we gotten ourselves into?!" She's a handful. We have heard from other Labradoodle owners that around age 2 they start to settle down, so we shall see. :)
Despite the craziness of this year and the world in general right now (the election and all that entails is a whole additional level of craziness in this world). It's been a good year ,while I also acknowledge it's been a challenging year for most everyone. We are thankful that we've stayed healthy and employed. The boys are thriving and Andy and I still love each other and enjoy having fun together even after spending every waking moment together for nearly 6 months :)
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