Homeschool break

We have officially enrolled our kids back into in-person school for the 21-22 school year. We will finish out the year with homeschooling since the kids won’t be able to get vaccines until later into 2021. Grant got his first vaccine shot right when it was released and we all felt so much relief. 

It feels very nice to have a break from school. I’m still enjoying teaching, but it takes all the energy I have to teach, lesson prep, and keep everything going. My patients has grown tremendously through this experience. 

South Padre Surprise

We gifted ourselves an RV trip to the beach for Christmas. Grant made all the arrangements and I’ve been in charge of the food planning/packing. We are attempting to have a contactless trip. 

Our first stop was outside Houston. It was just warm enough for the kids to take a dip in the pool when we arrived. Now we are driving about as far as we can before hitting Mexico. The kids feel like it’s a real adventure and the excitement is running high!

Christmas

We had a quiet Christmas with just the four of us. We got to see some family outside with masks on, but it’s just not the same. We were navigating a possible Covid exposure over Christmas week so we weren’t able to have our normal holiday traditions with Millie and Ali and all the rest of the Morshedi family. 

It was a day of pjs, taking our time unwrapping gifts, and hours of Lego building. I’m very grateful for our health and safety this holiday season. 

On the Hunt for COVID Safe Fun

I'm working to step out of our street bubble and find a few activities that are safe and fun. The kids have been riding bikes a lot so we went to Two Rivers and put the peddle to the metal. They loved getting to stretch their wings and explore. 

Eagle Pass Half Way There

We're half way through the curriculum and in our groove. Our days are mostly smooth and predictable at this point. I'm always surprised by what issues rise up and become problems. Right now the kindergarteners are super focused on where they sit in the classroom. Fairness and justice are big themes in their development and if they aren't equidistant from me on the rug, all chaos breaks forth. 

Second grade has less drama, but struggle with staying hyper focussed for 3 hours in a row. 

But all-in-all it really has been a good semester and everyone is improving and growing (including me!) I'm getting faster at lesson planning prep and continuing to work on my patience. 

Learning basic first aid

Multiplication board

Food groups and health snacks

Leaf tracing

School Pictures

We had to keep the tradition of school pictures alive at Eagle Pass Elementary. Our talented neighbor, Paul, captured these bright smiling faces perfectly. And we all had to laugh at the ending date for the year. Who knows how long this phase will last!

Halloween with the Pod

We celebrated Halloween with our pod. We created a halloween carnival and had the kids trick-or-treat at our houses. It was a fun way to get to celebrate and stay safe. The kids said they liked it better than normal Halloween years. I think they like the calmer pace of events during COVID. The difficult part is that it's up to the adults to create the holiday magic. A little pressure, but we delivered! 

This year Miles was a character from Minecraft, Molly was a duck, Grant was the Tiger King (along with Severin who was Carol Baskins), and I was the singer Billie Eilish.