covid19- week 76

our first full week of school wraps up today! the girls are so happy to be in school & they pop out of bed every morning requesting fun braids and chocolate chip muffins for the drive. lucy started volleyball practices this week- she's been dying to play for years and is finally old enough for CYO sports. she also started rehearsals for her disney troupe's dance performance, and jon's been driving his 1972 un-air-conditioned blazer around town as we await word regarding my car from last week's accident and i taxi the girls around in his car. all in a day. 

we leave wednesday for our appalachian adeventure- nashville, dollywood, pigeon forge, asheville, mount airy and ending in hillsville to celebrate gramma's 89th birthday! we'll be masking up, washing hands and doing our best to make smart choices while still enjoying this long-awaited trip. 

xoxo, 

-ivy

covid19- week 75 back to school!

back to pandemic school! despite masks, the girls are so excited for another year of in-person learning with many of the typical-year protocols back in place to resemble a normal school year. we walk a fine line of keeping our kids physically safe while doing our part to maintain their mental health. 

and speaking of mental health... after 9 years of full-time momming, a quiet weekday house sounds like the icing on the cake of life. we're all looking forward to this next chapter in our family!

the girls met their teachers earlier this week- betsy has a new kindergarten teacher, eloise is with lucy's teacher from last year [and so proud about it!], and lucy's a big-time 3rd grader down in the basement classrooms!

breakfast with mom on my first morning of freedom!

home to play kindergarten with her babies <3

we spent the last few days of summer vacation taking in quiet time, swimming, eating our favorite foods and digging in the dirt.

and we ended with a literal bang. my [new] car hit a deer right in the middle of the highway while driving at 70mph. the girls and i were all in the car, the airbags deployed, the car smoked out, good people stopped to help, and we walked away alive. jon dropped everything to come take care of us, and while shaken up, we have spent the majority of our energy thanking our guardian angels for keeping us safe in a situation that could have very easily ended with a vastly different outcome. 

grateful for our blessings, which are so abundant. 

xoxo, 

-ivy

covid19- week 74

with the delta variant of covid raging out of control, and school beginning this week, we're doing our best to maintain our sanity and take necessary precautions to avoid exposures and illnesses. somedays it feels extra heavy that we've been living in a pandemic for 18+ months. the creativity of people, and the fact that we get to send our kids into their school building again this year is absolutely everything to each of us. we're winding down summer with lazy days and rest, and really truly just taking life one day at a time. 

xoxo, 

-ivy