If you have a relationship with a teenager, then you know exactly how difficult it was to get them to participate in this nonsense. She balked at the letter board photos and has rolled her eyes every time I've mentioned the word interview. I get it -- I was a teenager once (a million years ago) -- but I also know that she'll treasure every photo and word that we memorialized and that one day her own daughter will love seeing her mom at every age. Ask me how I know. As much as Ella has missed seeing her friends every day, she has really enjoyed being a homebody. I've tried hard to balance remote work with sleeping late and movie marathons and lots of Netflix. Josh kept reminding me that our kids have never experienced anything like this before and it's okay to let them have more ...
school
Polly’s Two Year Old Interview
Sophie was a few months older than Polly is now, the first time I interviewed her for school. I don't remember it being difficult to get her to answer, but maybe it was! Polly is very verbal and says so many things throughout the day -- she makes us laugh so much at how articulate she is and the funny things she says. She is not, however, interested in performing. I tried to ask her a series of questions while she played this morning and many of them she answered immediately. Others she ignored or I had to answer other questions to get her to cooperate. A few are things I answered on her behalf, because it's very obvious to us which things she loves best! Each of my girls have attended an at home daycare until they were old enough for pre-kindergarten in our school district. My ...
Sophie’s Fifth Grade Interview
The girls have been in school for a month this week and I'm finally getting around to sharing my thoughts on how things are going. Much like everyone else, our district made so many changes in the days and weeks leading up to our first day. We had a "road map" and potential scenarios, but it was hard to know exactly what school would look like until it actually arrived. Our district started the year with a staggered schedule, meaning half of the student body has in-person classes on Monday/Tuesday and the remaining students attend class on Thursday/Friday. The girls weren't thrilled about missing out on half of their friends, but they have enjoyed getting a few extra days at home. Despite attending class in person, they are still mostly doing virtual activities -- all of their work ...
Sophie’s Fourth Grade Interview
Our first day of distance learning went pretty well yesterday. I made a super early run to the grocery store, ran by the elementary school to pick up Sophie's supplies, and answered 100 questions from the girls. Ella was pretty self-sufficient, but required a little direction when it came to research. Sophie had a few technical difficulties, but we were able to get her back on track in a few minutes. By lunch, they were exhausted and we spent the rest of the afternoon outside. I'm trying to work while they work and then take advantage of our time together. So far, it's working pretty well, but I'm praying the novelty doesn't wear off. For the most part, Ella will be able to finish her entire week's worth of assignments in a half day. Sophie has daily reading assignments, but aside from ...
Ella’s Seventh Grade Interview
I took these photographs on the very first day of school -- August 8, 2019. I had them inserted into blog posts, with blank first day of school interview questions, but never managed to sit down with the girls. We've talked off and on about my failed interviews (the first year we've missed since Ella went to kindergarten) and when to squeeze them in, but it never happened. I'm not calling anything related to COVID-19 a "happy accident," but when the first day of distance learning rolled around, I thought it was high time I got answers to my questions. And even though I'm sure my girls would like to pretend they looked this cute today, I couldn't help but share a photo from our first day of remote school, as well. As weird as this season is, I'm trying to be really good about preserving ...
Sophie’s Third Grade Interview
I shared Ella's back-to-school interview on the blog yesterday, but little sister's is just as wonderful to watch! While eight years old was a rough year for Ella, Sophie seems to be thriving. She is hilarious and so thoughtful and she has the most sensitive spirit. I think she's been looking forward to ruling elementary school without a big sister on campus and her first few days have been wonderful. She's changing classes for the first time -- she has three teachers this year -- is separated from her best friends from last year, and has moved to the front hall, which she sees as a very big deal. She got all of her hair cut off on Sunday and after three whole days of loving it, she woke up yesterday with a much different attitude. She slept on a wet head, making it stand on end, ...
Ella’s Sixth Grade Interview
I always say I'm going to share more video on the blog, but with our camera upgrade earlier this year, it's actually possible. I'm hoping to up my video game as we get closer to baby's arrival and start sharing regular vlogs here on the blog. I'm not sure that I'll try and set a rigid schedule, but I'm hoping to capture more of what our family is really like and -- hopefully -- that means sharing more of them with you! Our first video project on the new camera was capturing the girls' annual back-to-school interviews. While we've done a video format once before, but we usually stick with a list of questions and answers. The girls were excited to see the camera set up when the got home from school on Tuesday and we were able to capture their first few thoughts about a new school year ...
Ella’s 5th Grade Graduation
Today's post might be a little disjointed and all over the place, but I have so many thoughts to preserve about this time in our lives, so just stick with me, okay? It's hard to believe that elementary school is officially over for Ella, but believe it or not, it happened! She's been talking about this day for years and was so excited (and maybe a little bit nervous) to wake up on graduation day. Because of the way her birthday falls, she's almost an entire year older than some of the kids in her class. We didn't have the option of starting early for her and, at the time, I had no idea how this would affect her down the road. I'm guessing it will be a little easier to navigate in middle and high school, since we can better tailor her classes to her interests and intellect, but ...