March madness

Is it the end of March already?  This year got off to a slow start but is now starting to fly by.  

Evan and Hailey started their third and final trimester of this schoolyear.  The high school is bringing all the kids in - back together for the first time in a year.  We will see how that goes.  Hailey continues to be virtual.  Lately she is setting up her "school in a box" in the dining room. 

We took advantage of a nice day after going to Grama's to take a walk along the boardwalk at Pere Marquette.  It was nice to have a change of scenery. 

Hailey keeps telling us that she doesn't want her loft anymore.  I told her if she didn't have her loft we wouldn't get to see her sweet little face peeking over the edge anymore. 

Mostly sweet face that is. 

Warm days in March start the ice and snow melting and are Hailey's favorite times of year to play at the beach.  Whether she is four or fourteen years old, that girl can't get enough of playing in the water and with the ice. 

One random Saturday family game night.  We all wore stick on mustaches. 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  This girl made certain that she would not get pinched.

Another lovely weekend Saturday.  We drove to a park that was about 45 minutes south of us to enjoy the weather and let Trent do a Geocache he had been itching to find.  Hailey found some painted rocks (we left them on the path for all to enjoy) and a little clam type shell. 

We were crossing our fingers and didn't dare get our hopes up, but Evan and his Allegros were able to put on their spring musical "Songs for a New World".  It was so great to be back in the theatre and hear the amazingly talented kids do their thing. 

Hailey and I put together bouquets for Evan and April. 

Because of Covid, we couldn't congregate in the lobby afterward to celebrate the performers.  We were allowed to be outside though and that's what we did.  

It is always so fun to watch Evan perform.  He has a performing style you can pick out from a mile away and he is always giving it his all.   He makes us proud!

Hailey and I went back to the matinee with Grama the next day. 

The middle school had a dress up day that was "business on the top casual on the bottom." Hailey fit the part perfectly. 

She looked like such a tiny businesswomen. 

I feel like so many days of our lives during this pandemic have been spent walking the beach.  We ended the month of March down there and I took this photo through a hole in a piece of driftwood. 

 It's definitely starting to feel like Spring is on the way and we cannot wait!

A Ripple of Hope

Due to Covid 19 and all the restrictions pertaining to social distancing and occupancy numbers, we knew early this past Fall that the Singing Christmas Tree would not be happening in 2020.   Because of the fact that these kids have missed out on so much already due to Covid, the school and the choir board worked frantically to come up with something that could "kind of" replace the Tree experience.  They hoped that postponing the concert until March of 2021 and setting up the Tree and rebranding the concert as "The Tree of Hope" would happen - unfortunately due to the venue not allowing more than 100 people inside (which wouldn't even cover the number of kids in the tree) that idea had to be scrapped and they went back to the drawing board.  They came up with "The Ripple of Hope" which was a concert held in the school's Sailor Center with the choir on one side of the bleachers and socially distanced limited audience on the other side. 

It didn't quite match the Tree experience, but it was something, and these kids really needed something. 

Trent helped out backstage and I told him to take pictures of Evan and his friends.  Grad boards are coming up.  I can hardly even fathom that. 

They processed in to their traditional Tree song of "Siyahamba"which was emotional.   It brought me back to times pre-Covid, when things were so much simpler. 

The show was great as it always is.  The talent of these kids is outstanding.  The concert was so necessary to spark just a little bit of hope in a long stretch of disappointments. 

Evan and his guys sextet group sang Elton John's "I'm Still Standing" as one of the breakout acts. 

Because of the limited number of tickets sold, they decided to live stream the show on Sunday evening.  Our tickets were for the Saturday show so we got to watch at home on Sunday.  It is always a funny experience to see your kids on "TV".  

I am always amazed and forever grateful for all our school administrators and teachers are doing to try and make things as normal as possible for our kids.  They will forever be heroes of this pandemic. 

It was good while it lasted

Since the cases of Covid 19 are higher in Michigan than they have ever been, it was not much of a surprise that it was time to set things back a bit.  The order we got last night was a three week "pause" to let things calm down and hopefully alleviate a bit of the strain on hospitals and medical workers. 

I am honestly surprised that our high school was able to continue with its hybrid virtual/in-person model for as long as it did.  They were still in pretty good shape as far as cases and quarantining and could have probably made it to December if not for the latest order. 

Evan is at school today for the last time for the next three weeks (and let's face it - most likely they will add on to the three weeks and just have them go back in January after the holidays).  He is not super bummed about not having to wake up early.  Though we are not sure what the virtual schedule is going to be, he may still have to get up for regular class time and check in.   Encompassed in these next three weeks will be his first trimester exams.  Ugh.  I'm not sure how that will go virtually.  I guess we are all in the same boat and will just have to go with the flow. 

Since this post is mostly about school I just wanted to add in something that I thought was so funny.  We received an email that Evan was awarded a Pride Pass.  I am not sure if it's the first one he has ever gotten but it is the first time the teacher has emailed it to us.   Evan has over a 4.0 GPA.  He has extremely challenging classes that he maintains A's in throughout the trimester.  The ONE time he gets a Pride Pass is because he "ran really hard in gym class".  

It's great.  We are always proud of him.  I am glad he is a fast runner when he needs to be.  Ha!

Spirit Week/Homecoming 2020

 

Last week the kids celebrated spirit week leading up to the Homecoming football game.  It was a strange spirit week.  Since Evan only goes to school two days - he only had two themes.  Hailey had a theme everyday even though she is still virtual. 

Monday was pajama day for the middle school. 

The high school had decade day on Monday and Evan chose an '80s look.  I got to haul out my old jelly bracelets, Swatch watches and band buttons for him.  I love dress up days that I can do that. 

Tuesday was crazy hair and sock day for the middle school.  Hailey asked me to do her hair in something called "space buns".  She loved how it turned out and wore them all day - even to Evan's tennis match later that day. 

Wednesday was team day.  Dress up to show your favorite team.  I don't feel like we support many teams so MSU is always the go to in this case. 

Thursday was character day.  We were at a loss for this one.  Hailey totally surprised me by coming downstairs dressed as Santa.  It was so hilarious. 

Thursday for Evan and Friday for Hailey was Blue and White day or Sailor Pride Day.  

Hailey has discovered that she can now raid my closet for clothes.  The red pants she wore as Santa and the white pants she wore for Blue and White day were both mine.  Sigh.  My kids are old. 

 

The Sailors won their Homecoming Game but no one could really go and watch.  There was no parade.  There was no dance.  I understand the reasons why but continue to feel bad for the kids that are missing out on all these traditions. 

On a total sidenote - I am really trying to blog more and even back blog but I am having so much trouble with Blogger.  It loads my pictures in reverse order no matter how I name or number them.  I can't seem to move the pictures where I want them in the post.  Ugh.  So frustrating.