The McPherson Chronicles

Friday,  March 13, 2020, is the day our lives paused indefinitely. We had just celebrated the girls' birthday and Andrew's first t-ball game and even had a school birthday celebration during the week. There was already talk and worry about Covid-19 spreading in the US, but it was still only in the back of our minds. We carried on with life as usual for that week until Friday came around. I started a new job just the week prior and we were juggling school and work schedules along with t-ball practice and ballet in a carefully choreographed juggling act involving grandparents, shared iPhone calendars, and lots of coordination. Thursday, talk of Covid seemed to  ramp up and there was talk of shutting down schools and businesses. Friday we all went to school and work as usual and at 2pm our School Board voted to close the schools for two weeks. Since schools get out at 2:30pm, most teachers and parents did not hear the news until after school was over and there was no time for tea...

 I don't know exactly how I missed the past 18ish months here but I did. I found one post I had started with photos and never got around to writing and publishing. So I'll publish that but it's from April 2019. A lot has happened and changed since then and I know it would be tedious to go back and try and recap each thing so I'll probably have to do some broad updates and leave it at that. I'm hoping once I get caught up it will be easier to maintain. Time will tell. School 2019/2020 It was an interesting school year to say the least. The girls navigated 5th grade with 2 wonderful teachers and some big goals. They were both on student council, part of the lunchtime Chess Club, won multiple awards for Super Student, Student of the Month, AR and Dreambox (math). They both ended the year with over 500 AR points which surpassed the combined total of each of their individual classes!  Andrew settled right in to DLI Kinder and loved going to school with the girls. They al...

We started Valentine's morning with a hike up Mt. Rubidoux. It was the kids' first time and they loved it. Hopefully we can squeeze a few more trips up before it gets ridiculously hot.

This couldn't be a better description of Andrew. Everything he sees the girls, Kevin or I, my parents, other kids do, he thinks he can/should also do.  He is attached to Olivia & Lucy especially. Kevin and I often have discussions about how amazing the girls are with him. They always cater their games to include him, share their toys and tablets when he asks (or just takes) and always find ways to entertain him. They went through a period where they wanted space in their room without him but now they almost always invite him into their room and include him in everything they do. He is a lucky little guy and they are the sweetest, most generous big sisters I know.  movie night Yoga practice

Grandpa and Kevin took the girls to their first hockey game a few weeks ago. It was the minor league team nearby so the hockey wasn't spectacular but it was good enough for the girls to get the experience and the boys to not be too bored. Their favorite part was obviously the food. Pizza, popcorn, cotton candy! They also liked that the ice was pink in honor of breast cancer awareness. They had fun but were ready to come home when they got cold, tired and Olivia got a fever in the third period. They did enjoy going though and want to go again sometime so that's a plus!

Cousin Liam turned 4 a few weeks ago and we had so much fun at his Ninja Turtle birthday party! Our first Chuckie Cheese Birthday party for our school friends (one of the 3 sets of twins in their class this year!) JJ & Jaiden. Cousin Norah's 3rd birthday party this past weekend! Playing Dr and giving Auntie Katie a shot. She was a good patient :) He LOVES cake. Can you tell?

Super Students for the month of January!! I'm so proud of these girls! They were so surprised and excited to be selected as the Super Students. Olivia also received a medal for her work on First in Math. It was such a fun morning to go to their assembly and see all their hard work be recognized. Their Spanish is phenomenal. Their reading and writing has really come along and Kevin and I are always blown away when they are talking or reading in Spanish. The best was the other night when Olivia got out an English book and just started reading like it was no problem. Kevin's face was pure astonishment. So yeah, reading and writing in both English and Spanish. Amazing!