Back to School

Well, seeing as the holiday music is playing on repeat and the Thanksgiving feast has been consumed and then some... I figured now is as good a time as ever to update this space with a few months worth of pictures. 

We'll start with the smallest Hein member. Taylor is in her final year of preschool. She is in the Junior K class and Miss Ashlee or (Mith Ash-u-lee at Taylor calls her) is her teacher this year. Taylor is so happy at school and begs to go even on the weekends. She is at the best age right now. She soaks up everything that she learns and is eager to begin reading and writing like her big brother and sister. 

Donovan and Emmerson started 5th and 3rd grade this year at school with me. I am so sad that this is Donovan's last year of elementary school! Where has the time gone? It is so sweet having these big kids with me every day. 

The world's best librarian was so happy to welcome our students back on campus.

And we were thrilled to be reunited with all of our besties for what feels like a more normal school year. We are still wearing masks but at least we're not online anymore. So thankful for that. 

Emmerson has Miss Lancon this year. She loves her class and has so many friends in it! She is always happy when she comes home from school and has lots of stories to share about her day. 

Donovan has his first male teacher, Mr. Monroe and he is loving it this year. He continues to enjoy reading and math but seems to love playing football with his buddies most of all! 

We're off to a great start this year!

 

Wrapping up the School Year

It is already mid-July! I can hardly believe it. Before summer escapes us, I thought I should update this space with some pictures from the last few months. Let's start with some odds and ends that lead us to the end of the school year. 

A student in my class drew this picture of me and I had to laugh. I don't think I've ever received a picture of me wearing a mask yet. This was a keeper to remember a very strange school year in my career. 

Sweet Grammie came down to visit us in May and stayed until the final week of the school year. Her presence is such a blessing to us in more ways than I can count. She cooked, cleaned, did laundry, and was our taxi driver picking the kids up from school and dropping them off in the mornings. One day, she took Taylor out of school to revisit Legoland when it finally reopened. Taylor hasn't stopped talking about it since. 

At the end of May, we drove to our cousin's house to celebrate Laurel's 9th birthday. The kids were so happy to be together. 

These two beautiful besties make my heart happy.

And so do these two!

Around the neighborhood, the girls started borrowing old high school cheer uniforms from our neighbor and making up their own routines. It was pretty adorable if you ask me. 

We went to Dustin's final home game of the season.

Donovan got invited to visit the US Midway with his best buddies. 

And last but not least, this little preschooler reluctantly said goodbye to her favorite class and teacher. Taylor had such a wonderful year with Mrs. Sabrina. Thankfully she still has one more year at this school before we close that chapter. We sure love this little preschool!

We crawled towards the finish line to the final day of the school year. I was so relieved to welcome a slower pace of summer. Much more to come...

 

November Memories

It's been a busy month and a slow month all at the same time. 

With the pandemic only getting worse in our area and across the country, our main activities continue to just be work and being together at home. But life still seems to feel very full and the days continue to fly by. Here is a glimpse of November at the Hein house. 

Donovan finally got to join Emmerson and I at school! 4th and 5th grade were our final groups to welcome back on campus. These two kiddos accompany me to school each Tuesday and Thursday. These are the days we all look forward to. While school still has restrictions that make it feel completely different than what we're used to, somehow we've settled into this new version of "normal" pretty easily. 

In my own class, we have good days and bad days. I'm finding it so hard to engage my students for long periods of the school day where they sit in their seats with their desks and shields. Having the students in class only twice a week is also a challenge because there is very little consistency to their days.  But somehow we make it work, and more often than not, we celebrate the victories of our days together. 

November was also the month of early Christmas decorating at the Hein house. Because we spend the full week of Thanksgiving at Grammie's, we like to decorate the week before. This way, when we return from Thanksgiving break, we can hit the ground running on the holiday festivities. The kids were just as giddy as ever decorating the house this year. The Christmas carols were on repeat and the holiday scented candles were lit. 

Emmerson and Taylor devour all of the decorations like they're brand new toys. Mary and Joseph have found a large addition to their manger complete with stables full of horses. 

My boys continue to look more and more like college roommates as they spend their evening hours leading up to dinner playing super old video games from Dustin's old school game systems. 

The kids and I used the Veteran's Day holiday to cut out tons and tons of snowflakes. (A tradition we started last year that feels like a must from here on out). The process is long, but their rooms look so magical with each unique little snowflake dangling from the ceiling above. 

There's just something so cozy about Christmas lights in their bedroom at night. They've requested that they remain on until after they're asleep each night. It is so sweet seeing their sleepy little faces illuminated when I come up to bed each night. 

Emmerson had her very first sleepover with her best friends Kayla and McKayle. 

Kayla's mom sent me all sorts of pictures of their sleepover cuteness throughout the night. There were crafts....

And Chik-fil-a dinner because my picky girl HATES pizza!

They even had unicorn floats complete with their own cups that donned their names in pink glittery lettering.

These girls had a blast!

The next morning she was notably tired and a wee bit cranky, but also soooo happy that I think she talked about nothing else for at least the 3 days straight. 

While she was gone, we were down to two kiddos and they were very cute together. They sure missed their comedic middle sibling a whole lot. But, we had some fun, too. We watched the Grinch and read Christmas stories together. 

And the next morning I set up a play dough station outside for this little one while all of the big kid neighbors ventured up our giant hill. The hill has been THE hangout as of late. The kids are building "steps" up the hill with a myriad of tools and ideas. It's drawing out several neighbors each day. The kids spend their whole afternoon up the hill and come in SO dirty and SO exhausted each night and equally excited about starting all over again the very next day the second school work is complete. 

I snapped this picture while the neighbor girls explored the new American Girl Christmas catalogue. 

And Sundays have continued to be Sundays... church online each Sunday morning and evening supper shared with family. I love these nights so much. Next stop for the month is a very needed and much appreciated Thanksgiving break! Boy were we ever ready for it this year!