2020 Wrap Up

 

It's the evening of December 31, 2020.  I sit at my desk in my "home office" on my "work" computer, surrounded by work paraphernalia, and just having read the public school notice for the plan for the class for our students next week.  Sleet is hitting the skylight in the master bathroom, reminding me there is always renewal.  I choose the "Top Hits 2020" playlist from Spotify to accompany this writing session.  I know I am not alone in being beyond ready to put 2020 to bed.  Back in March, the switch was flipped (Also, A Tik Tok trend in 2020), and we are still far from normal.  Covid-19.  Corona Virus.  The 'Rona!  We have been invaded.  A global pandemic.  And it is relentless!  I never even wrote the girls' high school graduation posts.  Nothing has been "right" since then.  And I have been anxiously approaching this writing for days.  Weeks, really.  I want 2021 to get here.  To be more.  To be BETTER!  But to get there, let's look back at 2020...

Toilet paper shortage (twice), more hand sanitizer than I can keep track of, scouring store shelves for Lysol.  Working from home.  Working on a hybrid schedule.  Adjusting the schedule dozens of times due to close contact quarantines and exposure scares.  One employee quit, hired another to only find out she was pregnant 2 days after she accepted the job - has to work from home.  Closing the campus.  Reopening the campus.  Everyone remote but my team.  My public school kids in distance learning.  Then fighting for them to be in class 5 days a week.  Settling for an AB schedule.  Which only happened 2 weeks, before we were in "red" and back to all distance learning.  Boys got about 10 days of in-person learning from March 2020 through today.  Sent my adorable baby girls to be college freshmen and live in the dorms.  In-person classes, online classes, and hybrid classes.  Testing, attendance, technology issues.  Joining a sorority and having an in-person, adjusted, and socially distant initiation.  Stay at Home Dad transitions to a part-time job.  Online grocery orders, curbside to-go food, and picking up school lunches daily.  SO. Much. Toilet. Paper!  Bills are higher due to the electricity consumption of 4 people being home all the time.  Making banana bread.  And InstantPot Cheesecakes.  Adding an air fryer to that mix.  White Claw, Corona Seltzer, Rolling Rock, Smirnoff Ice, and everything else that lives in the garage refrigerator.  MASKS!  Fabric and reusable, disposable, adult, women, and kid sizes.  Holiday prints.  Solid colors.  No more earrings.  Added Apple Watches to our wardrobes. COVID TEST COUNT: Emma - 5; Lara - 5; Jake - 3; Britt - 4 (Betsey and Finn - 0).  ALL of the above were negative.  SO MANY FRIENDS lost family members.  Jake makes the basketball team; they have played 2 games - and we think one of those games exposed the team to the virus as MANY tested positive the next week including 3 of the 4 players in our carpool.  Rocket League, Fortnite, Minecraft, Call of Duty, Xbox, Switch, TikTok, and iPhones are the boys' constant companions.  Emma has a serious boyfriend.  Lara has floormates, diamond sisters, and the rest of her sisters.  Britt and I have each other.

THANKFUL for the extra time we have had together.  Even when we are bored.  So bored, that we adopted 2 miniature dachshund puppies.  Ama Beck was my Mother's Day present that we brought home in June.  Jasper Arch was an early Christmas present that we brought home on Thanksgiving weekend.  They are funny, adorable, stubborn, and great companions.  Love having my girls in college, but close enough to come home.  Grateful the dorms are still open so we can all stay safer and limit exposure.  Grateful that 2021 promises vaccines - Britt is Phase 2, all the kids and I are phase 3.  We should be vaccinated by Spring we hope!  SO WE CAN ALL GET BACK TO SCHOOL IN PERSON!  Emma and Lara - Freshmen in College, Jake 8th grade, Finn 3rd grade.  I will graduate with my Master's in May 2021.

So - the big things:

Brought Ama Beck home - June 14, 2020

Emma moved into the Oklahoma State University Dorms for Engineering Summer Bridge - Saturday, July 18, 2020

Emma (socially distanced) Graduated from Mulhall-Orland High Shcool - Saturday, July 18, 2020

Lara (outside, in Pioneer Stadium, SO MANY RULES!) Graduated from Stillwater High School - Friday, July 24, 2020

Lara moved into the Oklahoma State University Dorms for Sorority Recruitment - Saturday, August 8, 2020

Lara - Bid Day 2020 - Alpha Delta Pi (Honey I'm Home) - Saturday, August 15, 2020

Lara and Emma's first day of college - Monday, August 17, 2020

Jake's first day of 8th grade - Thursday, August 20, 2020

Finn's first day of 3rd grade - Thursday, August 20, 2020

Pioneer Booster Club Presidents - Britt and Betsey - disjointed PlayDay - Final Day Saturday, Sept 5, 2020

Finn turned 9 - Monday, October 5, 2020

Betsey cut off her quarantine hair - Friday, October 16, 2020

Family Decorated for Christmas - Saturday, October 17, 2020

(because, WHY NOT?)

Jake was Chicken Little for Halloween - Saturday, October 31, 2020

Finn was Spiderman for Halloween - Saturday, October 31, 2020

Jake played some AAU basketball in the fall when Covid allowed

Cousin Kayleigh was here from Texas for Thanksgiving - November 22-26, 2020

Brought Jasper Arch home - Wednesday, November 25, 2020

Britt got a new Job - December 8, 2020

Jake geared up for his first school basketball game - Thursday, December 10, 2020

Family at the 2nd (last) basketball game - Friday, December 11, 2020

Confirmed Jake is definitely taller than all of us at 6'3" and 13 years old - Friday, December 25, 2020

I made Christmas cards this year, but we never got them ordered or mailed out.  So, here's what that was supposed to be like:

And now, it is time to go cuddle with my men, watch a socially distanced ball drop, and welcome 2021!  Here's to the hope the future brings!

(And, Current pictures of my DOGS:)

Evie: 

Ama:

Jasper:

The One That Was Supposed To Be The End

May 22 - 24, 2019

This was supposed to be the last "2020 Project" entry.  They turned 18 last week.  Emma was supposed to graduate last week; Lara this week.  But, instead, we are still in the middle of a worldwide pandemic, and we are on like week 1200 (ok, just 11) of a stay-at-home order we affectionately, called quarantine.  Oklahoma (and Stillwater) is in Phase 2 of the reopening, so more places are open for business, but not everything.  And we still stay home most of the time.  And still wear protective masks when we got out.  Hand washing and hand sanitizing are top priorities!  But, things are starting to come back to life.

It was also supposed to be the Stillwater High School Class of 2020 graduation ceremony this weekend.  But, it has been rescheduled for late July.  In honor of that missed occasion, here is Lara's graduation announcement and social media post about her college choice:

Since some students won't be able to be at graduation this summer, the high school celebrated the Senior Class all week on social media and with small things happening around town.  Lara missed out on it, because, well, she was on "make-up" Spring Break."  More on that later.  In the meantime, her family decided she needed to be represented at the drive-through, plus we wanted to make sure she got the gifts, gift cards, t-shirts, and other goodies being handed out.  We drove through her elementary drive through and the high school.

In the meantime, while Lara was out of town, I did get to see Emma for one night!  She had some work to do in Stillwater, so she spent one quick night with us to cut down on her driving!

And Lara, the beach bum, spent a week on the Gulf Coast of Texas with 3 of her favorite friends.  Her friend Kendall's family has a condo on the beach at Port Aransas, and they were going down for a week to get a break from and coronavirus craziness and to get away from the quarantine.  So, they told Kendall to bring friends.  Lara was among the chosen!  While I was a little nervous to let her go, her BFF Erika was going, plus I knew she was in great hands!  Their buddy Karsten rounded out the group, and the had the time of their lives!  Days on the beach, cruising around in a golf cart, fun activities, and mentoring from 2 older friends.  So glad Lara got a vacation with friends before going to college.  She came home on Sunday, and we were all so glad to have her back in the house!

On the beach at Port A!

Karsten, Kendall, Erika, Lara

At the pottery painting place

BFF's in the Golden Hour Light - singing I would assume!

So, like I said this should be the last entry.  Based on the goal I set out when I first started this in the middle of summer 2017.  But, life throws curve balls.  And I know I have at least 2 more entries with this project, as I have 2 high school graduations to attend in the next 9 weeks.  Emma moves to Campus in 8 weeks.  Lara in 11 weeks.  So, we will enjoy our summer.  The last summer of being a care-free teenager.  College starts soon.  The real work begins.  Childhood is indeed, fleeting.

CLICK HERE to see all the 2020 Project posts

The One Where They Turned 18

May 14 - 17, 2020

This one starts a day early,  On Thursday.  May 14.  Because this is the day my baby girls turned 18 years old.  I cannot believe it!

While Oklahoma has started lifting some restrictions - hair salons are back open! - there are still many precautions and quarantine rules in place.  Most businesses require you to wear a face mask or covering of some sort to shop, and we are all encouraged to stay home as much as possible.  Wash your hands, don't touch your face, and stay home if you feel sick or have a fever over 100.4 degrees.  Many places even check your temperature before you enter.  Our dentist and orthodontist are back open as well, so the boys both got their teeth taken care of this week.

Emma Marie and Lara Elizabeth turned 18 years old on Thursday.  They were not together, but we all called, and Facetimes, and sent Bitmoji stickers and memes and all the fun stuff we could to celebrate this special day.

Some of Lara's friends were set to have a picnic lunch together, but before the lunch could happen, they surprised her with a Drive-By Birthday Parade!


Her Dad also made a FANTASTIC sign to hang on the house to announce her 18th birthday to the world.  She was very surprised by this!  But it made an excellent background for pictures.

Even the mailman got involved!
He saw the banner and left this note!

We also had a few birthdays presents for her to open on Thursday evening.  She got some things she will need for college, including a small Instant Pot!  We told her welcome to adulthood - where you get appliances for gifts!  In our big, family instant pot, we made her favorite Crack Chicken for dinner, and she helped make a caramel coconut chocolate cheesecake for dessert.

Friday was the last "official" day of school for both girls.  Emma was working in Newkirk at Napa with her grandpa, and Lara had been done with school or days.  But, I insisted on a last day of school picture!

And no LAST DAY OF HIGH SCHOOL would be complete without the first day of Pre-K comparison pic!  August 2006 to May 2020 - Their entire school career in one pic!

It was also supposed to be the Mulhall-Orlando High School Class of 2020 graduation ceremony.  But, it has been rescheduled for later in June.  In honor of that missed occasion, here are Emma's graduation announcement and social media post about her college choice:

front

back

Now, Saturday was a FULL DAY of celebrations and craziness.  Emma came to Stillwater with her boyfriend, Rhett, early in the afternoon to make the rounds and meet all of Emma's family.  She also had a few stops to make to see family for birthday and graduation gifts that needed to be picked up.  We all met back at our house to celebrate!

Offical 18 Picture!

Grandpa, Nana, Emma, Jake, Finn, Lara, Dad, Mom
Photo Credit to Rhett

Then, the girls and their friends headed out to the Flying H Ranch near Orlando, Oklahoma for a party with their friends.  Still, quarantine style, few guests, trying to remain socially distant.  Emma had her best friend and her boyfriend there; Lara had 2 of her best friends.  A good time was had by all!

Erika, Lara, and Nichole

Rhett, Emma, Erika, Lara, Nichole

Rhett and Emma

Emma and Abigail

First thing Sunday morning, Lara was off on an amazing adventure!  Along with her friend Kendall and their family, Erika, Karsten, and Lara were off to Port Aransas, Texas for a week at the beach!  It was a LONG drive, but they made it safely and are looking forward to a fun week!

Eighteen!  We made it girls!  So proud of you and so very excited about your future!  Keep reaching for the stars.  Your future is SO BRIGHT!  We love you.