Learning as We Go

Now, over a month into e-learning with our girls, I’ve realized how very different each girl’s experience has been.  I’ve been wanting to capture these days, as much for me as for you.

M, who is in 7th grade this year, is already an e-learning pro.

Our school has 3 junior high teachers who teach all of the 6-8 grade classes.  These are the same teachers she had last year and the same she will have next year.  It helps to have an established relationship with your teachers before heading into a remote learning environment.  She knows what to expect from them, and they know what to expect from her.  

Last spring when we were all thrust in to e-learning, her teachers figured our quickly how to make relevant, rigorous curriculum through a computer screen.  This fall, they upped their game even more.  M has 1 e-learning classmate and together they have scheduled 30 minute daily live lessons with each of their 3 teachers.  This time is used to teach or reinforce lessons introduced via the virtual classroom through Google Classroom.  She submits all assignments through Google Classroom and even sometimes takes tests this way.

Each teacher has daily office hours she can attend virtually if she has additional questions.  In addition, her Literature/Language Arts teacher is recording the daily lessons she teaches to M’s classmates who are attending in person.  M can watch those in advance of daily meeting or go back and re-watch later if she needs reinforcement while working on schoolwork.  That’s been kind of nice.  In a “normal” school day, you cannot rewind your teacher if you can’t remember what she said about a concept or assignment. 

Her math/science teacher has been live streaming his class on YouTube for e-learning students to watch and hear classroom discussions.  I think that is a big plus, because at this age, so much of the learning comes from the discussions.

I know she misses her classmates and her BFF, who is sitting in that classroom.  When she is connected live to her classroom, she can see her friends and hear their voices.  They all think it’s completely hysterical when through the computer screen, they see her raising her hand to ask or answer a question.

The kids in school have PE a couple times a week, which is not included in the e-learning curriculum.  That doesn’t concern me at all though, because finding Marcella outside, jumping, running, biking, or swinging is a normal and usual thing around here.  She is not a sedentary kid.  Although music and band are completely off the school curriculum this year, the school is continuing “technology” lessons.  This year, you can see a great deal of focus has been put on preparing the kiddos for potential mandatory e-learning later this year.  Their lessons are clearly focused on how to create documents and use the tools within the Google Suite.  

We set up her work space in her bedroom because she needs a lot of peace and quiet and not a lot of assistance from mom.  But truth be told, if she can take her work outside, she usually does.

She’s really rocking 7th grade...straight A’s so far.  There are bumps, sure.  But I’m so grateful I’m not divided between helping my kids schooling and working from home, like so many parents are this fall.  I have the time to explain ratios if it didn’t make sense during the math lesson.  I can re-learn and then re-teach what a present participle is, should the need arise.  

Her biggest struggle is “work-life balance.”  When your bedroom is your school, it can be hard to end your day.  There are always a few more assignments out there that could be worked on.  DaddyHealy can relate, since his bedroom has been his office for 6 months now.  There is no closure for his work day either.  Maybe they need to lean on each other to figure out this one together.

Why Our Girls are E-learning

A lot of thought, research, and prayer that went into the decision to have our girls stay home and e-learn instead of attending school in person.  And a lot of wavering back and forth.  What we are doing right now feels pretty much like insanity.  And yet, I at peace with this decision.  But somehow, I kind of feel like a weird-o.  Our school is small...keeping desks distanced is not difficult considering our class sizes.  The school is doing everything right.  They are being cautious.  They follow the standards and recommendations to a T.  85% of the kids at our school are attending in person.  Most of the rest have a “good” reason for staying home...living with elderly grandparents, a child with a heart condition....  I don’t have a “good” reason.  But I feel like I have many, many reasonable ones:

• Opening schools is a social experiment, and we don’t really know how and to what extend kids will catch and spread the virus.  All of the recommendations are a balance between safety and feasibility.  
• This year, my kids have some pretty at-risk teachers.  God forbid we unwittingly catch and pass the virus to them.
• I am a stay at home mom with homeschooling experience.  I can keep them home and help them navigate any difficulties in e-learning.
• The school is keeping “cohorts” (in this case, grade levels) completely separated to limit exposure should a COVID case pop up.  If we were in school, by nature of our family size, we’d be mixing almost half of the cohorts in the school every single day.
• If one kid in a family has a symptom or a fever, all kids in the family must stay home until a doctor’s note diagnoses the symptom as a non-COVID illness, or a negative COVID test is obtained, or a 10 day quarantine is completed.  With so many in our family, that could be weeks, maybe months of missed schooling this year.
• With 2 girls at the very early elementary level, I imagine all the change and uncertainty would be difficult.  I imagine being in and out of quarantine (for every typical childhood illness), and possible school closures (whether temporary or longer term), plus teachers who may need to quarantine or substitute teachers filling in...it just seems like a lot.  Overwhelming for an adult, I can only imagine  how a 5 year old would feel.
• Even though I know that e-learning is not the best route for the littlest kids in our family, I also know that these are the kids who struggle to leave their mask alone, who forget about social distance, and no matter how hard I try, their hand washing technique is still lacking.  
• I know....it’s been said that kids aren’t as likely to get COVID, they are less likely to get severely sick, they are less likely to spread it, and yet, we don’t know that much about kids and COVID.  We also don't know much about the long term effects.  It’s true....you can’t shield your child from everything.  Thing is, I can do my best on this one.  Maybe I’m being overly cautious.  But I doubt I’ll look back and say, “Gee, too bad I was so cautious over that COVID thing...”
• Everyone says kids need to be back in school.  But all of the reasons given by the news, the schools, the governor, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and Dr. Fauci do not apply to my kids.  They have enough to eat.  I don’t need to go back to work.  They have children in our family to socialize with.  They are safe and cared for here. We have internet, computers, and resources to succeed.  My children do not require special services in school, or have learning delays that need specialists.  They have plenty of space to work in a quiet place, or to run outside.  
• Even if my kids want to go back to school, they want to go back to the school they left, not the school that exists for them today.  As 12 year old M put it, “They took away all the fun parts of school.”  No lunch, no recess, no hugging, no choir, no volleyball, no programs, no concerts, no holding hands with a BFF.
• DaddyHealy’s workplace remains closed.  The return to work for the first 15% of employees keeps getting pushed off.  Currently, it’s postponed indefinitely. I can’t help but wonder if it’s not safe to go back to work, how is it safe to go back to school?

There are no right answers this year.  This is the best one I have for our family right now. Our commitment To e-learning is for a quarter.  After that, we can choose again if we will send our girls to school or continue e-learning.  But for now, I know I have the ability to keep 4 little people out of society to help our school our county, state and country reduce interactions, even if just by a little.  I know we can help keep our girls, and all the people they would contact, just a little bit safer by keeping them home.  So another educational journey begins in the HealyHouse on the Big River.

Here We Go....

 Any way you look at it, the 2020-21 school year is going to be unlike any other.  School started last Wednesday, but still a lot of questions remain.

We spent the better part of August attending parent meetings, reading reopening plans, asking questions, reviewing current infection rates, and seeking advice and input from respected friends and medical professionals.  We came to a decision that, while well thought out, still feels very random.

For now (as with everything these days...this decision is just *for now*), D is attending high school live and in person, while the girls are e-learning from home.

This is the first time in over 3 years that D has been in a classroom.  His school is offering 5 condensed days of in person instruction from 8-12, with afternoons set aside for additional classwork and homework.  Only 3 days in to it, he told me he won’t have time to get bored.  The condensed schedule only allows 30 minutes per class period (that 30 minutes includes taking attendance and settling in, plus packing up and cleaning desks at the end of each period).  Teachers don’t have time to drag anything out.  Additionally, so far the subject material and teachers have been very engaging...4 honors classes (World History, Geometry, Biology and Literature), plus Spanish, Theology and PE.  

A lot has changed since I was in high school.  Frankly, a lot has changed since last August.  He carries his backpack with him all day (no lockers allowed), drinking fountains are turned off, no using the bathroom between classes (to reduce the likelihood of over-occupancy), AC off and windows open, and every single assignment is completed and submitted on his Chromebook.  He carries the school-issued device with him from class to class and uses it for note taking, assignments, teacher office hours, and in many cases, for a digital textbook.  The school doesn’t want to collect anything that has been home with the kids.  I’m beginning to wonder why we bought all those pens, notebooks and folders.  I’m also thinking that perhaps after this pandemic passes, we may find that typical “school supplies” are a thing of the past.

Halls are marked for one way travel, everyone is supposed to stay distanced, and masks are worn by everyone throughout the school day.  Desks are “spread apart” to about a 3 ft distance.  Every morning he has to take his temperature and fill out a self-certify form online noting any symptoms or exposures for himself or his household.  Then, after our 40 minute commute, he proceeds to his assigned door at his assigned time and waits in a (not so) socially distanced line to get another temp scan and enter the freshman hall/stairwell to proceed to his first class.

Band was on his original schedule and we held out hope for that till the very last.  He is an exceedingly musical kid, between band, piano, listening, and composing.  He’s a percussionist in the band, though he prefers mallet instruments over drums.  He couldn’t wait for high school band (and marching band).  But alas, with football postponed, there is no marching band.  And MommaHealy just couldn’t get comfortable with the idea of being in a band room full of people blowing into brass and woodwind instruments for 30 minutes 5X a week.  It just seems so contradictory to every other thing we are doing to slow the spread of COVID.

Together, we decided this might just be a perfect year to get a PE requirement out of the way.  No gym lockers, no changing clothes, no contact sports for our not-so-athletic kiddo.  And with the possibility of D or the whole school moving to e-learning at some point, how hard can this year’s PE class possibly be?  So far it’s looking like walking, Pilates, golf, and maybe ping pong or tennis later in the year.  That would have been my dream PE class in high school. 

His school has a dress code (dress shorts or slacks and collared shirts), but I didn’t over-buy.  In fact, we’re running on a pretty small supply at the moment. I’m waiting to see if it looks like in person learning is going to last before I fill his closet.  Each family had a choice of online or in person learning.  In person students are allowed to move to online instruction at any point, but must then stay online for the remainder of the quarter.  I could see that happening.  I could also see the state mandating it for everyone.  More unknowns.

I’m saving my story on the girls and e-learning for another day.  But if I’m honest, I’d really rather have D e-learning too.  Don’t get me wrong, I see the value in him being there.  I know you can not replace in person discussions with online chats.  And this is a whole new school for D, so he needs to meet teachers and kids.  He needs to find his group.  But it wouldn’t hurt my feelings if in a few weeks or a month he decided he’d rather stay home and e-learn (a choice I’ve left to him at this point), or if the school moved to 100% e-learning.  I’m just glad he got a chance to start.  But I’m also glad that he’s serious about masking, hand washing and social distancing.  He always was a rule follower and a bit of a germ-a-phobe, which is turning out to be pretty useful.

Tight Fit

There are a lot of shoes in my life.  And I meant A LOT.  Fourteen feet need tennis shoes, flip flops, church shoes and, depending on the weather, sometimes boots.  I trip over shoes at every door every single day.  We literally have a kid chore called “Line up shoes.”  

But somehow in this world flooded with footwear, I’m suddenly finding that nobody has shoes that fit.  How does that happen?  I suppose 4 months without leaving your house will do that.  My kids have pretty much been bare foot since COVID shut down our world in March.  And why not?  They haven’t gone anywhere.  The few times we’ve been able to go to church, we’ve played dress shoe shuffle, passing around shoes from girl to girl trying to find something that fits.  This week the weather has been cool and beautiful, so a lot of bike riding is going on, and everyone is looking for tennis shoes. Unfortunately, we’re not having much luck passing those down.  

The start of school is right around the corner.  Whether we attend in person or not, we’re going to be needing shoes before long.  

The Big Decision

I hate uncertainty.  I hate indecision even more.  I’m a type-A personality and I like to have a plan and know what to expect.  I like to make a decision and move ahead, no looking back.  Unfortunately, certainty and decisiveness are just a couple more of the seldom names casualties of COVID-19.  And this is where I find myself today.  School this fall is a huge question mark looming over my head these days.

I have an online shopping cart full of school supplies from the various teacher lists.  I have a virtual cart full of uniforms.  I have another cart of homeschool materials to supplement my supply of curriculum that would round out a year for all the girls. The problem is, I just don’t know which cart to check out.

I’m finally holding our school reopening plan, with the option of 5 half days of school a week (virus-permitting), or 100% e-learning.  For months I’ve been wondering if a socially distanced, mask wearing, sterile environment is where I want my kids to spend the fall (and winter....and if I’m being honest, probably the spring too...).  However, based on our experiences last spring, e-learning was wrought with frustration and busy work for the youngest elementary kids.  The school reopening document lays out the plans for the school day, safety, quarantine protocols and more.  But, there are a million unanswered questions.

• Can they keep my kids safe? 
• Do we really know the risk level to kids since they’ve all been stuck home since March?
• Will parents give their  kids a dose of acetaminophen so they pass the temp check in the morning because they have to get to work and have no other options?
• Do I trust our community to lower (and keep low) the spread of COVID so our kids can return to the classroom with some sense of safety?
• What happens if their teacher has to quarantine?
• How long until everyone is e-schooling due to exposure or closure anyway?
• How do we quarantine an exposed child at home and keep the rest of the family safe?
• Is staying 6 feet from everyone a positive beginning to kindergarten and formal education?
• Is only knowing teachers and classmates through a computer screen any better?
• Is this the year to pull out and homeschool, if not for safety, then for consistency?

I could add bullet points forever. There are so many more questions than answers.  Unfortunately, most of them don’t have answers.  Because of this, I feel paralyzed.  I need to make some decisions.  I need to notify the school of our chosen learning path for our kids.  Or perhaps of our decision to make our own path this year.  I need to release an order to at least one of those virtual shopping carts and start to prepare, backpacks or bookshelves, for this coming academic year.  

And this is how I find myself, stuck with uncertainty.  I know that none of this year’s options are perfect.  I know that only we can decide what is best for our family.  I just wish I knew which path that was.

Land of the Free

Happy 4th! I guess it may not seem exactly like the “Land of the Free” right now with restrictions, quarantines, mask mandates and so forth.  Everything here is cancelled.  No parades, no fireworks.  I imagine it’s about the same where you are, and likely pretty much all over the USA.  But we were undeterred.  We are not letting our American pride be extinguished by coronavirus!  We had our own parade, complete with candy!  Granted, it was a very short parade, but we dressed up, decorated, and we travelled the route twice and now it feels like a holiday. 😁

They had so much fun.  And big brother was a good sport, though I think he was probably just in it for the candy.  😉🍭

Lost in the Woods

Summer camp has officially been cancelled.  Not that I was really going to send them this summer anyway, but it’s a let down.  We’ve had some really great weeks at summer camp over the past several years.  We’re contemplating buying a tent for back yard camping (or at least “play camping”).  And not that being in touch with nature is a real problem for my kids, but sometimes you just want to get lost in the woods.

Last week we were so busy having fun that I really didn’t have time to post.  But we had an amazing hike in a nearby forest preserve, and these little explores surprised me again and again.  My expectations were pretty low.  We started on the short, easy course.  But every time we had an option to go on or return to the car, they unanimously voted to keep going.  When they could choose beginning vs expert paths, they chose expert.  I wondered how a 5 year old was going to keep this up, but she stayed right with the bigs.  We had such an awesome time.  It was a cool-ish morning, and although the sun didn’t reach us inside the forest, the beautiful breeze did.  My planned 30 to 45 minute outing lasted over 2 1/2 hours and only ended at that point because Momma said it was time for lunch.  Literally within minutes of leaving they were asking when we could go back.

There are a lot of neat natural features along the paths, like this fallen tree.

I told them about the Girl Scout rule: If you get lost in the woods, hug a tree while you wait to be found.  M wanted to try that out.

We did a lot of exploring under our feet....

...and found some pretty amazing sights over our heads.

Good thing smart moms always pack snacks.  Since this short hike turned into an all-morning hike, we got pretty hungry.

H loved exploring the wide open spaces.

We found HF doing  a little monkeying around.

Okay, maybe everyone was monkeying around...

It’s not that I’ve been feeling cooped up, but it sure felt good to get everyone outside.  I think this is the first time we’ve been anywhere together, other than the church parking lot, since mid-March.  That’s a hard thing to wrap my mind around.

Cinderella, Dressed in Yellow....

We’ve all made our quarantine purchases, right? Toilet paper,  craft supplies, bleach, Clorox wipes (yeah right, I wish).  At the Healy House, we bought jump ropes....two extra long jump ropes.  I so often feel like in today’s society kids are on the go for 110% of their waking hours.  With soccer practice, ballet, martial arts, baseball, scouts, youth group, and more, calendars fill up so quickly.  This quarantine has been a blessing in that way.  Every morning. Every afternoon.  Every evening.  We are free.  We’ve finally been forced to slow down enough to enjoy some simple fun. 

With so many girls in the house, I can’t believe we haven’t “jumped” on this bandwagon before.  A month ago, I had one pretty decent jumper, one capable but not confident jumper, and two who ended up completely frustrated every time they tried.  Truth be told, jump ropes in our house were more often used as lassos and horse reins or in a bucket and rope pulley system.  I decided this would be a perfect adventure for this slow and easy time summer.  And it seemed it would be easier to learn the rhythm of jumping if they didn’t have the pressure of also figuring out how to twirl the rope at the same time.  That’s a lot to think about when you’re 5.  Or 43. 

I found this great rope online and decided if one is good, two must be better.  In my mind were visions of a family of Double Dutch jumpers.  Added bonus (as pointed out by Grandma): when going back to school, Double Dutch jumping is kind of naturally socially distanced.  

So we started on cool mornings, learning to twirl.

We learned the rhythm of jumping.

Cinderella,

Dressed in yellow,

Went upstairs

To kiss her fellow...

I was amazed that they got pretty good pretty fast.

It wasn’t very long before we started in on the Double Dutch.

We watched a few videos, spent some days practicing, and tried again, and again (and again) to get it right.  Twirling Double Dutch is tricky.  Jumping Double Dutch is tough.  Entering and exiting the twirling double ropes gives us the most grief. It is definitely something that will take time to master.  Luckily, our summer calendar is pretty wide open.

I love that we’ve been able to figure this out and enjoy it together. We’ve had a lot of surprises...HF turned out to be one of our best twirlers. Dad can (and will!) jump rope too.  We even got D out there, and thanks to 5 years of Tae Kwon Do, he has a sky high jump...knees to his chest.  Even our super fun and eternally young aunt had a go and jumped in like she’d been doing it on the play ground last week.

So, yeah, lots of successes in that $16 purchase. We’re keeping active.  We’re spending time together.  We’re learning and we’re overcoming.  Plus, these ropes make extra long rope & bucket pulleys. 😉

I love Saturday

 

I love Saturday.  It is my favorite day of the week.  I’m sure that seems like a pretty weird thing for a stay at home mom to say, considering that every day of the week looks about the same, but at the Healy House, Saturday is chore day!

This tradition started out of necessity, but I love that everyone, down to the 5-year-old, is gaining life skills.  Everyone from 5 to 46 draws popsicle sticks to determine their chores for the week.

The systems is probably more complex than it needs to be, with weekly and bi-weekly chores in the mix.  There are chores for the littles and chores for the bigs.  There are rules about trading (you have to have done the chore at least once before you are allowed to trade), and so on.  But everyone in this house (well, almost everyone) now knows the proper way to clean a kitchen sink.  And a toilet.  And a window.  

I spend a lot of time hand holding with the littles, and once in a while a rush job needs to be redone.  I’ll be honest, some days it’s more trouble than it’s worth.  Some days I’m sure I could be done quicker if I just did it all myself.  I could definitely have it done better and with less whining if I took on the full load.   But we’re big on teaching personal and group responsibility in this house.  We share in the work, we share in the fun.  For the most part, they are ready and willing to do their part.

They cheer and groan as they draw their sticks and then they begin bargaining for trades.  Not surprisingly, by the end of the exchanges, someone is almost always coming to me or DaddyHealy to ask to trade for toilets. I get it.  We all have favorite and least favorite tasks.  I’m not partial to toilets myself, but I love that D does an amazing job on the kitchen sink, and M will gladly take cleaning a shower off of anyone’s hands.  Sometimes you need to wait for someone to finish their job before you can do yours.  Sometimes you find if you help them, it goes a little faster.  Isn’t that just like real life? Our work, our lives, are all interconnected and try as we might to be independent, we really do need each other.  So we jam to some Disney tunes and get the job done. Together.

Our Great Big World

It’s definitely getting hotter, and although we spend a lot of outdoor time in the pool, I still like to get the kiddos outside interacting with nature daily.  They do a lot of butterfly chasing, tree climbing, and garden watering (thanks for the flower seeds Aunt Heather!).

On not-so-creative days when no one feels much like playing outside, they need a little inspiration.  I love how a little bit of direction changes the picture.  This particular day started with a mom-created a scavenger hunt and ended up with a girl-led Expedition to Mt. Everest. They have amazingly creative minds.  Sometimes they just need a little push.

Ready to return to “normal”...???

Whew, has it really been a week?  It’s been busy around here.  The world seems to be opening up little by little and we are starting a few activities...drive-in church, library curb-side pick up, make-up doctor, dentist and orthodontist appointments....

Boy Scouts and Tae Kwon Do are even beginning small, outdoor meetings.  I’m not sure how I feel about that...I kind of like this “no place to be” thing we’ve had going on for the past several months.  Schedules are just hard.

Anyway, with the opening up of our world, we find ourselves (at least in our state) needing face coverings pretty much everywhere we go.  Lucky for us, Grandma hooked us up with cool, fashionable and personalized masks.  No one here is complaining about wearing them.   Which is a good thing, because I think if they are going to school this fall, these masks will probably be part of the uniform.

Quarantine Success

Maybe it’s because she’s bored....or maybe it’s because mom & dad have more time (and perhaps more patience) with this slower lifestyle, but here’s a little video of our latest Quarantine Success:

H has dabbled in bike riding, but not with great interests and even argued that bike riding is not an important life skill.  (I adamantly disagree with that excuse.). She said it was hard, maybe even impossible.  But I knew this kid has amazing balance and once she got it, she’d be unstoppable.  It took more than a few tries,  but today she claimed victory over the bicycle.

A Sweet Cookie

I have to file a complaint.  This quarantine has afforded me about 5 extra pounds, and it’s all thanks to our 9-year-old pastry chef in training.  Every time I turn around, she’s baking something new and irresistible.  I’m not kidding.  It would figure that the avid baker in our house would also be the one who had the least amount of schoolwork, and thus, the most free time.  Now that we are in summer vacation, look out.  

Oreo ice cream pie? Yes, please.

Banana Bread, warm from the oven?  Mmmmm ....

Giant chocolate chip cookie slice? You bet!

Chocolate Truffle Cheesecake? Oh, boy....

Plus doughnuts, raspberry tarts, black bottom cupcakes...and countless other mouth watering treats.

This sweet angel, and her sweet creations make will power really hard to come by.  I love her to death, but if this quarantine continues like this, I’m going to need to buy bigger jeans.

 

She really does want to be a pastry chef when she grows up.  I’d say she’s on a good path to reach that goal.  Since nearly birth, she’s always wanted to help me in the kitchen.  About a year ago, I took a step back and looked on while she did her baking more independently.  I sat near by and double checked, “Does the recipe really say a tablespoon of salt, not a teaspoon?”  These days, I’m not even in the same room.  At the ripe old age of 9, she’s turning into a very skilled baker.  Of course she makes mistakes, don’t we all? But that’s part of the process, learning to salvage a recipe gone wrong.

Before quarantine shut down life as we know it, I ran to the library to pick up some books to keep us entertained at home.  H’s list was almost exclusively cookbooks.  She has used them well.

We’re Praying for You!

Just so you know, the Healy Family is praying for you.  Back in mid-March, we began praying daily the Chaplet of Divine Mercy as a family for an end to Coronavirus.  We include special intentions for each decade of the chaplet.  We pray for people we love, people we know, people we’ve never met, doctors and nurses, cleaning staff, police officers, grocery store workers, the elderly, the vulnerable, the lonely, farmers, those in underdeveloped nations, government leaders, church leaders, those without jobs, teachers, students, the sick, the dying, the dead, the mourning, and just about everyone in between.

Yeah, we all want this to end.  Yes, we miss people and activities we’ve had to avoid.  There are a few missed opportunities in our past few months.  We’re getting kind of shaggy, and there’s that constant search for toilet paper and Clorox wipes.  But really, we’re lucky.  And so we continue to pray for all of you, for all of us.

Fairy houses

I know everyone thinks that this generation of kids has no imagination and needs to be entertained constantly.  You know “Back when I was a kid, we had to make our own fun...”

M is still going to be saying that when she is a grandma!  This kid is always creating, exploring and imagining.  She is the mastermind behind imaginary games like “Runaway Animals,” “Big Ella,” and “Breakfast Bunch Ball.” And she’s not just coming up with the ideas and telling everyone how to play.  She’s teaching her little sisters to have big imaginations too. She’s going to be an amazing babysitter, and an even better mom.  At the ripe age of 12, her dream is to be a grandma.  And let me tell you, she is going to be A-M-A-Z-I-N-G at that job.  Then again, she’s had some pretty good role models in that department.

When M disappears, it’s a good bet you can find her outside...wandering down by the creek, spying on baby animals, building a protective fortress for a sapling she is determined to see grow, or using little pieces of nature to create something out of her imagination.  She calls her recent structures “bark houses,” but I like to think they are fairy houses.

School’s Out for Summer!

Well, summer’s here, folks.  Summer vacation, that is.  Our school called the school year 2 weeks early.  I’m not sure if that’s because we picked up e-schooling without missing a beat, or because teachers are planning for the uncertainty of next fall, or just to end the insanity that is distance learning.

Either way, the Healy kids are wasting no time getting into the summer groove, the summer crazies!   I think I can honestly say this is our first ever last day of school picture out of uniform, and in bare feet!  But what a better way to start summer?