Monday Coffee Talk | Fall Catch-Up

Hope you had a wonderful weekend! 

Our's was my favorite mix of busy and relaxed. On Saturday we met friends of ours at a local farm for pumpkin picking and a corn maze. They had live music, food trucks, animals, and beautiful views to enjoy too. The whole experience was "park and pick," which we loved! Everyone was wearing masks and being respectful of distancing. It was overall a great experience and so much fun for the kids.

Sunday was grocery day and H had soccer in the afternoon. C came with me to cheer her on (it's during I's nap time, so Steve stayed home with her. Y'all know how important nap time is! haha), and afterward we went through the Starbucks drive thru for cake pops & coffees. We caught up on some house to-dos, too, and today everyone had off school and work so we stayed in our pjs all day, played, cleaned up, and made this veggie soup in the Instapot for dinner -- it was so rainy and chilly out. All in all, a great long weekend!

How are you doing? I've been wanting to check in to see how everyone's holding up. I hope you've found as comfortable a balance as possible, and that despite the strangeness of this year, you are still seeking and finding happiness and making memories. As the seasons turn, I'm reminded that the Earth keeps spinning despite what's happening across most of it. While it seems life has been at a stand still since February, time still marches on. 

Life here has been crazier than ever lately, and I'm finding myself missing this outlet and connection so much. My friend Elizabeth over at Blush Magnolia Blog said it best a couple of months ago: "When things stop adding up, start subtracting" -- and that's what I've had to do lately. I've had to subtract things from my life in order to keep up the juggle of work, raising three kids, and virtual school/teaching. I know how many of you mommas feel me. How many of you have heard the insight of Nora Roberts about glass balls and plastic balls? Someone once asked her how she does it all, and she said "The key to juggling is to know that some balls are plastic and some are made of glass. And if you drop a plastic ball, it bounces, no harm done. If you drop a glass ball, it shatters, so you have to know which balls are glass and which are plastic and prioritize catching the glass ones." 

So if you need me, I'll just be over here attempting to juggle! ;)

Really, though, I have to say: virtual school has been going so much better than I expected. I think the key was that I had pretty low expectations to begin with (because 2020), but even if they had been higher, I believe they would have been exceeded. C's teacher is excellent and her online class is small, and with some close friends she made last year. I feel like she's making progress with her reading, writing, and math, so that's encouraging to see! 

H and I work on some "preschool stuff" each day and I think she's making some progress also. She can write her name really well, has mastered shapes and colors, and is getting pretty good with recognizing letters. What I think is hardest is that I know all of the social she's missing out on by not being with other kids in a traditional preschool class, and our H is a social gal. She would have loved to go to a new class and make new friends. That truly breaks my heart. But I am trying to keep my eye on the fact that she has two built-in, 24/7 playmates in her sisters, so she's still entertained and engaged, and she's still very young so I do feel like there will be time left to enjoy herself and get in the groove of things once she's back in school.

We are trying to keep up with occasional play dates too so the girls can see their friends, and each big girl has an activity that they're involved in right now to maintain some sense of normalcy: Girl Scouts for C and soccer for H.

Isabelle is doing great amidst all of this, bless her sweet soul. Thank God for her laid back, happy, patient little self -- she's a true easygoing third child and I think she's loving having her big sisters home so much and being part of the action!

I have a few *new posts* coming up, and have thought about reviving the Women Who Inspire series too. What do you think? Would you be interested in that?

Let me know what you've been up to and how everything's going (and feel free to be honest -- I think you'll find that more people can relate than you might have imagined!). So glad you stopped by today! Happy Monday and new week!