The Slagh's

Friday, January 1, 2021

March 2020 - a month we won't forget

This is where it starts. The beginning of the shift, the change in life as we would know it for 2020. Writing this blog post at the end of 2020 (that far behind these updates!), it is crazy to look at the pictures of this month, and to know how we started the month - and to look at how it ended.

At the start, we were still in school, Ryan was still going to Haworth to work, restaurants, gyms, stores, movie theaters... all were still open.

I got to go read to Camryn's class as a part of "March is Reading Month" celebration.

Reading with these little ladies!

I had a meeting one day that got out early, and I got to surprise the girls and pick them up, instead of them getting soaking wet on their walk home from school.

I took a weekend long course to become a certified USAW (USA Weightlifting) coach, and got to meet some really great human beings, including Reggie Hodges, the course instructor.

And then it happened. We started hearing about a virus, a contagious virus, that started in China and was spreading to other countries.

COVID-19.

Coronavirus.

News started to trickle in about confirmed cases in the US, spreading to multiple states, and then cases in Michigan. There were deaths. We were told that the elderly populations, people who were immunosuppressed, and people with heart and lung conditions were at risk of this virus putting them in the hospital, or worse, never being able to recover from it. I distinctly remember when I started hearing about colleges in Michigan choosing to shut down - deciding to go to virtual learning and send students home for the duration of the school year to try to stop the spread of the virus.

I was talking to my principal, Jeff Roon, on a Tuesday when he told me that Michigan State had made the decision to close down. And then we started to wonder - what would happen with our K-12 public schools.

I woke up on Friday morning, March 13, and saw that Govenor Whitmer had made the decision to shut down K-12 schools until after spring break. I couldn't believe it. And my mind started spinning with all the things that I needed to do that day to send my students home for the next three weeks - hopefully with some learning materials - so they would have things to work on at home.

I arrived at school and we immediately had a staff meeting to go over what would be happening that day, and how the paras were going to be delegated to help us prepare things for the students. I can remember the feeling in the room. Stress, sadness, uncertainty. We were told to try to have the students stay distanced the best we could, wash hands frequently, and above all else, assure the students about the change happening, and help them feel calm and cared for, despite this unprecedented shut down.

We read a lot of stories, gathered things they could take home with them, took some pictures as a group, and during my planning times, we were frantically copying off packets and papers to last for 3 weeks of school work that could be done at home. We were thinking we would be back in school after spring break, that we would come back together as a group, so we didn't send everything home.

This was the picture I took before leaving on that Friday. Cleared out classroom in the middle of March. Felt so strange.

It felt like a really really long day. I asked Taylor if she wanted to take a walk with me that evening. This would be the first of many walks we would take - for a few weeks we walked together every day!

The next week, we learned that the executive order from the Governor was going to extend far beyond just schools, and this was the last week that Ryan would work AT Haworth for the rest of the year!

Everything was limited and closed down. I did still go to the gym, I used my key and worked out by myself in the early morning hours. But everything was different. It was the strangest time, a really sad feeling, and we moved into a period of social distancing from others.

Grocery stores were strange - some items were really hard to find - people were buying up all the paper products, especially toilet paper. Milk, butter and bread were sometimes really low.

This was a frequent site - shelves that were just... empty.

So we walked together, a lot. And we saw LOTS of neighbors out walking, too!

Tay and I made a special trip to the trails behind our church for one of our walks.

This was our 10th straight day walking together. :)

We went to the Outdoor Discovery Center for something to do.

Played in and around our own house... not going anywhere else other than the grocery store if we needed to.

We did get some snow during this time, too!

The girls got creative... Camryn and Ry worked to take some of his older Shutterfly calendars, cut out the pictures, and put them together in a collage.

We did puzzles, too!

Lots of just being..... home.

Art Hub drawing happened almost daily.

We did a lot of organizing.

Our storage room before...

And after!

Look what we found in the storage room! :)

I wrote letters to my students.

And we got the peeps out for Easter... thinking that April, maybe we would get back to normal.

We didn't have any idea how long this new reality would actually last...

Bubbles.

Had some fun with bubbles, sunshine, and portrait mode picture taking :)

Wednesday, December 30, 2020

Two Hands - Taylor is TEN!

Our big kid is literally a big kid now. Ten years old.

It feels significant to have a kid who is ten - it means we have been parents for a decade!

Taylor is almost as tall as me now. She wears the same size shoes as me (8 1/2)). We can share shirts or coats if we want. Somehow that teeny tiny girl that I first held ten years ago is growing up fast.

Taylor is at an age where she likes to feel like she is in control and can make her own choices. Case in point, asking her some of the "favorites" questions that I typically do on a birthday post, she said, "yeah, I don't really want to do that." ; - )

Without even needing her to tell me, it is pretty easy to list things that she loves right now. She got a Nintendo Switch for her birthday, and that has been a big hit for her. She loves playing Mario games, Animal Crossing, and likes to play them with her friend Dehlia. In this fancy year of 2020, you can play video games with someone else at the same time virtually. That definitely didn't exist when Ryan and I were kids! She really likes golf. She will be playing Tuesday mornings this summer for a few weeks with her friend Ashleigh from down the street, when they have some "little league" kid golf tee times. She also likes golfing 9 holes with Ryan, Grandpa, Chris, and even Camryn sometimes! Taylor continues to be a fish in water. Purely recreational at this point, but she does love to swim at Mem's lake and in the pool. Her stuffed animal Tony, and her white blanket are still both in the picture - still a kid for sure. :) Legos, circuit making, Kiwi Crates, and reading are also things she likes to do.

Taylor's friend Dehlia is most definitely her best friend. The two are two peas in a pod when they are together. Dehlia was who Tay wanted to invite for her first sleepover. They are in class together this year in Mrs. Thompson's class, and we are hoping they will be together for 5th grade, too, before heading off to the middle school!

Taylor definitely doesn't mind, and at times prefers her alone time. She doesn't mind being independent or playing alone for a while. I can completely understand that, and see some of myself in her with the need for "me time".

We have tried to move towards getting books from the library, versus buying them, because she reads through her chapter books and graphic novels so fast! She likes reading the Warriors series, books by Raina Telgemeier (Guts, Smile, etc.), and also likes it when I get her the newest edition of Archie, the comic book series. :)

Taylor is growing up before our eyes - in fact, we almost look at each other at eye level right now. :) It will be interesting to see how much she grows and changes in the next year! Will I be looking UP at her when she turns 11?! :)

We love you, Taylor Leigh!