And that's a wrap of another school year...

The other night Lexi hollered out, "Mom, what grade am I in?"  I started to reply with "Kinderg.." and followed with "technically, for one more day".  While at work I'm usually the first one to remind kids that the moment the school year ends you move up, I'm not ready for that with mine this wacky, challenging year that sped by while it dragged on forever.

I also didn't want to acknowledge Kindergarten is over, because when that happens the rest of elementary school jumps on a light rail and flies right on by.  Case in point, somehow we now have a rising 5th grader who mere seconds ago was a only child entering Kindergarten.

Here they all were nine months ago on the first day of school in September.  Skyler was excited to have time all herself with the grownups to discover more of who she is, without her bff big siblings.  Lexi was stoked to go to Bubba's school.

This year they all grew in so many ways.

Early in the fall Xavier went on his first three day, two night trip camp with his class to Table in the Wilderness near Centennial, WY. It was the first time he'd ever been away from any of his family that long and had a great time.  This year pushed him to work harder, stretch his comfort level, and be more responsible.  His favorite part of virtual learning was being able to sleep until he was no longer tired. He has listened to us enough to know that Legos are science and math, so why can't he do that instead of what his teachers were requiring? ;)

Lexi started Kindergarten with some extra reading tutoring help and by December no longer needed it.  She now not only recognizes all the letters and sounds but is starting to read sight words, sound out words, write sentences, and it won't be long before she cracks that reading code entirely. The plan, pre-COVID, was to graduate from her speech IEP but she will continue next year to reinforce the few speech sounds she still needs to grow in as well as to be able to "graduate" and celebrate in person.  She is recognizing numbers up to 20, can count on, add and subtract.  Most importantly, she is more confident in her skills.

Ever our performer, Lexi became more confident in her speaking skills (one of the many things we love about our school) and ironically speaks more confidently in person or on camera that just recording her voice for assignments.   Any time she got to Zoom with friends or one-on-one with teachers, she couldn't wait to tell them in two minutes everything that happened since the last time she had seen them, barely taking a breath.

The end of the school year also brought Lexi to her first lost tooth.



Both Xavier and Lexi participated in our church's AWANA program, memorized many verses, and learned more about God, growing in their personal relationships with Him.

We took a pre-spring break trip in early March, having an amazing time with friends and family, visiting both sets of grandparents' second homes.  And we returned home to different reality.

Skyler was intended to start preschool and speech therapy in mid-March, but that didn't quite happen. Instead she was unschooled in a variety of means, watching a few of her school's Zoom preschool sessions, "attending" online StoryTimes from Mama's "wook", and learning right alongside Lexi's virtual Kindergarten sessions.  As I would help Lexi try to figure out a sound by repeating it multiple times, Skye would walk over to our alphabet poster and point it out saying "it's this one, Sassy". 


We spent lots of time from March-June with the technology off, enjoying the outdoors, and using our imaginations.

I know there were disappointments this year. Missing out on finishing HYA and having WyoTowne (X); finishing AWANA (X & A); last day of school fun at Edness Kimball and saying goodbye to friends, teachers and school staff, especially those retiring. I also know this isn't the first or last time they'll be disappointed in life, so we have learned many coping strategies and gained skills for the future.

The biggest blessing in all this bananas chaos of 2020 has been the ability to unofficially-officially become their extra classroom teacher for the last quarter of the year.  While parents are teaching their children from day 1, I've always wondered what homeschool might be like.  It wasn't without its challenges, and I know that they love those connections and relationships with their "real" Woods teachers, but it was rewarding to help develop their skills and use my Elementary Ed degree in a different way.

But thank goodness we are done for now.

Here's to the next three months, our second 2020 summer. I pray that all three of them will look back at this year with fond memories of what school had been and what it became, of our lives together and the extra time God gave us to grow more as a family and in our love for each other.  They are all amazing human beings and it is an honor to watch them grow and develop into the beautiful people God made them to be.

Here they are, bearing with Mama for our traditional last day picture outside school.  I think X actually was grateful for that piece of normal because he never complained.