We’re more than two months into the year and I feel like we’ve had so much going on. I’m so excited to share what we’ve been up to lately.

Before Christmas, we bought a van. I couldn’t think of anything we needed more than a bigger vehicle.

On New Year’s Eve we carried on our yearly tradition. Ever since we’ve been married, Jordan has made steaks and twice baked potatoes on New Year’s Eve. I usually throw together a snack platter around 9 o’clock for everyone to snack on while we wait for the ball to drop.

Unfortunately, Jordan and I tested positive for COVID the first week of January so we were home for what seemed like forever. Jordan tested positive on January 2 and as soon as we were about to finish out our quarantine, I ended up testing positive on the 7th. Our kids had to stay home even longer than us because they never tested positive, so their schools asked us to keep them home an additional 10 days following their 5 day quarantine.

Jordan returned to work 3 days before I did, but even when I returned to work our schedules were still ‘off’ where the kids were still quarantined. We were so excited to finally have everyone back to school.

While we were quarantined, not only did I get lots of puppy cuddles, but we also whitewashed our fireplace.

Some of my favorite memories are weekends spent at home. I love sleeping in, making a hot cup of coffee, and seeing Jordan in the kitchen making batter bread.

A lot has been going on with basketball. I can’t remember if I shared this in a previous post, but early in December we took Kylan out for a steak dinner to celebrate him being moved up to the JV basketball team. It happened mid-season so we were a little disappointed that we didn’t know the last middle school basketball game would be his last. Being the only 8th grader on the JV team, it was a big adjustment for him going from playing every minute of the middle school games to only getting a few seconds to a few minutes of playing time once he was moved to JV. The middle school coach met with him at school every morning to check in on him and would make sure he was enjoying his new team. He did everything possible to ensure Kylan could play in their semifinal basketball game and to end his 8th grade basketball season with his original teammates that he grew to love so much. Now that the middle school season is over, he has been getting much more playing time on the JV team lately. It’s amazing to witness his skills improving each day just from where he’s practicing with the varsity team. He scored his first points of the JV season on Friday night.

Klara was finally able to play in her first basketball game. She had missed four games while she was quarantined, so she was excited to finally be able to play!

We love snow days! I snapped this picture when we got out of school two hours early before the weather got too yucky. I loved hearing Klara laugh as she ran up the sidewalk and stuck out her tongue to catch snowflakes.

Pre-K is always a blast. Watching these little people learn and grow makes my heart so happy.

Speaking of little people- in just a few days I will be celebrating 10 years of this amazing career. I’ve accepted different positions in different districts over the years, but accepting my first job as a Head Start substitute teacher in 2012 was by far one of the greatest things I have ever done. This is a picture of me on my first day of work in 2012- the day my teaching journey began.

I have always wanted to do a Q&A post about my personal teaching experience so if you have any questions, leave a comment and I will answer them in my upcoming post.

One of my resolutions for the new year was to take at least one picture each day and to consistently make video clips so I can put together a family movie at the end of each year. Unfortunately for me I’ve been struggling with both of those things- taking photos and videos. I didn’t really realize it until I was going through my gallery for this post. What were some of your resolutions for the new year?