Starting to get there

We're inching ever closer to "normal", whatever that is anymore. More places are loosening requirements for mask-wearing and social distancing, which feels totally weird and almost invasive towards other people. I guess it's one of those things that we'll just have to get used to again, just like wearing masks and social distancing was something we all had to get used to in the first place. 

I've officially made the decision not to get the vaccine (right now), much to the disappointment of many, I'm sure. Don't get me wrong. I'm super excited for everyone who has been vaccinated and now feel free for the first time in over a year. My heart is so happy for them. I just don't feel the need for me to get it to be free. I've pretty much been "going and doing" for a year, except for that one month where I actually had the virus. Yeah, that kinda sucked. But other than that, my family and I have accepted the changes we need to and continued on with our lives. 

My heart truly hurts for kids when I read about how some places are hoping to reopen schools in-person after the entire school year this year has been remote. My kids have been going in-person just about the whole year (again, except for that one month where we all had the virus) and I truly think it made a WORLD of difference for their mental and emotional well-being. That one world's-longest-spring-break last year really broke her little spirit, so I was all for our school system's plan to make this year as "normal" as possible. MAJOR kudos to Dr. Ball and all the staff at Longview for their dedication this past year! You guys have seriously been my heroes!

With that, we are officially in the final stretch of school, with 30 days left before summer break! Emma's super excited about starting 2nd grade and I'm excited for Penny to go back to P4! She has loved every minute of this year and I hope most of her little friends come back next year. This was her teacher's first year of Early Childhood and she has rocked it! We love Ms. Kelly and hope she comes back next year!

Other happenings at casa de Guthrie? Well, we just celebrated Emma's 7th birthday and Rory's 34th birthday, so the Birthday Gauntlet is officially over. As Emma ever-so-kindly reminded me yesterday, the next family birthday is my 35th in December....thank you sweet child...

And in keeping with our annual tradition of "What kind of medical adventure will we have next with Emma?", we have our first appointment with an orthodontist this week for Emma. Her dentist expressed concern last February that she had some crowding in her bottom teeth, but of course that was literally right before COVID hit so needless to say, we didn't get in to see the orthodontist for a while. So now here we are, one year later and we're finally going. I have NO clue what to expect since I've never been to an orthodontist myself. Rory likes to tease me that "not everyone can have perfect Couchman teeth", and unfortunately, Emma did not get those. She got the wonderful Guthrie teeth ;) I guess of all the things that poor baby girl has been through, having jacked up teeth isn't that terrible. At least they can be corrected. Here's hoping that Penny will get my teeth and we won't have to spend a small fortune on TWO sets of braces!

Speaking of small fortunes, Rory has embarked on a new hobby to replace golf, considering he hasn't played golf but a handful of times since we've moved here and he really can't swing a golf club right now. So he's sold his clubs and decided to "invest" his money and time into shooting competitions. Granted, he hasn't actually shot in a competition yet, but we're collecting all the necessities and will probably jump in sometime this summer or in the fall. And wouldn't you know that the moment we decide that we're going to start this new venture and build our gun collection (which started late last year), a new president is elected and a global pandemic is underway, which resulted in gun prices skyrocketing and ammunition being near impossible to find. It's getting some better, but prices are still ridiculous on just about everything because of the impact the pandemic has had on manufacturers. I'd like to say that I'll be joining him in trying my hand at competitions, but this mama just has too much going on, so that'll be on the backburner for now. Not that I won't be tagging along for some practice shooting. I've got to work on my grouping ;)

As for other sports, I'm really hoping that I can get Penny into gymnastics this year so we can work out some of her excess energy. Plus, she's amazingly flexible and fearless when it comes to tumbling and flips. We decided to wait on softball/baseball this year since neither of the girls has really expressed an interest in that, but Rory does get outside every now and then with Emma to work on hitting and she has good hand-eye coordination and a decent swing. She may be a ball player yet ;) We'll see what other things we can get into during the next year, and hopefully more will start opening back up. We've still got swim lessons on our list too.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful spring and staying safe and healthy!

God bless!