Another Summer

Well, here we are already half way through June...where is this summer going in such a hurry?! I feel like it just started.

The girls had a good end to their school year. Penny LOVED kindergarten and wasn't quite ready to see it end, although she's been telling me lately that she's excited to see who she gets as her teacher for first grade. Emma's school year was a first for her - she actually kept the same teacher all year long AND finished the whole year! I'm not even kidding when I tell you that these kids are resilient! Her kindergarten year - COVID, first grade - more COVID and swapping teachers, second grade - her teacher left with a month to go in school so she got a long-term sub. 

Although we couldn't end the year without some kind of drama. This year was the first year that the school board decided if the third graders didn't pass the ELA portion of the TCAPs (standardized test), they would have to either go to summer school, be tutored all year next year, or be held back in third grade. Regardless of my feelings on this situation (believe me, I have A LOT of them), I knew somehow, everything would work out. Emma didn't pass the first time, nor did she pass her retake, but since she'd done so well on her assessments during the year, we were granted an appeal so she didn't have to go to summer school, or take tutoring, or be held back. I know it wouldn't have been a big deal for her to have done #1 or #2, but my heart truly hurts for those kids who are being held back because they didn't do well on one test on one day. Seriously guys, do better for these kids. This isn't the way.

So with kindergarten and third grade behind us, we dove right into summer. I could have done without the random case of flu that took me out on Memorial Day weekend, but now that we're past that too, we can only go up!

The girls have been swimming a few times now and are doing so good! They haven't had any formal swim lessons, but they are both fast learners on their own. Penny is literally a little fish and can swim clear across the pool underwater. We're working on swimming with our head up now so it won't be long before she'll be swimming laps around me. Emma's more cautious and prefers to doggy paddle for now, but she's working on swimming underwater more. I'm so proud of both of them for coming so far! It wasn't that long ago that both of them were terrified of water, even in the shower lol!

Since we had to make the unplanned purchase of the truck a few months ago, our budget for vacation took a major hit, but we've still been able to do some fun things. We went to visit my mom's family a few weeks ago in Tupelo, MS. It was soo good to get together at my cousin's house and see family we haven't seen in literally years! I forget just how much COVID took with not being able to see family for so long until we get together again and have to catch up on what our lives have been like for the last three years. We took a camping trip with friends a couple of weeks ago and it was literally the perfect camping weather! Temps stayed in the mid-70s and dipped to mid-50s overnight. I took my sweatshirt to wear in the morning just in case and it definitely came in handy! We were all huddled around the fire for breakfast lol. We also made a trip to Kentucky over Father's Day weekend for Rory to shoot a match in Lexington and the girls to spend a few days with my parents. Other activities will be staying local but there's plenty to do (if I can just escape work for a day or two here or there). 

Rory's still really enjoying shooting competitions and I have to say, he's pretty good. He's transitioned to shooting pistol-caliber rifles (known as PCC in the shooting world), but he still shoots pistol at some matches here and there. I'm still sitting at just two USPSA matches myself, but watching him shoot the PCC makes me want to try that pretty soon. The recoil isn't nearly as bad as a pistol but running around a bunch of temporary walls with a 16" rifle looks a little more challenging. We'll see. 

So now we're just taking each day as it comes and enjoying another summer in Tennessee. Fingers crossed it stays a mild one! I'm not holding my breath that we'll stay sub-90s for August and September, but I can dream! 

God bless!