This has been an interesting year.

For our family, it began with cleaning up from the Holidays…

A January remodeling project for our family room…

A February trip to California and more remodeling…

Coming home to get back to normal in March…

And within a couple of weeks, the entire world came screeching to a halt.

We half-heartedly finished our homeschool year while trying to adjust to online therapies, no field trips or friends, barely seeing family members, no church, no shopping, no meals out, no park days.

Just like the rest of the world.

Don’t get me wrong… there has been plenty to be thankful for during this craziness.

I am thankful that we were already homeschooling. I can only imagine the shock this has been for families, children, and teachers whose world was suddenly turned upside down mid-March.

I am thankful that we live in a semi-rural area, in the middle of 10 acres, right next to my parents. We had plenty of space to walk, look at nature, and sit outside with Nana & Pop-Pop.

I am thankful that our church… and many others… offered online services during the worst of the pandemic. And I’m thankful that we were able to worship together as soon as we could, because church is essential.

I am especially thankful that as the restrictions began to lessen, our daughter’s family and ours decided to be each other’s “quarantine buddies.” Since early June, we girls have been hanging out, and the kids have had friends and a change of scenery.

I am thankful that my grandkids had the option to homeschool this year. Even though their plans were to go to the sweet school right around the corner from their home, the thought of masks all day and virtual learning for most of the week seemed foreign. Since their Mama had been homeschooled, making that decision didn’t feel like they were jumping off a cliff.

And now we’re a few weeks into our school year together… trying to find our rhythm. It’s been a bit bumpy, but it’s been a wild ride since March, so bumpy isn’t too bad.