New try...one success...now reverting back to the old!

So I am making some masks for a friend in Indiana, so I thought I should "up" my mask game.  Here is my new attempt and I do love it.  That said, I made a bad one before and after this one, so I am going back to my old mask pattern.   (the bad ones, just turned out small, so I didn't scrap them, but do need to find an elementary school girl to give them to)  For my personality, I need to know I will have consistent success, if I am going to make multiples of something.  Since my younger kid's school announced that there will be masking (in some way) at school,  I will be producing more masks...so consistency will have to be my game!  (I already knew the older kids would need a bunch of masks for U.Iowa.)

But isn't this cute....hopefully little MJ thinks it is "pretty"...if not, big MJ can donate to someone at her school.  Carolyn picked out this fabric, so that could be used to sell it.

As you can imagine, Carolyn's original work mask has been washed MANY times. (after each shift)  I looked at it today and felt the nose piece and it just felt wrong.  I cut it out and this is what I found.

On all recent masks, I am sewing the nose piece in place to help this happen a little less.  That said, cloth masks are not a forever thing!  Some material washes up better than others.

6/30/20

Roll model!

Return to learn from our school ....so glad I am not a superintendent having to make these decisions.

On Saturday, some news source reported that Ankeny schools would not be returning to school wearing face coverings, but Des Moines Public schools said they would.....well the report was premature.  They are planning to return with face-coverings....

Return to Learn e-Newsletter

June 29, 2020

Return to Learn Parent Survey

Please complete this survey to help us understand your family's and learner's needs as we prepare for the beginning of school in August. The survey window will close on July 10.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

Despite the guidance from the Iowa Department of Education, Ankeny Schools will continue to prepare for the practices of social distancing, the use of face masks, and other recommended health practices as provided by state and federal authorities.

As we develop our Return to Learn draft plan, we will continue to work to follow Iowa Department of Education and public health guidance. We are carefully and continuously monitoring this guidance so we can engage the Board and our Return to Learn committees in a discussion about the appropriate next steps as the guidance evolves, including but not limited to the use of face masks. We are working now to understand if/how the recent guidance from the Iowa Department of Education on masks might impact our Return to Learn plan, which includes a significant personal protective equipment (PPE) component.

We’ll be sharing more detailed information about our draft plan in the coming weeks. We hope this will provide a more nuanced picture of our use of PPE.

Return to Learn Plan: Timeline Clarification

On July 1, the Ankeny Community School District, as well as school districts throughout the state of Iowa, will be completing a Return to Learn report to the Iowa Department of Education. This report is an overview of district's plans and ability to deliver on the different models of instruction. The work our Return to Learn teams are completing throughout the summer is taking this outline of a plan and operationalizing it for the upcoming school year, no matter the instruction model. As you can imagine, that work is a much more in-depth planning process.

While you may have heard school district's Return to Learn plans are due to the State of Iowa on July 1, please understand the final, detailed plan will not be released until later this summer. That being said, we are releasing these newsletters to keep you informed on the work throughout the summer.

School Calendar

The 2020-2021 school calendar, developed by the district calendar committee and approved by the Ankeny Community School Board, will not be changed due to Return to Learn.

DRAFT Model Comparison Table

The Return to Learn plan is still being created. We will share the work with you throughout the summer, knowing it is still in draft form. Please understand that some details may be adjusted as the work continues.

This draft chart presents a comparison of many aspects of teaching and learning in traditional and online learning environments and variations of models.

(View a larger image here)

DRAFT Hybrid Learning Model

In an effort to plan for every potential outcome, we prepared two versions of the Hybrid Learning Model that could be utilized. Below please find the DRAFT Hybrid Learning Model. This model provides for schools needing to open at 25% or 50% capacity, based on government regulations on social distancing. As we determine groupings 1-4, family units will be taken into consideration.

(View larger image here)

6/29/20

Joel, Carolyn and I made Tamale pie tonight....so good.  (the top is a corn-flour crust with cheese, the base has browned hamburger, onion, tomatoes and corn)  One pan meal for the win.

 Greek green beans, my absolute favorite....because we are multi-cultural around this place.

 Anna is showing off the new fabric I just bought to re-cover my dad's chair.  I bought the rest of the bolt because I don't want to not have enough and be unable to get more!!!

 Garden update...it is doing so well.  (We mostly have procured basil, mint, strawberries and sugar snap peas....not a ton of the last 2.)

facing north

 facing south

6/28/20

Today I finally ordered pictures (only those needed for graduation posters had been ordered since November!!)

318 prints later I am done!  (more than 318 pictures because I printed some pictures as collages.  (of course many were multiple copies of the same photo)

Three things I learned. 

1. I take a lot of pictures
2. I take even more pictures during a pandemic
3. We really have made the best of a difficult situation.

Here are a few pictures I ordered from Christmas:

Lauren (re)taught us how to crochet.  I am not sure Anna ever crocheted before, but I know that Carolyn and I did when we moved to Ankeny in 2011.  The rest is history, we have crocheted a storm since then.

The famous picture of grandkids with Grandpa.  (We take this picture all the time and it is so much fun to see it change!)

Ken's parents didn't travel to Texas this year, so they came to our house at Christmas. (I won't share the other hundred pictures from Christmas :0)

------------------------------------

Finally pictures of Joel's birthday!  (which was in February....pre-blogging blitz)  I think we went to get his driver's license very close to this day....which is unlike Matthew and Carolyn, who took their time.  He already was driving to school, so not much changed.  He was then able to drive to Youth Ministry at church, which was nice for me.  (He also could drive Anna places, but we still don't do that much if ever.)  We also always take a cake picture at this place in our kitchen every time.  (because then you can't see any mess....truth telling)

6/27/2020 Graduation Day

Here are teachers welcoming the students into Hilton Colosseum.  Normally the teachers are in the graduation ceremony...but no room today, since the kids were spaced far apart!  (Carolyn is the student farthest in the front.)

 Carolyn is in the middle of the far right row (curls)

Ken estimated that the class size was 410 (he counted in the program).  Each kid was allowed 4 guests, which is highly different than years past when the place is packed.  I didn't see too many elderly people although there were some.  (They had the kids seated  with 6 feet on all sides.)

Here is Carolyn going across the stage (The picture is from my friend Renea...my picture wasn't this good!  We were a full basketball court away from the stage.)  Carolyn was one of maybe 20 or 30 students who wore a mask for the ceremony and across the stage.  (One of her buddies from work wore a mask and I think they felt a bond of solidarity....her buddy pointed to her own mask when she was looking at Carolyn gave her a thumbs up or something.)  Carolyn's main group of friends did not wear masks, but to be fair 3 of her closest 9 friends didn't attend the ceremony (2 for the safety of family members). The school staff all had masks until they sat down, 6 feet from the students.  More students wore masks into/out of Hilton and maybe 40-60% of the guests wore masks.  (A disappointing amount for sure, but more than you would see at the grocery store in Iowa right now.)  I say disappointing because in our last note from the school they said, "they strongly encouraged masks".  I am proud that Carolyn didn't feel peer pressure to remove her mask.  She is so used to wearing masks at Hy-vee, it isn't a big deal anymore.  She is her own person for sure!! (GO Carolyn!!!)

Carolyn on the Jumbo-tron.

We bolted from the ceremony, not stopping to be in a super-spreader situation of photos outside of Hilton.  We drove to Ankeny and stopped at the Wilderness Preserve near our house.  Here are our favorite pictures.  Carolyn and I were so happy with how well they turned out!!!  (so therefore you get to see a bunch)  (esp. for Grandpa who we wished could have been with us, but knew it wasn't safe...Ken's parents don't have internet access to see them here, so I will print a bunch for all grandparents!!!)

 (we had the boys go to work today, since we only had 4 tickets anyway...and less is more in a pandemic)

Carolyn chose Fong's pizza as her final celebration dinner.  (if you haven't had it, I can only describe it as a fusion food....crab rangoon pizza and egg roll pizza....and for Ken - meat lovers :0)

6/26/2020

Anna finished the puzzle.  It was SOOO hard.  I didn't help at all.  It was 95% Ken and Anna.  See the tiny scrap of a picture...that is all they had to go on.  It was from a set of puzzles from Ken's parents (all in one big box) and so it didn't have the nice huge picture, just that tiny thing from the edge of the box.  This was one of reasons it was so hard....and the picture.....you really couldn't see the picture except from a far distance.....and most of the colors were the same.  Even Ken said he didn't want to do any of the other puzzles from the set.

I was home by 3 today, since I had two no shows and one cancellation.  So we pulled out the chess game.  We hadn't played in over a year and I gotta say - that really isn't good for my old brain.  Ken and Joel returned home from the test drive to Altoona (where Joel is umping tomorrow while we are at the graduation) they had to explain to us how to end the game.  Anna clearly was going to win, but she was having trouble getting it done.  They had to explain the difference between a stale-mate and check mate and I still can't quite wrap my head around it.  All I know is that without their help, Anna's 3 pieces would still be chasing my king around the board.  Still glad we played and hope to play again soon.  We need to match the more skilled players up with the two novices (Anna and me).

6/25/2020

The boys and I went to church this morning.  (Matthew was working yesterday morning and Joel had running plans.)

It might not shock you when I say....MORE FABRIC ARRIVED TODAY.  Joann's Fabric in town has a small supply of fabric.  They have absolutely no black solid fabric and haven't for months.  Hy-vee recently announced that staff all have to wear black masks.  The masks they provide are not my kid's favorite (a little small and can't be worn with the ear-saver easily and slips down the nose).  Anyway, when we learned this on Sunday we search the internet for black solid fabric and Etsy to the rescue.  Anyway, I was able to make Carolyn a black mask in time for her shift.  To get free shipping, we had to order $35 worth of fabric, which isn't so hard for me.  So I ordered some solid royal and Carolyn loved another floral patter for masks.  (She needs many for college, as we now know!  They also don't wash up perfectly if you are washing them all the time....so I want her to have plenty of masks to use, since it is the reality of the University of Iowa in the fall.)  

Then she found a fabric for us to use to cover a new-to-her office chair.  Last year, Ken's company was throwing away office chairs and he was allowed to take one home for Matthew's dorm.  It was in great shape.  Well they were getting rid of more chairs and Ken's colleague picked him up another chair, but this wasn't in great shape.  So we decided to cover it, since dorms really aren't the place for perfect furniture anyway!!!

 BEFORE

AFTER

Carolyn seemed to really like it.  She declared it "up-cycled"...which in her world is a big complement.

Here is the pretty fabric.  Even this picture doesn't do it justice.  I didn't like it as much when I saw it online, but I really love it in person.

Anna and I then ran to the library to pick up a book on hold.  I love that they mandate masks.  The library was pretty empty.  They have removed all the kids puzzles and toys.  They have asked people to come, get their books and leave.  (no meeting rooms to use etc.)  They have a limit to the number of patrons and someone sits at the door so you don't have to touch it.  They also quarantine the books for awhile after they are returned.

We also ran to Walmart, which is a first for me since March.  Anna picked out a mirror for her room and I was able to get Tazo Chia tea concentrate.  I haven't had any of that since March either, since they don't sell it at Aldi or Hy-Vee.  (unless you buy it, non-concentrated, from Starbucks....it is the exact same stuff!!)  As you can imagine, I am a "make it at home" kinda tea girl!

Nice day....I feel like I had a mini-vacation with 3 days off in a row.  Next week I will have 5 days off in a row due to the 4th of July falling on a Saturday and closing my clinic on Friday.

6/24/20

The girls and I went to church.

Carolyn and I worked on her T-shirt quilt....so close now!! (Some columns are sewn together.  All the cutting and ironing onto interfacing is done!!  Who knew that would be the hardest part....but it really was hard to figure out the correct size to get everything to line up!)

Our new Hawkeye fabric arrived....so mask creating occurred.  (Anna's masks need to be a little smaller that the rest!)

Joel went to mow Joe's lawn and it became very clear that one size does not fit all in the masking world!!  I even made his "man sized", which is a little larger than my normal mask.  (In the end, it was still much too small.)  I fixed it and we will return it to him tomorrow as he lives very close to church.

laundry, dishes...the usual

Chicken tacos for dinner....so easy and so good.  Normally we make beef, but these were great!  (thanks to the guacamole....store bought, but excellent)

6/23/20

Today is a Tuesday, but I took the day off because I was supposed to be in a meeting tomorrow (which normally I am off).  Plus it would have been the first day when all 4 audiologists would be working at once since pre-Covid (and pre-Covid cleaning procedures!!).  Normally I am out of the office for 1/2 day doing auditory brainstem response testing, but I didn't have access to a sedation team, so we would have been all there all day (which takes some shuffling) and so I took off!!  Then the Wednesday meeting was cancelled...oh well!!!

So every year....for a long time.....we make an annual trip to Ames to go to Hickory Park.  It is a fun restaurant that has an excellent reputation with everyone from Iowa State University and many people from Ankeny.  We first went there one summer when we went berry picking nearby and then went to Reiman Gardens.  Here we are in 2019.  Once in awhile we go when someone is at camp or Faith in Action or working, but then that person is really salty when they find out!

Well Hickory Park has probably been doing decent curb side service, because they are so well loved, but of course the campus shut down months early, so they might be hurting like anyone else.  So today was the day!!!  They opened up for in restaurant dining while back and I remember being horrified when an old neighbor's girlfriend boasted going there when Story county (where Ames is located) was open, but Polk county was still shut down.  (Ankeny is in North Polk county, just below Story), but this gal lives in West Des Moines.  I wanted to scream....Story County doesn't want your germs, but I didn't!!!  (at the time Polk county had many cases and Story was pretty sheltered)

Well all counties are open for business, but we didn't even get out of the car at Hickory Park for the photo.  We did a curbside pick-up and then went to a city park that Joel found online to eat.  (Yes Joel knew I was taking a photo....we call this an action shot.)

 First of all....excellent food (as always)...but ice cream (which kids usually get at Hickory Park) will have to wait until we get home.  Even more importantly....Bravo to Joel for finding the best city park that I have ever visited.  It is called Brookside park and initially we laughed because we passed a couple parks on our way from Hickory Park restaurant to Brookside.  Later we said it was such a blessing!  The place was HUGE.  We walked and explored.....best park ever- really!  We have nothing like this in Ankeny.  I would drive to Ames just for this park.  (Other than exploring in Colorado, this really is the nicest park I have experienced.)

 Since we missed our Hickory Park picture!!!

And we decided to save Reiman gardens for another day, since we had such a great experience at Brookside.

6/21/20 Father's Day

Tonight we had a nice meal together (without Carolyn who was at work) and then Ken opened his Father's Day gift!

 We got Ken 2 additional Randall Monroe books.  He had bought himself the first book in April, so I knew he would like them. This author also writes the XKCD comic strip that Matthew introduced us to.  He worked a NASA and has super smart humor.

Action, silly shot!

-----------------------------------------------

Here is my Dad at Thanksgiving.

I think he had a pretty nice Father's Day too, since my sister and 2 brother's were able to visit!  (with 2 great-grandbabies)

6/20/20

Yesterday could go in the record books for one of my most productive.

1. I went for a walk at 6:40

2. I attended a Weight Watcher's meeting online with my sister. 

 

(here we are when she came to celebrate my 50th birthday)

Neither of us were actually in Prairie Village KS (at the meeting site) at the time (cuz sis was visiting my dad), but we went to her normal meeting, which is still ZOOMing!!  Last Saturday was my worst day of the week for WW (which is silly since I went to a meeting last week too)  So I vowed to make Saturday a great WW day!  The best way to do that is to keep busy!

3. I trimmed a bush-like thing that because so overgrown it was falling over.....eish.  Eventually  I need to dig some of the root or this will just repeat next spring

4.  I listed this basketball hoop for free on Facebook.  It was asked for within minutes and the family picked it up at 4.  Had I known it would be so easy, I would have done it a while ago.  Of course Joel and Anna said they still used it (after it was gone), but I hadn't seen any basketball playing time since we moved it to the cul de sac in April.  It would fall over in strong winds and the sand bags we used to keep it upright were making a mess.  I always had to be careful when I backed up!  Glad it is gone. 

I

5. I took 4 big boxes, MANY small boxes, a big bag and a bean bag chair to the St. Vincent de Paul truck.  (They set it up in our church parking lot one Saturday a month and things that are donated go to the S. Vincent de Paul store in Des Moines to fund their missions.)  I had boxed up most of the items in March and April, but wanted to wait to give them the items, since initially they were closed and then I figured they probably received a bunch of items when they first opened .

6.  Anna and I sanded and painted this bench that she uses as her desk chair (gift from my sis.... it looked better when it was given to us!)

before

after

7. Throughout the day I made 5 masks (and repaired one mask) for old neighbors.  (who coincidentally gave us the basketball hoop above)  They wanted to pay me, to which I responded, "did you let me pay for the basketball hook, skateboard and 2 bikes that my kids have received from you?"  I would never take money to make something for a pandemic!!!  It gives me great pleasure to make these masks.

8. I made a bunch of ear-savers (that keep the masks I make off your ears if you need to have one on for a long time.  I always use my ear saver, just much more comfortable!!  We call these hearing aid savers at work, because it allows us to work with patient's hearing aids without the mask getting in the way and also will help our patients lose their hearing aids less, because they won't go flying off when a mask is donned or doffed.  (Note that the left blue "saver" doesn't yet have both buttons sewn on...I do have some quality control.)  Anyway, I ordered another 100 buttons, because I don't see the need for these going away in our clinic any time soon.  Let me know if you need your own ear-saver!!!!  (Some of these were actually made on Sunday.....but I threw them all together because I think they look lovely!)  simple pleasures.