The second half of our March looked nothing like we were expecting. We had fun plans for Spring Break which included a trip to Branson, a day at Silver Dollar City, tickets to a show, a condo with an indoor pool and all the fun that a little family vacation comes with. Unfortunately everything got canceled and we spent Spring Break at home. Matt took vacation for the week since we had travel plans, so we all six spent the week at home. He got lots of projects completed during his time at home- blinds washed, cars washed and waxed, Grout cleaned in the kitchen, dryer fixed and other things too. We also did go to the movies to see Onward before the theaters had to close. That was a cute movie!
The rest of the week, and the weeks since have been spent at home staying busy. When I told the kids that school was canceled for two weeks at the beginning of Spring Break, they immediately asked to do homeschool. They were so excited about it. So on Tuesday morning, I set up a little science experiment for them. They loved it!
These girls find plenty to play with at home. I thought they looked so cute and looked like they were ready for anything that was headed their way :)
I took advantage of Matt being home for the week and had him do some STEM projects with the kids. They made balloon powered cars one day.
The kids did some doodling with Mo Willems. Elephant and Piggie books are a favorite around here.
Elisabeth preferred to do her own doodling with Art Hub for kids on YouTube.
We try to play outside for "recess" but on rainy or cold days we bust out some GoNoodles
The kids are missing their friends. We set up a face time call with some of their friends. It was funny how much more social the girls were. They talked and giggled forever, and the boys barely said hi before they were ready to be done, ha!
It's been fun to pull out some toys/activities that we don't get to do very often because we don't have time. The rice bin was a fun morning activity (or afternoon, who knows when they never change out of pajamas!)
The kids wanted to set up desks in our "homeschool room" It was cute how excited they were to do homeschool. They'll start distance learning April 6, and they're all pretty advanced in their grades, so I'm not too worried about them falling behind in school, but I do want to keep their brains engaged and if they're excited about it, we'll roll with it.
I asked them each about some topics they wanted to learn more about and have incorporated those things into our homeschool Nathan wanted to learn about Shakespeare, Samuel wanted to learn about extinct animals, and Elisabeth wanted to learn about the US states.
Katherine asks to read Barnyard Dance every night. Sometimes the big kids join in too.
I also picked up a few more puzzles to do at home. Nathan completed these all on his own. He was proud of his work!
For art one day, the kids painted Tasmanian Tigers that are extinct.
We've been playing lots of games. That's one of my favorite parts of this whole thing. We love playing board games and having plenty of time to play as much as we want has been awesome.
For science another day, I set them up with a lot of random things outside to make potions or just play with.
And then they ate a picnic lunch on the playset. Through all this stress, worry and unknown, I really hope the kids come (and me) come out of all this remembering these special, simple moments.
Things get crazy around here sometimes. I have no idea why she's wearing oven mitts on her feet.
Nathan got to do a zoom meeting with his teacher and classmates. Could his smile get any bigger? He really loves his teacher.
All the kids are handling this so well, but there are plenty of sad, disappointing moments and conversations as they're processing all these changes. I've cried a few times as I process these things as an adult, and randomly the kids will come up and talk about how much they don't like Coronavirus because they have to miss such and such. That's hard on my Mama heart to help them deal with their sad and disappointed feelings.
For weeks the kids have been asking to put the sprinkler under the trampoline. I told them once the temperature was above 85 degrees, I'd let them. Well, we hit that number last week, and they were so excited. They also got the slip and slide out. It's been nice being able to tell them yes more often. I mean I don't care if you spend all day outside and get dirty. It's not like we need to go anywhere or do anything.
After the played, they got dressed and ate popsicles. We have a rule that we need to eat popsicles everyday during quarantine.
We also made daily walks to our neighborhood pond a part of our routine. One morning, Samuel took a book because he didn't feel like playing at the pond.
While he read, the other kids played on the rocks. They've also found a little creek behind the pond that they love to explore. They feel like big adventurers exploring the creek.
They came back from the pond and decided to make a chalk mosaic like every other kid staying at home.
It turned out so good! They loved it and were so proud.
Another day, another board game. We've played Ticket to Ride and Settlers of Catan almost daily. We actually played Ticket to Ride, Blokus, Settlers, and Slamwich all in one sitting on Saturday morning. It's such a rare treat to get to play games all morning with no other plans.
Elisabeth has been having virtual dance classes through all this. She's struggled some with it. She really misses being in the studio with all her friends. I'm hoping so much that they'll still be able to have their recital in some form or fashion. We've both been so looking forward to it!
We're adjusting to our new normal and a new routine. There's been stress, arguing, whining, and fighting, but also so much joy getting to spend so much quality time as a family.
Katherine, you are 2.5 years old! You're at such a fun age. You make us smile and laugh every.single.day. You're a happy, energetic, talkative, playful, sweet, affectionate girl, and we're always so, so thankful that you're in our family.
You've had a big few months transitioning out of all the baby things into big girl status. You gave up your pacifier in January, your crib in February, and diapers in March. All those baby things that have been a nearly constant part of our life for the last eight and a half years are no longer in our home. It's bittersweet watching you, my last baby growing up. But I just love watching you grow and learn and do your best to keep up with your big siblings.
Your favorite things right now are princesses, dancing, singing, Paw Patrol, your siblings. horsey rides from Daddy, books, books and more books, playing outside with no shoes, gymnastics, Tic Tac Toy on YouTube, and Frozen songs.
You always want to wear a princess dress, dance to music, and belt out songs. For some reason Elisabeth got hooked on Feliz Navidad and was asking Alexa to play it, so you copied her and your pronunciation cracked us up because you'd say, "Alexa, play Soggy Soggy Dog" We still laugh when we hear you say it. You also love to sing "It's Raining Tacos" "Party in the USA" and "I'm a Gummy Bear" all songs you've learned from your older siblings. It's hilarious listening to you sing them.
Your favorite toys are Paw Patrol, Disney Princess Little People, dress up clothes and stuffed animals. You are always carrying around stuffed animals and have to have several to snuggle while you're sleeping. You're partial to Piglet and show random partiality to a host of other animals and dolls.
You love to play with your sister and are still content for the most part to let her lead your play. She can be pretty manipulative and fake cry when she doesn't get her way, and you show definite signs of being a little peacemaker and will usually give in to her to stop her "crying" and make her happy.
It's hard for you to be the little one in our family, and you're always trying to keep up with and do everything your big siblings do. It's a tough balance of keeping you safe, giving your siblings the freedom to play without you, and letting go of some control and allowing you to do harder things so you're not left out.
Before all the Coronavirus mess, you and I both enjoyed a lot of quality one on one time together while the big kids were in school. You are the best little buddy always talking my ear off and wanting to help me do everything. I always try to treasure and soak up our special time together because I know how quickly you kiddos grow up.
You're an independent little girl refusing help until you've exhausted all options. You want to get dressed by yourself, brush your teeth by yourself, buckle your own car seat, walk alongside me instead of riding in a grocery cart or stroller. You're determined to everything you can without help. It can wear me out at times, but I'm also amazed at how well you can perform so many skills for your age because of your determination.
You're also pretty compliant. You tell us no pretty often, but when we're stern with you, you usually burst into tears and obey whatever we tell you. A stern warning or look melts you into a puddle of tears. It's precious and heartbreaking.
You love going to gymnastics (well you loved it until everything was canceled). You'd ask to go everyday and always sing the songs and chants you learned during class. You also had gotten over your separation anxiety going to preschool one day a week, and every time I picked you up, you'd say "I had so much fun"
You love to read books. You've been asking Daddy to put you to bed at night, and I have a feeling that it's because he's more lenient in the amount of books he'll read. You seem to have this magic way of sweet talking everyone into "just one more book" until we've read a dozen to you every night. Your favorites are Sandra Boynton books- Barnyard Dance, Snuggle Puppy, Are you a Cow, and Red Hat, Green Hat. You also love Llama Llama books, Bizzy Bear books, Tip Tip Dig Dig, Disney Princess books, and a million more. You have most of them memorized and will read them to yourself when we finally tell you that we're all done reading books.
You're an affectionate girl and have to have lots of kisses and hugs before any goodbyes. You'll cry if Daddy leaves without several hugs and kisses.
You sleep really well. You still take about a 90 minute nap each day, and we've pushed it back so you go down around 1:30 now that we don't have to work around school schedules. You go to sleep between 7:30 and 8:00 at night and sleep until 7:00 or 7:30 each morning.
You are outgoing like your sister and love to find new friends who are your size. You're never shy about going up to other kids and talking to them or asking them to play with you. You're also happy to talk with other adults, as long as you don't think they'll take you from Mom, ha!
You're such a fun, happy girl and we all love you so much. I can't imagine how boring our family would be without you!
