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.
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