April Fun- Quarantine Edition

When April started, I remember telling Matt- "I have to take this one date at a time because if I think about how our life is going to be like this for an entire month, I'm going to lose it." So, we took things one day at a time, we settled into a routine, we homeschooled, played, had movie nights and game nights, explored our neighborhood pond, went on a couple of adventures, and eventually April ended and it ended with some fun memories.

We had plenty of sibling rivalry, fighting, whining and fit throwing, but also my four kids have bonded in a way that would have never happened if their school, activities, and face to face time with friends hadn't been canceled. They've played all together more in the last month than probably any other time. I hope that even though our lives are hopefully starting to get back to normal that their special relationships will remain strengthened.

Here's a look into our "safer at home" April.

Nathan finally finished this Lego football helmet he's had for a couple of years.

The kids built a fort and tried to sleep in it together- that didn't quite work out though.

On Fridays, we break from our normal homeschool routine and usually just do a fun STEM project. One Friday we made snack structures.

Before school canceled Nathan and Elisabeth had reading buddies on Fridays and they were each others' buddies, so I've tried to continue that. Samuel and Katherine pair up for reading buddies too.

I asked the kids if there was anything fun they wanted to learn to cook or bake during the extra time at home. Samuel requested a cherry pie, so we spent a Saturday together baking. Pies have never been my thing, but it turned out okay.

These girls have been playing together so much lately. They usually play in the mornings while the boys are doing their school stuff. They usually always play some version of school and sleep over. Here they are "sleeping" at their sleepover.

They had a rainbow day and dressed in as many colors as they could.

There have been a few warm days where they could play in the water. Everyone can't wait for our pool to open!

We still try to have popsicles almost everyday unless the weather isn't warm enough.

Samuel challenged himself to stack these blocks. He worked for a long time, but finally managed to get them to stay long enough for a picture.

One morning he asked for green eggs for breakfast, and I thought "why not?" I've been thinking that thought a lot during this time. It's been nice to be able to say "yes" to their crazy requests because we have plenty of time.

Movie nights and movie afternoons have been a fun way to spend our time too. I even convinced the kids to watch "The Sound of Music" one afternoon. Nathan was the only one to stick it out through the end of the movie, but the others liked the parts they did watch.

One Sunday morning we drove over to Natural Falls State park for some hiking and a picnic. We ended up having a really fun day. The kids were so impressed with the waterfalls. They were a little hangry and one had to go to the bathroom during our first hike, but we tried again after lunch and had a much more pleasant hike, ha!

The kids were so proud that they walked across this log in the middle of the creek.

Nathan drew a sweet message with chalk in our driveway. The rain washed it away almost immediately, but I was able to get a quick picture. He wrote, "We will all get through this together"

We've had plenty of concerts and shows performed in our house.

One thing I've enjoyed about all the extra free time is the creativity of the kids. They randomly started playing outside one day and asked for some water and food coloring and a few other random supplies and started making "solutions" with things they found in the backyard. They each had their own "offices" and labeled their cups and experiments and played for HOURS outside all together. That's one of my favorite things to see in them- playing together, being creative, and having so much fun!

Samuel drew some chalk art too. He drew a picture of Katherine. I was so impressed with the flowers on the skirt, and I especially loved that he drew a bow in her hair.

When I asked the kids about a something they'd like to cook or bake, Elisabeth said she wanted to make a chocolate layer cake.

She chose the frosting colors, and I let go of control and let her do whatever she wanted.

Our house looks like this a lot of the time. Samuel's cruising through all his books and earning new ones by earning points on Khan Academy.

For one of our other STEM projects the kids made paper fliers and tried to get them to float in the air as long as possible with a hair dryer.

Elisabeth got to celebrate her friend Audrey's birthday at the end of the month. Her friend mainly had a drive by/zoom party, but Elisabeth was invited to celebrate in person, and she was so excited to finally get to see and play with a friend. It was so hard for her to leave after the party.

Her teachers sent her a picture of them in the mail to take on all her adventures.

Matt taught the boys to mow for the first time. He's been waiting for that moment since they were born, ha!

For our last Friday in April we made lava lamps with water, oil, and alka seltzer tablets. It was a fun project even though Katherine dropped and shattered hers and glass and oil ended up all over my kitchen floor.

We're heading into May and hopefully toward the end of our social distancing/quarantine. May is usually my favorite month of the year. It will be different this year- rescheduled vacation plans, no end of school programs or activities, but we're still hoping to ease back into some normalcy. The kids have start dates to resume their activities, our pool is opening soon, Nathan's birthday is this month, Matt and I will celebrate 14 years of marriage, and we have a couple of fun surprises planned for the month ahead.