River House Getaway

The kids and I felt super lucky to leave the house to go to the river house!!! No one has been there, so it is definitey germ free. Lorel and her kids came too. We actually went to celebrate Isaac's birthday. We felt like it would be ok because we have all been social distancing for 2 weeks and aren't sick. We didn't decide for sure until the day before, and are really glad that we went.

The kids skateboarded by the airport down the street. V took them.

We picked up tons of sticks in the yard and burned them.

These kids were so excited to be together.

 The kids went to the island together.

Christian, Lorel, and I put together a 1000 piece puzzle quickly. 

We had good food together.

Craig came after work and we sang happy birthday to Isaac and celebrated him! 

We also had fun talking, jumping with the Chinese jump rope, running around, getting wet,  appreciating nature, and exploring. It was cool to see them and to get a change of scenery. 

I don't know if we will be able to do this again for a while, so I am glad that we decided to go for it. 

Saint Patrick's Day

V decorated again last night! Little signs and shamrocks on the windows!

We had lucky charms for breakfast! 

Grant barely escaped being pinched.  For school, I picked the read aloud. Leprechaun in late winter. We read about half.

We made these cool shamrock stained glass pictures.

These were inspired and taught by my friend, Brenna Conrad.

My friend, Nicole Shiffler, inspired me to let Katherine draw on my face with a colored pencil dipped in water. It worked.

For dinner we had our traditional corned beef and cabbage, potatoes, and carrots. Yum! 

We also had our lemon lime jello cake- another tradition.

It was a great day!

Welcome to Homeschool and a Strange New Reality

As we are waiting to hear from the schools about what we should do, we decided to make a plan for homeschooling, for now.

Victoria and Christian will have seminary again soon, have some assignments from teachers, and an ACT to study for. I am letting them do their own thing, as long as they do something productive and educational from 9:30- 12.

Katherine and Grant and I are meeting in the basement. 

Today we made a rough plan, a bucket list (ideas on paper in a real bucket), rules and responsibilities. The main outline would be a morning meeting, a read aloud, I work or play with one kid while the other does their stuff independently, something fun all together, then switch. I think that should work! Kids are so much more capable than we sometimes give them credit. I was pretty excited about a lot of the things that they want to learn about, write, create, and do! They decided that we don't really need rules because they already know them. They decided to have rotating responsibilites such as set up, clean up, book picker, etc. They agreed line leaders would be unnecessary. Haha!  They also thought it would be fun to earn stars and have special days. So far we are hoping to earn a riverhouse weekend, an Easter party, a campout, and a Mermaid/Pirate party! We will see! Stay tuned!

Today they took turns reading.

We all worked on puzzles and played games today. It wasn't too hard core. 

We also looked through things to do and made a "Bored Jar" Basically, Grant and I looked around the house and wrote ideas of things to do on popsicle sticks. (I bought a ton for Christian recently because he was going to build a model of the Parthenon. He changed his project though and built it virtually on Minecraft instead!!! It turned out to be amazing! He really worked hard and did an impressive job. Anyway, we have a bunch of popsicle sticks to use.) We came up with so many things to do. There is never a reason to be bored. My friend Courtney once taught me, "Only boring people are bored." She used to tell her kids that. I have copied her on several occasions. I need to tell myself this too. I very easily fall into facebook, instagram, and tv shows. I love technology and am thankful for it, but want to be more than a consumer or an addict. This is a good time for us all to remember that we are self agents. We can decide what to think, how to feel, and what we do! It is not this simple for me either, but when it comes down to it, it is true. 

I am also thankful that we have some good chore charts in use at our house. Having a system makes everything so much easier and then no one person has to do all the work. I am most thankful for meal helpers during this time!  Dishwashers, sweepers, counter-wipers, trash and recycling too! Thank goodness for these kids.

Tonight, after Danny got home, we watched Frozen 2. It was great! 

At home church

On March 12 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in order to be good global citizens,  temporarily suspended large group gatherings all over the world. 

https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/gatherings-worldwide-temporarily-suspended

This is so strange, but I am thankful to be a member of a church that has a plan for such a time as this. We have been following a home-centered, church-supported program for a while now and we can use the Come Follow Me Lessons for Individuals and Families now too. I am also thankful that Danny holds the priesthood and can administer the sacrament in our home. It was really peaceful and special to have him bless the bread and water and to have the boys pass it. Victoria came up with our music this week and Katherine read a scripture. We listened to Pres. Nelson's statement. It was hopeful and encouraging.

Danny posted something about having church at home recently  and a few friends asked about or were surprised that we still dressed up. We talked as a family and decided that we would still dress up for church to help ourselves to behave reverently and to set this time apart from the rest of the week.

Pi Day

Since we were home, we could have a really great Pi day celebration! I keep meaning to have people over for a pi day pie party and never have, so this will be our year!

V helped me plan and decorate last night.

She also made a schedule, which went alone with what we discussed.

 Not necessarily in order...

We had a game measuring circumferences and diameters of round household objects to see who could get closest to Pi. Christian was most precise in his measuring. 

We also listened to the 100 digits of pi song! They mock me, but  now know at least "3.14159..."

Listen!

Katherine and I listened to this book too. Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi .

We played a game with tenzi dice and wound up playing regular tenzi too. 

We also played a game to see how many words that we could come up with that started with pi. We came up with some good ones. Pilfer was probably my best, but would believer that I missed pig?

 Katherine and I made a peach pie using peaches that my friend, Kathryn, and I canned last year.

Unrelated, we found that Grant's first bean seed sprouted.

Pi pizzas for dinner.

Haha, I think she liked it more than she is letting on!

P

Take Control of what you can!

Today was a teacher workday for Danny. The kids and I stayed home.  I have heard about nearby school districts canceling school for a week or until spring break is over. I decided yesterday, that I would be keeping the kids home from school and everything else to keep them safe, even if our school division does not and even if Danny thinks it would be safe for them to still go. These kids have asthma and I can't imagine them getting sick and struggling to breathe.  I have seen them at the hospital for RSV, pnuemonia, and asthma attacks and I am not taking chances. Danny said that the teachers were going to assemble packets and plan for distance learning. The plan was that they would give them out at school on Monday. However, there was a change of plans. The governor, Ralph Northam, canceled school for 2 weeks. I knew it was coming, but didn't think it would be so soon. Again, I feel good about keeping our kids home. We had a good day today. Now, we need to decide what to do at home in the upcoming weeks.  I like to live intentionally and am coming up with a plan to make the most of our time together. 

Today, I was thankful again for being prepared with the things that we will need, a clean house, and beautiful spring flowers. This may seem silly to some people, but intentionally bringing beauty into my life and designing what I think will be best for my family, brings me great comfort and peace. 

Picking these flowers and bringing them in, reminds me that life is still beautiful and that we can still feel peace, even in uncertain times.

Corona Virus Worry

There has been a lot of talk about a new virus in the news the last couple weeks. I feel very blessed to have a good supply of food at home in the basement. On Monday, my normal grocery day, I bought enough milk, produce and other perishables to last for a couple weeks. I went again for a few more items on Thursday and people are definitely hearing about it and stocking up now. The stores are starting to be picked over. It is very unsettling to see in person. We are hearing about people hoarding hand sanitizer and toilet paper. It seems like bread, milk, eggs, flour, frozen veggies, and more are in short supply too. Again, I am very thankful that we shop ahead and that we have followed our church leaders' direction to be prepared with a three month supply.

V's Leadership Conference

Victoria had the opportunity to go to a really good leadership conference with 3 other Juniors.

I don't know all of the details, but I heard that it was really good and that all of their teams placed! Well done!

V, care to elaborate? I would be glad to let you add some details.

St. Patrick's YM/YW

I was so proud of my YW for planning and putting on this activity so independently. It was a lot of fun!

Lacrosse

 Lacrosse Season has started, and although Christian hasn't been able to practice much due to Clue rehearsals and his being sick, he was able to play in both scrimmages this week. It looks like it will be a good season and we look forward to watching him learn and grow in the sport.

I love watching my kids play their sports and do their activities and I like the way we support each other and cheer for each other!

Fun Zone