Going Plural: April 2020

     We are doing some school at home, a lot of playing outside, experiments, planting ,and reading. We are home all the time. The school thing has been tough...it has been a challenge for the kids, because this is not normal. We typically do a lot of fun hands on activities where learning happens, any excuse to make a mess and get them interested! This is different though. School is school and home is home but now school has come into the home. We had to adjust to a new routine, things were changing all the time. We were getting constant updates from the school, but by the time they started uploading online lessons it was one too many adjustments. After some difficult mornings trying to do morning online lessons, the mood just hung over us and it wasn't worth it, so we went back to our routine.

     The kids get up and make their own breakfast(under my supervision). August likes to practice writing in a dry erase book that he has. Riley and I have been working on regrouping with subtraction. August likes to practice counting and asks for math problems because that is what Riley is doing. He is enjoying learning to sound out words also. I picked up Riley's cromebook from school and now she gets to talk to her teacher once a week, she loves it! August talks to all of his preschool teachers once a week and he loves to share things with them, the first week he read them, "Leonardo the Terrible Monster". It was so cute! They follow me around and want to help with everything. They already had chore charts and practice counting what they get paid. They are getting their hands dirty in the garden and enjoying listening to the Harry Potter books(we are currently on book 3, that is as far as I will go for this age) on the couch with me and that will have to be good enough. We do a lot more and swap out what we are focusing on but those are my favorites!

     I am an introvert and ordinarily I get a little bit of joy when things are cancelled because it means that I get to have a quiet weekend at home(sorry, kind of). This is a bit much for me though. As a weird person who likes to find some quiet, I miss taking the kids to the park, the library ,or seeing friends for a play date. I am sad for canceled family gatherings and look forward to when getting the weekly groceries is normal again. I am so grateful to have a house with a yard, a kind and loving spouse who still has his job ,and the warm sunny days that we have been having.

Now to post way too many pictures!

We got to see this at dinner one evening!

Riley asked for a dress for her barbie, she is Olympic barbie and only had a leotard. I made one to match a dress that I made for her last year.

Riley made this art after watching a video about ocean life

Riley: A turtle

Riley: A dolphin

Riley: The guitar she wants


August: Himself, Riley, Grandma Gehman and Mom

This is Punky taking over reading time with Riley!


August playing Traffic Jam

Easter Egg Hunt

Making art outside

Riley and I made some air dry clay together. She sculpted these herself and painted them once they were dry. She did an amazing job, doesn't the cat look like Punky!

Not a sculpture, the real Punky!

Riley Reading to August and Nora at breakfast

Freezing different items into ice cubes

Watching the ice cubes melt

August replanting some sunflowers that didn't come up

Watching the flowers draw the water and food coloring into the petals

always reading

Talking to her teacher and some other students for the first time!

Riley teaching August to read, "Leonardo the Terrible Monster".

Nora learned to pump her legs and can swing on her own!

The first campfire of 2020. The kids have been begging for one for a while. I made homemade graham crackers out of buckwheat and they taste amazing! I am getting better at gluten free living.