Week 9- All about that backyard

This week was full of outside time again...playing and projects!

Project 1: Allie and I painted a couple of shelves...Yes, I let her do the sides of this little nightstand in our room.  I left her painting and went to pull weeds.  She laid it on a bit thick so the result was...eh...but it was good for her to try and it's hers, so we'll take it!

The one I did for Julia turned out really nice and she was so excited to have something to put her plants on by her window.

The middle kids continued to take a daily bike ride, often to the creek, after school every day.  Above, Gray is getting creative and playing frisbee across the creek.  His other activities include retrieving tires from the creek, and accepting bet $ from friends for doing things like jumping in the creek off the above pipe, letting someone push him off into the creek, hopping across the pipe on one foot, etc.

We did a talent show one night.  Some of the talents were more entertaining than others.  The first two pics show Gray's talents- identifying jellybean flavors (the siblings were a little disgruntled with this "talent", feeling it was a little self-serving) and hugging.  Julia did some gymnastics.  Joshua did jumping and touching the ceiling.  Allie did a Frozen "formance" and I did a Zumba dance, which they politely clapped for when I cued them to at the end.  

Julia got to join the outdoor playdates this week and the girls borrowed our zumba jingly skirts for dance performing and Aladdin pretending.

We spent Mother's Day at Matt's parents' house at their request.  I think they are done social distancing when it comes to family.  It was so nice to have a taste of "normal life" again.  

Boys practiced for the big concrete pour, by wheeling Pa around in the new wheelbarrow.

Matt had to go to work, but the kids and I stayed till bedtime and enjoyed badminton and conversation.

With all of us home together so much, we have moments of insanity where the kids are just crazy.  Exhibit A above.  That's Julia's hula skirt.  Upon discovery of the stealing of the skirt, a chase scene unfolded between Joshua and Julia.  Always welcome in your home at the end of a long day.  ;)

Next week marks my last week at BCP.  I will have our last two zoom meetings and on Monday some of my students will stop by the school and get an end of the year gift.  I made a bunch of playdoh this week while processing the end of this chapter for me.

As I've said many times, so thankful for our neighborhood for times like this...on a walk with a friend and run into Gray and friends playing frisbee.  So much community for us here making quarantine not so bad.

The big thing this week for the girls was improving/creating this fort/cafe/home on the left side of our backyard.  There is a kitchen, eating area, chairs to relax in, dishes, meals, sometimes rose petals on the well-swept bath, and welcoming hand sanitizer scented bird bath with floating flowers.  They have worked and played for hours here, served mud/leaf meals, done schoolwork, and eaten their breakfast.

Allie's big job was "sprinkler".  She would scrape two pieces of wood together and make wood shavings for use as various food ingredients.  Sometimes under pressure of big sister shouting orders at her.

Meanwhile on the other side, we continued to make preparations for the patio pouring.

 Finally the day game for the concrete....

There was wheelbarrow practicing and dirt tamping.

There was waiting for the concrete truck and finding out he would be an hour late.

There was receiving instructions and chatting about this and that.  (Good to spend some time with our nephews!)

Then there was pouring, using lots of muscles and patience, and long hours of leveling.

So much leveling.

It took us so long to finish the patio that we sent home some of our help and eventually sent the kids in to find their own dinner.  We learned a lot--namely that you should work on the concrete finish while it's still really wet.  Thankfully, we can still make a few improvements if we had some repair stuff and even more thankfully, we are okay with imperfections around here.  Can't wait to beautify it with plants and furniture and then use it!  Huge thanks to all our family that helped!!

Meanwhile, little super hero Allie amused herself in the fort.

Finished...well, finished for this day at least.

Then we ate and relaxed.  Allie got her favorite seat in the house, Daddy's lap.  We have been enjoying John Krasinki's Some Good News as a family these days.  And also finished The Chosen, which was so good.  

Week 8: Digging, Critters, and a Chickfila Rendevous

It's been a good week.  We've had some fun, we've worked hard, and we've been together a lot.  The highlights...

Saturday night we did Allie's long-anticipated sleepover.  We all ate dinner together, then Gray divvied up candy and popcorn and we split up the boys and girls.  The girls and I watched some 2014 Olympic figure skating and then Aladdin, did our nails, and went to bed in their room.  Allie thought it was so fun to sleep on a mattress on her floor while I slept in her bed.  The boys did darts, football, and video games.  They attempted to sleep outside in hammocks/on the trampoline, but Matt couldn't get to sleep and woke the boys in the night to come back inside.  The next morning Gray was up early asking why he wasn't still in the hammock!

Sunday we begin the great patio project.  We had all the kids help.  Allie was mainly a fetcher.  Julia did a great job shoveling but her working to asking complaining questions ratio was not too good.  Gray worked hard, his favorite part being chopping up roots with the pickaxe. We let him and Julia leave in the middle to ride bikes with their friends and they chose to stop early and make some food for dinner instead of continue to work.  Matt, Joshua, and I worked from right after church till evening and were pretty worn out...

After our hard work Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, we were left with a somewhat level, framed area that will be ready for concrete pouring Friday!!

This has been a week of critters...

Gray found some people he knew from frisbee in the neighborhood and used their net to catch a fish.  He immediately decided to use his money to buy a "casting net."

Allie has loved making worms and slugs her pet.  This is Ava in a leaf sleeping bag, whom she believes is still alive and just sleeping. Everyone else thinks she's long gone.

On a similar path were these bazillion tadpoles Julia caught at the creek and brought home.  They were dead by morning.

This week, catching crayfish has been popular with the middle two and friends.  

On this day, Allie was thrilled to be included.  She felt so big that I dropped her off with the big kids and walked while she played.  They had so much fun, I ended up walking 2 1/2 hours.  Every time I checked in, they were very busy and happy.  The sweet boys called me into the creek to help move a rock one time and it was cold!  By the end, Allie had finally had enough and was freezing, having gotten down to her bathing suit.  Julia, who remains in pants, jacket, backpack, and helmet the entire time, was kind enough to take care of her.

Matt and I took the oldest and youngest down to the creek another day.  Joshua spent every day there  for a time when he was in 5th and I think he wanted to relive it a little.  He didn't catch anything but we did see a little snake poking out its head!

And the last of the critters-  Addelyn the newt (or mudpuppy?).  

Making a comeback this week was the GeoSafari...that's right, Aunt Cheryl, it's still alive, kicking, and delighting another generation of kids.  This was the envy of my heart as a kid visiting my cousins:)  Allie can do some of the non-reading activities, it's perfect learning for Julia, and the boys like racing on some of the harder cards.

Oh Allie.  Boy does she love always having someone to give her attention.  Here Joshua graciously agreed to read her a book I have read too many times and she was quite amused with his voices.  

We finally found a way to get toilet paper.  The grandparents have found some for us, but we hadn't been able to buy any ourselves.  Then Matt found it on Walmart.com, but needed to order something else from free shipping...hence the huge bag of jelly beans above.  I made a taste-guessing test for the family and they really had fun with that.  

On Friday, we finally got to see my parents.  It had been since Christmas!  We got some Chickfila and ate in the parking lot.  So good to be together for a short time, though what is going on with this cold weather?!

These chilly girls had their own socially distanced snack break after a chilly day on the creek.  

This week, we have more of the same, with a couple of exception, like an outside Mother's Day dinner with Matt's parents and the pouring of the patio.  Looks like it's going to be hot so I'm predicting a lot more creek time but hopefully less critters accumulating in plastic dishes on our deck!!

Week 7- Routines...and what's working for us these days

After 7 weeks of this "extended break", we're in a pretty normal routine.  Usually the girls get up while I'm teaching VIPKID and they get their breakfast.  Julia starts working on her school work, which is slow and steady.  After VIPKID, I wake the boys and everyone reads their Bible for a little bit before starting the rest of the day.  Usually 2-4 of us have a zoom meeting and the rest of the morning is spent finishing schoolwork and exercising.  Everyone chooses different locations for working.

In the afternoon, the middle two almost always bike ride with a friend or two.  Joshua sometimes does something with a friend.  Allie either naps or hangs out with me while I pull weeds.  A few times a week I go to culdesac zumba.

This week we haven't done many "enrichments" because their days are pretty full.  After dinner there is more playing, usually outside, and the boys and I usually watch The Office before bed, with Matt if he's home.

So that's basically how life has continued.  Some out of the ordinary things this week:
-my CC # was stolen, but thankfully the charges didn't go through
-both the boys' laptops quit working so we'll have to exchange them next week
-Matt is tentatively planning to pour a concrete patio in the back so we are doing some thinking about those logistics
-three of Joshua's friends have the same birthday so he dropped off gifts to each one and joined a quick group, socially distanced birthday celebration in the field

-my Bible Study friends had our first in person Tuesday night meeting...socially distanced, outside of course
-I planted a few more flowers, which I just love to do
-the boys had their first lacrosse zoom with their Stanford coach
-it was Mimi's birthday so we did facetimes with her and made a video with everyone's help
-I visited a little "meat market" in Hillsborough that I've always wanted to try and it was a really cool little grocery store
-Allie got a special delivery- hand me down clothes from a friend at preschool.  She was thrilled to see some shirts she recognized that apparently she'd been a little envious of.  :)

Some things that we are loving these days:
-getting art supplies in the mail...this week we got tempera paint, paint sticks, and "paint by sticker" books
-picking up take out food for dinner...this week we got shrimp and grits from the Wooden Nickel
-the weather!!  Almost every day is so beautiful.
-The Chosen... We are loving this show about Jesus' life with the disciples.  It's not cheesy and it is very interesting.
-bikes...One of the few ways to be social these days.  Julia is getting so comfortable that she's trying out some tricks (legs on her handlebars...gasp) and even Allie has gotten really good on her little balance bike
-making cds...Gray loves this the most and his choices are very interesting.  Mostly remixes from theme songs or Weird Al.
-family outdoor games...this week we've done boochie ball and a lacrosse drill- see how many catches you can make off the rebounder in a minute

-getting the kids to clean up dinner...well the kids don't love this, but we've been getting much more serious about just leaving the kitchen after dinner and letting them handle the rest
-youtube exercise...Allie and I love finding new exercise videos to keep us moving.  She usually chooses yoga and I usually choose pilates.

Allie trying to get Raven to sit in her lap and do mindfulness exercises like her video

Week 6- So this is it, huh?

Yesterday we got the expected, but still impactful, news that schools would not meet in person the rest of the school year.  I'm not sure how to sort out my feelings about this.  I was telling a friend that I have seen many in my same situation (i.e. not really affected by the pandemic financially, haven't gotten sick or had anyone close to them get sick, can handle the kids at home ok) talk about this time being "traumatic".  I don't feel that.  I haven't really been afraid during this time and haven't felt like my world is caving in.  I feel like we have it pretty easy and though this isn't sustainable for many reasons, my family is relatively happy, healthy, and safe.  We've had some fun family time together.  We've had less stress.  We've exercised more and slept more.  Allie is getting tired of not seeing any friends, but thanks to our wonderful neighborhood, the rest of us have been able to have limited social times outside.  I miss my preschool kids and this isn't the way I thought my last year at BCP would end (though they haven't called the school year off yet).  We didn't even know the last day I was there that it would be the last day, as it was the Wednesday before they suddenly called for an extended break.  There have definitely been some disappointments, but most of them we've dealt with early on.  There may be more to come with summer plans canceled, but for now, I think I'm mostly sad for other people.  Many of my friends have kids who are finishing up their last year at our beloved elementary school and they do some really fun events to close out 5th grade.  They are missing the big 2 night field trip, the graduation ceremony, the 5th grade party...stuff they have looked forward to since they were little and remember for years to come.  Well this will certainly be a memorable school year.

I think I also feel relieved.  This year I have done okay managing the 3 jobs and kids' schooling and activities and housework and all.  I can definitely do it.  But I can breathe so much more in our current situation.  I was a little worried about being thrown back into the chaos again, though I know it will get crazy whenever we do go back (and add high school into the mix!).  Also I had thought I'd have such a short summer with the kids this year because of the new job.  Now I've gotten to have this time to be with them, do things like clean windows and clean out closets that I would normally do in summer, so I will feel more ready when the time comes to start again.

As for my kids, Joshua is most disappointed about not going back.  He hasn't been as social since we've been home and he says he is bored, though he's usually busy and does schoolwork most of the day.  Gray doesn't seem to care a bit.  Julia got a big smile when I told her the news.  I think she feels very capable with the current school situation.  She has some choice about what to do, she can lay on her bed and work, it's review so she isn't struggle, she can manage her own time, and she can work in a space where there are no distractions.  She does miss her friends and teacher, but overall she's living it up.  Regardless of our feelings, this is what we're doing.  Summer is still a big question mark.  I have signed my contract for the new job that should start end of July, but my start date is conditional on when the school meets in person and all that is so up in the air right now.  So I guess we just readjust our thinking a bit and get used to the idea of 6 or 7 more weeks of quarantine life.  And for us, it's really not a bad life.  Here's what we've been up to this week:

Julia finished Harry Potter #4 and we all watched the movie.  The kids have been waiting to watch it since before Allie came home.  :)

Togetherness.  No shortness of that with these two.

We have a new weightlifter!  Some days there are 4 of us using the garage gym throughout the day.

Still doing zumba and loving it!  This day our instructor brought out jingly skirts for us.  So fun!  Julia and her friend were on a bike ride and watched.  Her verdict was that the skirts were really cool and the dancing was weird.  

Our enrichment this night was a photo scavenger hunt.  Matt and I partnered up and had a nice walk.

We paired the middle two to force them to work through some of their problems.  They ran into some roadblocks just a few couple minutes in.  :/  This pic is after they recovered from a huge fight in the yard and were forced to carry on.  See how much fun they were having?  But they did it.  They made it through and back home.  Which was definitely up in the air at many points in the evening.

We had to have at least part of one team member in every picture.  Most of Gray/Julia's looked like this.  Can't you see his finger?

But these two had much more fun as partners.  We spotted them by the creek, Joshua jogging in order to win, and Allie huffing along behind him calling out a few concerns to us about not being able to keep up.  So Joshua grabbed her and carried her along.  They won by far.

Allie can sound out lots of words now and we have "school" a few times a week.  The glasses are essential, clearly.  

We met new friends in the neighborhood and Julia loved her social distancing bike ride.  

Matt and I had another date night.  We picked up some dinner and ate at the park.  And of course did lots of riding in his prized possession.  I think this was the part of our date where he had to speed up to 60 and slow completely down 10 times in a row to warm up some new brake part...or something like that. ;)

Joshua loves using Pa's bb gun in the yard to scare off squirrels.  Those boogers have eaten one of the wheels on our grill!

We had a pizza and movie night and watched the animated Ferdinand, which was so cute!  Allie was giving lots of snuggles and I was just watching her and holding her little hand when I noticed Matt was holding her foot.  She's precious.

We did a paper star enrichment the other day.  Most of us did an easier star but Gray got motivated to make a really complicated one.  Proud of him for pushing through his frustration and completing it!

Allie made this "home" for her animals after being inspired by her stuffed animal yoga.  She loves doing yoga every day and calls the British woman that leads the videos her "workout teacher".

Today Julia and Allie were playing hospital.  Allie was the sullen patient.  

Julia enjoyed getting to release one of the Baker kids' butterflies this week.