Spring Break

Neal had the week of Spring break off so he worked on a lot of projects he wanted to get done, such as finishing up some butcher block and installing it on the island. Goodbye icky tile and grout!  We did, however, get out to do some hiking with friends.

At the end of the week, with changes happening due to Covid19, he spent much of his time preparing to work from home, and stepping up in a huge way to help CERT be ready to reach out to the community as needed.  He created a short training for community members who wanted to help before they could complete registration, to keep them safe. CERT moved their website to one that could accommodate more hits and help organize information better for the public.

Not only that but the children and I were adjusting to the fact that they would be staying home at least another week until the school district could figure out what they wanted to do. This is also the school district that I get my sub jobs from and may not be working for if everything moves online.  This is not good for our Yellowstone plans which may not happen either depending on how things go. So we are just seeing were it goes one step at a time and watching the public panic with toilet paper hoarding.  The shelves are MUCH more bare but many items we need like milk and such are still available. Also adjusting to Neal being home to work every day too. It is really hard to sneak sugary treats with this crowd around me!

With the kids home, we are still keeping them to a schedule because we are mean parents and so they don't sit in front of the TV or YouTube all day. I like that we have things planned, though not in depth, because it lets me have fun with the kids. I used to plan a lot of hands-on learning and exploring when they were little but have done so less as they have more school, more homework woes, and run off to be with friends or have their nose in a book or to a screen. So though I miss having more of my day to do what I want, when I want, and not have anyone around, I really am happy for this time together.

We have had them participate in meal planning, grocery shopping, and preparing than before and they are not complaining. We have yummy lunches like healthy 7-layer dip, meatball subs, and breakfasts like French toast and fried eggs as they try their hand in the kitchen more and more. Our dishwasher gave up its will to actually wash so we are doing that as a family too. Which I kind of like because we're working together.

Another benefit is that the kids are seeing what Mom and Dad do during their day and hopefully are increasing their appreciation for what happens while they are in school to make our home and family function.

Other fun things we are doing are online learning expediences, gospel study, family walks/scooter/bike rides, at-home laser tag, reading, chores, and hands-on learning. Yesterday Sophie taught Rhys sumanigashi and we studied why the oil based ink and water don't mix. We saw two snakes on our walk/ride (so cute!).  We took apart a small dam that nature had created and watched what happened. We learned why redwoods can grow as tall as they do and we measured out on the street 379.1 feet to get a visual of how tall the tallest redwood recorded actually was.  We learned how emojis came to be and tomorrow will create a mad lib filling in the blanks with only emoji available words. Tomorrow we are going to the bank to have a banker tell my kids where their money is going and how it works as they make their first deposit. It's been good and not everyday is going to be great but it's not half bad either.

Plain bellied snake seen about 10 ft away from a even smaller rough earth snake on an outing.

Rhys adding energy and movement to his soon to be sumanigashi ink print

Disrupting a small dam on a dam

Measuring the height of the tallest recorded redwood tree--379.1ft. The yellow dot behind her is Rhys in what would be the canopy.

I know the school district is likely to put something in place but I hope it doesn't take away too much of our awesome.  Another great thing is that Texas cancelled their standardized test this year and all I can say is Woohoo! We are having ice cream tonight to celebrate that as a family.

Anyway, a bit disconnected but that's how life is right now.