Here we are, week 7 of this thing. Do I really think it’ll end on May 26? No. Should it? No. Too many people are still acting stupidly, selfishly, and irresponsibly for this to even begin to be over. No infection or death rates have leveled off, erego, I really don’t see an end in sight. I can foresee some restrictions lifting sometime this summer, although we found out yesterday that a lot of our summer rec department programs are already cancelled for this year. I REALLY hope the kids get to go back to school in the fall, but that won’t be the end of it. Will they have to go to school wearing masks? Will the teachers all have to wear masks? For how long? It’s just mind-boggling to think that this may be a permanent new reality, not just a temporary one.
The kids have been going nowhere during all of this, so getting in the car seems oddly foreign. I took the girls in for their monthly lice checks this past weekend, and I only discovered how stir crazy they had gotten once we got in the car and their bizarre conversations began. You’d think they’d never seen the light of day. The only reason I took them is because I know lice was going around right when school shut down, and our good friends just had it. We actually had their last checks on that very first Friday when school closed and they were clear, but I will be forever paranoid about it now that they’ve had it once. Thankfully they were both still clear, though, so now we won’t have to go back until school starts up again someday.
I took Morrison with me to pick up lunch on Monday for his Star Student day, and he also said how weird it felt being in the car since it’d been so long. All 3 of them wore masks, too, when we went out, which they also thought was so strange. I couldn’t agree more, but I’ll do whatever is necessary to keep them safe. Let’s hope we all stay as healthy as we’ve been so far. I can’t fathom losing anyone to this.
So. Here is the ever-growing recap for those just joining us:
It’s Morrison’s Star Student day! He made a smiley face with his pancakes for a good breakfast to start the day, then he couldn’t wait for their online class meeting to get to answer his classmates’ questions. He got to talk to quite a few friends, including all the teachers, and I think it was almost more fun and special because we got to do it all at home together than when we go to the classroom for it. Then he chose Qdoba for his “restaurant” lunch, and that was a hit all around. He got to play outside, watch Ryan play Cuphead, play Temple Run on his tablet, and generally do everything fun that he wanted all day. I hope it was as special for him as possible. He seemed very happy and even told me he loved me out of the blue at lunch. Man, do I love that kid!
I got a new sewing pattern done last night – a makeup bag with vinyl coating on the lining and exterior bottom. I just used an iron-on vinyl to coat my chosen fabrics, which was really easy, but turning it out with the vinyl coating made it look a little more crinkly than I was envisioning. Oh well, it’s still fully functional, and I love the new zipper I got for it. I’ll keep trying, because it could be awesome if I do it just right.
Tonight I made another one of the 2-zipper pouches, and it’s my best and favorite one yet. Perfect timing, because it’s finally one for me! 😉
Then and now – awww!
He made his own placemat and traced the settings, napkin, and everything!
More propagating…
April 28, 2020
April 29, 2020
Today was something special with the boys, so just before lunch I blew up a new choo-choo train ball pit Ryan got the other day. All 5 absolutely loved it, of course, and they started playing “rain” with the balls on top of the pit. It was great! Then, by the end of the day after naps, the boys couldn’t handle it anymore without a particular level of crazy, so Ryan deflated it. Ah well, fun while it lasted. Poor Morrison has been so stir crazy without being able to play outside with all the rainy weather we’re having, and he keeps getting in trouble for not listening. I feel horrible and try to be as gentle as possible because I know he’s more emotional right now than the girls, but man oh man.
Another new 2-zipper pouch tonight. I love these new fabrics I’ve gotten!
April 30, 2020
Della pulled out her own tooth first thing this morning! She was in the bathroom brushing her teeth when I woke up, and I thought what in the world? Here she had just yanked out #12!
I actually sewed another pouch during the twins’ nap this afternoon. I told the big 3 I just needed that chunk of time to be quiet and by myself so I could get this 1 thing done, so they weren’t allowed to talk to me or ask me anything, ha! Fortunately the sun finally came out during that time, so they were all outside for the rest of the day. Ryan even took all 5 on a nice long walk before dinner.
Norwex party with friends on Zoom tonight – fun!
May 1, 2020
May – my favorite month! The sun was out again today so I got in a run, and this weekend is supposed to be almost 70. It’s actually starting to feel like spring again.
Morrison filled a little bear backpack he made with a bunch of random stuff right before lunch and declared he was going to Colorado. Of course Avit wanted to go, too.
As we found out last Thursday, we will not be going back to school for the remainder of this school year, and our safer at home order has been extended until May 26. I was hopeful that maybe we’d get those first 2 weeks of June in to get to see teachers again, clean out the kids’ supplies that they had to leave behind, and do all the fun end-of-year things – Spring Sing, school campout day, field trips, giving our garden peonies to the teachers like we always do, that last walk to school on the final day and pictures with everyone, etc. It’s just so completely bizarre how this school year is ending. There’s no closure whatsoever.
I feel especially bad for those students who are in an ending year at a school, but, to be perfectly honest, I feel so sad for Morrison. K4 is just the happiest, most fun preparatory grade possible, and they just got robbed of a third of it getting to be with their teachers and classmates. I’m sorry, but in absolutely no other grade will these kids get as many hugs and blatant, outright encouragement and love as they do in K4. Yes, every teacher at Cumberland that we’ve experienced so far has genuinely loved her and his students, but K4 is something special. And his teacher combo this year hands down cannot be beat. Period. So it truly breaks my heart that he won’t get to see them again in person as their K4 student. I’m just so happy that I picked him up in line every morning when he wanted to be held while waiting for the teachers to come down those stairs and out the doors to greet the classes. Every day I thought oh come on, again?? But every day I then instantly thought you know what, this will end one of these days, and who knows if today is that day. Little did I know that day was going to come way earlier than I could have ever expected. So at least I got those little moments of K4 time in with him while I could. And I wanted to be the helper in his room one more time, but thankfully I was able to be in there once earlier in the year. These little things are what I cherish most.
So. Here we go into week 2 of VLT. The kids are all still really enjoying it, but I know Morrison especially gets bored easily. He loves all the lessons and videos and activities they get each day, but once he’s done with everything and his sisters are still sitting at the table working on their assignments for a couple more hours, his little body gets antsy. I do let him go outside and play whenever he wants when that happens, but of course he adores his big sisters and always wants to play with them. He is very good, though, about going outside and playing with the twins. And so far they’ve all done a great job making sure those 2 stay only in the backyards. I take no chances letting any of them play out front, because they still aren’t that attentive about getting out of people’s way when they pass by on the sidewalk.
I asked the big 3 last night how they felt about not being able to go back to school and having to be home all the time. They said it wasn’t that bad and they like doing school online, but Della said she does miss seeing everyone. I asked if there was anything they felt was bad about all of this, and they said no, it’s fine for them. Morrison of course said he has a bad thing, he gets bored, but see above. I’m making a very conscious effort to ensure they know it’s completely ok and normal to feel very weird and mixed up and even sad about this whole situation. It’s something none of us have ever had to deal with, and I can only imagine what it’s like being a kid right now: All of a sudden your teachers tell you you won’t be coming back to school for a little while, which probably feels like an exciting surprise vacation break, then after a certain point you get bored because you can’t go see your friends or play with anyone outside but your siblings (at least these kids have plenty of those!), it’s hard to understand that you can’t just go see and hug family like you always do, we can’t just go places anymore, you kind of get used to me giving you mini-lessons at home on topics that are new and different from what you usually do at school, then suddenly you have to sit at a computer all morning and do real school lessons but at home. Shit. I’d get antsy and all mixed up, too. So I feel very strongly that I need to keep an eye on their emotions more than anything right now. They really are doing an excellent job adapting through all this with basically no push-back at all, so I make sure to tell them how proud we are of them and how great they’re doing.
This past Sunday almost all the teachers put on a parade and drove up and down every street in the Cumberland neighborhoods with their horns honking and cars decorated with signs for all the students, which was simply the most amazing, wonderful, heartwarming thing right now. We and they definitely needed it, as brief as that face time was. I cried as every single car went by, whether we knew that particular teacher or not! I had to hold Nat in one arm because he decided that then was a good time to become a screming terror, but I waved as mightily as I could with the other one. But due to that and my tears, this was the only picture I got. I really hope they do it again, because I’ll make sure we have some good signs and decorations out next time. The kids didn’t want to make signs or wave their pom-poms for some reason.
And a couple more pictures from this weekend, just because – a block “Welcome Spring” decorating contest and homemade pretzels.
Ok. After all that, here’s the weekly recap for any newcomers:
Absolutely gorgeous weather today, so they all got out to play after their online class meetings
All they want to do in their free time right now is play games and color on their tablets, so after doing such a good job with this VLT, I let them. I know they deserve and kind of need the brainless downtime. As such, many days end looking like the last picture of them here.
Remember those old hobbies I mentioned that I was trying to pick up again last week? I actually made time to get to them this past weekend! I had already tickled the ivories when my sheet music arrived last week, then I finally got the courage to bust out my sewing machine again. Yes, sewing. Doesn’t sound like me, does it? Believe it or not, I can actually make some pretty cool stuff. I kind of swore it off after the last project I made, which was just over 5 years ago, but it was a hard, time-consuming beast. All the things I’m doing now are little projects that I used to love making and are relatively quick to pull together. The little bag with 2 zippers is a pattern that I learned almost 6 years ago and loved – when I was making these back then, I made one for pretty much everyone but myself and always wanted one, so that’s one big reason why I’m trying to get back into it. I also made myself a little sewing cart this time that is infinitely handier than having to dig into the front closet every time I want to get to the machine, so that simple little change makes a world of difference in my motivation level. The little bags with 1 zipper are from another pattern I fould all those years ago and just never got to, so here it comes! I’ve found a ton of fabric that I love, so I’m stockpiling it in the hopes that I can make a bunch of these little things and enjoy it again. I have a new pattern I found, too, that I’m anxious to try. We’ll see how that one turns out.
April 21, 2020
We had 5 yards of topsoil delivered today to level out the back yard and replant all the grass, and the whole time it was dumping out the dirt, the kids were watching from their bedroom window chanting, “We want poop! We want poop!” They said it looked like the truck was pooping. Because of course they did.
I enjoyed a baby napping on me for the first time in a very long time, one of my absolute favorite things as a mother. Will it be the last time?
Della got both of the twins ready for bed tonight by herself, teeth brushing, diaper changing, and all. Wahoo!! Freedom!
April 22, 2020
Happy Earth Day! We were going to do our annual walk this afternoon to pick up trash, but the weather was garbage and I knew I had to work outside while the babies napped, so we’ll do it this weekend instead.
Backyard reno got underway, and I cannot wait until we have a regular, grass-covered yard again. I’ve been planning out my cocktail seating area for a couple summers now. I got done what you see in these pictures, then Ryan worked a bunch more after me – added more dirt to that back area, dug out a bunch of small roots still left from when we took down the tree last summer, leveled around the tree area, wheeled in more dirt for the tree area. Hopefully we’ll actually get that mound fully moved into the yard before the weekend.
Della baked us a delicious salted caramel lava cake for dessert tonight. I was going to do it because it’s the easiest thing possible – one of those cakes in a bag where all you do is pour it into the pan – but she loves to bake, so I said have at it! It was delicious, and she was proud.
I got another pouch sewed tonight, this time for Lana. I got this bundle of really cute fabrics called “Under the Canopy,” which is full of fun little jungle animals and bright designs, and I immediately thought of her with the sloths. And of course she picked snakes and worms for the lining fabric. 😀
April 23, 2020
Today was supposed to be Lana’s class field trip to a nature preserve that I was actually going to get to chaperone. And last Friday was supposed to be Della’s big 4th grade–wide all-day field trip to Madison that I was also going to be lucky enough to chaperone, which we obviously missed, too. These are the things I miss most about not having physical school anymore this year. All the fun, in-person things to which nothing else can compare.
Morrison gets to be Star Student next week! Tomorrow we’re making a little video of him to submit to his teacher, who will send it out to the class to watch over the weekend, then he gets to present during their class meeting on Monday and answer any questions his classmates have for him. It won’t be anything like his sisters’ Star Student days where they took in decorated posters and grandmas and aunts got to come and we went out to a fun lunch afterward, but we’ll still make it as special as possible for him. I came up with a fun way to present his poster stuff since we don’t have any posterboard, and he gets to request whatever lunch he wants on Monday that we can get via curbside pickup. I think it’s going to be Qdoba – yum!
We had another reading session today with Auntie Mer and cousins, and their costumes did not disappoint yet again! So of course these knuckleheads had to dig up their best response – yes, that is underwear on their heads. I read a book back this time, and all I could come up with was Ryan’s double-brat foam hat. Dressing up in costume is not my forte, ha!
The weather was cold and rainy today so we didn’t get any more dirt spread, but the kids did have a little outdoor P.E. time – tamping down what we’ve already laid. The big 3 went out and just walked around the back yard to flatten out the dirt, so Ryan and I don’t have to tamp it before laying more. Nothing like free child labor.
Today I made Della’s little zipper pouch. She loved it!
April 24, 2020
Morrison was bouncing-off-the-walls excited to do his Star Student video all day today, but Ryan had a call during the twins’ nap this afternoon so we had to wait all day until after they went to bed tonight and were fully asleep. But he did so great!! I cut out all the stars this morning, and the girls helped him decorate them and write all the intro words. Since we don’t have any posterboard, he taped all the stars on the dining room wall under all of our family pictures, so he could show all the members of our family and his stars with favorites, personal info, etc., all in one spot. It actually worked out great, and he had so much fun!! I’m so thankful he still gets to have this special piece of K4 even when we’re not at school.
I finished spreading the dirt in the back yard and stomped it all down. Yes, it looks like a yard of just dirt right now, but it’s finally level! The finished product of this project will be so wonderful.
So. We have officially been shut down/quarantining/social distancing for a full month now, and this is our first week of Virtual Learning Time (VLT) through our school district. It has been over 2 weeks since I have been in a store (although I did go through the Taco Bell drive-thru this past weekend, hopefully that minimal contact did no harm), and we’re all still so far so good with no COVID-19 symptoms.
Since the big 3 now have lessons given to them directly by their teachers each weekday morning, I’m off the hook for lesson planning! It also means I won’t have so much to list out each day, but I’ll still update here with notes and pictures and stuff, just to keep track of this time.
I know it’s only day 2 of VLT, but it’s going great for us so far. Yes, it’s difficult to keep the twins out of our hair while I’m trying to help all 3 at the table command center all morning, each on their own computer with their own set of lessons and own amount of time it takes to finish them all, but I’m doing it. I’m not only being especially mindful to be more patient with the kids but also with myself. This is so different than regular life for all of us, I just have to keep reminding myself that they all have weird feelings about this, too, that they can’t always communicate. That’s my job – to realize that, figure it out, and help them through, without it seeming too different than any other day. Smooth waters.
Ryan is obviously still working from home, but even he’s recognized that we all have to shift a little with VLT starting. He can’t be constantly yelling across the house for me to keep them all quiet anymore, and I’ve noticed these past 2 days that he’s actually going in the bedrooms for his calls, where it’s quieter. And magically, he seems much less crabby. He was even extraordinarily helpful yesterday when they all had their weekly in-person class meetings on their learning platforms (D and M at the same time to boot), helping keep the twins away from the ones who were meeting and helping L with her computer while I got a chance to ride the bike downstairs during naps.
Like I said, I know this process is in its infancy here, but I’m determined to keep steering us this well. I know all the kids were happy to see and talk to their teachers and friends yesterday, and my heart swelled to watch their excitement during the video sessions. Morrison especially loves making videos on his learning platform, sending them to his teachers, and always telling them how much he loves them. And they always respond, which makes them all feel so special.
I’ll throw in a couple pictures from Easter, since it technically started this week off, and I actually got a picture of all 5 Goonies smiling! It must’ve been a cosmic miracle, since the twins’ behavior quickly deteriorated from there. 😀 I was able to watch the Andrea Bocelli concert live streamed from the empty Duomo in Milan, though, which was spectacular and brought me to tears.
One of Lana’s happiness rocks she created and left for someone to find.Another Lana specialty
Here are the links to the past 4 weeks if you’d like to recap:
Every morning will now start with lessons for the day given to the kids by their teachers in their respective online learning platforms. They include social studies, reading, science, writing, math, P.E., art, music, guidance, and maybe Spanish. They get videos with mini-lessons from their teachers, other videos to watch, audio books to follow along with, then numerous activities to complete that correspond to each lesson. One really nice thing is that the teachers from both the girls’ grades are collaborating with all the other teachers from those grades to give the lessons. So they get to learn from all the teachers now, not just their own. They were both excited to see this.
They all have half-hour, in-person video meetings with their classes on Mondays, which are awesome. This week they all got to talk about fun things they’ve been doing so far at home while we’ve been away from school.
Ryan taught Della how to brown ground beef with an onion and seasoning, so she can start helping get dinners going. She loves it!
April 14, 2020
Happy 414 day! That’s Milwaukee’s area code, for those of you not in the know. 😉
Della chooses a couple of her squishies to be her school friends during her lessons now. They sit next to her on the table or windowsill, and it’s so cute! I’ll try to get a picture of her bunch tomorrow.
Even though it’s cold and windy today (with an early evening mini-blizzard?!), I sent all the kids outside after the twins’ naps for some outdoor activity. I can tell they’re all getting a little cabin feverish. M got really sad this morning after I asked him to be quiet and calm down for the eleventy billionth time, so we talked through it and I said whenever you start feeling all wound up and silly or sad inside because of all this just tell me – you can go outside and run around for as long as you need. So he did! But they still needed to go out again this afternoon! He’s definitely the most emotional of the bunch, and I try to remember that before I get upset with him.
Della helped make a side for dinner again. Broccoli and cheese Rice A Roni – her favorite!
I’ve decided to try to get back into an old hobby. Why? No, I suddenly have no extra time, but I just felt like it. I’m trying to polish my long-dormant skills on a couple things, actually. So stay tuned for those… I also finally started reading a book I’ve been dying to get to, while I ride the exercise bike. And the angels sang Hallelujah!
April 15, 2020
It was freezing outside today after our mini-snow last night, but the boys especially wanted to go out and play. So after Morrison’s ending P.E. lesson, I sent the 3 of them out into the backyards. Yes, alone, but they did a great job all staying back there until I could come out. M got helmets on the twins and everything so they could scooter around. He loves them so much!
Lana came out after a few minutes and wanted to stay with the boys as I went inside. She taught Nat how to put his hands in his pockets to keep them warm.
After lunch, Lana asked if Morrison could skip his nap so they could continue their game of squishies and Funko Pops. She was having a great big sister day. 🙂
Snakes & Ladders and Ramen Fury tonight
April 16, 2020
Lavender in the diffuser this morning for good brain waves
Morrison was the helper today! When they’re in school, the helper gets to do things like turn on/off the lights, do the weather and calendar, choose songs, etc. So his teachers sent out an email asking what the kids miss most about school and what counting song they want when they’re the helper – M said he misses being the helper and chose the Star Wars counting song.
We got word that school is officially closed for the remainder of this 2019-2020 school year, so VLT will continue.
The sun was out, yet still chilly, but Ryan assembled the new swing for the kids anyway. It’s in the back corner of our back back yard, under a big pine tree, so it’ll be nice and shaded in the summer heat. It is already a huge hit!
I played the first long song that I was really, really good at as a kid for the first time in what feels like a century. I was still actually not bad!
Here we are, week 4 of our coronavirus shutdown/quarantine. It’s been almost 2 full weeks since I was in a store, so hopefully I’m not carrying it and as-yet unknowingly contaminating us all. Ryan has gone out more often than I have, so fingers crossed that he’s still well also. The kids have shown zero symptoms whatsoever, so I’m holding out hope that we’re all staying safe. I do wipe down all the doorknobs whenever one of us gets back from a public place and the car after Ryan goes anywhere.
Next week begins our virtual learning for the big 3 through school, so this week will be lighter on the lessons. They’ve already started getting some practice lessons on their respective classroom platforms a couple times a week, so that’s good enough for me. I’m going to have them playing outside a lot this week in preparation for a couple solid hours a day of school work starting Monday. Our good friend Mr. Hand gave them a bag of foam balls last week, so they’ve all been having a blast playing with those outside for P.E. classes.
For review, here are the links to our past 3 weeks:
A little Seesaw class exercise for M, Google Classroom assignments for D, and Epic reading for L while I took the twins on a run
Playing outside and painting happiness rocks that we’ll spread on a walk later this week sometime
Ryan had to stop into work and run to the grocery store, so I got some cleaning done and the kids made lunch. He got the last pack of toilet paper! We haven’t been able to get it anywhere lately again.
I mailed in my absentee ballot for our spring election tomorrow #saferathome
3-way Temple Run challenge on their tablets for the big 3 while the babies napped and I showered, but Avit decided he didn’t want to nap today after falling asleep in the stroller earlier. Booger
Our stockpile should be complete for now so we don’t have to go to the grocery store for at least 2 weeks
All 4 of these photos are just what we have downstairs – I’m so thankful!
April 7, 2020
Today was the spring presidential primary here in Wisconsin, and the stupid Supreme Court overturned our governor’s last-minute attempt yesterday to postpone the in-person election. Idiots. If thousands of people get sick because they had to go to a polling place, including Ryan, I will want to move.
D got 2 practice assignments on Google classroom to work on first thing this morning, but nothing came in for L and M. That seemed odd to me, since today and Thursday were supposed to be our designated virtual learning practice days. So they did math with fridge magnets, Dreambox, and Jack Hartmann.
The weather became amazing today, hitting 77 by the end of the afternoon, so that was it for lessons and everyone headed outside to play.
Lunch break, Mystery Doug Live at noon, then naps for the boys while I finished up my cleaning and laundry for the day
L requested a walk after the boys woke up, so we took a nice long one to enjoy the gorgeous afternoon. We went over to Mr. Hand and Miss Clara’s to give them some of the happiness rocks the kids made yesterday, then L and M hid one each at school.
More backyard play when we got home – the girls treated me and M to a delicious sushi meal while L put on a show for us
A thunderstorm rolled in, so we quickly cleaned everything up and got inside just before it started pouring and hailing! A beautiful full rainbow came out afterward.
Ryan got the boys a tub of little firefighters, trucks, signs, etc., because Avit absolutely loves a set of tiny construction signs they got for Christmas. I gave it to them this afternoon, and a massive game of signs/firefighters/cars/dinosaurs ensued.
Another natural phenomenon tonight – a super pink moon. Fortunately the clouds moved out in time for us to see it rise, and it is gorgeously spectacular. It really was pink! The energy shift it is supposed to signal is definitely needed.
April 8, 2020
Morning lessons online to start the day for all. I discovered that L and M actually did have lessons in Seesaw yesterday, but I missed them because I was waiting for emails from their teachers. Oops! So they got all caught up while D did hers for the day and I took the twins on a run.
D did a couple exercises from her 30-day P.E. calendar
L and M made pink moon drawings to show their art teachers
Dinosaurs ruled again
I drew a number line outside for L to do a jumping addition lesson
A little outdoor play while the weather stayed nice
School is now done for us after morning lessons are complete, since that’s how it will work once official virtual learning begins next week
An incredible sunset broke through the clouds tonight, too, just for us
April 9, 2020
Morning lessons for all 3. They love when the teachers upload little videos so they can see them. It’ll be great when they can see their classmates, too, during their weekly Monday meetings.
The weather today is bizarre – low 40s, windy, sun and fast clouds, and sleet/snow squalls! So it’s been a lot of indoor play (and noise! especially when Ryan’s on a call). The girls tried to go out for a bit, but that lasted mere minutes.
More dinos!
Art drawers revamp while the twins napped. I’ve long hated the clutter of this corner of the dining room, but the kids use it constantly so I can’t just wipe it out all together. It holds all of their art supplies under and around the piano. So I finally found a more modern, adult-looking solution for the drawers at least to replace the green, yellow, red, and blue ones you can see in the background of all the school working pictures. The fabric-covered drawers are obviously less hardy than the hard plastic ones, but I was sick of having something I took from our neighbors when they moved as such an obvious piece of furniture. They do hold a ton, though, so I moved it into the kids’ bedroom to be M’s dresser. That works perfectly.
April 10, 2020
Today we were technically “off” school for Good Friday, so no new assignments came in. The big 3 still started the morning by logging into their classroom platforms just to make sure, though, then they each did a little reading and/or math.
The rest of the day was just play time. Ryan hard boiled eggs to dye tomorrow, I rode the bike downstairs for a little while this morning and finally got to start my newest book on Kindle that I’ve really been looking forward to reading, and the kids caused random destruction and mayhem. You know, the ususal.
Next week begins our official Virtual Learning Time (VLT), sanctioned lessons and activities online through the school and district, so I’m not sure how much I’ll update like this anymore. I’ll probably still try to keep track of this time in quarantine/shutdown somehow, but I might not have enough to list out each day as I’ve been doing so far. Every weekday morning will start with attendance at 8:00, then 2-3 hours of schoolwork for the girls, less for Morrison, and a virtual face-to-face class meeting for a half hour each Monday for all 3. The afternoons I’ll just let them play and relax, knowing they’ll have a good chunk of learning in the mornings. I’m not their teacher, this isn’t school as they know it, and I’m not going to try to force anything. I know their teachers all have good work lined up and they’ll still get to do plenty of learning, so I’m trusting in them and leaving the big stuff in their hands now.
This certainly has been an interesting experience, I will say that. We got to virtually see some great places that we wouldn’t have otherwise, I did have some fun activities and lessons for them, and this morning Della said she does miss her friends from being in class every day but she’s enjoying having school at home. I think we’ll all end up just fine. But stay tuned – I may have some more updates for you after all!
Let’s see what this week has in store, shall we? Next week we’re supposed to start getting some trial runs for our virtual learning, which is slated to begin on April 13. That’s the day the kids were originally scheduled to go back to school, but the governor has since shut everything down until at least April 24. So who knows if they’ll get to go back at all this school year. I sure hope so! They all miss their teachers terribly. At least we’ll get to start “seeing” them a little bit pretty soon.
March 30, 2020
Cosmic Kids yoga
Dreambox/reading/Alphablocks while I took the babies on a run
Home Ec – baking cookies
Hogwarts digital escape room for D (they all started off going through it, but L and M quickly dropped out); frosting cookies for L; write around the room for M – “at” rhyming words
Lunch for the twins
Hangouts story time with Grandma! Plus a cameo by Grandpa and plenty of goofing around for good measure
Lunch for the big 3, naps for the boys
Writing then tablet time for the girls
Mo Willems
March 31, 2020
Math and writing – giant cards addition for M, math packet from school for L, book report and virtual pen pals with friends from school for D
Science – mini volcanos
P.E. – jumping like animals and running the back steps
Lunch break
Mo Willems birthday crown making
Naps for the boys, reading for the girls
Creating for our WFB Rec Dept window art contest – outer space!
There’s a little astronaut tethered to the rocket, but he got lost in the glare. 😉
April 1, 2020
Dreambox/Jack Hartmann/reading books on Epic/pen pals slides for almost 2 hours to start the day – I took the twins on a run and got some chores done
Lots of emails from teachers to prepare for virtual learning, which starts on April 13
Got M set up on his class app, even though we found out later that they sent out those instructions a week early – oops!
L and M played tennis in the back back yard
Lunch then naps for the twins
P.E. for the big 3 – go outside and play for as long as the sun is out. M created a “territory.” I started transplanting my dining room table garden into new pots and propagating a fuzzy panda succulent that had gotten huge!
D got a reading and writing assignment from her teacher
L got a sight words assignment from her teacher – pick 2-3 little activities from a list to do with a couple sight words. She chose to write 2 sight words in cursive for a handwriting lesson and draw a picture of 3 other sight words.
More Dreambox math and Epic reading after dinner – these kids love those programs!
I had my first virtual happy hour with girls from the block – so fun!
I asked Della why she decided to act like a zombie for the picture. She said she wasn’t, she was fake sleeping. Thanks a lot. 😉
April 2, 2020
We’ve started getting emails from teachers with practice lessons and tentative schedules, so I’m trying to make a point to get us started with “school” right at 8:00 like they’ll have to beginning on the 13th. This morning all 3 did reading on Epic or other assigned short stories for almost an hour.
It was the nicest weather day yet, so at 9:00 I took all 5 for a nice long walk. The boys were all chasing each other and crashing through the house, Ryan was trying to work, and I was about to lose my mind, so out the door we went. It was great! We found as much window/door art as we could, played sidewalk chalk games, walked over to our good friends’ house (they gave us foam balls for the kids and wine for me – they are THE BEST!!!), walked by and said hello to school, then walked home our normal school route for some familiarity.
Outdoor play time for some more exercise and fresh air (i.e., wear them out!)
Lunch break then naps for the boys
More reading and assignments for the girls
More outside play after naps
D’s first FaceTime with one of her good friends
M and I tried to play a chicken game – Lay It or Break It
More Epic reading all evening after dinner!
Stick family 😀
April 3, 2020
Epic reading/Dreambox while I took the twins for a run
Ryan went to the grocery store for what was hopefully a 2-week stockpile. I plugged the chest freezer in in the basement the other day to prepare.
Guest reader was Auntie Mer! She surprised us with an amazing costume!! The twins pretty much destroyed story time with their noise.
Lunch break then naps for the twins
Back yard scavenger hunt for M, indoor and outdoor math scavenger hunt for L, decade of my life paragraph assignment for D (this is a report they started right before school got shut down – a paragraph and picture for each year of their life so far)
P.E. outside – playing throw the ball over the garage, catch, and running around
Music class – listening to a symphony from a link the music teacher sent today
More Epic reading after dinner
A drawing tutorial on TV that Lana loved
Another Ramen Fury night; they were bonkers
A couple observations from today… This was the day I was officially ready to divorce my entire family. Apparently 3 weeks of quarantine is what it takes. Ryan started the morning crabbier than usual (I swear if I hear “I’m on the phone!” or “I’m doing work!” one more time, I’m gonna run away. I know you’re working, that’s why you’re here, duh!). The twins’ amount and volume of screaming were greater than usual. Morrison’s question count by 8:30 a.m. was higher than usual. Is there a full moon tonight or something??
But I went for my run, got a ton of groceries put away and organized, showered, finished my new and improved dining room table garden, and tried to focus on all that was right with today instead – we are able to be home together, we’re all still healthy, the twins took a 2-hour nap, the sun came out, the big kids played outside, Ryan went for a long walk to get out of the house this afternoon, and my sanity began to return. I guess I’ll keep them all. Cherish the days, right?
Check back next week for our last week before official virtual learning time from school begins. I may or may not start putting wine in my coffee mug instead of coffee. 😉
My post from our first week of shutdown last week got longer than I was anticipating, so I’ll break this little adventure of ours down week by week instead of keeping 1 giant running post.
Our schools are now closed “indefinitely,” so maybe we won’t be going back in a month after all. I’ve heard that we will not lose summer vacation because of that, though, so that’s good. Our district is planning to have virtual learning in place for students by the second week of April, so we should be running with an online curriculum after the originally planned 4 weeks of closure. I’ll actually kind of miss our little school routine here once that starts, but I know it’ll be good to get some structured lessons back in. I just feel so heartbroken for the kids that they probably won’t get to see their teachers again to finish out this school year with them and do all of the fun things that were upcoming – field trips I was actually going to get to chaperone (Lana’s to a nature preserve and Della’s big all-day one to Madison, boo!!), another time as Morrison’s classroom helper, Morrison’s star student day, Della’s orchestra concert, Spring Sing and campout day for the whole school, taking flowers from our garden in for the teachers during the last days of the school year, and all the daily hugs and high-fives they look forward to from all of their teachers. They all love them so much, and so do I! And K4 for Morrison is seriously the greatest year ever with its half days – poop! We are sending them weekly emails with updates and pictures, though, so at least they can keep in touch.
So. Here’s the link to week 1 if you want to catch up:
Now, let’s see what week 2 holds. Our governor just issued a safer at home order for Wisconsin until April 24, so there’s that. We were technically supposed to be on spring break this week, too, but I figure the kids are getting enough of a break from school as it is with all this. So we’ll keep doing some lighter lessons and probably more movie watching this week…
March 23, 2020
Alphablocks for L and M, Raz Kids and online typing club for D, Little Baby Bum for the twins for about 45 minutes while I did my workout
Science – Ivory soap cloud experiment (total failure!! we’ll have to try that one again); solar system wind chimes
Jack Hartmann songs for M
Spanish and dancing with Elmo
Indoor cardio exercises
Lunch break
Story time from space
Naps for the boys, shower for me, writing time for the girls and a movie
Movie and play time the rest of the day! The big 3 and I played a couple games after the twins went to bed, too.
March 24, 2020
Outdoor scavenger hunt while I did some cleaning. The twins tried to play, too, but it’s still way too muddy for them.
Naps for the boys, tablet time for the girls, having groceries delivered and picking up mulch for me before we have to stay home
Pre-dinner outside play with sidewalk chalk – hopscotch and Twister
After-dinner game time – Ramen Fury
March 25, 2020
Today was much more “spring break”-ish, mainly because it was so nice outside so I wanted to get everyone out as much as possible. Plus they’ve really been doing great with their school at home, so they deserve some down time. And this was the first day of “safer at home,” so let’s see if we really can flatten the curve of this monster and try to get life back on track and heal this world.
A fun visit through the window with friends who were out for a walk
Dreambox for D and M to start the morning; L attempted to build a blanket fort with my mop
Fort making for the big 3 while I took the babies on a run
2 hours of outside play time while I spread mulch – definitely the earliest in the season I’ve ever gotten it in the gardens! The girls got their fairy garden set up after its winter buried in leaves and snow. I think we’re only missing a couple little turtles. The twins did way better than yesterday – only minimal escape attempts and a few falls in the mud. (no pictures of this today, unfortunately, since I had my wet, muddy gardening gloves on the whole time)
Lunch break
Naps for the boys (except A, who I knew wasn’t going to sleep right since he fell asleep in the stroller during my run), shower for me, reading and tablet time for the girls
Our first social distancing happy hour with the neighbors! So fun to see faces and catch up, especially since the forecast for the next couple days looks like it’ll keep us inside.
March 26, 2020
Morning math class – identifying and sorting the clean dishes out of the dishwasher by shape, counting the number of each type of silverware. Also saves me a chore! 藍
Social interaction and more math – playing the game of Life
P.E. class – Twister. There’s one picture I included simply because Avit is the only thing not blurry in it, when it’s usually the opposite!
Lunch then naps for just the twins today
More Life for L and M, reading her page on this blog for D, chores and work time for me
Attempted game of Ramen Fury, but the twins interrupted and destroyed
Engineering – Legos for all 5
Another game night – Snakes & Ladders, Ramen Fury
Indoor camping for the big 3, complete with “clouds,” campfire setups, and story telling as soon as I left the room 殺
March 27, 2020
Legos all day today! Ryan briefly went to work and the grocery store mid-morning, and I got my workout and a couple chores done
Indoor picnic for lunch to close out “spring break” week
Naps for the boys, shower for me, more Legos for the girls. They really made some masterpieces today!
Special delivery beer dropoff from our friends. The kids were excited to talk to Mr. Hand and Miss Clara through the door and window, too. 😁
Game of Life after dinner, computer call with good friends in Tazmania, Pat McCurdy safer-at-home concert on Facebook
Indoor camping for the big 3 again
Come back Monday to see what happens during week 3!
