A Week, Briefly (3/9/20)
Sunday was so lovely that we packed up a couple of cars and headed to LV Lake trail to take Hike #7 of 52 for our Family Night activity.
We started at the fitness station at the trailhead, walked to the playground, played for a bit, then walked to 1.5 miles. Our original goal was the 2 mile marker, but we compromised with the complainers who wanted to turn around at 1 mile. :)
Our previous mileage was 14.18 miles. We added 3 for a grand total of 17.18 miles so far.
Everyone 10 and up came home and fell asleep!
Then Little Princess and Nature Angel woke up sick.
:(
Monday morning dawned dark and rainy, and Nature Angel still felt sick, so she curled up in the big green chair for a resting day. She read Wonder.
We started our day as best we could with sleepy kids, dragging from the time change. We did a pretty good job. I even had to go with Sir Walter Scott to return the rental van in the morning, but Little Princess supervised Individual School with the young ones, and by the time I got home, phonics lessons, reading lessons, math pages, and spelling pages were done.
:)
Drawing has become the favorite activity of most of the kids.
Beowulf finished his first of 2 books for his math program!!!
Symposium went well. Colloquium was cancelled. The Jr. Kinders are now asking daily when they get to be done with Junior Kindergarten and start Reading Lessons.
Sir Walter Scott and I shopped for 15-passenger vans online and sent texts/made calls about some of them. We have a tentative appointment to check one out on Thursday morning.
Otherwise it was a quiet afternoon with not a lot of anything special accomplished.
During Evening Reading, the littles and I finished Great Illustrated Classics: The Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle, and we started Into Terra Libre by Emily Gray Clawson. The medium kids and I read 2 more chapters of Carry On, Mr. Bowditch!
Tuesday
The sun came back, and Nature Angel was feeling better--at least better enough to do half a day's worth of school.
It was a gentle day--normal in almost every respect.
But Grandma came over with "new" games from the thrift store, and she played card games, listened to recitations, watched races, played board games, admired skills, and generally showered everyone with love and joy.
I even took a couple of hours off my normal household/school duties to just visit with her.
We didn't have a single negative repercussion after she left, either!
Wednesday
Aside from Brother's breakdown, it could not have been a lovelier day. And honestly, his breakdown was never dangerous, so even that was a blessing.
We had a normal morning full of school and our weekly visit from our church grandma. We had Jr. Kindergarten, and we started reading lessons with AlphaPhonics for both Lola and Baymax.
They are incredibly happy about it!
We pulled out Our Star Spangled Story for Colloquium, and we read 3 stories together. It's really, really aimed at young elementary kids, but the stories are engaging, and it won't hurt my tweens to learn about some American heroes with easier-than-usual listening. I was particularly pleased at the chapter on Tecumseh and William Henry Harrison. The chapter made it very clear that each felt he was in the right and was fighting for a just cause. Then the review questions asked the kids to think about how to resolve problems that seem unresolvable.
I thought it asked for some good thinking.
Belle headed to the farm where she planted and mulched spinach.
As the temperatures soared to nearly 70, we headed outside for gardening, painting, and playing. I dug up weedy trees that have been encroaching from the woods; Nature Angel gave final coats of paint to our pallet-turned-planter; the kids shot hoops (Beowulf cried for 30 minutes straight as she threw the ball at the hoop; he never gave up; no one made him do it; he just cried and practiced, practiced and cried.), played in the sand, fed fresh weeds to the chickens, chased each other around, played on the woodpile, and generally had a glorious afternoon.
Then my teens took over dinner/bedtime, and I headed to the temple.
While I was gone, Pixie took time to take pictures of the younger 8.
Thursday
Our show was cancelled because of COVID-19; the nursing homes are closing their doors to visitors. We are quite likely to have to shut down our dance season because if we have no one for whom to dance, then . . .
No final decision has been made, so we rehearsed because we might get to perform again, and at the very least, we really hope to have our annual Friends-and-Family recital. The kids have worked so hard. I hate to see it all shut down.
Our church has called for a worldwide cessation of meetings until further notice. This includes seminary, Sunday meetings, and all activities. We will have church at home until we are allowed to gather again.
As Belle said, "There goes my entire social life!"
(But as I write this on Saturday evening, she's getting ready to go to a birthday party for a homeschool friend. :) )
When we got home, we spent a lot more time outside. (The next 4 pictures are by Little Princess.)
We're also reaching the ends of many school books.
Our internet service went out on Thursday afternoon.
On Friday Sir Walter Scott took Nature Angel and Little Princess with him to the library so they could use the wi-fi to do their Duolingo and typing.com work. He also ruled out 2 possible vans of the many we're considering. (The one we most hoped for was sold before we could get to see it.)
I took Beowulf to his quarterly ADHD check up. He's been struggling lately, so the doc prescribed a med change. As I write, all is well--even better than before on the new med. We'll see as time goes on.
While we waited to be seen, Beowulf read me a story.
I think it was a watershed moment for him to realize just how much he knows about reading.
Beowulf and I came home far earlier than I thought we would, and all of the kids were able to have almost a full school day.
Nature Angel and Little Princess finished the watercolor paintings they worked on here and there during the week that were just for fun projects.
We spent the afternoon burning brush that I cleared from the south side of the yard. Temperatures began to fall, and we've been curled up indoors ever since avoiding the chilly damp outside.
I was able to buy what groceries we needed this morning, and we have about 10 days' worth of toilet paper left in the house (we go through a lot). I'm hoping that the freaked out behaviors will settle down, and I'll be able to get more before we're out!
Honestly, though we have not even one presumptive or confirmed case of COVID-19 in our community, our mayor has still declared a state of emergency, and it feels kind of like we're living in a war zone or post-apocalyptic scenario. It is truly bizarre to walk through nearly empty grocery store shelves and hope I can find what I need for my family.
Our internet is up and working again . . . I think I liked being cut off from the news!
We started at the fitness station at the trailhead, walked to the playground, played for a bit, then walked to 1.5 miles. Our original goal was the 2 mile marker, but we compromised with the complainers who wanted to turn around at 1 mile. :)
Our previous mileage was 14.18 miles. We added 3 for a grand total of 17.18 miles so far.
Everyone 10 and up came home and fell asleep!
Then Little Princess and Nature Angel woke up sick.
:(
Monday morning dawned dark and rainy, and Nature Angel still felt sick, so she curled up in the big green chair for a resting day. She read Wonder.
We started our day as best we could with sleepy kids, dragging from the time change. We did a pretty good job. I even had to go with Sir Walter Scott to return the rental van in the morning, but Little Princess supervised Individual School with the young ones, and by the time I got home, phonics lessons, reading lessons, math pages, and spelling pages were done.
:)
Drawing has become the favorite activity of most of the kids.
 |
| Lola set up this work station for herself. She's been drawing, coloring, cutting out, and taping up pictures all over the house. There's a superhero standing guard over her bed that makes me smile every night as I tuck her in. |
Beowulf finished his first of 2 books for his math program!!!
Symposium went well. Colloquium was cancelled. The Jr. Kinders are now asking daily when they get to be done with Junior Kindergarten and start Reading Lessons.
Sir Walter Scott and I shopped for 15-passenger vans online and sent texts/made calls about some of them. We have a tentative appointment to check one out on Thursday morning.
Otherwise it was a quiet afternoon with not a lot of anything special accomplished.
During Evening Reading, the littles and I finished Great Illustrated Classics: The Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle, and we started Into Terra Libre by Emily Gray Clawson. The medium kids and I read 2 more chapters of Carry On, Mr. Bowditch!
Tuesday
The sun came back, and Nature Angel was feeling better--at least better enough to do half a day's worth of school.
 |
| Little Princess and Nature Angel have begun working on typing skills at typing.com. |
It was a gentle day--normal in almost every respect.
 |
| Photo by Little Princess |
But Grandma came over with "new" games from the thrift store, and she played card games, listened to recitations, watched races, played board games, admired skills, and generally showered everyone with love and joy.
I even took a couple of hours off my normal household/school duties to just visit with her.
We didn't have a single negative repercussion after she left, either!
Wednesday
Aside from Brother's breakdown, it could not have been a lovelier day. And honestly, his breakdown was never dangerous, so even that was a blessing.
We had a normal morning full of school and our weekly visit from our church grandma. We had Jr. Kindergarten, and we started reading lessons with AlphaPhonics for both Lola and Baymax.
They are incredibly happy about it!
We pulled out Our Star Spangled Story for Colloquium, and we read 3 stories together. It's really, really aimed at young elementary kids, but the stories are engaging, and it won't hurt my tweens to learn about some American heroes with easier-than-usual listening. I was particularly pleased at the chapter on Tecumseh and William Henry Harrison. The chapter made it very clear that each felt he was in the right and was fighting for a just cause. Then the review questions asked the kids to think about how to resolve problems that seem unresolvable.
I thought it asked for some good thinking.
Belle headed to the farm where she planted and mulched spinach.
As the temperatures soared to nearly 70, we headed outside for gardening, painting, and playing. I dug up weedy trees that have been encroaching from the woods; Nature Angel gave final coats of paint to our pallet-turned-planter; the kids shot hoops (Beowulf cried for 30 minutes straight as she threw the ball at the hoop; he never gave up; no one made him do it; he just cried and practiced, practiced and cried.), played in the sand, fed fresh weeds to the chickens, chased each other around, played on the woodpile, and generally had a glorious afternoon.
Then my teens took over dinner/bedtime, and I headed to the temple.
While I was gone, Pixie took time to take pictures of the younger 8.
Thursday
Our show was cancelled because of COVID-19; the nursing homes are closing their doors to visitors. We are quite likely to have to shut down our dance season because if we have no one for whom to dance, then . . .
No final decision has been made, so we rehearsed because we might get to perform again, and at the very least, we really hope to have our annual Friends-and-Family recital. The kids have worked so hard. I hate to see it all shut down.
Our church has called for a worldwide cessation of meetings until further notice. This includes seminary, Sunday meetings, and all activities. We will have church at home until we are allowed to gather again.
As Belle said, "There goes my entire social life!"
(But as I write this on Saturday evening, she's getting ready to go to a birthday party for a homeschool friend. :) )
When we got home, we spent a lot more time outside. (The next 4 pictures are by Little Princess.)
 |
| We've had barefoot days and coat days this week. |
 |
| Sunset |
 |
| Chickadees |
 |
| The cardinals dominate the singing in our neighborhood right now . . . or they're just the easiest for us to identify by their song. We have also successfully identified Eastern Phoebes, Pileated Woodpeckers, Chickadees, Blue Jays, and Mourning Doves. The Robins' and Sparrows' songs are hard for us to tell apart. We're still trying, though! |
We're also reaching the ends of many school books.
 |
| Ladybug is very proud of this accomplishment. She's since begun working on Explode the Code book 3. |
 |
| Another Jr. K. book finished. These two are feeling quite grown up. |
Our internet service went out on Thursday afternoon.
On Friday Sir Walter Scott took Nature Angel and Little Princess with him to the library so they could use the wi-fi to do their Duolingo and typing.com work. He also ruled out 2 possible vans of the many we're considering. (The one we most hoped for was sold before we could get to see it.)
I took Beowulf to his quarterly ADHD check up. He's been struggling lately, so the doc prescribed a med change. As I write, all is well--even better than before on the new med. We'll see as time goes on.
While we waited to be seen, Beowulf read me a story.
I think it was a watershed moment for him to realize just how much he knows about reading.
Beowulf and I came home far earlier than I thought we would, and all of the kids were able to have almost a full school day.
Nature Angel and Little Princess finished the watercolor paintings they worked on here and there during the week that were just for fun projects.
 |
| Nature Angel's |
 |
| Little Princess' |
I was able to buy what groceries we needed this morning, and we have about 10 days' worth of toilet paper left in the house (we go through a lot). I'm hoping that the freaked out behaviors will settle down, and I'll be able to get more before we're out!
Honestly, though we have not even one presumptive or confirmed case of COVID-19 in our community, our mayor has still declared a state of emergency, and it feels kind of like we're living in a war zone or post-apocalyptic scenario. It is truly bizarre to walk through nearly empty grocery store shelves and hope I can find what I need for my family.
Our internet is up and working again . . . I think I liked being cut off from the news!
We don't have any confirmed cases in our area either. Of course, there are no tests so who really knows. Not a single test in all of WNC, but a few people in critical condition with something in our local hospital. We are a tourist town so we expect to be hit soon with all of the out of town folks that come from all corners of the earth. The most expensive stores still have toilet paper and are fully stocked. I pray the freaked out masses let you get what you need. We haven't had many cancellations of small venue events. The over 100+ people events are all canceled.
ReplyDeleteI love that you are keeping up with the hike challenge. You all are doing great. I hope the new med change helps. It is nice that you seem to have some peace and harmony at the moment.
Blessings, Dawn
Everybody looks good! I envy your fresh air and sunshine. It's been pouring here, which impedes PE for those who really need it. Nature Angel's painting is gorgeous! Glad things are going well for you.
ReplyDeleteAll the pictures tell such wonderful stories of life at your house! Beautiful, beautiful individual shots of the children... Thank you for sharing as much as you do!
ReplyDelete