A Week, Briefly (Jan 31, 2022)

 I planned to spend the week recuperating and caring for sick children, but I felt fine when I got up on Monday morning, and all of the kids were in fighting form, so we did quite a bit of school!

Everyone tested positive for covid except Sir Walter Scott.  He is not the only vaccinated member of our family, but he is the only one who didn't get sick.  With the exception of Baymax, the older we were, the sicker we felt.  Baymax is youngest, and he felt pretty crummy.  Some of the kids had a runny nose for a single afternoon. :)  Nonetheless, we stayed away from all people and activities outside our home all week long.  

Every single one of our daycare babies tested positive, too, and they all stayed home with their parents, so we had an oddly restful and measurably productive week.

Brother finished his first cursive book.  He has another to work on, but we're taking a break and focusing on some grammar for a little while.

Most of the kids' third subscription boxes arrived this week, and that was a real blessing during this snowy, quarantin-y week.  I have to say that Mister Man's STEM Discovery Box and Little Princess' MEL Chemistry Box are the absolute favorites.  I might keep those open with the understanding that they don't belong to only one child anymore (the gift was 3 boxes each).

NASA videos with Little Princess

We started making valentines for next week.  It's no mean feat to make 13 hand-made, individual valentines.

MEL science was about burning things--in this case, steel wool and bubbles!  The steel wool burned gently, but the bubbles actually exploded!  It was tremendously fun!

Our Old Testament studies this year are proving incredibly fun.  Not one day has passed that has not inspired further study in science, history, religion, or geography.  We've reveled in our discussions, readings, and chartings.

Nature Angel helped Brother with a couple of his Green Kids crafts from his kit.  This is one I will not be sorry to cancel.

We read We, The People by Lynne Cheney, and Shh! We're Writing the Constitution by Jean Fritz.  Then we had a timeline drawing day reviewing the points of early American History we've covered so far, and then we started Lewis and Clark and Me by Laurie Meyers.  I wanted to read some other titles first, but they didn't arrive in time, so I need to go back to the library this week to pick up a couple of books about John and Abigail Adams and the Louisiana Purchase.

We're still reading The Cat of Bubastes, and we'll be reading that one for some time to come!

The kids played out in the snow a lot, but because I was inside working on the remodel of one of the bedrooms, I don't have any pictures of them.  They accepted their afternoon mugs of hot chocolate with rosy cheeks and smiles.  Now the snow is melting, so everything is really mushy.

It is interesting to me that given complete freedom to choose what to do, Baymax chooses costume play.  Every single day this week, he left the table after Morning Meeting and put on a costume--most of the time his police officer uniform.

The other boys have been enamored of the marble runs (with no babies, I could say yes to having marbles out on the floor all day) all week long.

Given the same freedom as Baymax, Lola chose playdough.

I can't help but wonder what each of these activities is doing for my kids.  I have so many whys in my brain.

Daycare parents have let me know that we will have a full house again starting tomorrow . . . time to get going!