Here are some activities that we participated in before the "pause."
Donuts with Dad: Joseph was able to take all three preschool kids to the special "Donuts with Dad" night. The kids decorated and ate donuts, played games, and made a craft. The kids had a great time!
Rebecah went to a birthday party for her wonderful friend Melanie. These girls have been good friends since Kindergarten!
Eden had a dress up day at school and all of the girls joined in.
We registered Lincoln and Annika for Kindergarten. I can't believe my two tiny babies are old enough for Kindergarten in the Fall!
Public church meetings were canceled starting March 15, so we now have church at home. Our last 3 weeks have gone really well with the Sacrament, fun activities, lessons and Church-related videos at home.
The first case of Covid-19 was diagnosed in our county on March 16, so the schools in our county closed March 17, and we are uncertain if/when we will go back to school. Home schooling is difficult. I am a stay-at-home mom, but being a SAHM and a home school mom is tough. I have to keep up with the housework, laundry, baking and stay on top of everyone's school work now, too. I'm trying my best to not let anything go, so we can maintain our normal life. One of the highlights of the day is when we go outside. We are in the rainy season, but we have been lucky to get out most days even when it's chilly. I'm surprised that the kids are out in short sleeved shirts when it hasn't been warmer than 55, but warmth is all relative when you live in a colder climate.
Out on our daily bike ride around the neighborhood. Someone asked me if we were a parade!
Lincoln and Annika with some of their "guys."
The kids broke out the Legos about a week after our social distancing started. Everyone has had fun building various creations. Here was a special one that Eden made by herself.
Here is Eden all dressed up. Me: "Oh my!! Look at this scary dragon coming." Eden: "I'm not scary, I'm pretty!"
Here are a few more outside pictures with chalk.
We celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary and had our traditional dinner. Good thing I don't care about going out to eat on my anniversary since we would have had to eat at home anyway! The cheesecake I made was delicious!!
Lincoln will do just about anything for popcorn. I made plain popcorn one afternoon for a snack and while everyone complained at first they all devoured it! We have also had buttered popcorn and two batches of caramel popcorn! Kimball is a good caramel popcorn maker.
Joseph brought home some masks from the hospital that he
had briefly used, so we tried out the masks.
After being home for two weeks, other than weekly grocery shopping trips for me, we went on a family outing. I think the kids were so happy to be in the car and out of the neighborhood. We went to Palmyra to visit the Sacred Grove to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the First Vision when Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith. The record states that this vision occurred in early spring, so we wanted to experience the grove in early spring. No buds on the trees, just a few green shoots of daffodils coming up. It was a peaceful walk and I hope the older kids at least will remember our visit and its significance. We all enjoyed getting out of our house.
While I am happiest at home, I will confess that at times our sheltering in place does have it's challenges. It's hard to find quiet times throughout the day, there is a lot more fighting than usual, and I miss my moments when everyone was in school. Joseph's work had to make a lot of changes and while he is still employed, he only works three 24-hour shifts a month. We are grateful that he has kept his job, despite a reduced salary, when so many at SOS had to be let go for the time being. We are grateful to have savings, food storage and faith. Joseph has been working on some projects around the house and practicing the violin a lot since he has more free time.
Kimball decided to take up the bass clarinet about a month ago. He had one lesson with his teacher, and a few tutoring sessions with friends before school closed. He has taught himself the rest of the notes and has picked it up quickly. He is also tinkering with the piano and doing very well. He continues to play the string bass as well.
Home school is going fairly well after three weeks. Kimball gets more assignments as each week passes and more teachers have set up Google Classroom accounts. Kimball now submits bass practice videos, takes quizzes on the computer, and turns in assignments through Google Classroom. Rebecah has Zoom class time twice a week in addition to assignments that she turns in on Google Classroom. I'm grateful that Kimball and Rebecah are our only kids that need daily computer use. It must be so difficult for families with multiple children in higher grade levels. The little ones and I do preschool circle time at least 3 times a week, and work on other preschool skills with letters, patterns, etc.
