staying put

Another week at home. Here we are!

This past week was virtual spirit week at Thornton Creek. We didn’t make it all 5 days but Steven, Sammy and Amaya were excited to wear their Gator Gear on Monday.

Mid-week, our governor officially announced that we won’t be returning to school this year. It’s so sad. I mean, so much of this is so sad but I’m still struggling with the idea that the kids are missing so much of their kindergarten year. It’s obviously for good reason but it still stings.

My daily view, including Ms. Sally.

Steven, Sammy and Amaya had a lego challenge to make cars, followed by car races.

I think I’ve said this for the past two weeks but I’ve been really happy with how well the kids are diving into their daily learning. It’s not all that much, truly, but I’m glad it hasn’t been a fight.

Next week (4/13), our school district is going to start more deliberate distance learning. I’m curious to see what it entails and, from my exchanges with our principal, hopeful that it is sensitive to the work/home school balance so many families are trying to find.

The week prior, Penni brought a pizza lunchable for lunch and Amaya wanted one for herself so Jason picked some up for the kids. Sammy was absolutely thrilled to tell me that he was drinking Kool-Aid which is full of SUGAR. Just absolutely tickled.

Monday’s Doodles with Mo involved making a birthday crown for his wife so, once again, we celebrated Hoppy’s birthday. 🙂

Tuesday was a pizza challenge!

Sammy is working on his math. Steven is working on his writing. (Penni had the great idea to challenge the kids to write at least four of their own words. They still want help spelling and it’s hard to push them to try on their own but also important.)

At “recess”, the kids played with cool styrofoam planes that Penni brought.

We can’t have Mr. Anthony come to our house for piano lessons but he was able to set them up via Zoom. This gave Amaya and Sammy a chance to start lessons and for Steven to dive back in. It sounds like they did really well with lessons over Zoom so I’m glad for the opportunity to keep momentum.

While Amaya had her lesson, the boys joined their class (for the first time!) to celebrate a classmate’s birthday. It was chaotic. No one was muted and no one could hear anything. I had to step away before Ms. M got things under control so hopefully that happened.

We’ve had the kids sleeping with us far more than usual. I think Jason and I are both a bit more indulgent than we are. Maybe because of the situation. Maybe because they’re not heading to school every morning.

Who could resist this?

Oh, look! It’s Wednesday we’re still here.

The kids had Hebrew school again where they worked on Hebrew and learned about Passover.

Seder plates!

On Wednesday we also got back to dance classes, again via Zoom. I didn’t push dance clothes, just shoes. And it seems like week 1 was a success.

What day is it? Thursday? Sammy made some slime for his STEM hour. This boy loves slime so much!

During Thursday’s Mo, we learned that Friday would be his last Lunchtime Doodles. 🙁 Sadness! We’ve enjoyed it so much.

Thursday with my Bubba. He’s sleeping with me again tonight and said, “As soon as I’m awake and you’re awake show me the picture you took when I was asleep.”

It’s warming up!! Thursday was absolutely gorgeous. I even got outside for a 20 minute break. On Friday, Steven, Sammy and Amaya did their independent reading out on the deck.

On Friday evening, three Master Mo Doodlers graduated from Mo Willems’ Lunchtime Doodles program. <3

We ended our “school” week with FaceTime with Aunt Bonnie (Grandpa Homie’s sister). She read the kids a bedtime story and we had a great visit.

Our weekend mornings are laaaaaaaazy. Despite being home all week, the kids are scheduled so the free time and downtime is definitely appreciated, even now.

On Saturday afternoon the kids participated in a Fairytale Entertainment zoom event with Belle, Hulk, Captain America, Olaf, Spiderman and Anna. It was about 30 minutes long and included songs, dancing and super hero moves. Amaya was, far and away, the most into it. She even had me take her braids out when she realized she would be on camera. There was conversation among the kids about whether or not it was the real Hulk and the real spiderman.

Roaring like the Beast.

On Saturday evening, the Goldstein cousins & family had our own zoom happy hour. There’s no upside to coronavirus, but I’m glad that we’re finding these ways to connect that, in normal circumstances, we may not have.

Before bed on Saturday, the kids issued me Lego challenges.

* Amaya asked me to make glasses.

* Steven challenged me to make a boat without repeating any colors.

* Sammy wanted an evil flying robot.

It would be a lot easier if I had access to the breadth of pieces the LEGO Masters have. Those glasses were tough!

My prize from Amaya.

After a super lazy morning, we joined a Temple Israel zoom to sing Passover songs with other kids in the congregation.

Since we’d been so lazy, Jason and I kicked the kids outside. To motivate them, Jason had a contest to see who could find the biggest wood chips. Which evolved into a lesson on area and then a contest to find the weirdest wood chip.

Amaya didn’t want to wear a jacket but she put on tights, a Darth Vader skirt under her dress and wore leg warmers on her arms. She’s always had a very specific and deliberate sense of style. 🙂

Sammy’s weird wood chip!

A stink bug made it into the house and the kids freaked out. They made stink bug traps from paper towels, green and blue items and gum. (Apparently stink bugs like green and blue?)

Aaaaaaaaand – drumroll – today we played our first family game of real Monopoly. Goodbye “jr”. Jason picked up the Frozen II version. I think he’s been waiting for this day since the kids were born.

They did great and he’s right about it being a really good way for the SSA to practice math.

Since stink bugs like blue and green, Amaya wanted to hide her eyes.

Our special guest – Grandma Sunshine!! Grandma played along with us which, I think, worked pretty well. I rolled for her and managed her money but she was a full member of the game, making trades and everything. So cool.