My boys

Nathan likes Minecraft.  He likes playing Minecraft video games, he like building with Minecraft themed Legos, and he likes pretending he's in a Minecraft world.  One of the mobs (monsters) in Minecraft is called a Creeper.  They are green and have four stubby legs and can explode.  Here is Nathan with his Creeper hat, Creeper shirt, and Creeper stuffy.  

It's safe to say that Nathan first learned to love Minecraft from Paul, although really all the kids have played it at some point.  It's unusual for a video game because it is not all about eye-hand coordination, or jumping on evil mushrooms, or shooting bad guys.  In the game, you kind of just get dumped in a very squared-off world and decide what you want to do with your time.  You can explore, kill monsters, or build castles.  You collect resources to craft what you want.  It's a lot like playing Legos on a screen. 

Paul's video game of choice lately is Legend of Zelda.  The kids often spend their evening "cartoon" time on Mario Cart (racing) or Smash Brothers (brawling).  It hasn't been a bad way to spend evenings while we've been on isolation.  Playing.  Together. 

Yes, he's really this big now

Camping out

Several weeks ago we toyed with the idea of taking the kids on a camping trip to Red River Gorge during isolation.  The thought was that the campgrounds would probably be fairly empty.  The prediction of bad whether caused us to reconsider, which was well.  In the meantime the governor of Kentucky issued orders closing the trails, and a friend of ours had to cut his camping trip short.

Last weekend we did a little bit of backyard camping.

My Intrepid Boy Scout

Daddy is in charge of the fire

Steve tutored the kids in good tent etiquette, as well as how to build and maintain a pretty little cooking fire.

We roasted hot dogs and then had s'mores

We got to relax with nothing we had to do

My favorite place to be

Steve set up the tent with the kids, while I finished working.  He and I planned to sleep in our own bed.  I suggested that we could just send the kids outside while we had date night, but we ended up staying out with them for the evening.  We had dinner over the fire.  I read the kids a chapter from "The Silver Chair."  When it was dark out, Steve pulled out the telescope and we looked at Venus and the moon.

Between story time and telescope time, Paul and Julia took Petra and Nathan on a snipe hunt in our back acre.  I went along to make sure things didn't get out of hand.  Paul broke off, purportedly to scope out a different part of the trail.  Meanwhile, Julia went on at length about how a snipe was a black, flightless bird with a long beak.  As we came to a bend in the trail, Julia said, "Where can Paul be?  We should have caught up with him by now?"

Nathan grabbed my hand as we entered a darker part of the trail.

"There's his sweatshirt in the middle of trail.  Oh NO!  What's happened??"

Just then a black, flightless bird trotted out onto the trail.

Petra and Nathan were surprised, but the suspense hadn't scared them too much.  I think they appreciated the practical joke.  Paul got his sweatshirt back, saying, "You wouldn't believe how hard it is to hide in these bushes."  Then he put the black chicken back in the barn.

The kids didn't sleep well, and by 3:45 am they were all back in their own beds.  We were all a little bit out of sorts the next day, but I think it was not too high a price to pay for a memorable evening.

Just a little late

This is a picture of Julia finding the last candy Easter Egg in the house.  Yesterday.  Only 10 days late.

It was hers to find.  Easter morning, there were enough plastic eggs for each child to find a dozen, and Julia found 11.  Her siblings beat her to the easier eggs, I suppose.  None of us could find that last egg.  Easter afternoon, the kids got to hunt for eggs at their grandparents' house.  Guess who came up short that time too?  It was not a stellar time for Julia.

Then Tuesday, while lounging in our guest room "doing her homework," she noticed the last egg on the floor by the fireplace.  VINDICATION!  There was a Cadbury Cream Egg inside too, which made the find all the better.

And here is a picture of Paul today.  We'll say that he is celebrating Earth Day, just a day late.  One of his teachers gave the students an assignment to send in a picture of themselves doing something Earth Day related.  So I made him go out and clean some trash out of the creek.

Paul, Nathan, and I started at the culvert by the road and followed the runoff ditch down the yard, picking up litter as we went.  Deep in the brush at the lower end of the property there is a patch of land, littered with really old beer cans and broken glass.  It looks like it was once a dumping ground for the farm, as well as a spot where guys had a beer party and just dumped stuff.  It has looked like this for decades, but since it is hidden away, we never got around to dealing with it.  Today we cleaned out two grocery bags of junk.

During our explore along the creek, we balanced on stepping stones, found half of a robin's egg, and saw moss blooming, or whatever it does.  I got seeds in my hair and had to comb them out.  Crossing the creek once, Nathan said, "It's time for some parkour."  

Now Paul is trying to persuade me NOT to go back and clean out the tire we found. "It's been there so long now, Mom.  It's part of the ecosystem.  It's growing things."

Me with nose wrinkled, "Yes.  Like mosquitoes."

Thursday in isolation

It was a pretty average day of COVID19 isolation for us.  

I worked for just over an hour in the morning, then at 8, got the kids started on getting dressed and having breakfast.  My goal is to be starting school work about 9am, after the kids have walked the dog and fed the cats.

School work went a little quicker than usual and we were done in the early afternoon today.  I had a teleconference meeting at 10am and another at 3pm today.

Nathan cutting up for a selfie with me, while we work on an online leveled reader for him.

Thursdays are math and science for Paul and Julia, math for Petra, and Nathan had a bunch of little tasks on various subjects.  We just got our educational hotspot from the school so that the competition for our scrappy little internet bandwidth is a little bit relaxed.  It's a little frustrating, because the educational hotspot has blocked certain websites, like YouTube.  But the kids' teachers sometimes use YouTube for content, which is where we have the most struggle for bandwidth.

The kids miss their friends and "normalcy," but this daily routine is beginning to feel more normal (I think.)  Petra has started doing the online Google Meets with her teacher each afternoon, even though she mostly understands the math material.  She likes seeing her friends and showing off her pet rabbit to them.

Today the boys had peanut butter and jelly for lunch, and the girls had baked potatoes with cheese. Each day we have a little outdoor recess after lunch, preferably outside, unless the weather is awful.  Monday the cold, cold wind persuaded me to let the kids play sports video games instead.  Recess today included a running, tackling, wrestling game until I was afraid that one of us was going to get broken.

Petra, tackling me, while Nathan sweeps in to steal my hat

Julia enjoying being outdoors in the sun

Julia realizing that I am taking her picture

The kids were done with their school work early today, which allowed me to get back to work earlier in the afternoon.  Otherwise, I'm struggling to get my 6 hours of work in before 6 in the evening.  Today they walked their Easter baskets back to grandma's house and stayed to watch a movie.

Steve came home and made dinner.   I've discovered that he's a lot more comfortable with making meals if I plan things that don't require the cook to make up the recipe as they go along.  

After dinner tonight we had game time rather than TV time.  Steve has been playing Dungeons and Dragons with the kids.  It has led to Steve talking in a sort-of Scottish accent as a dwarf cleric and interesting discussions like this - 

Paul: Vive le Revolution!

Mom: Wait, you're a bunch of wondering adventurers.  What's your motivation for starting a revolution?

Julia: It was on Paul's bucket list.

The family had time for DnD after dinner

Easter Morning Egg Hunt

Happy Easter!

We are greatly blessed and deeply thankful to our Lord and Savior.

Egg coloring

The plan had originally been that we would be on our way home from Florida on Good Friday. I hadn't thought through how we would celebrate Easter yet.  But plans changed, and we did our egg coloring on Good Friday like we do most years.

Twelve eggs were not quite enough for these guys.  A couple of the raw eggs from the fridge were colored too before we were done.  I might have had to spin a few of them to verify whether they had been hard boiled yet or not.

It’s just a t-shirt

We got PJ this t-shirt because we thought it was funny.  We didn't intend for it to be prophetic.

Sunday afternoon at home

We took a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Here is Petra, age 10, leading a Dungeons & Dragons Campaign

Meanwhile, Julia was chilling on the couch with her phone.

Selfie with Julia

Later in the evening we all watched Rogue 1.  This after watching Solo the day before, and Star Wars Episodes 1, 2 and 3 last weekend.  Can you guess what is on the docket for next weekend?

Home Learning

Nathan made a LEGO dice all by himself.  See 1, 4 & 5?

Friday morning and Paul and Julia were both indulging in some caffeine to help them make it through their studies

Petra sneaking a peak at classmates during a Google Meet session.  Her language arts teacher read them a Story.  Nathan listed in too.

Having sufficient bandwidth for their online learning is a constant problem.  We're muddling through, but we're hoping for an educational hotspot from the school to help ease some of the tension.

Afternoon Recess

While the kids are doing their learning from home, we have instituted afternoon outdoor recess.  It's a great time of year for it.

High School Student Gets Much Needed Recess Time

Julia & Petra on the web swing shortly before we decide that we need a 1-person-at-a-time rule

Nathan and our Grumpy Little Old Recess Lady

Nathan was taking a break because his legs felt wobbly after a ride on the web swing the PJ pushing.

Zoo 2019

I managed to get all the kids to the zoo with me.

I saw monkeys

The monkeys saw me

No trip to the zoo is complete without somebody being eaten by the alligator

We love the manatees

Julia let Nathan ride the bald eagle

See my fierce predators?

I think they had fun.

Friday night lights

This picture could be any high school football field across the United States on 8/30/19.  But it was the field that Paul was playing his first marching band half-time show on.  And I was so proud!

1st Driving Lesson

I've spoken to Paul and Julia about distracted driving, not using the high beams in the fog, and being wary of the dicey intersections near our house.

We've had Paul driving mowers for a couple of years now.

On Sunday, Steve gave Paul his first behind-the-wheel-of-the-car driving lesson.  They piled into our big, red, automatic Suburban and went up the driveway.

Drive up the driveway, reverse down the driveway.
Drive up the driveway, reverse down the driveway.
Drive up the driveway, reverse down the driveway and around the loop.
Drive up the driveway, reverse down the driveway. 

Drive up the driveway, reverse down the driveway.

Drive up the driveway, reverse down the driveway and around the loop.

All the kids were excited.
Petra hid up in the treehouse at first.
Maggie stood at the screen door and whined and cried because something was going on and she was left out.

I'm not sure how much Paul enjoyed his lesson, but afterward he came into the house and collapsed for a while.

Clothing struggles

Keeping the kids clothed in stuff that fits is an ongoing struggle.  They keep growing.  The kids, I mean. Not the clothes.  Unless you count the bathing suits that stretch out from chlorine water exposure, but that's another problem.

Last night I sent Nathan with money to buy a new taekwondo uniform.  He looks so nice now in the new one.  He can bend over to touch his toes without showing off his underwear.

A couple of weeks ago I had to make an "emergency" run to Goodwill to replace Paul's shorts, which were getting a little too form-fitting.  We picked up 4 pairs so he could make it through a week of school without having to do laundry for shorts.  He wore one of the pairs this week for picture day.

I, on the other hand, haven't outgrown anything since 1992.  Several years ago, I bought a pair of blue jeans from Goodwill.  When I got them home, I realized they were missing the button, so I found an appropriate sized replacement button and sewed it on.  Since then the jeans had been patched in both knees (by my mother-in-law), had started tearing at the patches, and finally had been cut-off into shorts for me (by my mother-in-law).  The seams have started to fray, and there is a small hole above one of the back pockets.  Yesterday I came home from running errands and realized the button had fallen off somewhere. 

Steve says it's time to let them go.

Super Reading Program

The library's summer reading program this year was super hero themed. I think the pictures speak for themselves.

First Day of School 2019

We have a Sophomore, 8th grader, 4th grader and 1st grader.

I love the slightly crazed look in Julia's eye as she waits for her pre-dawn bus ride

Petra is ready to go

Nathan rides separately from Petra, but here he is ready for full days of school

We have four children in four different buildings, but all of them are in the same building that they had last year, so that helps reduce a little stress.  Paul accidentally skipped English class on his first day.  His explanation went something like this:

So last year I had band right after lunch, and this year, once lunch was done I headed to band class.  In that hall on the way to band I saw a study hall, and I noticed a bunch of band kids in there, so I thought, "The band teacher must be out, and we're having study hall time instead," which I would like to mention happened several times last year.  And I asked, "So we've got study hall now?" and people were like, "Yeah."  So I stayed in the study hall room, but then, when the bell rang, people started going band class, and I was like, "Wait, what?" and I looked at my schedule and was like, "Ah, nuts."

We had him write an e-mail of explanation to his English teacher, who was apparently fairly understanding.  

Nathan bought his first school lunch yesterday.  I think he is enjoying that privilege.  He is allowed to pack a snack, but I'm a little concerned about what to send him with for snacks and lunch because there are children with some serious allergies in his room.  

Petra and Julia appear to be holding their own with their classes.

I'm proud of my crew and excited about this year.

Family Gig

The band Steve is in had a gig at a community event last Friday.  He played early enough in the evening, that I brought the whole family out for the first set.  I got some pictures of the kids playing with giant Jenga sets.  If you zoom in, you can see Steve on his bass in the background.