May 2020

This is always a fun thing to do and I thought maybe the kids might be getting too old for it but we went to Highland Glen park and fed the ducks one Sunday afternoon.  It was a fun get out of the house activity.

My kids have been begging for eye masks since it is usually light out when they go to bed and when they wake up.  I just made some for them thinking they wouldn't really use them but they totally wear them every night to bed.  I think it's so cute when I go check on them and see them wearing them.

After not having any family dinners for 3 months we decided we should do a girls/sister night out at Jennifer's house.  We all got take out and sat around and talked.  Then my mom brought my dad's homemade oreo ice cream and Jennifer made a yummy bundt cake.  It was the perfect night and so so fun to catch up in person again.

My ministering sister works at Thanksgiving Point and offered us free passes to the Thanksgiving Point Farm.  We've actually never been and it ended up being a blast.  My kids could've stayed there a few more hours I think. We had a wagon ride, horse ride and just walked around seeing all the animals.  We were asked to wear masks so we did and I was surprised how well my kids wore them for the most part.

The girls for home school had a rock unit and learned about different types of rocks.  We had to go on a scavenger hunt for rocks, they got to find a rock, give it a name and even interview it.  haha.  The best part was on Friday they were supposed to make a Rock dessert.  There were 3 different recipes they could do and of course my girls decided they should do all 3.  It was actually a really fun unit for them that they enjoyed a lot.

A picture from our family soccer game.  We had to switch teams every few minutes so everyone got a turn with mom and dad.

Mother's Day was a bit different this year not having dinner at my parents and not going to church.  But we had a great day at home and drove over to my parents to say hi and give my mom her Happiness book.  I changed it up this year and did the Happiness Book digitally and then had it printed and mailed to me. It turned out really cute and it was so much easier then doing it by hand.  I don't think I'll ever go back. I got a new crimper for Mother's day so I crimped my hair and the girls, I think it turned out cute.

Towards the middle of May we started letting the kids play with friends again.  The rule was they had to stay outside and play.  Friends weren't allowed in our house and they weren't allowed in there's.  Which was so nice because they were so excited to have friends again that they didn't care if it was hot or cold (which we had both) they would just stay outside all day.  That rule only lasted a few weeks but it sure was nice.  And it was nice to have friends again.

Jaron's friend Graham's dad started taking Graham and a few friends mountain biking.  Jaron has been hooked ever since and is in love with mountain biking.  Shane has now started taking him on some trails as well and he's begging for a bike with gears.  Only problem is we can't find a gear bike his size.  He just needs to grow a bit!

May 13 was our last day of home school instruction.  Woot woot, we did it!  We survived, got through it all and even learned a lot I would say.  It wasn't easy and there were many hard days but we all felt happy on this last day.  There were still some other activities, zoom meetings, speech for Jaron, etc. but the daily list of things to do was mostly over and we officially declared it summer.

During the last week of May we stopped by the school to pick up our final things that were never sent home since school stopped so abruptly.  It was fun for them to see their teachers one last time and have a little closure to the school year.  Jaron wrote the cutest note to Mrs. Correa and made her read it right in front of her.

The school did a video Dance Festival this year and asked all the students to record 30 seconds of the video and then they put it all together.  I was proud of the kids that they participated in this and let me film them doing the dance and it turned out so cute when they put it all together.

Here's some Last Day of school pictures I took of each of the kids.

Maybe the biggest things to happen this month is we got 2 new guinea pigs.  The kids during quarantine kept trying to open an animal shelter complete with slides to show us how the basement was going to be set up for each different type of animal.  When they realized that wasn't going to work they put flyers up for a dog sitting/walking business and were very disappointed when no one called.  So then every morning they would report to me on what new guinea pigs we could buy.  So I finally gave in and we got 2 this time so they could have a friend.  So introducing Chip and Ozzie.  The kids love them and play with them a lot, at least once every single day, so they are very loved.

And here is Aria playing violin for the guinea pigs.  That was her one request when she was asking for new guinea pigs, is that could she please practice the violin with them listening...why yes you can!

The biggest bummer of the month was literally within seconds of walking in the house from picking up school belongings, Jaron got his pinky toe stuck on his jumpy tube/ball and broke his toe.  He was in a lot of pain so we quickly took him to instacare and yep it was broken.  When we saw the podiatrist the next week he said he also tore a ligament.  We thought he might have to get a pin put in it but the dr. said since it's just a pinky toe lets just leave it, it will heal.  There is a chance he'll get a hammer toe when he's about 30 but that it can be fixed then if he gets one.  So he had to be in a boot for about 3 1/2 weeks.  No running, no jumping on tramps or anywhere but they did tell him he could ride a bike and swim so he was going to be ok after all.  

The afternoon that Jaron broke his toe his good friend Graham came over and brought Jaron a little get better treat...only to find out that later that same day Graham would fall off his bike and break his arm.  These 2 do everything together...they've been in the same class for both Kindergarten and 1st grade, gotten strep through twice just days apart and now broken bones on the same day.

And the best news of the month...our pool opened up!! We weren't sure with lock down if we would open up but it did and we are thrilled to have it open!  This day I only took the girls because Jaron had just broken his toe and he wasn't able to swim yet.  Jaron got a bike ride in our trailer from Shane to go get some ice cream though!

April 2020

After spring break we hit home school up again and got more serious.  Some days were better than others. Jaron got sick of all the videos he had to watch and the girls got sick of all the worksheets they had to do.  But they also had some fun activities they got to do.

Market Day - This is usually an entire 2nd grade all day activity where they set up a store and have fake money to go buy things/do games, etc. and then they sell their stuff as well.  So the girls were a bit sad they had to do this at home but we actually made it really fun. All 5 of us set up a store and so they had a fun morning going to each store and selling their stuff.  Siena sold some cookies and washcloth bunnies and Aria made up 3 different horse games and gave out prizes for them.  Jaron set up a couple games and mom and dad sold 'coupon's' for some things they might enjoy (dates with mom, late nights, toenail painting, bike rides, etc.)

The girls learned about Picasso and drew and colored a Picasso bunny.  They learned about the water cycle and cloud formations.  It was fun for them to do some different things besides just work sheets and I'm sure if they were in school doing these it would've been more fun.  Some days these posters and things just took up time but I appreciated the teachers trying to give them all the experiences they would have had in school.

Jaron wrote a cute newspaper article about someone that has taught them something.  He wrote it about his soccer coach he's had for a few years and was sad he couldn't play soccer this year because of Quarantine.

The school had a 'School Teacher parade' the Friday before spring break which was so cute and fun.  All the teachers, staff, bus drivers, etc. all decorated their cars and drove through each neighborhood waving to all the students.  All the kids made signs and it ended up being such a fun morning and we all felt loved and remembered during such a crazy time.

Grandma and Grandpa didn't forget about us either.  We've been sad not to be able to have family dinners but they've been stopping by with treats, spaghetti sauce, etc. and lots of virtual hugs.

Easter was of course different this year but we were happy the Easter Bunny still found us. We didn't have any city egg hunting to go to but we still did our own hunt, Egg dying.  It was nice to have our own home church on Easter and then we had a big and long family zoom meeting which was fun to see everyone and get caught up on things happening with other family members.

Just so we can document it, we've been asked to start wearing masks when we go places around people.  It feels so weird wearing one and sometimes just want to laugh at how funny we all look wearing these masks.  Many people won't do it but if it keeps my family and I safe and slows down the spread of this then I'm all for it.  Let's just do it and get back to normal.  I ended up hand sewing a mask for me and the 3 kids and then we got a couple more various places so we have a few for Shane and I.

We've been doing lots of puzzles during quarantine.  Here are some we did this month. Jaron has been into it the most but everyone has had fun working on it from time to time.

Siena has been wanting to learn to cook more.  So slowly I've been teaching her how to make things.  She's trying to do more on her own as well.  One Sunday she found a recipe online she wanted to try by herself and she did a great job and was so proud of her creation.

Jaron got his v-tech watch for his birthday and several months ago we couldn't find it.  We have looked everywhere for that watch and I was convinced he had left it at a friends because it was no where in this house. Well one day Shane was cleaning out a closet and looked in an old backpack of Jaron's and found it!!!  Hallelujah....Jaron was so excited and hasn't stopped wearing it since.

Siena lost a couple more teeth.  She's trying to make up for lost time but is excited every time she has a loose tooth.

One afternoon we had a family football scrimmage at the park.  We've also had a family soccer game as well.  Jaron sure has a lot of energy and is always begging someone to play catch, soccer, throw the football, etc. so it was fun to do some things he enjoys even it I'm getting old and makes me sore the next day.

On Earth Day we took a field trip to Bridle Veil falls.  It was nice weather and felt so good to get out of the house for the afternoon.  Amazing what a change of scenery will do for everyone.

We took the kids to the Highland bike park one afternoon and had a great time learning to up and over dirt hills.  Jaron loved it, the girls were a bit more hesitant but got the hang of it after a while.  The 2nd time we went Jaron started from almost the top of this steep hill and I was nervous he was going to crash but he didn't.