Coronatine Days 37-40

Day 37 Monday - The letter of the week was X, so Jenna made a Xylophone

 And then practiced her letters in the backyard with chalk paint. (Thanks Grandma Linda!)

While I was out picking up our free kid lunches from the local high school (anyone else have a million individual milk cartons in their fridge now?), I saw a big fire truck go by. Turns out it was going to the complex Grandma Jan lives in! A giant tree had fallen over right next to her building.

Thankfully it did not land on her unit, but it did land on the building right next to her, trapping a man inside.

 We rode bikes over to watch the clean-up process that afternoon.

 Apparently it was a really old tree....over 150 years.

 That evening I pulled out a couple books we own about trees and read them to the kids. Because obviously I'm a true homeschooling Mom now, and everything is a lesson.

 Day 38 Tuesday - I'm sure we did some schoolwork on this day, but we also played Monopoly.

 And watered plants with our sunglasses on, of course.

 Look! Those are sprouts coming up from my potatoes!

 Andrew loves helping me outside.

I got a free sample in the mail from Sonlight of their homeschooling curriculum. I've been doing a little research, and thinking and praying about next year. Absolutely no decisions have been made, but I'm exploring all our options for school.

Who else is in love with Disney+? We signed up for the free trial this week, and we've been enjoying watching the Disney Nature shows in the evenings. We've learned a ton about penguins, dolphins, Antarctica, and World War II sunken ships.

 See, told you I'm a true homeschooling Mom now. Even our TV shows are educational. Ha!

 Day 39 Thursday - I used my sourdough starter to make pancakes and they were really good!

We decided to break our schedule up a bit. Rather than try to power through school and then go outside mid-afternoon, we took a walk mid-morning. School took longer to complete, but we still had time for a bike ride that afternoon.

 Followed by trampoline-jumping with their shark pad sprinkler underneath!

 My view from our tent.

Day 40 Thursday - Lucas has to write a story about an insect for school. He decided to write about a praying mantis named flappy, who lives in a sock drawer. If you're an Usborne fan, he based it on one of the monsters from Billy and the Mini Monsters.

 I caught these two reading in the tent.

My Dad and I went on a bike ride with all 4 kids in the afternoon. We found a lost dog who didn't have a tag, so we ended up following him around for a good half an hour before his owner appeared. We were quite a ways from home, and then on our way back Lucas got hurt. While I was helping him, Andrew climbed out of the bike trailer and ran off across the baseball fields. We ended up being out over an hour, and Jenna's poor pale skin burned. Always an adventure with these kids!

Someone recently asked me what I've been making for dinners. Honestly....I seem to have lost my love of cooking. At least temporarily! Rather than planning out meals, I am finding myself standing in front of the fridge at 5pm wondering what to make. And hoping someone else will make it for me. This is SO unlike me! I think it really comes down to this: I can't do it all. Right now I am focusing so much time and brainpower on helping the kids with their schoolwork. I'm also having a lot of fun being a new Usborne consultant. What little time/energy I have left is spent picking up the house, playing with the kids in the afternoons, and then scrambling to put together meals. Anyone else really burned out on cooking?