back to the e-learning

This week has been a series of ups and downs. When I write these posts and reflect on what has happened over the last 5 days, I think, "wow, that seems so long ago?!" The days are definitely slow, but to me that doesn't seem to be a bad thing. Anna and Paige started back up with e-learning this week. It was different than it has been in the past, because teachers had some stop-gap fillers until Spring Break and then began with new instruction after the break. So this is how it looks:

Anna has assignments dropped into her virtual classrooms, each managed by the different teachers. Some are better at communication than others and the consistency between types of communication isn't there yet. We're spending some time making sure she's found all the things she needs to do. She also has online classes that are live throughout the week. Some are Monday/Wednesday and some are Tuesday/Thursday, but at different times. I'm proud of her efforts to get her work done and to do it independently. We're working on taking advantage of doing things multiply times if the chance is offered as opposed to settling for whatever grade we get. From this point on things will be graded, instead of just general completion grades.

Paige on the other hand has moved away from the packet and into regular instruction from her teacher. They meet from 9-10 every morning and then she has individual things to complete. She gets back online at 11:30 for a small group session with her teacher and fewer classmates. The second session for her is much more enjoyable as she can interact more. I can tell it's hard for her to sit for that long and look at the computer. We're also working on navigating her virtual classroom and reading all instructions. Overall she's getting all of her stuff done by lunch time.

At one point she started singing and I looked over to see they were doing a class song together. She had her earbuds in so all I could hear was her little voice and a song that is so familiar and touching. 

As for my class, I finally got the hang of online teaching this week, just in time to end next week. My major assignments are in and graded so I am sitting tight for the exams next week. Patrick continues to review for the AP exam on May 11th and is working hard to keep the kids motivated. This week the seniors received word that the rest of their year will not be at school and I know that's tough.

Other than that here are some fun photos of our other activities:

I sewed a face mask! It's double layer with a fitted nose bridge and a pocket for a filter (I use a coffee filter). I think it turned out well and I used items I found at the house. Funniest part of this is my cord had a short in it so I had to have a member of the family sit on the floor to hold the cord just right in order for the sewing machine to work. Well, the next day I decided to repair the cord. I managed to order the part from Lowes, pick it up quickly and while wearing my mask, as well as do the repair all before Patrick was done teaching. He was impressed! The mask was made from the material my first kitchen curtains were made of.

Paige and Patrick made a bird house. She still has to paint it and will put it in our backyard garden.

Anna and I accidentally dressed as twins! :) I've been doing her daily Abs of Steel PE homework with her and it is HILARIOUS! Our abs of flab are a little outta shape, but that doesn't stop us from laughing and being exhausted afterward.

I took the girls in for their annual well visits. After several phone calls and understanding the new procedures, I felt comfortable taking them to the doctor's. Turns out their office is doing mostly telehealth for sick patients and not testing for COVID-19. So if they suspect any of those symptoms they don't come in and send them elsewhere for testing. The office was very quiet and we may have been the only ones there. Anna got a shot and bless her heart, it hurt so we got some Sonic afterward.

We ordered hammocks for the backyard. Many people around our neighborhood are sporting them now. Paige and I enjoyed some read aloud time in them and I have to say it's my new favorite spot.

The girls have enjoyed FaceTime with their besties. I know Paige especially misses her Sally. They are writing letters back and forth to each other in addition to email. Let's just say there is no shortage of emojis being exchanged.

When you are on quarantine, you get creative with dinner, especially without going to the store for two weeks. (I am proud to report it will be almost three before I have to go back again.) So the girls were thrilled with our somewhat orange and not very nutritional dinner the other night.

We watched the Disney sing along show and loved it!

And apparently I have white iris in my cottage garden. It's been so lovely enjoying it this year. Our flowers and lettuce in my garden beds are popping up so I look forward to eating from it soon. It's been great having a half share in our local farm's CSA which keeps fresh produce coming every week. We're even trying some new things like icicle radish and turnips!

So we've had some highs this week and lots of fun memories to hang our hats on. But we've also had some lows. The girls took the news about school being closed pretty hard and we're processing that with them. With some things in our state starting to open back up again, I am not sure how progress is going to go. Our family will be continuing to stay close to home and not go out in the community when we can avoid it.

I read something the other day that made me pause: "Our faith was made for times like these. This is not a drill!" As we continue to work through the uncertainty and even fear, I am loving our daily times in the Word with the girls. We are putting feet to faith by prayer and reading the Bible. Even the girls are using scripture to encourage and exhort each other. Nothing in this world is certain, but we can be certain of a God who hears and loves us.

Spring Break Fun

While I am not actually on Spring Break, I'm still managing to have some fun with my peeps in between grading and teaching. I'm actually really thankful their break fell this week because it's a heavy grading week with a couple of assignments due. So Patrick has been entertaining the girls and I'm not feeling the tug between home school and work.

First up, we dyed eggs. We've always done this as more of a spring activity instead of an Easter activity. I decided to save this up for spring break as something fun to do. Anna is now in this phase of making strange faces.

Paige so far has been the impetus for lots of our fun. She wanted to have a "sleep in" where we all sleep together in the living room. I really think she just wanted to snuggle with me all night, but that was not happening! So we stayed up late watching movies and all found spots in the living room. I definitely demanded the air mattress. Patrick got the couch. Anna had her spare mattress and we made Paige a cozy nest. Overall everybody slept well although I think we were tired by the end of the next day.

Paige also wanted to bust out the slip-n-slide which on a fairly warm day. She managed to convince her big sister to join even though Anna thought it was cold and was only there for 5 minutes. It was funny to watch them when the cold water hit.

Patrick and the girls went camping in the backyard on Thursday night. It got down to 43 degrees and I said, "No thank you!" Anna set up the air mattress (glamping!) while Patrick and Paige slept on teh ground. By 6am, they were all in the house, but had a good time. Let's just say it was an early bed time that night!

s'more dip!

On Friday, we helped cultivate some beds at the church garden. The Powells joined us so it was nice to have some company and see a few other folks at a safe distance while working outside on a beautiful day. Paige and I have managed to do some bike rides together now that Anna has a bigger bike I can borrow. 

This week Patrick and Anna ran their virtual races as well. Anna did a 1.9 mile race in 13:50 and Patrick ran a 19K in 92 minutes. I didn't get any pics of Anna as she was pre-teening, but we did get to go to several places and cheer for Patrick. I sent out an email to friends in the area to see if they would come out and cheer. A couple of guys even ran part of the course with him!

Finish line!

We also celebrated a couple of birthdays this weekend: our pastor, Rhett with a parade and my mom, via zoom. We're still trying to make them feel special even in all of this!

And we ended the week with a virtual game of Ticket to Ride with the Currys. We each have the board game so it was easy to set up in both houses and just keep track of who moved where. 

It was a laid back Spring Break with fun and downtime at home. School starts back tomorrow and it will look a little different with a more concerted effort toward virtual school. Paige and Anna will both have regularly scheduled class meetings online and I am hoping that when we all have to be video conferencing on Monday, our internet  doesn't give out. If I can just make it another week and a half, I'll be done with class and this won't seem as stressful. It also feels weird to return "back to school." In some ways, this week felt like the beginning of summer break and I'm wondering if we won't struggle to get back into the routine. Plus, who knows what will happen on May 1st!?

Other happenings

Patrick and the girls are on spring break this week. I'll be teaching and grading mock interviews which are due. I'm fortunate that this year I will be getting some help with these from our full time staff. Thank goodness!

On Saturday night I cut Patrick's hair. Ashley let me borrow their clippers and after watching multiple YouTube videos I felt confident enough to try it. I feel like I didn't do half bad. Nobody via Zoom or in the neighborhood would really notice the spots that I think may not have blended quite like I wanted it to. I'm sure his hair person will have to make some corrections when he gets back to her in another month, but for now I'm feeling pretty good with how it came out.

We've purchased into our church's farm CSA. We get a half share and it's been so great to get local fresh produce, some of which we use and eat regularly and others we have never even heard of. We even had a chance to volunteer on Friday while we stayed far away from others. We harvested a bunch of kale from our own garden and have been making kale chips. They are a lot like popcorn and potato chips. They don't last long!

Paige's tire blew a hole in it so they worked on fixing it and now she's set to go. While waiting for the parts to arrive, the girls have figured out how to ride on the same bike together. Goof balls!

Did I mention we did a dance bomb for Patrick's students the other day while he was teaching?! The girls and I totally held up this sign in the middle of his class, played Pharell's Happy and then started dancing in the background. They loved it.

Paige wrote a unicorn acrostic poem for school. :) And Anna has been reading books to her just like they used to. Precious!

I've almost tackled my entire house cleaning list. We still have the office and playroom to go, but those have been in extreme use lately. Let's just say LEGO town is occupying some serious real estate up there. The girls have actually been producing a LEGO movie using the iPad. Can't wait to see this.

Anna has been running to prepare for a race. We thought she was supposed to do a 19K where she runs a mile at a time, but turns out she needed to run it all at once. So Patrick switched her to the 3K and she will run that this week. Her miles have gotten so fast with her PR being 6:45. That's crazy considering we have a ton of hills in our neighborhood! Patrick may actually run the 19K himself this weekend. I think I will get friends who live around us to pop out and cheer as he runs past.

And of course, we are really enjoying time with our buddies the Powells. There have been lots of walks and exploring at our local lake.

I end with wildlife Paige and her toad. The girls have begun hitting us up hard with the dog request again. Yeesh! So I am quite happy when she finds another animal she can play with and return to the wild.