Spring part 2

Kid Quotes

Peter
"We were playing school and at the end we pretended that their moms were dead so we were taking care of the babies."

"I never never gonna go anywhere. Never gonna go anybody's house and and play with anybody"
"Be with my my mommy and my dad. That's all the friends that I can see."

Adeline

"I'm reading it to Peter in my mind."

Everett
"We cleaned out our closet so we could have a science office in the back and you can get dressed in the front if you don't want people to see you."

"We're going to have to stick this into a real taco."

I would wish to be a "hamster with Lego legs and wings."

"But we're trying to make Abram fly."

"Mystery room, here I come. I have a mystery to solve."

Kids Playing Together at Home

leaf rubbing and celery stamping

 

Everett

Adeline

 

Drive-thru Pre-K graduation

Peter

he took off all the pizza toppings and ate the crust

Abram

He wore himself out crying after eating cayenne pepper

 

Playing Near our Home

The kids built this "house" over a couple of days.

"We're going to live in it and then come home for breakfast and lunch and dinner and snacks." - Everett

Thanks Gramma for the shirt!

Before and after this huge oak tree near our house had some of its branches fall off during a rainstorm:

Can you spot the turtle?

 

We went exploring and found this cool place behind some trees near our house. There was a homemade bow on the ground there.

After reading a book called Winnie Finn, Worm Farmer the kids wanted to make a worm farm. It started with about 15 collected worms, produce peels, and mud in a #10 can and ended with me relocating the operation back to the foot of the tree where most of the worms had been found. 

Yes, Adeline does have that worm on a string as her pet. I rescued it after taking the picture. And yes, she is wearing an astronaut suit in that last picture as she checks on how her worms are faring. 

we saw these cows while on a long walk

  

Lake Sam Rayburn

 Demonstration Gardens

The kids discovered that the banks of Lanana Creek abut the demonstration garden

SFA Mast Arboretum

Lanana Creek Trail

I think this is a crawdad hole. I have found at least 5 over the last few weeks of exploring.

Gayla Mize Garden Recreation trails

Ellen Trout Zoo

Miscellaneous

  

We are doing okay through the quarantine. We got to go back to church for a small sacrament meeting today. Dallin is in the midst of his first set of summer classes. Alicia was very happy when the library let us check out books again. Everett is on book 6 of Harry Potter. Adeline got an allergy test, and she shares some allergies with her father. Peter is now completely potty-trained. Abram loves making animal and vehicle sounds and pointing out body parts. 

Spring of Isolation

Kid Quotes

Everett:

"When I turn eight I'm going to get another "t" in my name 'cuz that's eight letters."
"I just want to eat bananas the whole day."

Adeline:
(I didn't write down her quotes this time, but here's some audio of her making up a song.)

Peter:
(Everett: "Stop kicking me.") Peter: "I'm not kicking you. I'm punching you with my feet."

Everett:


Adeline:

The kids set up some "parties"- a Star Wars one with Lego decorations and blueberry muffins and another party with toast and spread options.

 

Playing near our house

helping to wash pollen off of our car

Gone on a walk Be back soon

Can you spot the frog?

Pottery using some clay from our ditch

after drying in the sun

SFA Mast Arboretum and Ruby M. Mize Azalea Gardens

Playing at Home

the kids have put together quite a few puzzles recently

 

Egg Hunt and Dyeing

Some of the kids' creations using the NGA Kids app from the National Gallery of Art

 

Pictures of Spring

one of the biggest fire ant mounds I've seen in our yard

Our coronavirus life-

It's been an adjustment, but we're doing well. We've tried to keep up routines.

Dallin's schooling is all online now. He holes himself up in the bedroom for class. He's done a few presentations for classes from there. The kids are generally accommodating. The biggest difference has been in his practicum class, since he does not have a school to do it in. The governor of Texas announced that public schools will be closed for the rest of the school year.

Everett completed the packet from his school and has done some other learning activities and apps at home. He started some piano lessons on a free app called Skoove. Mostly he has been reading a lot and playing. Sometimes he'll just sit and read for an hour straight, or do twenty pages in a math workbook without us even suggesting it. He recently felt brave enough to start riding his bike with two wheels!

We've had some gorgeous weather and are grateful for lots of space to play by our house.

We have church at home and it has been a sweet experience involving the kids in the spiritual thoughts, scripture lessons, and songs. It's a blessing to have Dallin play piano and administer the sacrament.