Thursday: Lego, teacher

Today went much better than yesterday, although I'm not really sure why.  The boys worked for quite a while for their Lego challenges.

Isaac's was to grab a printed piece and make a scene around it.  He grabbed a target and made an archery range.  It had one...um..aisle that the target changed from a target to a monster that shot missiles.

Joshua made a party for Snowfoot.  It included an ice cream cake, donuts (those were actually for me though), a cake with a polar bear on it, ice water with a straw, a polar bear Popsicle, a knife (to cut the cake), and some fish (precut - the blue squares).

This afternoon Isaac had the chance to say good bye in person to his teacher.  He finally watched the goodbye video from last Friday today, so it was nice that he could see her right away again because he was a bit sad after that.  No one else came while we were there, so we spent a bit more time talking than I expected.

Wednesday: meh

Today wasn't awesome.  It wasn't terrible, but Isaac didn't want to do anything.  While I understand, I didn't want to do anything either, it was annoying.

We took a walk this morning; the boys got hot.

Isaac helped Joshua with his math.

Hurricane remnants came through.  I read that while this is Hurricane Christobal, it was formed from remnants of Tropical Storm Amanda.

Tuesday: the day

Today was not as awesome as yesterday.  It wasn't bad, it was just more of the same thing.  I was trying to grade and the boys were trying to not do school (sort-of) and it just felt blah.

We did make it to the library for the first time!  Oh, finally.  I've put holds on a ton of books but only a few were available.  I think there was a run on the library right before everything shut down.  I'm glad we were able to get some, but Isaac is going through his books at the rate of about a book per day and I really need more for him.  He likes the graphic novels and the books with a lot of pictures, but I think we might need to change to more words and fewer pictures if he keeps this up.

Joshua worked on making a belt holder out of Lego.  It currently has two levels, but more can be added as needed.

Monday: day 1

Today was the first day of summer school.  It was actually kind of a normal summer day.

We started with current events.  Yesterday there was a Black Lives Matter rally at the park where messages were written in chalk.  We walked around the park reading them and then wrote our own.  Are we a bit late?  Yes.  Better late than never though.

Hope's virtual science camp started today with making a marble run.  Joshua got into it a bit more than I was expecting, and overall it worked better than I was expecting.

By the time they were done with that it was lunch time.  The afternoon went by quickly.  We finally were able to grill tonight for dinner because we had cleaned out the garage and gotten the grill out.

Sunday: bed throne

The boys decided to put every soft thing in the house on our bed.  Joshua thought we should nap on the throne.  He tried it out and declared it comfy.

The boys have been paying more attention to the cats lately.  I'm not sure if it's because they're bored or they've just become more interested.

Friday: last day of school

This past Sunday I looked over and Isaac was crying because he missed Saurav.  It turns out that they had changed schools, but we were still able to meet up at the playground today.  After playing a rousing game of Gorilla Monster they played a game of chess.  Apparently they're both into it right now.

We stopped at Captain Sundae.  Getting drive through ice cream was not the best of ideas. 

Last day!

Joshua finished his before I got his picture.

Last day!  (And back in pajamas.)

Good news!  Third grade and kindergarten start on Monday!

(We played Kodenames again tonight and I was kodemaster.  The last clue was a girl clue again...scurvy.  I needed them to get Hook and contract.  They didn't get it this time, but I wanted to note that not all girl clues actually work.)

Thursday: pictures

Our library is opening for curbside pickup on Monday!!  I ordered way too many books today, but I've really missed getting books.  I'm also not completely sure how many we'll actually get, since a lot of books were checked out or on inter-library loan, which might take a while longer.

This is a normal view in the house.  One boy has grabbed the other and the other is trying to escape.  They go back and forth on who does what.

Isaac's last on-line class was today.  I thought his teacher did a really nice job having an interesting topic for them to all talk about or a game to play for their bi-weekly meeting.

For today's meeting they were talking about summer, so Isaac made an ice cream hat.

Joshua gave himself his own Lego challenge after not liking either of mine and made some gigantisized snakes.

Wednesday: school, promotions

This afternoon, as part of school, we had a current events time.  I started with a history lesson with how black people were slaves and how terribly they were treated by white owners...and what it meant to be owned.  We hit segregation, and finally got into some of the current events surrounding the death of George Floyd and the protests.  Finally, we read a book suggested by the library.  The boys listened well...much better than I was expecting.  They had good questions.  Obviously, we couldn't get very in-depth in forty minutes, but it is a start.

Today was also promotion day at karate.  They had drive through promotions.  Joshua was pretty excited to get a new belt!

Tuesday: Spark

Well, Spark was lost.  And found.  Joshua is at least old enough that losing him isn't a huge deal and there are fewer messes where he can be lost.

Anyway, his Lego challenge was to make Spark today.  I thought he did a really nice job.

Monday: this and that

Lego challenges...

...for Joshua: a silly mech

...for Isaac: his corn dog meal from Crazy Horse.  He made multi-colored corn dogs, an orange banana (not part of the meal), and flaming milk (not part of the meal).

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I got an email from the dentist.  They're taking many precautions as expected.  I was reading through their long email when I came upon this:

 "*Here is the controversial part…Since there is MORE research AGAINST the general public wearing facial coverings, we respect your choice to wear or not wear a facial covering. We ask that you please do the same."

Um...I don't know where they're getting the research from, but the CDC currently says to wear face masks.  While the CDC isn't the only authority, I do expect them to be looking closely at all the research.  I'm not sure I want to go to a dentist who says this, even if she does acknowledge that it's controversial.  She's also rather "far" away, so I've been thinking about getting a new dentist for a while.  I think about it every six months, and then don't do anything about it.  This was just the straw that broke the camel's back and I think it's actually time to find a new dentist.  It might not be this round because I'm sure all dentists are packed having to have been shut down for several weeks, but it's time.

Sunday: a day to remember

First of all, Tropical Storm Amanda came and almost went.  It happened quickly and I almost missed it.

On Friday we finally brought the old printer up to the car to bring it for recycling.  This meant that we were able to check behind the printer table for Spark.  Do you remember Spark?  The little animal from McDonald's that Joshua won't forget about?  (Apparently the name changed.)  Anyway, we found him today and Joshua was so excited!  He got played with for the rest of the day (on the good guys team) and is currently sleeping with Pokeball and Grey Bear in his bed.  I hope he doesn't get lost.

Saturday: to do list

I finally got something off my to-do list that was on there for way too long.  I reattached some weather stripping for the basement slider.  It took all of about five minutes, as expected.

Then, since I had the Goop out I also tried reattaching the towel bar in the shower.  Honestly, I'm not sure how it was attached in the first place because it really seemed too small.  The bar barely stayed up and the attachment points didn't really move.  Oh well, we'll see if it stays up this time; if not, we have other "problems."

I picked up groceries this afternoon and was very proud of my reverse parking job.  I didn't have to readjust at all.

Thursday: Young 5s

We went to Joshua's school to pick up his belongings today.  While we were waiting for his teacher in the lobby we looked at the fish tank for the last time.  We always stopped here in the morning, looking for the red coral? that moves, the tentacles of a sea star, and a star fist.

They also got a new white fish a little bit before we left and it was always in the same place.

Social distancing kind of went out the window when his teacher asked for a hug and I didn't think quickly enough.  But it was nice to get a picture with his teacher.

I won't say that he is done with school, because Isaac still has one more official week.  Even after that I think we'll be doing a relaxed summer school, because otherwise I think I'll go crazy.

Wednesday: life

Joshua finally lost his second tooth.  It's been bothering him for a few days.

Life skills today included planting some seeds.  Joshua had gotten some lavender from school and I found some lettuce and bean seeds in the garage for Isaac to plant.  We'll see how it goes.

Tuesday: hot

Today was going to be a hot day, so I finally got out of pajama pants and into a dress.

We played a good game of Ingenious.  It's a game I really enjoy, Isaac did well, and Joshua did much better than last time.  I scored for Joshua this time and that seemed to help the game flow go much better.

Joshua made some banana raisins today.  They were pretty good...the ideal thing is that he could do it all by himself.  I finally made some curry for Ben while he did that.

It sun-rained several times this afternoon.  There were several children playing in the rain, even though it never lasted very long.

Isaac and I tested for our next belt level in karate today from the comfort of our own house.  We passed, unsurprisingly.  It really helps to have two of us.

Monday: Memorial Day

Well, we didn't do anything special for Memorial Day.  We were outside for a little bit in the morning, but it got rather hot out in the sun.  Our evening walk was nice though.

Sunday: dirt baby

I walked to Lowes today to pick up some dirt.

Horizon also took a nap in the sun.  It was kind of like, "I can't move anymore, so I'll just sleep right here."

Saturday: fabric

A while ago I ran out of a grey fabric.  I changed quilting projects.  Now I'm about to run out of fabric for the next project so I went to put in an order.  I really need white, and it'd be nice to get a dark blue.

It's all out of stock. 

There is a chance I'll be able to finish the current project with the white that I have, but it's one of those colors that I am always using.

I also need some grey thread, but I don't know the ID of it.  I haven't been able to get in the store because it's been closed, so that's another project on hold.

Good thing there are several other projects that I could start or continue, but it's still annoying.

Friday: food and ghosts

Joshua made a ghost that surprises for his Lego challenge.

Isaac was given a map to walk to IHop so that we could get it for lunch.  He did a good job navigating.  Ben met us there so that we could bring the food home while it was still warm.

I made some food.  Ben made some food (unshown).  The kitchen was so nice and clean yesterday and today and then we destroyed it again.

We played kodenames tonight.  I've mentioned this before, but girl clues are ones that barely work but totally do.  My girl clue tonight was "pterodactyl" for eagle and spine.  The girls totally got it, even pretty quickly.  I was so happy.