Tueday: hero of the day

I was reading my book during rest time, about to fall asleep, and Isaac comes into the bedroom, tears just streaming down his face.  Now, they were having screen time, so I didn't expect that it was a physical problem.  (Let's face it, the cry was also not an "I'm in pain" cry.)

After a bit I got him to tell me the problem - he had broken Minecraft.  He's been really into command blocks lately, and managed to make one that somehow made one player stuck in place and the other player not able to get down to the command block... it kept transporting player 2 back to an undesired location.

I gave it my best shot.  I've been hearing the stuff they've been doing, so I thought we could do a substitution...command blocks for air.  But it's been a long time since I've done any Minecraft, and I couldn't easily get it to work.  I couldn't even tell if what I was doing did anything.  I told the boys we'd have to wait for the expert.  There were still some tears, but I think they were more or less controlled.

Ben worked on it this evening.  He had the same idea that I did (!!) but was able to actually execute it in a better way.  It took him a little bit, but not too long.  The relief on Isaac's face was almost palatable and he was able to go to bed with one less worry.

I know the feeling.  I understand crying about this.  The boys have poured hours into the world, making towers and fireworks and I have no idea what else.  I know it's just a game, but I also understand that huge relief that comes when Ben is able to fix a computer issue.

Monday: the morning

Dad came over this morning to help declog a drain.  The boys were willing to help because they were bribed with screen time, but Isaac seemed much more interested in the whole process than he was required to be.  Dad stayed around for a bit for a drink...it was nice since it's been a bit since I've seen him.

Tornado really, really wanted to get in the cabinet under the sink today.  It is way to full for a cat to be in though, so I kept taking him out.  I finally put a rubberband around the knobs, like we did with toddlers.

We watched some videos about MLK and discussed how it relates to current events (BLM).  The boys lead very sheltered lives, and so didn't know about the violence at the Capitol or the election fraud allegations.  But there is some overlap between the two, so they ended up with a huge civics lesson.  I'm not sure how much they understood though.  It turns out they also don't understand the concept of social media, because they don't have any accounts.  It's a bit hard to explain the impacts of losing your social media accounts when the concept of social media is foreign to you.

Sunday: twins

 When the boys wear the same outfit Ben and I have taken to calling them the wrong name and they think it's hilarious.  They always have to find the other and they line up to show who is taller (Isaac) and shorter (Joshua) and only then do Ben and I figure out that we were calling them by the wrong name.

Joshua also finished his dragon today.  It was a big purchase that he decided to make, but he had saved up for just such an occasion.

Saturday: screen time day

 Today was a screen time day.  It's been a while, we don't have anything else to do, and it's sometimes nice to more-or-less take a day off parenting.

The boys played Minecraft the whole time.  Joshua didn't stop talking the whole time.  There were a surprising amount of giggles as the boys did silly things.

Joshua: 62 to 77 months

Ha!  I bet you thought I wasn't taking monthly quilt pictures every month, but I still am!  It's pretty much down to a science, so while the boys don't love it they also know it'll only take about 30 seconds.  Oh wow, I just looked at his height in the first one first the last one.  He grew a lot in a year and a half.

62 months:

63 months:

64 months:

65 months:

66 months: oh, I missed this one.  I remember missing it and thinking that life was just too busy and missing one month would be ok.

67 months:

68 months: first one in quarantine

69 months:

70 months:

71 months:

72 months: 6 years old!

73 months:

 74 months:

75 months:

 76 months:

 77 months:

Friday: respect

Isaac finished his NWEA today.  I was really happy with both the reading and math scores, like normal.  He also had a spelling inventory.  I wasn't so happy with that.  Isaac wasn't either.  He knew that he had a lot of the words wrong, even some of the ones that he should have had correct.  

Thursday: off

 I had a dentist appointment this morning.  It was the first one with the new dentist, and it took way longer than I expected.  It threw my whole morning off.  Then Isaac had afternoon testing, so Joshua was bored, and he doesn't always play all that well by himself.  I love being around my kids, but I don't always love playing with them.  We made spice bars, an otter attacked me, and we made it through.