Homeschool When You Literally Stay Home All the Time

I feel like I am learning so much from this pandemic. In our modern world we are all always saying how we're so busy. And now we've been given this amazing opportunity to slow down. To say no to everything. It's so interesting to see what life looks like when it is boiled down to my own little nuclear family and our house and about two square miles that include some trails and a grocery store. I'm really thinking about what adds value to our family and our education and what is just fluff or distraction or worse. I'm so grateful for this perspective. I'm sorry that it is coming at such a great cost to people's health and the economy. 

When we can't take it in our house anymore, we go on a drive. The price of gas is $1.29! But we haven't had to buy gas since March. Scotty suffered through the worst of his allergies inside. Usually, we are invited to the park everyday, and he really has a hard time. The picture below was a hard time. I think he had a cold on top of his allergies. But overall the quarantine was great for him because he could avoid the great outdoors.

Magnets with Dad.

This is what boredom looks like. 

We've been nature-watchers. We had some robins building a nest in the tree right by our back window. The male and female were both fluttering and chirping in the tree one day. We thought perhaps they were doing a mating dance. Then we saw a reptilian head near their nest. I thought, is that a lizard? Then I saw a tongue flick out. There was a snake in their nest!! It was crazy and dramatic and heart-wrenching to watch. 

We've been on lots of walks. The wildflowers are out. I've been especially enjoying the poppies this year. Annie and I walk together and listen to our audiobooks. 

Annie made a goal to be able to do the splits this year. This is what success looks like. 

This bib from Uncle Andrew makes an appearance every few years. I keep it in the towel drawer. 

So many walks! We're grateful to live so close to some beautiful trails. 

This year with Easter, we didn't have any candy. We went to the store in the middle of March and were trying not to go again for a month. We made it! But Easter fell three weeks into this month. I thought about ordering candy from Amazon, but decided we wouldn't need it. I tried to think up some Christ-centered activities instead. And they went really well! I feel like we celebrated Easter more this year than we really have before. We thought about, talked about, and rejoiced in Christ for the whole week. Again, this quarantine has really helped me to see what matters most. We will be glad when this plague has passed and life can get back to normal. But I hope our new normal is better than before.

Homeschool Before COVID-19

Annie played basketball this year, you know, back when there were things like teams and group gatherings. They didn't win many games, but Annie improved a lot and always had an awesome attitude. She is a hard worker and always trying so hard to do what the coach asks her to do. Aaron was the assistant coach. The coach was Juan, a friend from the ward. His daughter Milly was also on the team. 

We took a trip to the state capitol and just happened to go on the day there were snake handlers there. They were promoting their Rattlesnake Round-up. We were watching them from up above, and they invited us to come down for a closer look. I don't think the public school teachers would have taken their students down into the snake pit. But homeschool moms with their own kids? Sure!! I trust you with our lives, man in steel-toed boots with lots of pins on his vest.   

It was a fun day! We were wearing shorts in January. 

We took a hike as a family to see Chalk Ridge Falls. It was really pretty, and a good time of year to see the waterfall. But we got a little lost. The trails didn't seem to be clearly marked. We went too far, not sure if we'd seen everything yet. We had, but we hadn't realized it. This was the last big outdoor activity we did before Scotty's six weeks of torture began in the form of live oak pollen

Everything from the end of 2019

Before I can blog about this crazy COVID-19 pandemic, I need to say a few words about November and December of 2019.

Annie turned ten years old, and we had a "tea" party for her. Ten year old girls have to be some of the best creatures on the planet. They are so much fun and so sweet. They especially got into the Shakespearean insults.

Next came Thanksgiving. We hosted again this year. Amanda and Brad came and William and Heather were able to squeeze us into William's demanding schedule. It was fun to have those three couples reunited. We all met at Cinnamon Tree Apartments. And Thiago, Thomas, and Nicolas came as well because Renata and Lucas were in Brazil.

 Aaron is the turkey master. It's awesome that he has taken responsibility for it the last couple of years. 

Annie and Aaron and Scotty made that little log cabin and finished it just in time to make it a centerpiece. 

Aaron is also the pie master. 

Cinnamon Tree...making happy marriages since 2004 (at least).

Miles and Aaron were pals. 

And we took a family picture.

In December, Annie had a piano recital. She played "Sleigh Ride" and "What Child Is This."

Here we are studying Chinese with the W family, something we've been doing for quite a while now. I finally took a picture.

Kid Tribe Christmas party was epic due to Kayley's party games. And Annie made a unicorn cake. We had a new family join our co-op, and they've been awesome.  

 Here is the evil unicorn cake she made another time. It's great when your kids learn how to bake and you actually want to eat the result. 

We decided to drive to UT/ID for Christmas because we asked for homemade applesauce and needed trunk space. The day before we left, we went to the Waco zoo with Amanda and Brad. It was chilly and a bit rainy, so we had the place to ourselves. It was a quick trip because Aaron's work party was that night, but it was fun. 

Christmas was in Idaho this year. I was basically super-mom with getting fun car activities ready for the kids. They were a hit, and we had a really smooth trip. The last two hours were the hardest, as they always are, but we drove through Grace or Soda Springs (or both?) this time. It was gorgeous. The sun was about to set and there was fresh snow on the mountains. 

We had fun with cousins, and it was a great holiday. It is really hard to travel at Christmas time, though, so we will probably stay home for a few years and make our sojourns to see family at other times. Christmas was awesome with good food and lots of family. In Utah, we went to an aquarium, and Julie gave us 48 jars of applesauce!! We were so happy about that. We got to hold Rachel and Russell's puppies. We came home on New Year's Day. We almost died in Vail, Colorado. Horrible snow, and our windshield wipers kept freezing over. It was scary!  

And that was 2019! A good year!