Quarantined Us

We had the opportunity to be a part of something really special today.  One of our very good friends, Ella, turned 10 years old today and because we can’t celebrate with her due to social distancing, her family (Angelica) decided to give her a parade. We lined up at 1:00 at the park near her house.  There were probably 10 cars that participated in the parade.  Every car had signs, balloons, streamers or writing on their windows - all wishing this sweet 10 year old a happy birthday. The look on Ella’s face (and her parent’s faces) as she watched us drive down her street was irreplaceable.  Ella looked so happy, her mom was in tears and her dad had a huge smile on his face. We are very close with their whole family and we would typically be able to be together for her birthday. My heart literally exploded with happiness because I could see how touched they were and what a special moment this was.  We love you Ella!  Happy birthday!

Today we tried to do some salt art water color painting for our afternoon craft.  I was so excited about this because I had pre-made the kids glue and salt art earlier that day and I thought it would be a huge hit with the kids.  The idea came from one of my mom’s friends and originated on this website: https://www.agirlandagluegun.com/2020/03/salt-painting-for-kids.html I made a dinosaur for Gavin and some flowers and a butterfly for Harper. The glue took quite a while to dry, maybe because I used printer paper.  I would probably use card stock if I did this again. We had our watercolors ready and the kids were ready to go.  They started painting, but the idea of letting the salt spread the water color was a little too difficult. After about 10 minutes of painting Gavin was over it.  He would rather just paint his own creation (which is what he and Harper did on Saturday morning).  Harper lasted about 15 minutes and she was over it too. ...

This is our space, the space I will be using as a home base for teaching my kids the rest of their curriculum for the year.  We are heading into week 3 of our social distance, so our space is already decorated with some of the kids artwork. Our daily schedule is more of a guideline, but I try to maintain at least the first half of the day.  We have been doing our morning exercises every day during the week.  We have been spending 2-3 days in our garage where we listen to Kids Bop warmups and follow along, I lift weights, and all of us take turns using the treadmill. Other days, we have spent walking, scootering or riding our bikes at the beach or at a local park (all while maintaining social distance, I should add).  We have really enjoyed the fresh air and wide open space, however, this Saturday our beaches, walkways, esplanade parking, beach access points and park sites are closed until further notice.  I am really bummed out about the closures but I ...