April 2020

Fun School Break homeschool continued during the first week of April, then Ranch Elementary and Ms. Rentner took over with official "distance learning." To kick it off, many of the teachers & staff did a Rancho Wave Parade, starting with Mrs. Hernandez, the principal, & the school mascot (roadrunner) and ending with Mrs. E (Landon's teacher from the year before, pictured below). 

 

The kids' true feelings about homeschooling (Landon - SUPER EXCITED! / Brooklyn - NOT super excited)

Daily video chats with his teacher and class on Google Meet.

 

Here we are...4 people and 4 screens during school/work time

P.E. prescribed by Rancho - GoNoodle videos, "Frozen" Cosmic Yoga, Exercise BINGO and Avengers Training YouTube videos

 

He was REALLY excited when he passed his subtraction fact fluency and moved on to multiplication.

Meanwhile, Brooklyn counted, sorted and made her initials out of patterns.

Easter books!

 

Brooklyn's journal after listening to an audio book about George Washington - I asked her to draw a picture and write 5 words (while Landon draws a picture and writes 5 sentences about the same audio book) - this time she wrote a bonus word! She explained her picture to me as "George is frowning because he is scared of the horse, but his mommy tells him he will like riding the horse. So he tries it and ends up having fun and liking riding horses." (Can you tell we've been having discussions about what often happens when Mommy and Daddy tell her she's going to like something?)

Landon's journal after an audio book about candy:

Brooklyn's journal:

Sight word practice

 

Worksheets (we have 10,000, thanks to Grammie!). She still occassionally calls the color lavender "valender."

Landon started a Zoom video playdate call with some of his first grade buddies, and he and Juliana ended up staying on after everyone else left and played tic tac toe.

We also tried Zoom calls with other groups of friends, but it's tough to get used to and not nearly as fun as being with each other in real life. (Another day he had a Zoom call with just Tristan, and they had a GREAT time, playing The Allowance Game, Chess and Battleship against each other for 3 hours. In the middle of the games, Tristan randomly said, "Landon, out of everybody, I miss you the most." Landon asked if he meant everyone in first grade or everyone in the whole school. He thought for a little bit then said, "the whole school." Landon said, "Me too." and Tristan said, "I wish we could play together for real." Landon responded, "Me too." Then they just went back to playing The Allowance Game. It was so sweet!)

 

While he was playing with his friends, Brooklyn and Celse chatted on Skype, and when they were over it Brooklyn did her and my make-up.

Our homeschool weekly theme this week was Animals, so we made Jell-O Animal Jigglers,

...played animal games, such as Animal Trivia Challenge (several times),

...made butterfly candies,

...and crafted cute little fabric animals.

 

My first outing since shelter-in-place orders was to Costco a few weeks in, and it was an interesting experience. We could only go in one of the doors, there was a line because they were only letting a certain number of people in at a time, and many items (toilet paper, paper towels, Clorox wipes, baby wipes, etc in addition to a bunch of food items) were out of stock.

We did an EGGsperiment (raw egg in vinegar overnight).

 

Brooklyn grew carrots (somehow, from like 6 months ago, not watered for 4 of those months, they grew!?!).

 

Mangoes are back in season!

My birthday celebration began with a date with Brooklyn. She wanted to take me to froyo and the duck pond. Well, froyo wasn't an option, due to COVID-19, so we settled on McDonald's and an open, grassy area right outside the Duck Pond. We had a really nice time, playing with her babies, eating and playing tag.

 

Twinsies!

Then we came home for a nice massage (she insists that she gives really good hand massages, neck massages and hugging leg massages). We had a great, silly time!

Then she showed Daddy how barbel jump overs are done.

The next day was my actual birthday, and we slept in then watched TV in bed for a bit waiting for breakfast (and cards) in bed.

 

Then Landon stole me for our date. We puzzled, played Headbandz, did a bunch of worksheets together, enjoyed the decorations they put up and went for a 2 mile bike ride around the neighborhood.

 

 

Before we headed out for our biking date, friends surprised us in the front for a social distancing party! And Amber had carded our yard. I received sourdough starter, a bunch of Oggi's sticks, homemade cupcakes and we had a champagne/sparkling cider while we watched Uncle B's Tesla "dance."

We headed out for a 5.5 mile family bike ride (now that both kids learned to ride off the curb, we felt confident in riding around town)! 

When we got back Daniel cooked dinner while we hot tub'd.

And ended the night with a game of Chinese Checkers (while Brooklyn designed HBM for "happy birthday, Mommy" on Battleship) and a very yummy "grasshopper goodness" dessert (that took them (him) a very long time to make). My "quarantine birthday" far surpassed all expectations!!

 

Landon even let me take a picture of he and Daniel doing "the face" finally. 

A local martial arts studio offered 4 weeks of virtual training, and Landon really enjoyed it. He was never excited when I told him he had martial arts class that day, but a couple minutes before it was supposed to start he changed his tune and really wanted to do it, then had a great time and practiced more afterward. He even ended up having a private lesson one time, and he decided THAT was what he liked best.

Landon continued to do Body Combat, made up an American Ninja Warrior obstacle course for the family, played soccer when there was a break in the rain early on and played with Brooklyn and her worm & snail IN the rain.

We exercised in the garage, sometimes with kids and sometimes without.

And rode bikes in the cul de sac - we tried face coverings, but they last about 3 feet.

 

B loves played with the tiny figurines, especially those that are babies.

We continue to have sleepovers every night - so happy we got the trundle bed!

Landon invented a new War-like team game with UNO cards.

Megan gave me a sourdough starter for my birthday, so I made a couple of loaves and they turned out pretty yummy.

During "Easter Week" in Fun School Break we made Easter cards.

Easter was quite different this year, as we have gone to Grammie's house every year for who knows how long (all of the kids' Easters and many years before). But we made the best of it, and the Easter Bunny did make it to our house (And, although he wasn't quite as generous as the Mission Viejo bunnies, he created a blueprint and kept track of where he hid the eggs...inside due to rain.) (The week before Brooklyn asked, "Will the Easter bunny come? You know, because of Coronavirus?" I assured her that bunnies couldn't catch it.) Landon asked if putting a puzzle together could be a new Easter tradition...so we'll have to remember that! When I asked the kids what they'd like to eat on Easter before going to the grocery store a few days before, Landon said, "nachos for brunch!" and Brooklyn immediately agreed...so we did.

 

 

 

 

We made & decorated white chocolate-dipped rice krispy treat eggs.

 

Aiden's family brought over Easter baskets for the kids, and they got right to the coloring pages!

We dyed eggs.

 

Then we hopped (biked) over to the cousins' house for a social distance hangout in the driveway with them and Pappou & Babcia.

 

 

Brooklyn got a bug catcher net and container in her Easter basket, which was GREAT for collecting roly pollies at cousins' house to bring home.

First annual Easter puzzle (we each got one in our basket)!

The Easter baskets had glow in the dark and light up stuff, so we headed outside before bed for some glow frisbee, monkey in the middle and flying glow sticks.

That night they both slept in Brooklyn's bed after Brooklyn gave Landon a back rub.

The following weekend was Greek Easter. Pappou & Babcia as well as the cousins & Auntie Amber & Uncle Peter came to our driveway to social distance celebrate (kids rode bikes and flew kites). Pappou & Babcia brought a basket for the kids with 4 red eggs for us to play the Greek Easter egg cracking game. Daddy won, then Landon one when we played the second side!

 

Brooklyn had a mishap on her bike. She was going fast, lost control and flew over the handlebars and onto the asphault. Her brains and teeth seemed just fine, luckily, but her face took a minor beating. She took it pretty well, though, and once she got out of the bath she felt totally fine. 

 

Before bed she asked if she could still ride her bike tomorrow. YES!

Luckily her teeth were still in tact and Landon was the one to lose a tooth that night. So long baby tooth #9! The tooth fairy was over glittery bills and decided to fold one this time instead. My guess is that she'll discontinue the messy, glittery bills (after Brooklyn's first one) and go with the folded bills. 

 

The morning after her bike accident she was really wanting to get back out on her bike (which surprised both Mommy and Daddy). She even grabbed a purse so that she could bring Rainbow Sprinkles, her new unicorn stuffed animal from the Easter basket from Aiden's family that she is obsessed with. She also brought the play kitchen and toys into the family room to play while I was working because she didn't want to be in the playroom alone.

 

 

Kites from Easter Bunny

 

Leap Pad learning while Landon's on his screen doing schoolwork (with Rainbox Sprinkles, of course).

More sleepover

Lunch is so much better when it's a picnic!

Daddy got excited about making family videos during quarantine.

This was a fun one.

Afterward we ran around the cul de sac in our glow gear.

And the kids slept with a whole bunch of glowing night lights (even on the fan).

Daniel attempted moonwalking.

I had the opportunity to donate bone marrow via a PBSC (peripheral blood stem cell) donation through Be The Match. Daniel and I have been on the BTM donor list for 9 years, and this is the first time I was called. (Daniel was called once, but they had another person that happened to be a better match.) It was an interesting process, and I am so glad I was able to do it. All I know about the recipient is that he's a 57 year old male residing in Canada with Myelogenous Leukemia but in remission. They were planning to do the transplant but sped up the process because of COVID-19. Once he received the PBSCs his immune system would greatly improve, and his doctor wanted to be sure he was in the best condition in case he contracted Coronavirus (or the cancer returned). After the physical, x-ray, EKG, urine samples and 13 viles of blood for testing, I was given a shot of Filgrastim for 5 days in a row leading up to the donation. The medicine made my body produce more stem cells and release them from inside the hip bones (ouch!) to right outside of the bones so they could be collected on day 5. They ran 14 liters of blood (all of my blood almost 5 times) through the machine to seperate and collect the specific cells they wanted and give me back the rest of the blood through the other arm (about 5 hours of apheresis).

It was a great experience, which would have been even nicer without COVID-19 because they would have hired me a driver to go up to San Bernardino and paid for a guest and me to stay in a hotel the night before and night of (and I wouldn't have had to wear the mask during all of the appointments!). After all of that, this was all they took and would be freezing, transporting and putting into the recipient on May 7th.

Bedtime stories

First sushi

Change of scenery - Landon's bed

Landon's Quarantine Birthday was next - #7!! Brooklyn made him a sweet card.

 

When he woke up he said, "I woke up in the middle of the night, and I things looked different because I feel like I'm taller. Am I taller?" We started the day looking at his baby book

and watching "Pokemon: Mewtwo Strikes Back" in bed while Daddy (L's specific request) cooked him waffles and a peanut butter banana in bed

 

Next up: class video chat - they all sang happy birthday to him

Meanwhile, Daddy sneakily put the finishing touches on the trampoline that he started to build the night before while I was finishing up the birthday video (Landon's last year in review).

He opened gifts & cards

Auntie Amber carded the yard again!

Friends from school drove by, honked, said happy birthday, made signs, brought gifts, etc for him as a surprise. (We have done birthday car parades for several friends this month as well.)

 

 

After that he said it was the best birthday ever (and it wasn't even noon yet)!! For lunch, Auntie Melis, Addison and Kaylee invited us to join them outside In N Out, which was another fun surprise for Landon! We stayed 6ft away when eating and playing with the rocket launcher they gave him but were so happy they came out here to celebrate with him!

When we got home Aiden, Klaryssa and Jeremy were having a water balloon fight, so Landon joined in (and attempted to stay 6ft away). Another fun surprise!

 

 

Cousins came over, then Pappou and Babcia, each with gifts.

We video chatted with Grammie & Papa while opened all the gifts from them.

Landon put together his Lego set from the cousins IMMEDIATELY!

Leading up to his birthday, when we asked what he wanted to do, the only thing he requested was to play games & cards and read books in a fot by the fire, so we set up a fort next to the fireplace to read and play in.

He loves his big present (and it came at just the right time when the weather turned warm and all businesses/parks/etc. are closed!)!

He requested steak, pita, roasted carrots & broccoli, strawberries (then switched to pineapple once he saw we had that) and a layered cake with chocolate, peanut butter, oreos, Reeses and sprinkles.

We Zoom'd with family and good friends to sing "Happy Birthday"

 

 

We had cake & ice cream outside while watching his birthday video (which is what he said he was most looking forward to about his birthday).

 

 

And ended the night with glow stick trampolining! Landon chose to have Brooklyn sleep between Daniel and me and himself on the chaise lounge chair  in our room.

 

The following day we spent a lot of time in the fort, and Daddy even slept in it with the kids!

We played a bunch of games that weekend, mostly the new games Landon got for his birthday.

...and did a bunch of swimming and jumping, going back and forth between the pool, the trampoline, snacking and game playing, then we biked to Cousins' house with ice cream bars and had a social distance party in the front yard while playing Disney Family Feud. It was a really great fun and lazy weekend!!

Code Breakers: Mastermind

Double Spot & Mastermind

D&L starting to put together Landon's robotic Tumbling Hedgehog

New picnic spot...under the trampoline!

Daniel's team at work one day played Rock, Paper, Scissors and Pictionary with their families over a video meeting. The kids had a good time drawing and playing.

The kids are working on a COVID-19 Time Capsule, and this page instructs Brooklyn to "draw a picture of the people you are social distancing with here." She decided to draw a picture of all of the people she could NOT spend time with and the words "NO NO NO NO NO NO NO" at the top. :)