Pogativity

First Day of Home School We have survived the First Day of Homeschool 2020! Copying our friends (and everyone else), we took First Day photos. Not like I had about 20 other things I could do with my time this morning, but how cute would the scrapbook spread look with this photo? It might have been better if their PJs were still on, but we are aiming for getting clothes on each day. Not sure how much longer I can hold out attempting a haircut. 😂 M & L are set up on the porch behind me so that I can help quickly with any questions. Their location is just off the screen from my webcam, so they won't interrupt my video conferences. I hope...  The morning started off strong with us getting logged in a little after 9 am. M was set with his Morning Work and Everyday Math. Unfortunately, not long after we began, the Seesaw app and Schoology went down. Guess they needed to pressure test the stability a bit more. Fortunately, Mrs. P sent us an email with the details and i

Interstate State Park As we went to bed last night, we decided a change of scenery would be a good idea. Let's get out of the house. Even though it was supposed to rain, we figured we could put on our rain jackets and rain boots and get a little fresh air at one of the closer MN State Parks . Maybe we could catch a short hike before the rain began. First off, both boys (and Mommy and Daddy, too) slept in past 9 am! This was a much needed rest for everyone. We took our time getting ready, packed up snacks and gassed up the van on our way to Interstate State Park in Taylor's Falls, MN. Fortunately, N looked up the details of the Shelter in Place and found we couldn't park at the main parking lot where you can see the glacial potholes. We parked near the campground and decided to hike the 1.25 miles to the potholes. There were a lot of stops along the way to climb rocks, view the St. Croix River, check for animals and splash in the mud/puddles. We saw a woodpecke

Since we took our trip to Mexico in January, we are on week 3 of our home bound Spring Break. It’s beginning to wear on everyone in our house, but more than we realized on the boys. Tonight, at bedtime, M had a breakdown, different than a meltdown. I can’t remember what started it, but all of a sudden he was in tears about being stuck at home. He said in a breaking voice, "It was fun the first day, but now it's not fun at all! We can't do anything AT ALL!" Which then had me in tears. We have been trying hard to keep things "normal" for the boys. Normal, but with way more screen time than we would ever allow (movies every other night, Super Smash Bros in exchange for outside time, Zoom education meetings, Sonic games on the iPad, Pokémon on Netflix...). Normal, but with Mommy and Daddy home, but working all day long and Zoom meetings they make random appearances in the background. Normal, but staying in our house or away from anyone we know. For M & L

Disruption Junction Milestones. Celebrations. Rites of Passage. These are all on hold while we figure out how to flatten the curve. And I believe the actions that are being taken are truly what needs to be done, even with the disruption to our lives. But that doesn’t make the passing of these important events less painful. So we have to find new ways to celebrate. I have seen posts of friends and family rallying to celebrate important events. Singing outside nursing homes, cards sent in the mail, drive-by celebrations, toilet paper cakes... There has been some great creativity! Happy Birthday, Mike! Enter my brother, Mike. Today he turned 40, and this is a HUGE milestone, more than the average 40-year old. Mike has cystic fibrosis, a rare genetic disease.  Cystic fibrosis affects the cells that produce mucus, sweat, and digestive juices. It causes these fluids to become thick and sticky and they then plug up tubes, ducts, and passageways. When Mike was born, less than 50% of C

Same Old Well, we certainly have fallen into a groove. M & L were really good today, watching their three “classes” on CILC and then playing LEGOs. They made so many creations. Played more chess, watched more Pokémon, are too many snacks, and balked at going outside. Did their mandatory 30 minutes post lunch quiet/reading time. We have been watching movies at night, but I’m trying to break the habit. Boys wanted to go to the Purple Park (Lino Park), but I’m hesitant to go with all those germs. Monopoly instead.  The problem is, we are in a rut   funk  groove. We are stuck only playing with each other, calling grandparents and cousins, trying to get outside. While most of today was great, L threw some chess pieces, so M threw one at L’s face. Neither wanted to change out of PJs. We eat the same things for lunch. We need something to change things up. But preferably one that doesn’t take Mommy and Daddy away from work for too long and doesn’t need a ton of supervision. When us

Little Hermits The most challenging part of social distancing has been the inability to keep our kids connected with their friends. At 7 and 5, M and L have not yet mastered phone conversations. The few FaceTime calls we have had have been more random craziness than connecting. How do you teach phone conversations in a world where texting is king? They most certainly know how to send emojis! M's call with G from school primarily consisted of showing of different toys and rocks. L's call with W was just full of silly faces and nonsense language. Both ended with me having a longer conversation with their moms.  Enter "Little Hermits with Fr. Benjamin"! Today, fourteen families joined a Zoom call to listen to a story of St. Romanos and sing songs with Fr. Ben. It was hilarious! Thank goodness for muting the audience. M discovered you could change the background and we ended up on a beach. It was so good to see our friends, including the Ealys from Ohio! Not only did

Sunday of the Cross "O Lord, save Thy people, and bless Thine inheritance! Grant victory to the Orthodox Christians over their adversaries, And by virtue of Thy cross, preserve Thy habitation!" ~Troparion for the Cross  I was honored to be asked to participate in the "skeleton crew" for Matins & Liturgy at St. Mary's Orthodox Cathedral this morning, which was streamed on YouTube for all the faithful. We were allowed to have no more than 10 people at Liturgy and we had exactly that; but we prayed for every person who sent their names in - the living and the departed.  When we arrived at the Great Doxology with the Cross brought out and we began singing "O Lord, Save Thy People", I almost broke down. The Orthodox Fight Song. Grant victory to the health care workers who are saving lives; to researchers and scientists who are searching for a vaccine and cure; to volunteers who are making masks, bringing food to shut-ins, helping

Truly, all you amazing parents, WE DID IT! We survived week one of unexpected break. Most of us didn’t have plans to be home and had to work at the same time. Without family and friends, it would be more difficult. Keep supporting one another! Somewhere between keeping the kids out of the cupboards, VCing with the VP, ignoring the 127th time they asked to watch a show, we had some amazing moments. We had bread left in our mailbox by neighbors. We had costume day and found signs of the first day of Spring. We had a virtual HH with coworkers. We put together puzzles, learned how to play monopoly and built LEGO creations worthy of LEGO Masters (slightly biased mom here). We had FaceTime calls with school friends, cousins and grandparents. We sang a song for a friend outside his door and had cousins enact Let It Go on our front sidewalk.  We learned about animals with the Cincinnati Zoo and how to draw with Mo Willems. The house may be a wreck and we are still figuring out how to let o

'Our Lord tells us, “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13).” The life we “laying down” now is our normal life, because these are extraordinary times.' The above was from the letter from +TIKHON, Metropolitan of All America and Canada of the Orthodox Church in America.  Today was a day of sadness for me.  While Great Lent is a time  of reflection and repentance, and I can't help but think this may be a little bit of God's way of slowing us down and forcing us to calm our thoughts and movement and consider Him. I know that it is through Him that we are saved and that I should not be afraid, but there were still a lot of tears. It was difficult to hide my sadness when M & L were around me so much. Big things and little things just brought tears to my eyes. Thinking of the weight of it all while I was eating dinner after a last minute run to grab a few more necessities (ketchup). L came over to me to just give

Today all planned activities were thrown out the window and multiple audibles were called. There were meltdowns and then there were MELTDOWNS, which resulted in way too much screen time. Likely three plus hours. At least I was not interrupted during the video call we had with my VP. Meltdown Causes M didn’t want to bring his Legos downstairs. M hit L because he broke his LEGO sword L crashed into M’s bike and got a cut near the outside corner of his eye. Meltdown over whether he would have to go to the emergency room and get stitches. (Valid, since he has been there twice since Christmas for glue/stitches and HATES needles.) Fortunately, just a surface cut that we can take care of at home with bacitracin. Boys didn’t want to get the $0.25 they owed me for leaving the light on in their room from the piggy bank themselves . "Why can't YOU just get it?" (New rule: if you leave your light on, you owe Mommy $0.25. Something we should have started a long time ago.) I

Saint Patrick (not just a holiday for green beer and corned beef and hash) N started working from home today, so we took turns with kid corralling. He had the morning and I did more in the afternoon. Breakfast was, of course, green Lucky Charms that turn your milk (and likely other things) green. We all tried to dress in green - I made it into pants I haven't worn in a few years! The morning was a success! Boys cleaned their rooms and the living room floor so the Roomba could run without picking up their LEGOs. Next was coloring time using pictures we print off the internet . From there, we entered "learning time". I hate that we are doing Moby Max, in addition to already increased screen time, but this is what we have for now. My awesome coworker also sent St. Patrick's Day packet of math and letters for early elementary. That was super helpful and M even helped L with it! Reading Time. This was one of the quietest parts of the day, by far! Both boys read fo

We Survived Day 1 Day one is in the books. I was home on my own, as Nate had to report in, but will be home for two weeks, starting tomorrow. There was less work during working hours and more setting up activity areas, but we survived! Now that dining in at restaurants has ended for a bit and gyms are closed, there are fewer ways to transmit the virus. But also, the LIBRARY closed! My homeschooling friend posted a shot of "This is NOT what homeschooling looks like. We are not normally stuck at home. We normally have access to libraries, museums, zoos and friends." Agreed, we are in unprecedented times. So I learned a few things today: Wins: I got one final trip to Target at 7 am for at least the rest of week one. Donuts are delicious for breakfast - especially ones with St. Patrick's Day Lucky Charms! Boys changed into their clothes FIRST THING after breakfast. Miracle of miracles. They would stay in the same pajamas a week, day and night, if I let them.

It all started with my friend, Carrie, posting a list of things to do with kids at home. At the time, we had school called off two days. Nothing traumatic, but not awesome after having M and L home for Spring Break the past week. Maybe a good thing all those vacationers stayed home a couple extra days. Then came the announcement that school would be closed at least until March 27th. Wait, what? Our School Carnival was planned for a March 28th! (Separate issue) Sigh. What are parents going to do for at least two weeks? I’m supposed to be working from home. That does not happen efficiently or effectively with kids present. How on earth am I to keep them entertained?!?!? Enter a list of things to do. I was already doing one as church school coordinator for our church (now that church school and perhaps even Liturgy is cancelled for the foreseeable future). Why not add non-religious activities? Enter this blog. I’m going to do my best to keep the list updated with new resources for m

Activities for Kids (to be updated as ideas are found) Educational MANY Ideas for Social Distancing  - not sure who put this together, but it's amazing! Take a  Virtual Museum Tour  - Musee d'Orsay anyone? Thanks to Google Arts & Culture Scholastic  Learn at Home  - 20 free lessons for PreK through 6th grade and up* Free Educational Websites for Kids - TBH there are too many and not sure which are best, but feel free to peruse as you like! Virtual Field Trips - Want to visit San Diego Zoo, Yellowstone National Park, MARS?!? Check out this resource someone posted.  Cincinnati Zoo Home Safari - Daily show at 2pm CT  Hidden Worlds of the National Parks - Explore five National Parks released for the timing of the Centennial of the National Parks Big List of Children's Books Read Aloud by Authors Mystery Science  - Lessons to inspire kids to love science The Arts Free Stream of Metropolitan Opera  - yes, for the music nerd in me. It is a bit late for kids