Tuesday, March 31, 2020

March

Well, March was interesting, to say the least. The girls had 2 days off of school for Conferences and then Jemma had a day off the following week, while next year's incoming Kindergartners had their preview day. The girls and I went to Naperville Yard (indoor playground, turf fields and bounce houses) on one of their days off, and literally had the place to ourselves.




The girls each had $10 to spend, so they asked to go to Target on their other day off! I never say no to that! :)


We celebrated Nate's Birthday a little early, as he went on a quick trip to Las Vegas for the ConExpo with his friend Matt and was gone on his actual Birthday.



Jemma and I had a fun morning at Pump It Up and Culvers for lunch on her solo day off. I've missed spending time with my little buddy since she's been in Kindergarten all day. It was a great day!




By the end of that week, things started escalating with the COVID-19 pandemic, and before I knew it school was closed and we were jumping straight into 2 weeks of e-learning prior to our Spring Break. The teachers met on Monday (3/16) and put together a plan for those two weeks.

We tried to develop a bit of a "schedule" for those two weeks. The goal was to complete their Reading, Writing, Math and SEL (Social Emotional Learning) before lunch and then Social Studies/Science and specials (Art, Music, Gym or Library depending on the day) after lunch. We made sure to take plenty of brain breaks.

Most of Jemma's work is photographed/video'd by me and submitted to her teacher through an app called Seesaw. Jade brought her Chromebook home from school, so her work is primarily submitted through google docs on there or worksheets and writing that are kept in a notebook. Highlights for both kids were getting to have a class meeting via Zoom!





We have been trying to spend as much time outside as possible!

Nature Walks!

New hats!

Snow walk!



Family walk/bike/scooter night!


Fun with chalk!

I've been so proud of Jade and Jemma, they have been troopers through it all and are getting along very well for the most part! They were so sweet snuggling up this day in the chair together! They also got to have a sleepover in me and Nate's room one night while Nate was working! They were up late giggling, which was fun to hear. Jemma was kind enough to let me sleep in her bed for the night. ;)



Next week is Spring Break, which basically means nothing except a break from E-Learning! ;) We were looking forward to our 3rd Annual Meet in the Middle weekend (with my parents and my sister's family) but that unfortunately had to be cancelled. :(

Friday, March 6, 2020

February Stuff

2nd Grade Show: Commotion in the Ocean

For the first time EVER, Meadow Glens Elementary put on a 2nd grade show! Jade had been practicing her songs for WEEKS prior and was beyond excited about it. Unfortunately it didn't work out for daddy to come, as the show was in the middle of the day, but Jade had myself and Grammy in the audience! Jemma got to see the show earlier in the day, when the 2nd graders performed for the rest of the school! I've only included 1 video, but they had prepared at least 10 songs!



Tennessee Visit

The girls had a random Friday at the end of February off of school for an institute day. It just so happened that Nate had that weekend off too, so we decided to road trip down to my sister's house in Franklin, TN. We left Thursday after school and drove about halfway, stopping at a hotel just outside Columbus, IN for the night. The girls were excited to swim in the hotel pool, of course!



We took our time getting to Franklin, since the girls' cousins had school that Friday! We had such a fun weekend of being together! My sister and I got to spend some time out alone together, which was so much fun. Nate and Roger also got some time to hang out alone too! The kids enjoyed lots of play time at the house as well as at the trampoline park and playground! Thanks so much for hosting us, Baum Family!






We made the whole drive back on Sunday, arriving home right around dinner time. Nate had the kids doing exercises at one of our stops, haha.