Week 4: Virtual VBS and VIrtual Art Camp

Dear Kids, 

I really just have to pause and count our blessings. Considering that we are going through a PANDEMIC, modern technology has allowed us to ... live it up. 

This past week, we participated in our church's virtual vacation bible school (VBS). Normally I would be volunteering, the big kids participating, and Hailey, still too young, would be hanging out in the nursery. Instead, this week, I got to hang out with all three of you and do all the activities with you guys. 

Bethany Lutheran Church did a great job organizing and making the whole experience so easy and fun for us parents. I know many volunteers invested lots of their time to make it possible. 

I'm not going to say much, but will just share all the fun activities that we did through VBS. 

Tantrums were quickly resolved when the music came on. 

Hailey is so cute when she prays. 

Overall, we learned how God is always with us and I hope that you will be able to wear this message around you as you grow older. 

Another thing we did this week was participate in a free Art summer camp, which we ended up signing up for a whole month of classes starting this week. 

On day 1, it was illustration. 

On day 2, it was collages. 

On day 3, it was acrylic (cringe) painting. Surprisingly, you all managed to stay pretty clean. 

Day 4 was all about design

Day 5 was all about story writing. 

Each of these 5 days was a sample of a weeks worth of lessons in the program. I was very impressed by how the program inspires the kids to create quality work and while it gives them some directed instruction, they also get to exercise their creativity. I'm already excited to share what you guys created today, but that will be for next week's post. 

Besides learning about God and creating art, you guys also did a lot of playing. Nathan, you got in trouble for hurting Hannah again, so as a consequence, lost all of your screen time for the week. (I know, harsh) 

Hailey, now that you are taking more risks and such, you seem to be getting hurt more often. You refuse bandaids, but always will ask for an ice pack. You will use it for a second and instantly be healed. 

One morning, I took you guys out to go pick up some books via curbside at the closest library that was open. We then went to the park across the street to play for a bit and then we went out for snow cones courtesy of one of my teammates. You guys got to pick out your own toppings and loved it. 

I couldn't help it, but I just had to get a baby with a watermelon picture in this year! 

The Chinese dragon boat festival was also this past week. It's tradition to eat jong ji, which is rice with other fillings (savory or sweet) wrapped in a bamboo leaf. It's similar a mexican tamale. I made a few batches of sweet red bean and savory pork with mushroom ones. Hannah, you love them all, Nathan, you are not a big fan of the fillings, but will eat the rice, and Hailey, you refuse to eat it if you see that it came from a leaf. I have to scoop the rice out secretly and plop it onto your plate before I give it to you. Then you will eat it without a problem. Sheesh. Toddlers. 

Oh, and another thing I want to not here is that Hailey, you will go on these long tantrums (like 45 minutes) over things like juice and milk. We usually say no to you  if you ask for more after we've already given you a glass , so you are learning to accept "No" from us. It's taking a long time for you to figure out that we are not changing our minds. Hopefully it will sink in soon. It breaks my heart everytime you are screaming and yelling out of frustration. 

With the whole #blacklivesmatter movement in full swing right now, I've been skating in a skate-a-thon to raise money for BLM. I've been educating myself through the reading of books, listening to podcasts, and discussions with friends. Racism today is deeper than overt acts or harsh name calling, it's become systematic. The system set up people of color who mess up, for failure immediately. We all mess up at some point and it's not fair how Black people are more easily targeted and receive harsher punishments. I was shocked to find out that if you were convicted of a crime and get out, you are not eligible for housing assistance or food stamps. Talk about being stuck! 

While I can't do anything to change the system, I'm going to skate and raise money for a group who is trying to make a change. I have 15 miles left and 1 day to do it. The most I've skated in one day was 17, so I'm hoping I will be able to get out tomorrow and finish it all up and complete my goal of 100 miles. 

On Saturday, we went on a family bike ride, and I skated. I love see the effort that you guys put into those petals. It's freeing and inspiring at the same time. 

Until next week, 

Love, 

Mommy 

Week 3 of Summer Covid Style: Science Week

Dear Kiddos, 

We had a fairly exciting past week. Hannah, you had a visit from the tooth fairy recently. Now you are mithing your top two teeth. Your smile is extra cute right now and I just can't get over how cute this is. Did I mention, this is cute? 

I asked you guys what you wanted to learn about next, and we settled on Science, my favorite. I found a good STEM book from Costco and I've been using it for mini-lessons.

Monday: Solar Heaters.
We have  a house in the neighborhood that uses solar heaters to heat the water in their pool. We talked about how those mechanisms work (compared to the water heater at our house). And then we did an experiment to see whether water over dark paper or light paper would get hotter in the sun and also whether a cover would make a difference.

I had you guys make a hypothesis and then we completed the experiment outside.

Tuesday: Princess Day
Nathan, you got a chance to go to a skateboarding clinic put on by a big kid in our neighborhood. That was for 2 hours in the morning. You were completely sweaty when I picked you up and were extremely excited about the new tricks that you had learned. You can now do an Ollie and some other tricks, which I don't know the name of.

Hannah, you have been requesting to study princesses for awhile now, so while Nathan was at the skateboarding clinic, we had a princess day. We started the morning off with a dragon hunt. We found fairy houses and met evil Chinese witches along the way. I taught you guys some spells to fight them off and we collected random magical items on our epic adventure.

 We stopped by a troll bridge and turned him to his kind side by giving him some yellow magical flowers.

 When we climbed up to the top of a mountain, we knew that the magical dragons (who were once princes) were close. We captured them with Pokeballs and brought them home.

 After bringing them home, it was time to pick up Nathan and when we all got back home, we made a magic potion to turn all the dragons back in to princes. Hannah was able to read all the ingredients that we needed for the potion.

 It worked! We successfully turned all the princes back to their regular selves and saved the day.

 With the leftover potion, you all wanted to mix them together to see what would happen. Surprise Surprise...it was just a mess.

 We worked on some princess spelling with Hannah

 And later had a fancy royal tea party.

Wednesday: Polymers
In the morning, we got out and skated at the school courts for a few hours. It was pretty nice so we stayed outside for a few hours.

 At some point, Hailey, you even agreed to follow Nathan around as he explored and looked for cool things on the school field. Apparently there's a hidden something that's not there anymore.

We made a batch of granola bars before lunch. The girls made chocolate cranberry ones.

 Nathan, you stuck with your tried and true, chocolate mint, this time, you put in freshly crushed mint leaves, which turned out delicious!

 In the afternoon we talked about what polymers (plastics) are and even made an edible version (cheese).

I was going to have you guys find different types of plastics and sort them based on their numbers, but I could tell you guys just wanted to play, and I wanted some time to myself, so we skipped it.

In the evening, we felt that Nathan, you were ready for the full version of Settlers of Catan. You did super well and I think this is now your new favorite game. You don't know how happy this makes me! 

Thursday: Gears
Thursday was one of those days we just stayed at home all day. We had a lesson about gears. At first, you guys were like, "This is boring! I don't want to just spin wheels!" But when things started to act different that what you would've expected, you were hooked.

 We also made some coconut milk chocolate ice cream. Hailey's request and we added in some oreos and mini M & M's. Now we have an appealing contender that can actually stand up to Blue Bell.

Friday: Nature Walk
On Friday morning, we decided to take Nathan on the same hike that we went on Tuesday. We are so fortunate to have these amazing trails right in our backyard. We saw a little lone heron by the lake.

 We stopped to throw some rocks in the water and then were joined by another neighbor. I recently read about this deadly amoeba that lives in stagnant water...great, along with those killer hornets, I'm not surprised. Anyways, with that in the back of my mind, I made sure you guys didn't get wet. 2020 really is such a crazy year!

I'm glad our neighbor joined us because we don't get to see them often (now that school is out and we've been social distancing) and then they showed us where a cave was! It was so cool that we decided that we were going to bring Daddy back over this weekend.

 I snapped this picture while you all were just playing so well together. Most of the time, you guys get along pretty well. But when you don't, it's vicious!

 I snapped this picture, because Hailey, you seem to be the only one in the family who can work this vacuum sealer correctly. It seems like you have the magic touch.

 On Saturday, we decided to take Daddy on the same trails that we went on to show him the cool new trails that we discovered. It was hot, but under the shade, it was nice. I am just so thankful for these amazing trails. These have literally saved me from going stir crazy.

 Hailey, you've been doing resistance band training with me on some days. This weekend, you came up to me with the bands and asked if I could turn the "TB" on for you. I immediately knew what you wanted, so I pulled up the workout on YouTube and you were off.

Sunday, we celebrated Father's day with waffles, bacon, eggs, and home fries. Cards, and pizza for dinner.
When I asked you guys what your favorite thing about Daddy, this is what you said.

Nathan: I like how you play with me...sometimes.
Hannah: I like how you help me solve problems when my friend and I have an argument.
Hailey: I like Daddy's hugs.

This week I have you guys signed up for a creativity art camp and we also have virtual VBS. We are still doing about 20 minutes of Chinese in the afternoon, but it's a "break" week for me.

Well, that's about it for now. Love,
Mommy