Summer Time, When the Livin' is Easy.

Dear Kiddos, 

Whenever I see someone I know out in public, or over a zoom call people always ask, "How are you doing?" And I am just so thankful that I can truthfully say that we are doing pretty okay. We've finally gotten in a good groove. We are balancing family time, alone time, fun time, and down time. We have a good...rhythm. 

Most mornings we try to get out to do something active. This usually takes the form of a walk or a bike ride around the neighborhood. Sometimes we'll stop to climb something interesting or catch a few Pokemon.  

 Around 10:30 we come home for a quick snack and some days Hailey has a chinese class, but most days we log into our art class via Zoom. This past week we were learning about art composition and got to use watercolors as our main medium.

The assignment was to create a field of dandelions and then write the names of people that you miss. I thought that it was a very good and healing exercise to take a moment to think about the people who we don't get to be with right now.  

On Tuesday night, after you all went to bed, Daddy and I snuck across the street to try to catch the comet. I snapped a picture to remember our impromptu date night moment. 

On Tuesday, you guys created a cityscape collage with different materials. You guys tend not to enjoy creating collages as much, but according to Hannah, you say, "I love making collages" but then you quickly say, "Maybe I'll come back and finish it later." 

Uhh huh. 

Hailey, you look forward to attending the Chinese story time. You have been singing the songs that you've learned and you are so proud of the craft activities that you create during class. 

I've noticed that the 3 of you don't play well together. If the 3 of you are in a room, there will be crying, I can count on it. However, if I put 2 of you together in whatever combination, you all will find ways to play with each other. Nathan, you will read to Hailey, or play cars or legos with Hailey. 

Hannah, you and Hailey will play more pretend-role playing games or play legos. You also like spending time in bedrooms, playing on the beds, jumping, rolling, etc. 

Nathan and Hannah, you typically will play legos together, but will mostly act out  scenarios with the lego mini figures after you create things. 

You all have also been very interested in playing wii fit. You guys really love to challenge each other and beat each others' score. 

One of my friends sent me a care package with treats and facial masks. Hannah, you and I applied one this week. We are thinking about having a spa day soon. I'm looking forward to that! 

Hailey, you sorta give yourself a facial every time you eat fruit. Cherries and watermelons seem to be your treatment of choice. 

We went to the pool one time last week. It was completely empty and we had the whole place to ourselves. One of our friends let us have their puddle jumper and Hailey, you love the freedom that comes with wearing it, and I feel less anxious when I go to the pool. I was even able to swim a couple of laps! You are not completely comfortable wearing it and wading in the pool outside my arms reach, but we are able to give each other some space when we need it. 

Hannah, we finished reading the Sorcerer's stone together, so we had a movie night to watch the first Harry Potter movie. Auntie Momo surprised us with a visit and happened to have brought some Bertie Botts every flavor jelly beans along with some buttered popcorns one too. You guys had so much fun trying out the different flavors and even got Hailey involved too. Hailey, you would pop one into your mouth, say, "Yummy" and then a few moments later, you face would turn sour and you would signal that you are about to spit it out. Despite gross jelly bean after gross jelly bean, you continue to try them. 

This past weekend was a little crazy in that we were basically glued to our phones and walking around the neighborhood all day, trying to catch and battle rare Pokemon. The server for the game seemed to be lagging, so there were lots of problems with freezing and having to restart. There were also times when we were not able to catch the Pokemon that we worked so hard to free, so it was a weekend of learning to deal with disappointment. 

This morning, we took advantage of the cloudy morning due to Hurricane Hanna and we took Auntie Momo on a hike around the trails in our neighborhood. 

Afterwards, Nathan, you met up with your friend at the pool to catch Pokemon and Hannah, you met up with your friend by the school and you guys played potions. You all found persimmons and crushed them up to make magic potions. Hailey, you even got involved in the potion making! 

We did a make-up lesson from last week today and created a color wheel. I appreciate having the flexibility to take these art classes when we want to (and also having a live option) so that we can just have a more relaxed day. I think that's going to be what I'm looking forward to when we start homeschooling next month. 

This afternoon, we decorated coasters with a cool technique of nail polish marbling. Auntie momo brought a bunch of her nail polish and we went to town creating. 

I love how they turned out! They are so unique and so colorful! 

Auntie Momo will be here for a few more days, so I'm excited to see what else we will do before the month of July is over. I can't believe I'm typing this...July is almost over. 

Well, that's it for now. Until next week, 

Love, 

Mommy 

Week 7 of Summer: The Fancy Life

Dear Kiddos, 

Wow, I can't believe how quickly each week is flying by! Pretty soon COVID will be a thing of the past, right? 

So, I announced last week that we decided to keep you guys home from school this next school year.  I went ahead and ordered the curriculum that we will be using and I'm going to try to come up with more project based units for us to study. I am working on building a learning pod for you guys, focusing on how to keep it safe for all the families involved. 

One thing that Daddy helped me realize to day was the times I get stressed, or lose my temper is when all 3 of you are whining for my attention or help. Perhaps I knew this in my subconscious mind, but probably just shoved it away because Hailey is so young and I just know that she needs help. So, moving forward, I will have a new battle plan: When we are working together, I'm going to have you guys raise your hands and wait for me to come to you. We'll see how this works out. 

We've been having a lot of fun painting with acrylic this past week. It was a little stressful having you guys work with non-washable paint, but you all were pretty good about reporting splatters and spills immediately.  (Hailey, you don't know this yet, but you got tempera paint. There's no way I'm trusting you right now with Acrylic, please don't be offended!) 

Hailey, you actually really enjoy painting. Most days, you start out doing what the teacher asks you to do, but then most of the time, you go off doing your own thing on the paper, which then turns in to mixing all the colors on the palette. 

Upper: Cherry and Blueberry by Nathan.
Lower: Fig and Cherry by Hannah

Nathan and Hannah, you all learned about working with different values, getting more complex as each day continued. 
 

I can tell you guys really like this painting week better than collage week. When I call you down for class, it does not take any coaxing at all. 

Tulips by Hannah

Garden by Nathan

This is our COVID gallery. We've been adding the work that you all have been doing to this wall. MOst of the art that you have been creating isn't on the wall because I'm debating on whether we should keep it all in your notebook, or just rip the pages out and put them up on the wall. I'm actually even considering photocopying a few to put up just so you guys can keep the art in the journal to keep with you as your artistic talent grows. 

Hannah, you still love this dress! You have worn this dress to a tea party, to skating, to mopping and more! 

And Of course, Hailey, you can't let Hannah diva it up by herself! You've been wearing a dress 90% of the time because, why not! 

And you've absolutely love the crown that you made last week. You request it every day. 

Chinese lessons are going fairly well. I'm trying my best to get you all to be exposed to as much mandarin speaking as possible. I'm hoping to make an hour or 2 a day, mandarin only, so we'll see how that plays out in the next few weeks. 

"Fish" in Mandarin

 

Hannah, you have been so interested in helping out whenever you can in the kitchen. I really enjoy this special time together. You also have expressed an interest in running with me, so some mornings, we have been going on short runs together before breakfast. I remember that during our first run, you expressed that you love it because it's like we are on a date together. 

We made pizza from scratch the other day and it was the best! I've never had much success with the dough, but I think we've found the perfect recipe and it's so easy that I can't think of a reason why we would need to order out for pizza again. (Besides convenience) 

So the simplifying toys method has continued to work. You guys are playing with toys for a longer period of time and the upstairs can be tidied up in less than 10 minutes even after a whole week of not tidying up. 

Legos have particularly been the heart of everyone's interest this past week. Nathan and Hannah, you will just go into your rooms, build and role play legos for 2+ hours. 

Hailey, you will also sit and build with duplo legos on your own for 45 minutes at a time. I've really been impressed with the things that all three of you come up with. 

Our anniversary date night. 

A few months ago, our neighbors also celebrated an anniversary and the kids planned a romantic date night for the parents. You guys saw them setting up outside and immediately wanted to plan something for us. Well, we cashed in this weekend for our 11th anniversary. 

The only thing I really did was order the food and Daddy picked it up. But you girls helped me with my hair and make up, and you all also helped us pick out our matching outfits. 

Massage and Hair

Make-Up

The Final Look: Complete with pearl necklace and taco earrings.
Oh, there's also not 2, but 3 bows in my hair. 

Don't we clean up real nice? 

You guys worked very hard to create this beautiful "Happy Anniversary" sign for us.

The table was set with care by the bar. Hannah, you even set out your special petunias for us. 

We had our own little mixologist who kept our glasses full throughout the night. The wait staff brought us each course and were super attentive to asking us if we were ready for the next course. 

Dinner was delicious and Daddy and I were able to share with each other (loud enough for you guys to over hear) what we love about each one of you. You guys did a great job to make us feel special, so we thought we'd do the same in return. 

At night, this happened. 

And has continued to happen for the past 3 days. I'm actually ok with it, because you guys wake up early, but will play upstairs until 7:15 and then come down. Hailey takes a better nap when she wakes up earlier, so it's a win win. 

Hailey, your sense of humor continues to develop at an exponential rate. You are such a jokester and you make so many connections and come up with creative ideas all the time. I sometimes am so surprised at how you are not even 3 yet. 

Dinner time struggles still happen and for some weird reason, we've conditioned you to eat if we offer your food to someone else. Then, you will frantically open your mouth for the next bite. We decided to put an end to this and have been just feeding your food to someone else if you refuse it the first time. If you are still hungry, you throw a fit, and then you learn your lesson and will start eating without a fight. But if you are full, you are completely ok with it and then dinner is over. 

You are starting every prayer at mealtime. If we even say the wrong prayer, or say it before you start, meltdown. If you see something on your plate that you don't like, meltdown. If we tell you "no", guess what? Meltdown. 

Potty training is coming along pretty well. You are starting to slowly recognize when you need to go and most of the time still need reminders to "run to the potty!" You make this little grunting sound that I can seem to hear from a mile away, and immediately I'm conditioned to say, "if your pee pee is coming, run to the potty!" 

Well, that's about it for this week. We have 2 more weeks of art class, counting this week and who knows what lies ahead? 

Love, 

Mommy