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