Another week gone by...

We've downsized our family during the last week.
The jars of critters that lined the shelves in my family room have decreased and only one remains, our tadpole.

We released the pond fish back into the river with a big group farewell.
We gazed at the murky water until we no longer saw them and the kids agreed that it was best to send them home.
However, James disagreed with tossing back the river clam.  He was convinced there was a pearl inside the clam just waiting to be discovered.

Perhaps the most disturbing news of the week was the disappearance of the salamander.
Yes, we woke up last Sunday morning to an empty Tupperware and suspicious looking  holes in the cellophane. 
According to Levi, he blamed James for poking too big of  breathing holes in the top.
James denied the allegations and claimed that someone released him in the night.
There were big emotions in the house-blame, anger, disgust, sadness....
I made the boys look under the couches for any sign of it.
 Although we didn't uncover the remains of Mr. Salamander, their emotions suddenly shifted; they became elated by all the lost toys and pieces of toys they discovered under the couch.


One day we trekked  through the forest  looking for mushrooms. I have a little book with pictures of various types, and we were able to uncover several varieties. The best mushrooms we discovered were the ones growing off the side of a dead tree. According to our book, they are called "tinder mushrooms."

We also hit a milestone last Sunday: we took our first official family bike ride. Riding together, we take up a whole sidewalk. People start cheering for us as if we were a parade.

I think we are a sight to see, all these little people on two wheeled bikes. 

It was wonderful. Everyone cruised along together, and we had a great time. The kids even convinced Dad to stop at Jamba Juice. 

This is one of the family activities that just seemed impossible even a year ago. 

It's been a pretty average quarantine week; however it was a little wetter. 

The days are meshing together and the weeks are going by; my mood and emotions have been all over the place. 

 There are moments when I feel strong and capable, and then there are moments when I start to pace the house, filled with panic and grief. 

John has been really busy with work and being Super Dad.  He's truly been amazing, making time in his schedule each day to get the kids active outside or playing ping pong in the basement.

One of the projects he did with the boys was create arrows for their little bow and arrow sets. They even named each: one-Knight Rider, Cheetah, Desolation..... They have been having fun shooting at targets, not cats and sisters!

For some reason the kids have wanted to sleep all over the house. Perhaps it's one way to mix up the monotony of the days?!.....

 They make tents, but sometimes they change places in the middle of the night and are fast asleep in the hallways. 

One of the most disappointing things about this quarantine was missing out on the boys' Kindergarten graduation. This celebration is a tradition at West Hills, and it's one I've been looking forward to since Evelyn had hers two years ago. 

However, the school set up a little graduation picture time at the school on Saturday.

 So at least we got to see them in their cute little gowns and big smiles :) 

My mom says that I'll blink and they will be in Seniors. 

I believe that is true. 

Critters in my Home

My home smells slightly of soil and my kids seemingly have permanent residue of earth beneath every single finger nail.

Their shoes are unwearable at the moment, as they sit soggy and muddy outside in the garage.
Currently our home has ten new residents who sit in jars and Tupperware on top of our family room shelf:
7 pond fish,
a tadpole,
a clam
and a salamander.

There really isn't a favorite among them; each critter has ignited the same amount of delight upon discovery.
I actually encourage the adoption of these critters.
This quarantine from school and schedule (coupled with our outrageously gorgeous weather) has made the forest my territory with my children.
 It helps with my sanity, and it's a wonderful place to learn and get some energy out.

As a child, I have many happy memories of wandering through fields and wading through ponds, catching fireflies and nursing hurt rabbits back to health. My attempt to recreate  this idyllic existence for my children in suburbia has led me to many hours exploring the forest and river behind our house, uncovering secret trails,  wading in small creeks and even digging in a dinosaur bone exploration site. 😊

These boys are dedicated to unearthing some dinosaur remains...

They believe they discovered a whole T-Rex head.

So, when my kids started bringing all these relics into my home, it represents,-in my mind- a happy childhood; and thus, I welcome them gladly...just as long as they keep track of them.

One afternoon the salamander and its container it lives in was missing from the counter.
 "Where's the salamander?" I called out,  while I sat folding towels in the other room.

I heard a faint reply, "I think he's in the fort, Mom, in the family room."

I surrender all. ⚐

I went back to casually folding my towels, apparently satisfied with the answer.

Now, I have to come clean about one of the critters on my shelf....Here is the story....😐


The pond fish were captured with my kitchen colander. Swift as a cat, I lunged at them in the water, desperately determined  to make a memorable educational experience for my children.

I was going to give them the magic of witnessing a tadpole transforming into a frog.

You should have heard their excitement when I successfully caught seven little tadpoles. As we walked back to our house, they held their jars proudly, telling everyone they passed about their tadpoles. I got several "air high fives" and I must admit, I felt pretty good.

I was going to give my kids a real, hands on, earth science education.

When we got home, everyone was buzzing with the excitement of it all.
Seven frogs! 🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸We were going to watch seven tadpoles grow little legs and develop lungs...what a magical childhood experience! 

We began researching tadpoles and how  to care for them properly.
As I watched the little educational videos on line, I was suddenly struck that our tadpoles looked quite different than the ones in the pictures.
Could my memories from long ago have failed me?

I finally had to admit to myself that they, in fact, weren't tadpoles at all;
they were only little pond fish! 😬

Lost in my thoughts, I could still hear the murmur of excited children in the background, scheming about how they were going to care for their tadpoles. I just couldn't disappoint them, especially when I talked up this experience so much and was so confident about how to catch them.

So I didn't say anything.

I confessed to John later that night and he only laughed.
But, then I confessed that I did something desperate to fix it: I ordered a tadpole on Amazon. 
He looked a little more concerned.

Yes, I found out that you can do that; and yes, it comes alive in a little bag filled with water.
And yes, we failed to get our mail for one whole day so the poor little guy was stuck in the dark mailbox for longer than he should have been.

But alas, he was alive and the kids were absolutely delighted with him, and it quickly made up for my error of catching pond fish (which, by the way, Evelyn, figured out the following day..." Mom, I'm not sure these are tadpoles...")😳

So there you go.
I'm not sure if this makes my tadpole less authentic-it kinda feels that way to me- but nonetheless, it's a tadpole which will turn into a frog in 12-16 weeks. We may still be in quarantine. Who knows.

But at least then we will have a pet frog, because the instruction manual it came with explicitly states that this frog can not be released into the wild because it won't know how to survive. ...
And Evelyn, who knows how to read everything, promptly pointed that out as she read the manual to everyone.

I've read that pet adoption is way up during this quarantine; families are adopting puppies and kittens.  Evelyn has basically claimed the neighbor's cat as her own. Bob, the nextdoor neighbor's cat, happily lounges with her on the deck as she does her school work.

However, now I can proudly tell my children that their pet frog was a result of the 2020 pandemic, and they can't claim they didn't have a magical childhood. 😊

Life Now

One minute I was volunteering in the boys' kindergarten class, and the next minute I was getting text messages that they were going to have two weeks off from school, (eventually never to return).

SO, we are a month in to quarantine, and people may ask how are we doing?....

Well, it really depends on when you ask.

My life went from one extreme to the other in a moment; finally some hours to order my life with the kids gone at school all day...to now teaching them, cleaning, laundry and caring for everyone and everything.... and it's truly too much if I try to keep up with it all perfectly.

I've had to become way more relaxed about the order of my home. My floors haven't been washed in weeks. My laundry...dig through it to find some clean socks! 
 I need to focus my energy and attention on educating my kids. I go to bed each day truly worn out.
I know that John does too.
The two of us are truly a team, keeping the family afloat and making it work.

I've been through the whole grief cycle. I've felt physical pain in the pit of my stomach for the sudden cessation of their kindergarten and second grade years and halt to social life and leisure.
But I've finally landed on acceptance and a clear vision and determination to face this season with my very best effort and joy.

I assured my children that school was in fact not out for the summer. Being a former teacher, I began to plan lessons and art projects and science studies.

Our school has been amazing in supporting us with curriculum. However, it's just not the same sitting in front of a computer learning, and they do miss the relationships and classroom experience of it all.

At first I was completely overwhelmed. I realized that I did not know my boys as students at all. These weeks have been enlightening to see where they struggle and how they learn. It's still challenging to give them the assistance they all need at once as they attempt to improve their writing and reading.

Evelyn also is needing help as well.
And then there is the technology issues...and in those moments when everyone needs my attention and I start spinning, I simply take a step back and assure myself that I am doing the best I can and that Moms all over the world are struggling along with me.

I also want to have some fun. This will probably be the only time I will educate my kids at home, so I want us all to enjoy the experience!
I try to mix things up and add a little creativity into the day.

We spent one afternoon collecting pine cones and learning about their seeds.
Of course it ended up being a competition; Levi and James against Caleb and Evelyn.

In the end, we ended up counting over 1000 pine cones. How's that for a math lesson?! 

One rainy day we made homemade pretzels and learned about their origin as a lenten month food, representing the folding of prayerful arms. 

We planted seeds in pots; I'm hoping something happens!🤞

We take several hikes a week; sometimes we have fun leaving little nature designs along the way. 

We paint, and write and read. 

We dig for dinosaur bones and get ridiculously muddy. 

On the sunny days I push them outside;

On rainy days I push them outside. 

But, no matter what, they are all around me, all the time.

I want this to be a special season that we can look back on with good memories.
I want my kids to bond and play,

and we are learning how to "just be."

We are learning how to celebrate simply and appreciate each other. 

John's birthday!

We are delighting in dandelions. 

Yes, weeds have become something beautiful, something we spend hours making into long chains. 

                                                    It's funny how perspectives change.