Update 5 of 7 - Fall Activities

Helping spread mulch for a girl in their troops's Stars and Stripes Award 

(its the highest rank you can achieve in AHG)

J always ready to lend a hand

We are starting to navigate the fall schedule waters this week with activities for five kids. It’s not that there are a variety of activities well there are but several are consolidated and involve more than one kid which helps - in our minds - justify the activity. Plus I’m not ready to let anything go - yet. I like what we do and we think they are important different skills and activities. We don’t play 25 sports - which is fine for some people - we just like to expose our kids to a variety of different things so here goes.

Soccer - the activity that involves five kids. After last springs nixing of soccer 4 out of 5 Kibbes were ready to return to the pitch. There’s one hold out who would rather stay exclusively in the pool but I’ve convinced her some cross training would help the swimming cause. I’m coaching again and while it takes a major team effort so that H isn’t a total wreck - I love it. I really do enjoy it. When Lady C is laid out on the field saying she’s not doing it I may not love it as much but it’s great. The girls on Rs team didn’t want to stop scrimmaging even though the parents - me included - were saying it was time to call it. So fun. Ask me how we will get though five games on Saturdays - I don’t know. Like I tell the kids, I haven’t thought past dinner tonight. Which isn’t 100% accurate but basically means don’t worry about it we will get through it somehow 

Swimming - the four bigs swim. A squeaked in at the beginning but I think he’s made big strides in several weeks. Meets are optional and we will go to ones that fit around soccer and other things. Sometimes C, J, H and me will go to the park or we'll do Target pick up or ride home to pass the time. 

AHG/Trail Life - Another big four activity. A's been talking about Trail Life for months. He is convinced he and Papa are going camping ASAP (insert many laughs because Papa and a tent have never mixed soooo... its going to be a steep learning curve). The girls like AHG and they have some cool badges they are working on this year. 

Choir - My parents made me do something musical growing up so that's happening with our kids for the moment - except I don't have to force it. I was never much into piano but band was a step up in middle and high school. E and R are taking voice lessons. E is in the local children's choir and R is hoping to get the nod in a few months. 

We will see how the fall goes with activities and will make adjustments as needed. Right now we are still wading through the first week of everything. We just got the soccer game schedule this week so it's going to be action packed for a month or so. 

Seven Quick Takes - Camping, Crafts, COVID

Linking up with Kelly ... I don't even know where to begin

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Because it's 2020 and all things are completely insane.... The girls convinced me to say yes to taking them CAMPING with AHG. 

I can now say I've slept in a tent and I'd probably do it again actually - maybe 2021? 

The group was working on their horsemanship badge so we camped at the place where they were doing the riding. It was literally no more than 10 minutes from our house and it was only one night. 

We borrowed a ten from Uncle Kev - set up was dumb-easy. If I had to buy a tent I'd buy one like his. It was nearly as self-pop-up tent. We also used some friends sleeping pads to help save our backs : ) 

I did buy everyone headlamps which was a wise move. 

The next morning I ran out to get coffee/hot chocolate cups and may have snuck some Sheetz coffee back 

The girls got their riding and badgework in - in between soccer games.

She had a great time riding and hanging out with all her friends. 

I'm probably most proud of her because this is the kid who is scared of dogs and horses are like 25 times bigger than dogs : ) 

We packed up and headed home and I think I beat everyone to bed

---2---

All Saints Day

Our Lady of the Snows, Queen Esther, Saint Kateri 

They had a festival/party mid day and it was the talk of the town for the whole afternoon. Games and food. It was like a fall version of field day I think. I think they would have stayed all night if they could have. 

---3---

Then there was Halloween

I decorated! This might have been the only time Snoopy and Cookie Monster were on at the same time. Snoopy has a short in the cord and because I got it from Amazon warehouse 2019 there was nothing I could do about it. 

We had church 10/31 in the evening and I had no idea what the Halloween situation was going to be - it is usually hit or miss in our neighborhood. So I told the kids they could trick or treat in the house and I would be in the four rooms downstairs and they could knock on the door and I'd give them candy.  After popping out from behind the shower curtain the first time - everyone pretty much hated it. C still talks about being 'scary' and getting candy. I took E over to a friends house to watch an outdoor movie and there was definitely some trick or treating happening so next year we know where to go!

---4---

The adventures of A and C: 

Chasing geese around the field (we haven't seen them in a month)

Heading down to the pond to check out and feed the fish

We found ourselves with a bit more time on our hands in the last few weeks (thanks COVID) so after we did the big school drop we noticed a train was on the tracks near school so we took the time to get out and check it out. It probably sat for at least 5 minutes while we were there before slowly grinding up it's wheels and giving C a good scare. 

---5---

Crafting... probably one of my favorite mom duties - ha ha ha... 

M and her tube nose bat. I think they are from Australia. Her bat probably has some of the biggest eyes of the bat projects I've seen come out of this house. 

I've heard crafting with boys can be different. For A's turkey project I suggested a few themes and then went shopping so we could stay focused... 

On the Turkey Hulk!

The turkey was done before COVID up and changed plans so the boy and his Turkey Hulk coming as soon as he can present it. 

---6---

I found this in an old text and realized it was only seven months old. 

 

 

Crazy what seven month will do

All the hair! J is still as sweet as he can be. Not walking and has just started pulling himself of stuff. 

---7---

Lee and I celebrated 12 years earlier this month. 

It's been a wild ride of more ups than downs and adventures and kids and activity than either of us could have imagined. God has been so good to us. 

And just because it has been so long... 

I killed this insect at the park one afternoon. It was enormous. It is dead

7 Quick Take - Corona-tine Two and Three

Linking up with Kelly ... weeks two and three ran together as we are finding some normalcy and sticking to routine

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This week seemed strangely normal. Everyone knew the drill, everyone whined a little but overall the unknown of two weeks before was gone because we KNOW we are in this do-everything-from-home situation for the long haul. 

Things I am thankful for: being able to check work emails with this guy, flexible job situations, a job, a husband who walks in the door from work and showers and cleans up the daily ravaging of the house, teachers for checking in on their kids, local restaurants, friends who are checking in, GORGEOUS weather yesterday, our house chapel. 

---2---

Late breaking news... 

We caved and got a pet. Or rather found a pet. Last week it rained and washed a turtle up close to the garage and we decided to keep him around. He is currently living in a 5 gallon bucket in the laundry room sink. The girls have installed a swimming pool complete with rock features, lots of dirt, moss, sticks and flowers. We take the bucket outside in the morning for him to get some sun and I take him out a few times a day to walk on the driveway or grass. I am legit worried C or A will step on him. Right now he is called The Turtle, Yertle and my vote is Corona though I wouldn't be opposed to Frank or Francis. 

School work from home is going well-ish. I know why I don't homeschool and work at the same time because it is basically really hard. I encourage the girls to get their stuff done in the mornings so they don't have stuff to do in the afternoon and finish up things by Thursday so Friday is a free-bie day. We still maintain The Schedule on Fridays but if there's little to no schoolwork then it is kind of like a weekend day? E wanted to work on an AHG badge which involved making a rain gauge, anemometer and barometer. No biggie except R was studying for a religion test, M was doing math sheets and I was placing orders for work and she kept asking for supplies that we didn't have so she kept searching for different ways to make these weather machines with stuff she knew she could get her hands on. Definitely applauding her effort and determination. 

---3---

After breakfast, getting ready time and prayers it is time for what I like to call - the morning torture session

Also know as taking a walk. In the past three weeks (that I have been home) we have gone on our morning walk all except one day. Just for the record on the mornings Lee has been home they've only walked one third of the days. : ) In his defense those days many have been chillier BUT that's what coats are for. 

I enjoy the jaunts around the neighborhood. The kids usually get over the fact we are going by the time we hit our mailbox. Then there's debate over the short, medium or long walk path. Basically no one is ever happy with the decision but it is usually quickly forgotten. There weren't as many dandelions this week much to A and C's disappointment. But on these walks I have seen my kids flutter down the street without a care in the world and as much as I would like things to be normal again, I love the things I can see because of our current situation. 

---4---

The outside time has been great.

I love our little street that has about one car per hour going down it. The trash truck came the other day and I got a bit nervous from my work perch so I ran out to check on everyone and of course everything was fine. One morning A and C wandered and C found a puddle and came back with wet brown shoes but that's not bad for three weeks of this. They were scolded and haven't left the yard again. 

They may complain that I force outside time but once - move forward with your life - (said often around here) they can have quite a bit of fun. There's fighting too mind you but that goes with the territory. 

How about all the food the kids eat? It is a good time The Schedule notes feeding times because they would snack all day. At lunch I'm amazed at what they eat. Sometime after TV time on the way out to (more) outside time I cave and let them have an afternoon snack. 

---5---

I've been trying to eat some higher (good) fat foods. Nuts, whole milk yogurt (YUM!) and avocados... 

Nothing more disappointing (okay that's a lie) then cutting open and avocado and it being pretty gross. Super annoying. I think the brown parts are edible but I guess I don't like the idea of it but I also don't like the idea of wasting the food either so. 

The higher fat foods are for this guy who up until a few days ago didn't want any part of baby food. Now he at least opens his mouth for it (but spits it out almost immediately). We do think he is actually eating some of it but the initial response is spit instead of swallow. 

---6---

Evidence of a fun, late evening with neighbors

Which probably won't happen again because we aren't supposed to be in groups over ten and our family is at 80% capacity : ( and it is probably just not a great idea BUT it was fun while it lasted. Having completely FREE weekend schedules instead FULL Saturdays has afforded us a few weekend dinners and it has been so fun and so great. 

---7---

Puzzles. Let's talk puzzles. I LOVE a puzzle. Usually we have zero time to do them plus where to we put them? 

The presidents puzzle was the first puzzle we did and finished in about 2.5 days. I love it for its history and makes me wish I had retained more about the order of presidents from US History. E and I got Lee hooked because he LOVES presidents. Also, I ordered this puzzle and an NC puzzle right when all the shutdown stuff started - now there is a black market for puzzles and you can't order this puzzle anymore? My dad reports the WSJ had an article about the shortage of puzzles right now!

Then in was onto this puzzle which has proven to be a bear but we are nearly done with it after almost 2 weeks. There are probably 60ish pieces of Vader that are completely black so it is going to take trying every piece individually in order to finish. Lee cut this 3x3 board which has been great!

Other puzzles that are in the works... Everyone is laying claims for which puzzle they want hung in their room. Seuss is going in Js room I think. We might save the lighthouses for the beach though there is another beach puzzle that I am eyeing so we will see. I think once Star Wars is done the Old Well is next which I would like to put in our room. The top middle puzzle I'm thinking for entryway - that one is 550 pieces so it should be a cakewalk! Basically we will have no bare walls once all this corona is over and we can get these puzzles framed!

7 Quick Takes - August and September Catch up

Linking up with Kelly ... let's go in reverse order because it has been that long (and doesn't include any of the crazy from this week - that's possibly worthy of it's own post)

---1---

Last Sunday... 

(A supervising the clergy : ) 

Our bishop came and blessed the grounds/site/cornerstone for the church that is being built. If you thought single parenting kids at church was interesting then you should give an outside church experience a whirl. Complete with blazing hot temps and a few fire ants smack dab in the middle of rest time. 

In reality it was a really good time and the kids did quite well - all things considered - and we got a special blessing for baby number 6 which was great. Last week I was kind of just blocking out L&D (because who wants to do that!??!?!) but I've really tried to shift my mentality and focus. 

Also, less than a week until a whole other person is a part of our lives??? I mean the baby has been a very real reality in my life for the last nine months but when you get to put a name with a face and a sibling with their siblings that's when the reality of a new baby can really hit me. 

---2---

M and the rock wall..

M made it to the top of the rock wall this week. Note the verb climb was not used. Well partially climbed but mostly was assisted all the way to the top. I think this might give her the confidence to actually climb it next time - but she was thrilled either way. 

---3---

E has some pretty high aspirations for swim this season... 

Which will require her to really work hard at and outside of practice. I would NEVER tell her not to try but it is going to be a huge stretch. She has taken to doing some exercises at home which R and M will sometimes get in on and C finds wildly interesting and she gets right in the way of her. 

I've encouraged her to run a mile once a week (or more) but I think half the thrill of that is getting to use my phone to track her run pace. I've thought about getting some sort of FitBit device but I'm not sure I'm ready to invite that into the house yet. 

---4---

M has her first take home project...

Y'all know me and a project. I've got to block out mental energy and patience to get through them. But this one is an easy one that big sisters remember doing so they had to see what was going on... 

The hot glue gun got us through and this was the final product!

---5---

AHG is in full swing:

This is actually from the kickoff meeting and the girls got their faces painted - which they thought was the best so we had to document it because it came off before bed. E moved up groups - which I think she was ready for and it already figuring out how many and who can help her with badges she wants to do. 

---6---

Fall activities are in FULL SWING... 

I love a schedule so we've been in the groove now for about a month and it feels pretty manageable. E and R started swimming in mid-August and M and A started soccer (with E and R helping me coach). Helping is very loose term but nonetheless they'll learn early to step up to volunteer. AHG for the big girls and we let E add children's choir to her line up of activities. Having a set dinner plan with quick interchangeable options is huge. I don't know why it took me until last year to see that but now I know the dinner drill requirements and it makes evenings so much less stressful. 

A opted to be the Sharks although the Chickens was a very close second - but I'm thrilled to not be shouting Chickens!!!!!!!! during out team cheer. M (and her friend) picked the Groovicorns - which if you don't know are way cooler than unicorns so check out the double sided sequins book - and I blame my friend (for buying her that book) ENTIRELY for having to yell Groovicorns for a park full of people to hear. I think I laugh every time with cheer : ) 

Yes I'm coaching (with some serious backup assistants). Yes I'm about to have a(nother!!!!!!) baby. Yes I'll probably take a week or so off from soccer but then I hope I'll be out there with new baby in tow. I make no guarantees but I sure do enjoy it. And aside from getting outrun by the kids it is going well. Between the boys and girls teams I've coach well over half the kids which is fun to watch them learn and way easier when you aren't starting from scratch because now they pretty much have a clue as to what I'm trying teach (that's another loose term too : ) 

---7---

All things school... 

This is from the day when C's bookbag came a while ago and she proceeded to march around the house shouting 'I pre-tee, I pre-tee' 

School is overall is going quite well. Everyone is happy with their teachers and figuring out expectations and all that fun stuff. M and C probably had the roughest restart runs. C had about a week stretch where she forgot how much fun she had and decided she needed to scream when I left. Which I hate leaving a crying kid but ever since that rough patch I open her door and she (tosses her bookbag to the floor) goes in like she owns the place. 

M was an interesting case too. New school. Lots of new faces. New schedule (hello all day!). New everything. So basically the first few weeks were really tough. She hated the towel I packed her for rest time - even though it was green - it was too small and the class was too noisy to sleep - she's definitely my best rester if she rests. Everything was a problem (or at least she wanted me to see it that way - to everyone else school was great). Honestly I did see a 180 degree different kid from the one who was here this summer - maybe not everyone else, but I could tell a difference. That first full week of school I finally saw the M I was used to out on the soccer field playing with her friends. It was good and it was relief. I put alittle reward on the table if she knocked some of her school stuff off her plate (but mine too because its K and basically everything at home is parent driven- HW, reading, sight words, spelling etc etc etc). She rose to that challenge - like I thought she would - and despite everything in me that says one sport per season (and an oldest child who has no problem reminding me of my policy) M went back to swim this week and is thrilled. Kindergarten is definitely a huge adjustment and now that we're a month or so in, I think M's found her groove.

Holy Week and Bright Week

Linking up with Kelly ... we survived and writing about it a month later

---1---

Soccer FINALLY began the Tuesday of Holy Week. It has rained and rained and rained here and the first two weekends of soccer were canceled. 

A's team is the Tigers and A is intent on scoring a goal so he can go out for his first goal ice cream treat. He thinks he scores goals in warm ups but I keep telling him it has to be DURING the game. We are working on that concept.

---2---

Our crew survived Holy Week... 

Good Friday vespers and PB and jelly or honeys was our simple meal of choice. I remain quite proud of the kids powering through 5 of 8 days at church services and all the travel time that went along with that. 

---3---

Holy Saturday is a strange day, no? Not solemn like Good Friday but not celebratory like Pascha. Lee cooked all day. The girls and I made cupcakes to go along with a meal Lee was cooking: 

They worked on their Cake Decorating badge for AHG. 

We learned about different frosting dyes and piping with the star tip. That was interesting to say the least. 

M and A decorated a few remaining cupcakes with sprinkles which was waaaaaaaaaay more up my alley. 

Their flower and butterfly cupcakes with piping!

Sprinklers!

We dropped all of them off knowing there were lots of sweets to be had at church and at Grammy's the next day but there was lots of bowl, and knife and spatula licking :  )

---4---

It was a late and colder Pascha than normal

As in I had to swap out the sandals for tights and closed toed shoes late Saturday night. Pascha Matins and DL is a LONG service and the kids gave it their best. 

Then we went to my parents for dinner and basket hunting. Pringles and cereal are also a huge hit and I am still looking for about half of the peg dolls I gave them (which does not make me a happy mama). 

---5---

The last week of April aka Spring Break - I decided that M needed to giving swimming a whirl - just so she could feel good about it going into the summer season. Soccer was off that week and they were out of school so it seemed like a good idea. 

Which meant lots of park time for A and C

Which they loved

Forever with shoes on the wrong feet... 

---6---

So there was lots of swimming and one tired M who powered through most of it

She couldn't decide if she loved it or hated it because she always said she wanted to go to swim practice but then while she was there she got really nervous (spoiler - we ended up swimming in May and she's been doing much better)

---7---

The Friday of Bright Week it rained

So A and C and me were stuck inside while the big girls did yoga during their swim. I realize there are some questionable breathing and noising and intentions that cane be made during some yoga classes but I trust that is not being taught at our Y. E even said she wanted to go to yoga class so maybe there will be a kids yoga class in the works? 

Then we all headed home to enjoy some super meaty pizza on a Friday which is basically unheard of around these parts : )