April Wreath

I came across this wreath almost a year ago at a little shop in Roy. It was cute and not very much so I went ahead and purchased it. At the time I wasn't 100% in love with it, but knew that I could spruce it up later.

While shopping for my St. Patrick's Day wreath I came across some Easter stuff as well. I found some yarn made carrots and white wired sprigs with pastel easter eggs all over them. With some so simple I could turn that old wreath into something I really liked.

After getting supplies I put them away until it was time to hang things up for Easter. When it was, I pulled out the items I bought and just stared at the wreath. I wasn't sure what I wanted to add or even where. I tried a few different thing, going back and forth on where I might place the embellishments. I finally narrowed it down and since I couldn't figure out anything else, I went ahead and glued them in place. I'm still not in love with it it, maybe I will find something next year to add to it, but for now it will have to do.

Neighbourhood Social Distancing

We were sitting at the kitchen table and we heard voices. We figured it was just something outside our window. Then after a bit those voices turned into singing. We had no idea what was going on, so the kids ran out to investigate. They came in and told us that there was a lot of people outside under the lights and singing songs. The told the kids that we could come out and join them. The kids ran in and told me what was going on and asked if we could go outside with everyone. I was hesitant, but once I went outside to see what was going on, I gave them the go ahead.

When we went outside, everyone was following the guidelines for social distancing, but were still able to have fun together. Some were on their balcony's, some in camp chairs, some sitting in their garages, but collectively having a great time. Our neighbors above us pulled their piano out on their balcony and were playing songs that everyone could sing along to. The boys of course didn't know any of the songs, so they just got up and started dancing instead.

After almost two hours, people started to dissipate. It was a fun night spending "distancing time" with the neighbors.  

Family Movie Night

Onward came to theaters March 6th and sadly not at a very good time. Things have started closing due to the scare of the Coronavirus; like unessential stores, theaters, parks, etc. Since the theaters were closed in some places days after it was released, it didn't get the exposure that they had hoped for. With that they decided to release it digitally a lot soon then they had originally intended. It was available for digital purchase through some viewing platforms 2 weeks after its release to theaters. It was released for free on Disney + a month after its release to theaters. 

We were lucky enough to be able to see it through a digital platform that we share with Jeff. He purchased it through VUDU and was kind enough to let us log on and watch it from the comfort of our very own home. When he told us that, it meant one thing; a movie night. We popped some popcorn, got some drinks, and sat down to enjoy the new movie. The trailers for the movie looked great and we all anticipated it to be a good one, and it was. The kids loved it and asked if they could watch it again. It was too late to watch it tonight, but we told them that they could tomorrow. 

Virtual Spirit Week

To try and keep the kids spirits up while not being able to attend school, the school has put together different activities for the kids to participate in each day while being stuck at home instead of school. They could do some of these activities for prizes as well. Some of the activities were making their own obstacle course, a car race, a board game, etc. They would announce their activities and the winners on the school's Facebook page. I asked the kids if they wanted to participate in any of these activities and they all surprisingly said no. 

As I was searching the school's Facebook page, I came across the next activity; Spirit Week. The kids could very easily participate without having to exert any effort. In the morning each day I went on to check the theme for the day and let the kids know. They happily did as the theme suggested.

I forgot to take a picture of day 1 so we combined day 1 and day 2 together. Day 1 was "Crazy Sock Day, the crazier the better!" Day 2 was "What Ya Readin? Take a picture with the book you are reading." So as they sat on the couch to read for the day, they showed off their crazy socks.

Day 3 was "Pajama Day. Post your coziest shot!" I would say this was the coziest shot, we needed blankets for that, but the kids loved not having to change our of their Pajamas for the day.

Day 4 was "Terrific Teacher Day. Post a message to a teacher that you miss." The kids were really excited about this one. They pulled out cute and patterned papers, crayons, colored pencils, and even markers. They wanted it to look the best. They took their time and they turned out great.

The last and final day was "School Spirit Day, school colors or spirit wear." This hasn't changed much, every Friday is always spirit day at school where the kids are asked to wear their school shirts.

It was something simple that the kids could do for a little bit of fun while missing being as school.

Zoom lessons

 Zoom is the new classroom. With 1 week down and many more to go, I'm not sure how I like it. I understand that this is the only way that the teachers can connect with the students for their lessons and whatnot, but its been difficult to get used to. 

Owen meets once a day from 11 to 12. We have lunch during this time, which drives him crazy that he has to wait to sit down and eat. During his Zoom lessons they talk about the homework that has been assigned, answer questions that any of the kids might have, as well as teaching new concepts. He does his best to stay engaged, but I can see him struggling with this later on.

William meets twice a day, once from 10:30 to 11 for math with his current teacher and once from 12 to 12:30 for regular classroom learning with the full time teacher. In the math session they of course go over math questions. They have math workbooks and they work on a few pages each day. Once done with the workbook they work on story problems. During the regular learning they go over site words, phonics, reading, etc. William seems to enjoy this Zoom more than the other. Although I think he will have a hard time with these as well as time goes on. He going to want to play instead of his Zoom lessons since he paper homework is easy and is done quickly.

Gabbi hasn't had any Zoom lessons. Well once to explain how it all works and what is expected of them with their schoolwork. She's fine not having them though. She got through her work this week rather quickly and was free to do whatever when she was done.

Virtual Dance Class

For today's breaks the kids wanted to do their Dance class. This week their Dance instructor posted different Just Dances videos from YouTube. Just Dance is a video game where you dance along with the Avatars and gain points on how well you do.

At first the kids weren't sure how to take it, but when they saw how many different videos they could do with themes that they loved, they really got into it. They ended up dancing for over an hour. They loved it and were bummed when I told them it was time to get back to their school work. Luckily for them, they didn't have much left for the day and when they were done, they could go back to dancing. 

Lego bridge

Owen had been working on a project all day. No one was allowed to come in their room until he was done. Finally after dinner he was ready to show us what he was up to. When we walked into their room, all I saw was mess. He then explained that there was story behind all of it. He then proceeded to tell us the story. He was all over the place and he wasn't talking very loud. Those together made it hard to understand what he was talking about. All I got was that there was a crash and a bridge and something about a bad guy. He had fun explaining it and when he was done, he was very proud at what he had accomplished. 

Harry Potter Yoga

After they were done with the warm up exercises for P.E., they moved on to the real assignment for this week which was Yoga. The kids have never done Yoga before and weren't sure what to expect. After listening to their instructions Owen said that they had done something similar in P.E. a while ago. He told the others that they would just be doing poses of all kinds to music. William seemed excited about.

When it got going, the kids were even more excited when they saw that the theme of the Yoga session was Harry Potter. The poses that they got to do where all called by names you would find in Harry Potter. It even followed the story of the first movie/book. They even got to choose their favorite house and they did so by doing the pose of the animal that represented each. Gabbi choose Slytherin; the snake, Owen choose Hufflepuff; the badger, and William choose Ravenclaw; the eagle.  Overall, I think they like the themed Yoga.

Virtual P.E.

Along with their regular schoolwork, they also have access to the Library, P.E., and Dance. Each week their instructors/teachers put together different "assignments," or things for them to work on during each week. Today we ventured our break from schoolwork to do P.E. It was basically just a warm ups to get them up and moving to get ready for the real assignment for the week, which was Yoga. They had to do stretches, jumping jacks, running in place, push up, crunches, etc. They got through them quickly and were ready for the next thing, Yoga.

No School

What we did next was to pick up all the items we needed from the school to continue learning. That meant a learning packet for William, a Chromebook and a packet for Owen, and a Chromebook and notebook for Gabbi. Between the 2 Chromebooks and the computer we had at home that would be enough for all 3 of the kids to do their school work without having to wait for anyone else to finish.

It was crazy picking up the Chromebooks. In the email it said that we could stay in our vehicles to pick up our items. Even after checking with an aid they said yes. So I got back in my van and drove around like they said. Then a few minutes later they told me that that wasn't actually the case and had to wait in the line. That annoyed me because now the line outside the gym was longer than it was when I first got there. Not to mention they cancelled the schools to avoid kids (people) from being in large numbers/crowds and now here we were in a large number/crowd waiting for our children's packets. They were doing their best, they only allowed 2 families in the gym at a time to sign for Chromebooks, but that didn't stop the line that was piling up outside to get in the gym. There was no social distancing set in place for pick up. It was insane. I was just glad we got there early enough to be towards the front of the line during our allotted time slot.

After all that craziness we went home, but only for a few short hours. We came back to the school to pick up lunch. They were providing lunch and breakfast for all the students, during the closure, who wanted to come and pick it up. To make sure my grocery bill doesn't go crazy, I planned to do just that. 

Today just so happened to be St. Patrick's Day. We don't do anything special for St. Patrick's Day. The kids made sure they dressed in green today, but other than that, nothing. When we picked up our lunch today, they did get a St. Patrick's Day bracelet to commemorate the holiday. That's as special as we got.

No School

With the schools being closed and no assignments being assigned for the day, we decided to have a little fun before things get hectic. We bought some kick balls for the Sagez get together at the end of the month and decided to take them out for the day. We went to the park just down from our house and found that we were not the only ones with that idea. We tried our best to stay away from other as we kept to the field playing dodge ball. When the kids were done with that, we took the balls to the basketball court and played HORSE. When we were all played out, we headed home and awaited our instructions from the School as to what we have to do next.

Online Classes/school

It's official...the school's will be closed due to the Coronavirus Until May 1st. At that time they may choose to open or keep it closed for the remainder of the school year. They have released a risk assessment scale that places all of Utah in the High Rick category causing many things to close; one of course are the schools. 

Today and tomorrow the schools are closed with no expectations of assignments while the teachers are preparing their curriculum to be given through an online platform. I would not want to be in the teachers shoes, they have to change everything they have done to know being able to deliver their lessons through Google classroom. Parent have been assured that their kids would continue to learn through this new platform without skipping a beat. Sadly I'm not so sure that's true. It's left on the parents heads to make sure their students actually log on and do the work. There was a reason why I didn't finish my degree in teaching...I'm not cut out for it. This will be an adventure that I nor my kids signed up for. I hope that we all come out in one piece.

Movie with Ben

When I was at the Redbox, I looked through to see if there was anything that Ben might be okay with watching as a break from his school work. I came across the new Charlie's Angles Movie. The preview didn't entice me enough to go see it while it was in theaters, but now with it only costing me $ 2.00 to rent it, why not.

When I got back from the machine, Ben smiled and said fine. He couldn't watch when I brought it home, but we planned to watch it in the afternoon the following day.

In the morning Ben got up and got going on his school work. If he wanted to watch the movie, he had to complete an assignment before he could sit down and take a break. It took him longer than he wanted to finish that assignment, but he was finally did and was able to sit down and watch the movie with me. 

He didn't want popcorn, but I popped some anyway and did my special mix. I mix a bag of extra buttered popcorn with a bag of kettle corn. The mixture of sweet and salty is awesome and he eventually ate some with me.

The movie was an action packed one for being done by girls. I was quite surprised. I enjoyed it as much as I have the other Charlie's Angles movies. Ben of course had to pick out the false truths, but I still think he enjoyed it. More so, I think he was just glad to be away from his computer. 

Movie Day

In the morning the kids were up and ready to continue our movie marathon. I told them that they needed to wait and get their reading and chores done first. That distracted them until lunch and after lunch we put in the next movie, Cats. This is a playoff of Secret Life of Pets. I didn't really watch it with them, but they were laughing a lot. I wonder if it was as good as they said. I sadly didn't really want to waste my time to figure it out. When the movie was over I asked them to clean up the popcorn and if they wanted to join me for the next one they could.

Our next movie was A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. I wasn't sure how well the kids wold take this one. Seeing the previews it didn't really look like one that younger kids would enjoy. I was right. After the first 10 minutes they all decided to go and play in their rooms. I even have to admit, it was kind of slow. I sadly fell asleep through the middle of it. Ben of course made fun of me for it. He wished he could nap through a movie, but he had homework to do. When it was over I contemplated rewinding it and watching the parts that I missed, but then decided against and went to return the movies to the Redbox machine.

Family Movie Night

With the announcement of the soft closure of school, the kids have been worried and sad about the thought of not being able to see their friends anymore. To try and ease that and get their minds off of it, we decided to do a Family movie nigh. Well more like a movie weekend. We got enough movies to last us two days. Probably not two full days, but two a day before having to return them back to the Redbox machine. 

The first movie we watch was Spies in Disguise. Everyone had seen it already expect Gabbi. She was at a sleepover with a friend when we went to see it. The boys were excited to have her see it now. We bought Movie theater popcorn from Smith, drinks from Maverick and went home to start our movie marathon. We even grabbed some pizza for dinner.

Spies in Disguise was of course, great. It was as good as it was when we saw it back in December. It came to DVD early and it was worth it for how good it was. Gabbi loved it too. She was laughing just as much as the boys were.   

When that one was over we immediately put in the next movie. Ben didn't join us for this one, he had homework to get done. He went to his computer and the kids and I went back to the T.V. This time we were watching Playmobil The Movie. I remember seeing the preview and thinking it looked incredibly stupid and now I was watching it with my kids. I knew they would love it, so I sacrificed my time doing something else to watch this movie with them. I wasn't a fan, the Lego ones are better, but the kids really enjoyed it. They were hoping that we would buy it, but I wasn't about to run out to go get it. 

Once it was over, it was time to clean up and go to bed. The kids didn't want to. It was hard to get them to do what I asked. I reminded them that they had two more movies they could watch and they wouldn't if they didn't get cleaned up and ready for bed. That got them moving.

BOTS

 When Gabbi heard about the school having a musical, she was so excited. She instantly wanted to sign up to audition no matter what musical it was. After a few months, they finally announced that the musical would be BOTS. I had never heard about it before and neither had Gabbi. After releasing the info for the show, she made sure to pick up a packet for the auditions.

When she brought the packet home, we went through it together. We looked at all the options that she could audition for and then filled out the permission slip. I was surprised that she didn't want to actually audition for a part. All she wanted to do was to be on the Tech crew. 

On the day of auditions, so turned in her packet and Mrs. Kirkland told her that it would be a hard one to get. She had over 40 kids fill out slips to be a Tech crew member and asked her if she was sure that she didn't want to audition for something else. She obviously said no and crossed her fingers that she would get lucky. A few weeks later, she released the cast list and out of the 40 + kids who asked to be on the Tech crew, Gabbi was one of the 6 chosen. The day of their first meeting, she was so excited.

When she got home after that meeting she told me all about it and what was expected of her during the rehearsals. As a Tech crew member she was put in charge of props and make-up. She had to come up with ideas on what props could be used and the types of make-up and costumes would be best for the cast members. During rehearsals, she was in charge of putting together these props and the backdrops. She loved it and every minute of it.

After three longs months of rehearsals, it was finally time for the dress rehearsals and the main performance. The plan for the dress rehearsal was to have it filmed as well as pictures taken of the entire cast. Gabbi was worried that she would mess up, she was asked to fill in on opening and closing the curtains along with helping get the props out and where they needed to be. I told her that with all her hard work and practice, she'd be fine. I'm not sure it helped, but she went to school ready for the Dress rehearsal once the final bell rang.

When Gabbi came home from her dress rehearsal, she said it went okay. There were a few bumps in the road with everything that she was in charge of. It also didn't help that they were missing some of the Tech crew today. Either way, she was glad it was over. 

When she told me that, I wasn't sure what she was talking about. I had received a few emails about the final performance and if it would be happening, but nothing definitive. At today rehearsal she announced to the entire cast and crew that the musical was being put on hold and the actual date postponed. She said that they hoped to be able to show off all their hard work in May before school ended, but would let everyone know once it got closer. She also said it was more likely to be cancelled and would have a link sent to the entire cast and crew for the recording that they had made today. After hearing that, I told her the likelihood of them actually getting to perform it live to an audience wasn't likely. She shrugged her shoulders and said that she was fine if they didn't have to do it again.

Later that evening I received an email for her teacher again telling us the same information that Gabbi already shared with me, sadly at the end of it was the notice that the musical was permanently postponed. They also attached the link for the recording and a fun slide show that she put together with the pictures that were taken at today dress rehearsals and many of their rehearsals. I showed the slide show to Gabbi and she smiled, I can only imagine that memories of her time working on the musical was flashing through her head. 

https://safeYouTube.net/w/0y29

On a side note, she had sent the recording to the actual writer of the musical (one of them) and he recorded a special message for all the kids. He told them that he was blown away by how amazing it was. He apologized that they weren't able to have their final performance for family and friends, but was impressed that the video he saw was from the Tech rehearsal. He said that he was impressed at how it was so polished and how each of the cast members performed with such confidence. He was impressed by their crispness and execution of the choreography and singing and that it was way beyond what you would typically see for an Elementary school production. He said it was so fun to watch and how they did a great job making the show come to life. He finished up by telling them how proud he was of everyone that participated in the production both in front of and behind the curtains and that he was happy that he was able to watch it. 

Dinner with Grandpa and Grandma Hall

Every once in a while Grandma and Grandpa will join us for family dinner. They don't get to get out much anymore because they are no longer able to drive, so when they do come around, its special to see them. 

This particular dinner was a fun one celebrating Kamree's birthday. Kayla had given Kamree a gift with some scrunchies in it. Grandpa had no idea what they were and asked what you do with something like that. The girls tried to explain to him what you do with them and he put them on his wrists, shaking them around, and asked "like this?" Everyone started laughing and all the girls shook their heads. It was so funny and cute to see them interact with them.

Kid's Sleepover

When we finally got to where we were going, they still didn't have any idea why we were there. We were now at the Discovery Park in Pleasant Grove. They weren't sure why we were there, but I don't think they cared when I told them they could go out and play. They were all off exploring this new park. They were all over the place too. The came up to me a few times thanking me for bringing them. Owen did come up once crying. He had fallen off the swing and got some pretty good road rash. We cleaned him up and he was off again.

After a little bit Gabbi came up and asked me why we were there. It was perfect timing when our friends came around the corner. I told her "that's why we are here." Taycina and her kids were joining us at the park. They had stayed the night in Salt Lake and had just dropped their Dad off at the airport. Since they were this way, Taycina and I thought it would be fun to meet up and let the kids spend some time together. Gabbi was so excited she ran to find the boys to tell them that Nicholas and Anicia were here. They all came running and then off they ran again to go play. This time with their friends.

They were having a blast and they were all over the place. This was a large park and there was a lot of things to do. Thank Heavens because there were a lot of people there. That didn't stop the kids from having fun and Taycina and I got to visit while they did so.

After a while all the kids complained about being hungry. So after talking with Taycina, we decided to go to Culver's. Each of the kids got a kids meal and Taycina and got value meals, similar to the kids, just a little bit bigger. 

William made me laugh. He wanted to get what Anicia wanted to eat, which was a corn dog, but then decided to get was Nicholas got instead, a plain hamburger. I was shocked that he didn't want cheese. He normally has his cheeseburgers plain, but normally he has cheese. I asked him if he was sure and he said yes. When it came, I don't think he liked it, but he ate because he really wanted his free ice cream treat. When it was time to order that he told me that he wanted exactly what Anicia ordered because he already had what Nicholas ordered. Kids can be so funny sometimes. 

When everyone was done eating the kids complained that the play date was over. They didn't want it to be. Taycina then asked if we wanted to stay at their house tonight. Her husband was on a plane and not coming home for 2 weeks and Ben was at Camp Williams for BTA. Since he wasn't home, I didn't see the harm in staying at their place tonight. So we took a detour to our house to change out the dirty clothes in the suitcase for a clean pair and got back on the freeway and headed back to the park. Taycina had left her car there and we took the van to eat. After they moved to their car, we headed to their house. Back to North Ogden we were going. Definitely not a good choice of schedule for my gas mileage, but at this point with how much fun we were having, I didn't care.

When we got to their house, the kids picked up where they left off. Grant it, this time they had toys to add to their play, but they were having a blast and to my surprise they were all getting along really well. Sometime Gabbi and Owen have a hard time getting along when it comes to making up games and "being in charge," but they were all getting along nicely.

While they were playing Taycina and I did some crafts. She came across this new fun way to make jewelry; Resin jewelry. She could do them in whatever color and whatever size you wanted. Well, with what she had available. The colors are made out of glitter, sequins, small rocks, small flowers, etc., really anything you could think of that was small enough. She had so many different colors and supplies that you literally could have picked anything. She also had a lot of different molds that came in all sorts of shapes and sizes. She told me to pick a mold and a color and she would make me a set of jewelry. 

At first I asked her a question about mixing more than one color of glitter and she said we could do anything. I then asked if it would look funny to mix about 7 different colors together. She said let try. We poured them in small round earring molds, that way if we didn't like it, we weren't wasting it on something huge. They turned out great. I loved them. I was happy. She then told me to pick out something else. So this time I picked a tear drop shape that came in two different sizes that way I could have a necklace and a pair of earrings. For the coloring I picked small reddish colored stones. She then began to put it together. I watched in awe as she did so. They came out great and I already knew what outfit I could ware them with. It was so much fun. We then made some for the girls. 

When those were finally done, it was late and time to put the kids to bed. We set them up on the couch and chairs downstairs. They had a nice little set up that fit all of them. I took the spare bedroom downstairs and Taycina went upstairs to her room. It turned out to be a pretty great day.