March 2020

Abby's class had a few people missing one day at CC, so it was just 4 sweet little girls and Ms. Casey. :)

Micah's class using Pringles to make circles... we have no remembrance why. Maybe for math??😂

Using pretzels to create and label the skeletal system. 

The last 6 weeks of CC include STEM-type science projects.  i.e., Kids are give a bunch of straws and rubber bands and tape and told to come up with a bridge that will hold the most weight.  Caleb and Abby loved it so much that they wanted to make more at home.  Another perk of being a director's kid... you get the leftovers and the testing materials!

A think I take a picture of her before every dance class.... I'm so glad I have a little girl! 😊

Working on school together in the hammock on a beautiful day!

We accompanied our friends the Hustas to an arcade /bowling alley for their visit with their Dad.  So we got to spend the afternoon playing laser tag and bowling!

The Husta kids have evidently been saving up all their tickets from the last several trips to the arcade... and they finally had enough to get this giant llama for Ashlyn! 😂

Trying out some of the props I got for our Faces of History event.  We planned to have a fun photo booth. :)

Caleb started soccer!  During one of his first practices, Abby and I went for a walk/roller blade around the park (Manchester Meadows.)  Abby was outgrowing her roller skates, so she saved up her own money to buy roller blades at Play-It-Again sports.  She was so excited!

Building super tall towers at CC (on jammie day!)

Early morning Bible reading. :)

We went on a field trip to Kate's Skate in Lowell... they did a really great explanation of force, friction, momentum, etc.... it fit in perfectly with our memorization of Newton's 3 Laws of Motion.

And of course, the kids got to skate and eat unlimited pizza and hot dogs. :)

Practicing golf swings in the back yard (after dance class, hence the tutu.)

I took this picture accidentally, but then I thought it looked cool.  A glimpse into my normal Thursday afternoon after dance... meal planning and ordering groceries.

Aaaand doing dishes in a tutu and leotard.  Basically, everything is better in a tutu!

Going for a walk at Riverwalk one beautiful evening and checking out their new ampitheater.  It was perfect of course for "bottle flipping," the *somewhat annoying* popular craze of trying to flip half-full water bottles and have them land upright in cool spots.

AND THEN... came COVID 19, otherwise known as the Corona Virus.  

I think we will always remember this weird time when the whole world shut down!  We had heard about this virus which started in China toward the end of 2019 (and supposedly came from eating infected bats sold in the open markets in the Wuhan region.) It's similar to the flu, but super contagious, and many people only have mild cold/flu symptoms when they have it.  Plus you can be carrying it around for up to two weeks BEFORE you show any symptoms (if you show any) which means it's almost impossible to know who has it and who doesn't.  The biggest risk is for the elderly or those with underlying medical conditions, and a lot of people were dying from it.  China and Italy and several other countries where it was bad had pretty much shut down and told everyone to stay home.  So although we had been hearing about it for a while, in March things suddenly started to go crazy in the US.  President Trump shut down international air travel, and NYC became a hot spot where the virus spread like wildfire.  Governors everywhere started shutting down their states.  We became accustomed with ideas like "social distancing" to help "flatten the curve."  (The idea being that if you isolate yourself from other people, the spread of the virus will slow down enough that the hospitals won't be overwhelmed with patients who need ventilators and intervention all at once.) 

So we had CC on March 11, the roller skating field trip on March 12, and house church and a leader's meeting on March 15, but by the evening of March 15, it was announced that all South Carolina schools would be closed for two weeks and the governor was asking everyone to stay home as much as possible.  Over the next few weeks, more and more shut down (and public schools were canceled through the end of April at least), and the governor declared a "Stay at Home order" the first week of April.  (South Carolina was one of the last remaining states to put that into effect.)  We were only allowed to leave home unless we were exercising (like walking), obtaining essentials supplies like groceries, or caring for family members.  All non-essential businesses were ordered to be closed. 

So... as for CC, our last 3 weeks of Foundations and Essentials were done "online" using Facebook live. Micah had to finish off the last 6 weeks of Challenge using online WebEx meetings. The Faces of History program had to be done "online", and the End of Year Program was canceled.  Ben began working from home too, and our Sunday gatherings happened over Zoom instead of in person. Mike Jette is pretty sure he ended up with the virus, although his was not severe enough to get tested or go to the hospital.  The Ziebers had a neighbor who almost died from it, and Ben and Mike had a client who DID die from it.  It was super surreal just being home ALL the time.  But also... it was kind of amazing.  This all happened right when the weather became beautiful, and even though it was sad to miss those last few weeks of CC "in person", what is usually my busiest time of year suddenly became the slowest, most laid-back time.  (Apart from the initial figuring out how to do online CC - that took some work!)

Caleb and Abby doing their memory work watching Ms. Casey on Facebook live.  (It was supposed to be hat day at CC.) :)

Each kid did a Facebook live "presentation" for their class in an Event page I made for each CC class.  Here Abby is watching her friend present and then we could comment with questions...

We were supposed to do catapults at CC, so my kids got to work on making them at home...

Micah on the WebEx call with his Challenge A class...

For Essentials, Rachel taught the grammar portion on Facebook live, I taught the writing portion, and then Rachel rolled some dice for us to do National Number Knockout at home.  Caleb was so excited that we figured out how to knock out the whole board using the numbers 3,4, and 5.

One of the things Micah worked on this week... learning to draw and label the skeletal system from memory:

With no dance lessons, no soccer practice or games, no golf lessons (Micah), and nowhere to be, there was lots of "downtime" for other things... like playing RISK.

And putting together puzzles!

The theme for CC week 23 was "Book or Movie Character Day."  Abby dressed up as Elsa and Caleb showed off his homemade Hulk Buster outfit:

I took the easy route and used the props that were supposed to be for the Faces of History event and became the Queen of Hearts:

Caleb trying on the props:

The halfhearted teenager at least wearing a Batman shirt for the theme of the week...

Week 23 Egg Protectors.  The kids all worked on these for DAYS to come:

Micah's assessment on drawing and labeling Africa from memory:

Watching our friend Jenna explain different parts of the orchestra!

One Friday evening we picked up Amelie's dessert (you call ahead and order and pay and they just bring it to your car when you pull up) and then went to an open spot in Glencairn Gardens.  We found out I am VERY bad at Frisbee.  I managed to throw it at a 90 angle AWAY from where I was aiming and it hit the only car in the parking spaces that actually had people in it.  Thankfully, they laughed it off.  After they left, I did it AGAIN (but this time to a car that did not have anyone in it), and that's when I stopped playing Frisbee. :)  We also saw Robby and Lisa Moody reading at the park, so we talked to them from a safe 8-foot distance. 😂

The cornhole set the Kaufmans gave us for Christmas came in very handy during quarantine!  The boys also played a lot of golf in the yard using soft rubber golf balls.  And now our yard has lots of divets. :)

Saturday evening campfire, cornhole, guitar playing, hide-and-go-seek, hot-dogs, s'mores, and relaxing:

I hate that the whole world is shut down and people are sick, but I really really really actually LOVE just being at home and not feeling all the responsibility or expectation of having "people to see and things to do."  I have never enjoyed spring this much!

The first clematis bloom:

And the first rose blooming:

I started going for walks most days.  I also had all my flowers planted, bushes trimmed, windows washed, and yard sprayed for bugs by the end of March!  That's unheard of... I usually wait until after CC's end of the year program in mid-April!  Going into April, I even worked on spring cleaning the kid's rooms and got all the CC stuff packed away.  I've also read more books during quarantine that I think I have in the last 6 months!

Coming back from a walk, I thought our house just looked cute with things starting to bud and the Azaleas blooming:

In their spare time, the kids have been working on more "trick shots".  Here are their latest videos on YouTube that they put together: