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Week 3 at Home: Distance Learning Begins!

We survived the first week of distance learning! There were technology issues with the platforms that the schools use to communicate assignments and lessons to the kids, and there were definitely some struggles at home trying to get into our "new normal" routine. But, by the end of the week, I think we all had a much better idea of how this is going to go. And we were all soooo ready for the weekend to be here.

I started off my Monday morning with a Zoom call for 20+ kindergartners taking place right next to me as I was attending an important meeting for me at work. G couldn't quite understand why no one was letting him talk (welcome to the world of conference calls, little man!) so he had a minor meltdown, at which point we exited his Zoom call. But, never fear, it was 1.5 hours long, so after we finished up my meeting, he was able to re-join the call with his pals.

We have G's school routine down, and I think we're meeting the expectation of 2.5 hours of work a day for him, which means that he has a LOT of free time to play on his Kindle, watch Minecraft videos, etc. Ava has been heads down in her studies this week. I check on her several times throughout the day, and I have been very impressed by how she focuses and gets her work done. I did have to help her with a few science labs, but it was a fun break from the kindergarten lessons that I am teaching G.

Our district has worked very hard to make this distance learning as good as possible, and while it hasn't been perfect, they have done a great job at communication and helping with issues. Together, we'll get through this!

This was the art project that G made this week...a hand puppet of one of his favorite book characters. Gerald, the Elephant!


For reading, he choose to read a few of his school books to me...I love listening to him read!


Ava and G are spending more time together, and by the end of the week, there was significantly less fighting. Maybe they realized they're stuck together for a bit, so they might as well enjoy it. In this pic, she was tickling him and chasing him around...it was actually pretty sweet since she often chooses to ignore him.


Scott's still been going into work every day, so it's just me at home with Ava and G. We're all pretty happy when he gets home every night. I read something that said, "You know you're an introvert when you need alone time, even during a quarantine!" I figure I am getting less Dee-time now than when I was working, so I relish those few moments when no one else is up, and the house is quiet...ahhhh.

Scott has been continuing to work on our basement. Last weekend, he installed/stained the maple trim on the ledge, and around the window. On Saturday afternoon, he installed the flooring for underneath our bar and in the corner for the fireplace. The next step will be to call to see if carpet installers are available. Once we have carpet in, we can begin to use that space as more than my treadmill room, lol.



We're so lucky to have such nice weather this weekend...sunny and bright both days, and almost up to the 60's for Sunday. Hooray! We're going to make the kids go outside and burn off some energy, while still respecting our social distancing guidelines.

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