Olympic Day - Home School Version

 At Queen of Angels, their annual end of the year field day is known as Olympic Day, and each class is assigned and learns about a country which they represent for the day.  Of course this year, none of that wasn't going to happen.  So the kids and I decided to put on our own Olympic Day at home.  Each child chose their own country - Nicholas:Mexico, Henry: USA, Grace: Turkey, Samuel:Senegal (he thought it was the easiest looking flag to make:-). They spent the day competing in various events which included: bean bag toss, jump rope, hoola hoop, tug of war, water bottle flip, basketball knockout, balloon popping, sponge bucket race, three legged race, wheelbarrow race, 1 lap around the yard sprint, and ladder golf.   Everyone was a winner and everyone had fun!!

As always, Olympic Day started with the parade of the athletes and the singing of the national anthem!

The bean bag toss...with whiffle balls since the bean bags went missing!

Can you guess who one this one???

Hoola Hoop contest - Nicholas remains the undefeated champion

Ready Set Go ...for the 1 lap race

And now the sponge bucket race

Jump roping

Three Legged race

Wheelbarrow

Water bottle flip

Balloon popping

Tug of War

Mother's Day

 It was a lovely Mother's Day this year.  We started the day with virtual mass.  Then we headed north 2 hours to The Chattahoochee National Forest to hike Raven Cliff Falls trail.  Unfortunately when we arrived, we realized since it was a national park, it was closed and there was red tape marking it off.  So it was a bit of a debate whether we proceed any way since we'd just driven so far...I won't lie, I was not comfortable going against the rules, and Henry was so uncomfortable with it he was crying and refusing to hike, but in the end we all agreed to proceed and we were so thankful we did!  There were other people on the trail, though not many, so it was so peaceful!  The entire 7 mile hike was along flowing water and ended with some great waterfalls.  It goes down in the books as my favorite hiking trail ever now!  And thankfully we didn't get caught by the park rangers!!

Life in Quarantine

Throughout all of April and May we continued in quarantine.  The kids completed the school year home schooling.  I worked my usual 3 days per week (since breast cancer treatment didn't stop) but most of Shawn's surgery cases were deemed "elective" so were postponed and he was able to stay home with the kids most of the days.  We had to get a close friend stay with the kids the few days Shawn had to go in to the hospital to work.  Thankfully neither of us worked directly with corona virus patients but still we remained a bit nervous and super cautious working in public healthcare each day, worrying about getting exposed and bringing it home to the family.  I diligently cleaned and disinfected as much as I could.  Other than work and the grocery store we went no where,  and really no place was open to go.  All businesses other than those deemed "essential" were closed, playgrounds were closed, and even the state and national parks closed for awhile. We tried to make the most of all the down time we had together as a family.....and from that has come many blessings!   We've taken tons of great family hikes, near and far, we've been cooking up a storm, playing lots of games, having tons of outdoor time, prayer time and just old fashion fun together time.  

Aunt Julie made us all masks (and 60 for my office as well) 

Shawn gave all the boys a hair cut since they were getting pretty shaggy not being able to go to the barber!

We played tons of family games!

Went on many bike rides...

On one such bike ride, Shawn and Henry ran into Monsignor Peter walking into church and they stopped and had great chat (socially distant 6 feet apart).  Henry told him how he missed mass and confession so Msgr. offered to hear his confession right then and there!  #Covidconfession#Lovethefaith#Sacramentskeepingusstrong!!

Since Shawn's birthday was during Lent and he was fasting on Exodus 19, we waited until after Easter to make his homemade German chocolate cake...yum


It was a great time to tackle the old, falling apart, bench in the back yard.  Henry and Shawn took it apart and rebuilt it with new wood and fresh stain.

We found more time for bubble baths!! :-)

Grace developed a love of cooking, from banana bread every week, to many full dinners, desserts, granola bars, etc...she has been cooking up a storm and loving every minute!

We finally pulled up all the ugly black edging around the flower beds and laid stone around the front tree bed!

First time out to Home Depot with Dad for house project supplies

Father Patrick came and gave us a house blessing from the outside.

Nicholas also did a little cooking - he made beef tacos (his favorite) for us all one night.

Henry spent quite a bit of time in the kitchen as well - this night he made potato pancakes with Swedish meatballs and strawberry shortcake for dessert.

The school still held the annual May crowning - just virtually - each child dropped off flowers into vases outside school and then later in the day they streamed the live prayer service.

Homemade granola bars

Science experiments at home

Sibling bonding :-)

While focusing on home schooling the older three, and working, etc, Samuel has been making due playing on his own a lot during the week days...he's become a bit of a wild man as a result...but always full of spirit and sweetness!

Nicholas continued on with scouts with weekly virtual meetings - here he's working on earning his emergency preparedness merit badge (virtually)

Spring themed desserts - just for fun!

We took advantage of the big open empty spaces at BT High school to try out the new kites from Grandma - you can't beat the fun of flying a kite!!!

Home schooling wasn't always easy - second grade was particularly challenging - but we made it through and they continued to learn and meet all their standards - we are so thankful to our kids school for keeping them on track and never missing a beat - also thankful for technology to allow that to happen.