Beautious!

The day I pretended that I was a photographer and made my kids play along...

Double Digit NATALIE!

Near the end of May, we celebrated Natalie's 10th birthday!

 She had a couple of celebrations with grandparents and a friend. 

We weren't short on birthday treats!

Natalie continues to be a go-getter.  This spring, she put her mind to learning some new gymnastics tricks.  I warned her that it would take months or years to get them, but she practiced repeatedly until she could do them within weeks.  Likewise, I encouraged her to use notecards for her books reports this year, but she chose to memorize all of the speeches instead.  She likes to wow us by going above and beyond.  In watching her do distance learning, I got to see her conscientiousness first hand and was very proud of her. 

More importantly than her flips or her school work, Natalie is a kind friend and sister.  She thinks of others and adds a lot of joy to our lives. 

An extra special gift from Kate- and in case Natalie didn't realize it was "SPECIAL"- Kate attached this sign to fill her in. 

 Sweet Daughter!

 Sweet Sister!

Sweet Friend!

All around Sweetheart!:)

Happy 10th Birthday, Natalie!

Let the Summer Break Begin!

The kids summer began early this year.  Their last day of "school" was May 8th. 

You know times are rough when you resort to snorkeling and diving for rings in your bathtub.  I'm thankful Kate played it safe and put her floaties on, too.  What a goof!

Daniel Tiger!  Their artistic ability did NOT come from me.  They have already surpassed my drawing abilities. 

So much wood!  Jon put in some long days with tree cutting and splitting.  He then said that he needed to find a new hobby.  After helping him stack some of it, I wholeheartedly agree. 

Krazy Katherine & Praisin' Patti

Towards the end of the interesting school year, the kids finished up with some final projects.  Natalie did a lot of research and a wax museum project on Sandi Patty.  She nailed it- high notes and all!

Kate took a liking to Sandi's wig and transformed into Krazy Katherine for a couple of days.  We were surprised at how long she left her disguise on.  She was in rare form with an accent and new personality. 

Much to my surprise, Katherine even made an appearance on her class Zoom call.  Her teachers seemed to enjoy the surprise and really played "Katherine" up all the more!

Natalie and Scout participated in the school's pet show and Zoom with your pet day. 

Kate studied rainbows one week and did some cool science experiments and crafts. 

Scott finished strong and had another writing essay published in a local paper.  This time he wrote about what he would get me for Mother's Day if money were no object.  If it were up to Scott, a Bernese Mountain Dog would have been my surprise.  Hmmm... I may never have been more thankful to receive a homemade CD with Scott's music recordings.  Thanks, Son!

But then things got serious...

The home haircuts began...

The Zoom calls began (and never seemed to end)...

And Distance Learning was in full swing.  

Kate discovered that sleeping in and staying in comfy PJs was a nice bonus that came with doing first grade at home.  Her teachers were very reasonable and kept things fun. 

All dressed up and nowhere to go...

Natalie seemed to have the most work.  She put in a lot of hours and did a lot of assignments.  She worked very hard though and was able to manage everything very well. 

Submit assignments virtually and never have to use pencil and paper??  Sign Scott up!  Our techy guy flourished with the online projects and assignments.  He would stay up late to get started on the next day's work or work ahead so he could finish early for the week. 

Scott was also a great help to me and would often get interrupted for tech support as we all tried to be on devices with sketchy internet.  Below he is creating a project for STEM class.