Mulberry Street

It turns out that trying to be both parent and teacher is tough, like really tough. When you're isolated from everyone else and spend A.L.L. D.A.Y. E.V.E.R.Y. D.A.Y. with your family, it is difficult to focus on various things. We have also discovered that keeping to a schedule has been important for anxiety, but that we need to build in time to process all the feels that arise and fall on a daily basis. This all means that we are trying to be flexible and creative. This also means that as we each try to do our best, we will try to be understanding with one another.   

We converted the dining room into our homeschooling home-base.  I imagine we will be tweaking ideas, schedules and assignments as we figure this out.

 I had a little accident with a hand saw while I was trimming a branch.  It bled.  A lot.  The human body is amazing.  I splinted it for a few days, just to keep it immobile, and then kept neosporin and band aids on it.  One week later I didn't even have to wear a band aid.  It still hurts if I bump it, apparently it's bruised pretty good.  When I told Audrey about it, she told me I should tell people a shark bit me.  That would be a much better story...

We officially said goodbye to the yellow molding and yellow walls of the living room.  To say that we  are pleased with the results would be a huge understatement.  HUGE. Original Before   After Before After I learned how to "cut" with a paintbrush by watching youtube.  I only taped the floor and windows then freehand painted everything else.  It was intense but totally worth not having to tape.  We painted the molding "Snow Fall" and the walls "Chocolate Froth."  The chocolate froth is a nice blend of neutral gray/brown tones.  I plan to use blue tones as an accent color. The office underwent the most changes starting with the removal of wallpaper and chair rail. Then we had to prime the green molding, I think it took about four coats.  Since this room opens to the living room we decided to use the same color scheme:  same paint colors, same curtains, same lighting.  The light fixtures still need...

Life around here keeps going and going.  At the end of each day I wonder what I've accomplished and at the end of each week I wonder where all the time went.  The reality of all that wondering is that I spend my time on meal prep, laundry, yard work, homework, LEGOS, video games, reading, etc, etc, etc.  I snap a few shots here and there to help me remember our goings on... In the course of two weeks I managed to back into the opening garage door and sideswipe the van door.  The damage of incident #1 was minimal and already fixed/taken care of.  The damage of incident #2 is yet to be determined.  Seriously, someone needs to take my license away.  We got new plates or "tags" as they call them in VA.  I thought the decal was fitting for our family and I decided it would help tell our black van apart from all the others.  If I had just waited another two weeks I wouldn't need tags to help me tell the van apart...  DOH! Genevieve kee...

But so many more to go. I'm confident in saying that I am not the DIY type. I think I am, but I am not. I tried these three projects and feel mostly good about them, yet I wonder how long they'll stay in place. Ah well. When they fall down I'll ask Eric for help. Hooks in the entry way closet for the kid's stuff.  I am tired of their excuses for not putting things away or being able to find things.   Wall mounted drying racks in the laundry room/closet that fold down.  I needed space on the floor for baskets. Shelf to hold the chalk and keep dust off the floor.   Bonus - New chair for the office. Eventually, I would like to turn this space into a library with faux built-in shelves like these ( https://www.pinterest.com/pin/535435843174679373/ and other ideas here: http://brettvdesign.com/blog/the-incredibly-versatile-ikea-billy-bookcase ).

We went for a nature walk on our trail, threw rocks into the stream, had a snack and then left before Benjamin could soak his pants to his waist.  Success. We skipped one of Benjamin's naps and paid for it for days afterward.  We played a lot of video games too. We made bead necklaces.  Emory went for a military themed look while Genevieve was inspired by butterflies. We went to the zoo and saw everything there was to see.  The kids had a blast and when they complained about tired feet, I bought them ice cream and everything melted away... We went on a hike in Fountainhead with friends.  The kids found courage to do some climbing...across logs and up very tall hillsides. We rode bikes at the school, played on the playground, and splashed in puddles.  The most valuable lesson learned that evening?  That swings follow the law of inertia AND gravity. We dyed Easter eggs for the fun of it.  Be...