Our Life in Isolation

Well, we have started to settle into our new life on our own. The kids are getting schoolwork sent to them by their teachers, which we have been diligent in deciphering and completing.

Even Eric has had daily assignments, keeping him moving forward on reading, writing and math. He has loved seeing videos of his kindergarten teacher reading books, and he is getting used to having to do a few things every day.

He is also getting lots of dress-up time, thanks to his older sisters.

And he has been testing out some new skills, too: barbering, cutting his front bangs (which really did need a trim),

and he is now directing his first movie, based on a story he wrote a few months ago: John the Hobbit.

Ben is doing the special effects, and we are all starring in the show--but you won't be seeing it here. Janae's contract specifies that the film will not be shown outside of our immediate family, on pain of death.

Alaina has been doing a little math, a little spelling (she was preparing for a spelling bee before school was cancelled, so we decided to carry on with learning the words), a little writing (she and her friend Cadence have become good pen pals), and a lot of reading.

One of Alaina's math assignments was to follow a recipe, so she made muffins with me, then made muffins on her own.

Next, she and Janae made a cake from scratch ... forbidding me to enter the kitchen until they were finished. It was also somebody's birthday :)

                                                  

So, this is what 48 candles looks like. Jason was afraid for his life, which is why he's trying to back away from all that fire (he doesn't usually have that many chins!!).

                                        

Alaina is still able to take weekly cello lessons over zoom, so we get to hear her practicing a bit more.

Janae has also been busy with music. Her piano festival wasn't cancelled, just adapted to become a virtual festival where the kids submit videos of themselves playing. The music school has a grand piano, and since we don't, I suggested Janae record her song up at the church--sterilizing the piano before and after, of course. She played Chopin's Prelude in D flat Major, and we posted it on Youtube to share on her teacher's Facebook page (if you're not impressed with that sentence, and all the technology learning on my part that it implies, you should be!).

Now she has moved on to an even longer song, "Burn" from Hamilton. She doesn't like to turn the pages of her music, but as you can see in the picture, she found a way to work around that.

                                     

Of course, Janae has her regular schoolwork, too--a little math, a little English (including taking a video of herself giving her speech on Syrian refugees), some band, and some P.E.

She and Ben have a P.E. challenge where they have to submit pictures of themselves doing various activities.

                                         

They also have specific trails that they can get points for hiking/walking on, so we have been checking off some of those.

                                         

                                          

Janae and Eric are not always enthusiastic about hikes, but they have become better friends during their time together.

Ben is always up for hikes, and he is always a good sport about carrying Eric,

even if he has to do it blindfolded.

Ben has had the most schoolwork, meeting for classes every week: science, social studies, digital media arts, even seminary.

When he's not writing up lab reports or reflecting on Canadian government, he might be found creating giant signs on the lawn before sunrise (I found this outside my window when I woke up on my birthday!)

or creating art that might come in handy for our John the Hobbit production.

He's also revising a short story from his English class last semester into a novel and creating art for the book cover. Ben's workshop is always a busy place.

And not to be left out, I made hot cross buns for Easter,

                                                         

made sure the Easter Bunny came,

                                                           

and took pictures of all of the above :)

                                         

And Jason? It's pretty much been business as usual, although last weekend he cleaned up the yard (with minimal help from us) and helped us set up our trampoline--which hasn't been up the last two summers due to its missing pads, rusty springs and Jason's hatred of anything that destroys the lawn. But, desperate times call for desperate measures, and our kids have been on it for hours every day since we put it up!

                                                       

So, I have to say that if it wasn't for the reason behind all this self-isolation (i.e., a deadly virus that spreads easily), I'd be pretty happy with the situation. I love having my kids at home, and it's been wonderful to spend so much time together. They might not say the same, but for me it's kind of a mom's dream come true.