Spring Break
Last week was the kids' Spring Break. Five days, four kids, one mom, one snow storm.
Monday was sunny and warm. We started by straightening up the house from the weekend, then we went to the library for books to read during the week, and then played for an hour or so at the park. Hannah made Rice Krispie treats for FHE and cut out the pattern pieces for a dress. (She loves to sew, and I thought it would be interesting to teach her how to make clothes from a real pattern and cloth rather from just her imagination and newspaper bags.) We (Hannah, John and I) started writing stories and I had Hannah and John practice their times tables while Josh and Peter watched a "All I need to know in 1st grade" DVD that Josh's teacher had sent home for him to watch. All in all it was a fun, busy, and exhausting day.
Tuesday began crisp and cold. I got the laundry started for the day, and then we began a science experiment: making homemade yogurt. Once that was incubating (sitting for seven hours on a heating pad on the kitchen counter) I went outside with the kids and we played tag running up and down the hills in front of our house. After I was exhausted, we came back inside and worked on our stories some more and spent some quiet time reading. Around 3:00 it started pouring down rain and the kids went out to play in it. After a short while they were wet enough and came in to watch some of the movies they had borrowed from the library the day before. By the time Steven left work at 5:00 it was snowing pretty hard.
It continued to snow most of the day Wednesday. Pent up in the house, we worked on our stories some more, experimented with flavoring our homemade yogurt, watched movies, read books. Hannah cut out the fabric pieces for her dress. That evening, the snow had stopped and was heaped in piles on the sides of the road. As a reward for being pretty good over the last few days, Steven took us to Cici's Pizza for dinner that night. After dinner we returned home to work on pinewood derby cars.
On Thursday the kids went out to play in the snow. Hannah built a fort large enough to stand in while John built a smaller fort with a secret compartment in which he could hide his gloves.
Also on Thursday we worked on painting our pinewood derby cars, and writing our stories, and we watched movies and read books. That afternoon we made cookies and I helped Hannah sew some of the first seams on her dress. We were supposed to have a pack meeting that evening but it was canceled so we spent the evening putting finishing touches on our pinewood derby cars.
On Friday we finished our stories and read them to each other. John's story was a little confusing, about monsters with monster trucks attacking a castle in a forest (I think). Hannah's story was a very creative account of a day in the life of Lamoni (one of our kittens). I made the kids do their chores and clean up their bedrooms that day (I had been a little lax about chores earlier in the week and the house really needed a good pick up by then.) and when they had completed their work, their reward was a new movie! I pulled "Pete's Dragon" out of a drawer where it had been hidden all week, and they spent the afternoon watching that. That evening we got to go to the pinewood derby (as previously reported) and had lots of fun there.
So that was our Spring Break. We kept busy enough that the kids didn't complain about being bored, and we didn't have too many fights or tantrums. I was exhausted by the end of the week, but I wasn't feeling as drained as I have in the past. I just might be ready to have all the kids home for the summer. Maybe.
Monday was sunny and warm. We started by straightening up the house from the weekend, then we went to the library for books to read during the week, and then played for an hour or so at the park. Hannah made Rice Krispie treats for FHE and cut out the pattern pieces for a dress. (She loves to sew, and I thought it would be interesting to teach her how to make clothes from a real pattern and cloth rather from just her imagination and newspaper bags.) We (Hannah, John and I) started writing stories and I had Hannah and John practice their times tables while Josh and Peter watched a "All I need to know in 1st grade" DVD that Josh's teacher had sent home for him to watch. All in all it was a fun, busy, and exhausting day.
Tuesday began crisp and cold. I got the laundry started for the day, and then we began a science experiment: making homemade yogurt. Once that was incubating (sitting for seven hours on a heating pad on the kitchen counter) I went outside with the kids and we played tag running up and down the hills in front of our house. After I was exhausted, we came back inside and worked on our stories some more and spent some quiet time reading. Around 3:00 it started pouring down rain and the kids went out to play in it. After a short while they were wet enough and came in to watch some of the movies they had borrowed from the library the day before. By the time Steven left work at 5:00 it was snowing pretty hard.
It continued to snow most of the day Wednesday. Pent up in the house, we worked on our stories some more, experimented with flavoring our homemade yogurt, watched movies, read books. Hannah cut out the fabric pieces for her dress. That evening, the snow had stopped and was heaped in piles on the sides of the road. As a reward for being pretty good over the last few days, Steven took us to Cici's Pizza for dinner that night. After dinner we returned home to work on pinewood derby cars.
On Thursday the kids went out to play in the snow. Hannah built a fort large enough to stand in while John built a smaller fort with a secret compartment in which he could hide his gloves.
Also on Thursday we worked on painting our pinewood derby cars, and writing our stories, and we watched movies and read books. That afternoon we made cookies and I helped Hannah sew some of the first seams on her dress. We were supposed to have a pack meeting that evening but it was canceled so we spent the evening putting finishing touches on our pinewood derby cars.
On Friday we finished our stories and read them to each other. John's story was a little confusing, about monsters with monster trucks attacking a castle in a forest (I think). Hannah's story was a very creative account of a day in the life of Lamoni (one of our kittens). I made the kids do their chores and clean up their bedrooms that day (I had been a little lax about chores earlier in the week and the house really needed a good pick up by then.) and when they had completed their work, their reward was a new movie! I pulled "Pete's Dragon" out of a drawer where it had been hidden all week, and they spent the afternoon watching that. That evening we got to go to the pinewood derby (as previously reported) and had lots of fun there.
So that was our Spring Break. We kept busy enough that the kids didn't complain about being bored, and we didn't have too many fights or tantrums. I was exhausted by the end of the week, but I wasn't feeling as drained as I have in the past. I just might be ready to have all the kids home for the summer. Maybe.
wow, busy week indeed! Can't believe it snowed on your "spring break"! that is crazy, as it the fact that Hannah is sewing! I can't believe she is so grown up!
ReplyDeleteWOW, great times! Our spring break is next week, I am excited to have Zoey home all week! I love the snow fort! AWESOME! Way to go for hannah sewing, that is great! Can't wait to see something she makes.
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