Sophie's 1st grade year is complete!! It obviously ended different than normal, but she still finished and is ready to be a 2nd grader! She is an amazing reader and probably went through at least 100 chapter books during our weeks of social distancing. She is also a math wiz and is currently working on adding and subtracting large numbers. Her least favorite subject is writing, and I can sympathize because I never enjoyed writing either.
Her teacher this year was a disappointment. We never had any communication from her unless she needed more supplies or snacks for the classroom. She was a proponent of global punishment and once a girl's birthday treats were cancelled because another student was acting out. Sophie was also never assessed until I finally asked the teacher why, after 6 months, her progress reports still showed her at the same reading level where she ended kindergarten. I asked Sophie about it and she said the teacher didn't ever work with her. Only strawberries, oranges, and blueberries got to be with a teacher, and she was a kiwi, which meant she worked by herself. We are hoping 2nd grade will be better!!
A picture to commemorate the COVID distance learning
Our distance learning was mostly useless and changed format about 8 times before the year ended. Sophie's favorite week of school was the choice board that had 16 different activities you could finish in any order you wanted. It had options like create a word search with sight words, play a money sorting game online, or watch a video about an animal and draw a picture.
First and last day of 1st grade. It's hard to tell from the photos, but she grew a lot!
We renewed our Texas Park Pass at the end of March and then it closed less than a week later due to COVID. Nooo! It was disappointing not only because we had just renewed, but also because spring is also the best time to visit before it gets too hot. Luckily the closure only lasted a few weeks, although we still had to wait because the initial opening only allowed groups of 5 or less, which meant our family was too large. The state must have received a lot of push back on that rule, because they modified it a few days later to allow larger groups if they were all from the same household. Now we could visit!
This was Griffin's first outing so somewhere other than a doctor appointment. Lucky baby got to go hiking before grocery shopping! We went back to our favorite place that has lots of open land for exploring. The kids had a great time running around after being cooped up for several weeks. We also found a new little cave system that Sophie and Davey had a fun time exploring. The whole morning actually went really well, which gave me hope that we will survive having six kids!
Sophie tried to make a bridge of sticks
Sophie and Davey had a great time climbing up on lots of different rocks
Exploring some little cave tunnels
I got to hang out with the littles while the big kids explored with dad
Playing with the dust
Hiking can be an emotional experience for Charlie. He always wants someone to carry him, and we want him to walk. Sometimes a fruit snack is needed to distract him.
If I trusted Sophie more, I would have had her hold Griffin so all the kids could be in the picture, but I thought it was best to wait :)
We gifted Sophie a butterfly hatching kit for her birthday back in March. She loved butterflies and all creepy crawlies, so I thought this would be a fun project for her. We ordered the caterpillars, but they took awhile to arrive due to COVID. She checked the mailbox faithfully for days, and just when I thought they weren't going to show, after three weeks they finally came!!
Our painted lady caterpillars were shipped in a plastic jar with all the food they would need for this stage of life. They were super tiny when they arrived, but grew incredibly fast. I though they were actually pretty ugly things and they pooped all over the place so their jar looked pretty nasty. I didn't take any pictures of it, but below is a chart of their life cycle so you can see what they looked like. We counted five caterpillars when the jar arrived, but there must have been an unhatched egg somewhere in there because a week or so later a sixth caterpillar appeared!
We watched them move through all the stages and then released the adults at the end. It was a fun for the whole family to watch and now if we ever find any caterpillars out in the wild, we put them in the net to raise them and see what kind of butterflies or moths they become!
Life cycle of a Painted Lady - the adults were pretty, but the caterpillars were nasty
Charlie loved to play in the enclosure while we were waiting for the caterpillars to grow
We had one late bloomer, but after most of the caterpillars had entered the chrysalis phase, we transferred them from their food jar to the mesh enclosure.
After about 10 days they started to emerge!
We kept them in the net for a week and fed them sugar water and pieces of fruit
When it was time to release the butterflies, we walked down to an open field near our house
It's always a little in Amarillo so some butterflies got swept away the moment they were released, but some stuck around awhile and the kids loved holding them
April was our first full month of quarantine, and our first month with baby Griffin! Other than celebrating Easter, we had no big events this month. I heard on the radio one morning that one of the most Googled questions right now is "What day is it?" which is not surprising because they do all sort of run together, especially when you're sleep deprived from feeding a baby all night....
Here are some moment from our April at home:
A sweet neighbor brought us dinner and included these fancy cupcakes! Davey's pjs are on backwards which is why he's being strangled by his shirt :)
We moved Charlie from the pack-n-play our closet into a real crib in his own room. At first he was excited, then he cried a lot for several nights, but now he's adjusted. He's gotten big and I think he'll like having the extra space to spread out in the crib.
Captain Spider Matey protecting us from bad guys
Davey took this picture of Charlie (which is why his head is partially cut off)
We've been going on a walk every day to get some outdoor time and exercise. One of their favorite destinations is Pilgrim Park, which is actually just a narrow green space, but at least it gives us room to play a bit. They've really been enjoying these flyers grandma gave them.
Chick fil A is still offering free kids meals on Tuesday nights so at least that part of our life is still normal! We just have to pick it up to eat at home instead of dining in.
Chilling in the hammock with my little Griffin
The fire department has been driving through neighborhoods each week with their mascot to give the kids something exciting to look forward too. We heard the sirens and found a spot to watch them drive by!
Hair cut time again for the boys! I gave them a summer shave since it's starting to get hot and was amazed at how much hair came off their two little heads.
Davey, who is not normally crafty, got really into these paint by diamond sticker projects. He made several superheros throughout the week.
Real baby on my lap, while the baby wanna be is in the bouncer. Charlie is still not quite ready to give up that position in the family.
Now I know where all the binkies went...
We had a fluke snowstorm come through in the middle of April. It was hot over the weekend, then snowed on Tuesday, and then hot again a few days later. Good thing I never put the boots and coats away!
Uncle Greg ordered desserts for the whole family to eat at the same time over a Zoom call to celebrate Liz's birthday. Our family received these bug cookies, which the kids loved!
The construction crew was back in our alley for some utility work. The kids spent the morning watching them dig up the street and were so happy when the workers let them sit on the excavator for a picture.
Davey has been missing our usual supply of library books and took this grocery ad to bed one night. The next day he told me a list of everything from the sale that he wanted my to buy :)
I used one of my precious yeast packets for some homemade pizza!
On one of his more defiant nights, Davey went to bed not in his bed, but in the hallway
Ready to grill with daddy
We built Davey's bike! He still doesn't really know how to ride it, but at least we're moving in the right direction.
Charlie wanted to be like the big kids and wear a helmet too
The boys love to watch Sophie do homework and most times she will let them
I made bubble foam one day and it kept them happy outside for a few hours
Relaxing after a hard day of play
The kids did a virtual puzzle race with Grandmari. Sophie did 100 pieces, Davey did 48 and Charlie did 24. Davey was the victor!
