Long Week

This week is shaping up to be a long one - and I was informed today that it's only Tuesday! Oye! It doesn't help when days are starting with whining and fighting early and ending with whining and fighting late. My best guess is that the routine is getting just as stale for them as it is for me. We're hoping finishing Nora's room will help relieve some of the drama but the school work piece of it has another month to go. Hoping we can find the right recipe to flip the ratio of whining to smiles in our days!

Sundays are for Progress

Today was a far more productive day. Probably on Kyle's part more than mine but still, more productive. We had pancakes for breakfast, Kyle took the boys for a run in the double stroller, I got the hall bathroom cleaned and floor scrubbed and most importantly, huge progress was made in Nora's room. Otto and Kyle tag teamed the drywall hanging (Otto was most proud of doing part naked and part with clothes on) and Kyle got a first coat of "conference call" put on the seams and screws. Thank heavens for steps in the right direction in that room because I don't know how long I can handle "alone time spots" in the living room and family room (of course Lincoln needs one too despite actually having a room of his own). Anyway...the floors are in, we just have to go pick them up and let them acclimate then once the drywall is done and paint is on the walls we can lay them. Here's hoping we get Nora moved back in to her space before this kiddo makes it's debut! For all of our sanity's sake!
We finished out the night with a game of Cards Against Humanity with Jod, Jasper, LJ & Mike. Not a bad way to close out the weekend.
Another week ahead...ready, set, go!

So Clean!

We have water! Nora was thrilled this morning when we realized there was clear water in her bowl (the muddy dots were from when we first set it up last night) the rest of the water that was in the bowl had indeed filtered! We quickly snapped this picture and posted it to her school folder. Nothing of major note this Saturday...the house is a mess and I think we're all about ready for some time off and out of the house. But, these days, who isn't. Kyle made a trip to the grocery store so it was a day of fruit feasting for the kids.

Science

As we "discussed" on Monday, this was a week of projects. Nora got her reading/writing project done yesterday and today was the final day of adjustments to her science project. I think she has a design that will work a little more effectively than her first few prototypes but we determined that it might take until morning to find out if her two tier water filter will in fact catch the dirt and clean her water. I'm just glad we made it through - things were touch and go on her flexibility from her original plan and her commitment to seeing her vision through. Here's hoping some clear water appears.

Some Work, a Few Plays

Otto is usually looking for a lesson to do in the mornings while the big kids are doing their school work. He likes when there's something just for him - as long he deems it interesting enough. Anyway, today I set him up to balance and pick up pieces of the magnet fish puzzle and put them in the basket. Lincoln immediately chimed in and said so he stands on the boat, catches the fish and then puts them in the live well! Why, yes, that's exactly what I was going for!

After school stuff was done Nora and Lincoln wrote, produced and stared in a couple of plays as the characters Chris & Natale. Not Natalie...Natale. Their costumes were pretty good.

We closed out the night with Nora's favorite, an outdoor dinner, followed by a "bedtime story" with her class via Zoom, and then she read outside on Facetime with Susan while we got Otto down for the night. Packed a lot into this one!

Set it and Forget It

Today's dadtivity was the combined brain-child of Otto & Kyle. Kyle was turning off the water so he could fix the hose bib and needed the ladder to get up in the attic. Otto of course then wanted to climb the ladder, but realizing that the floor in Nora's room is essentially a concrete slab, Kyle thought it best to set up the ladder out in the yard. So, he found a shady spot, made sure the boys had helmets and then put in his airpods and went about weeding while listening to a conference call. The boys played nicely for a bit but ya know, as things typically go, it ended up with Otto needing a tool with him on the ladder then devolved into a chase around the yard and a brawl on the ground. A bit later Otto was at the top of the ladder fending off his sister with a (toy) hedge trimmer, all while Kyle happily weeded and conferenced hahahaha! It was a good activity while it was good though and kept them busy playing pretend for quite some time. It was a gorgeous day outside so the kids had some quality fresh air. This evening we hung out with friends on Zoom for a bit until Lincoln came out not really awake but very angry. Long days around here!

Today is Tuesday

Lincoln was knocking his school work out of the park again this morning. Settled in and got his work done with a smile and totally determined. He sorted these stones in all different ways but when I asked him if he would sort them by color he raised me a few and stacked them by size too. Once again, pretty proud kiddo when he was all done. Before "school" today Kyle asked for a haircut, then Otto wanted one and Lincoln wanted a "trim". While quarantine haircut jokes and stories are all the rage right now, this isn't really anything different for us...and unfortunately neither is the saga of cutting Otto's hair.

Quarantine or no quarantine cutting this kid's hair is always an adventure and today was no different. He was all over and when he decided he was done that was the end...and it is a disaster. Luckily he's not leaving the house these days! After being called Harry & Lloyd the boys spent the afternoon exclusively referring to each other that way.

While this appears to be Lincoln's week on the tantrum train, Nora has been loving reading out in the yard. She's gobbling up chapter books at record speed sharing all the stories she's been reading. As I guessed she isn't much into continuing to add the bits and pieces needed to her week-long projects (umm yeah, I worked on them yesterday!) but at least she's finding quiet time to herself and reading, reading, reading! During peaceful and giggle filled sprinkler play moments out in the yard this afternoon I got some stuff hung up in the baby's room and it's feeling pretty close to complete! We really managed to turn a closet into quite the cozy little space for this little one! I also started tackling the mattress disaster that was Lincoln's room. With a bunk bed, trundle and a spare twin mattress in there it was practically a trampoline park and pretty much out of control. Once I overheard the boys playing "lay under the mattress" only to have to run and get Nora to lift it off the other one each time, it was time to intervene.