May 2nd - May 8th: The Last Week of the School Year

Daniel made me this origami pencil holder.

We're keeping it on the dining room table and 

so many people spend more time drawing

now that colored pencils are right in reach.

Saturday was productive. Multiple grocery stores in the morning (because shopping for a family of 12 is crazy fun!). Porch cleaning project. Daniel (age 12) put together two new shoe racks for me. Jason ripped out the insane ivy growing on one side of the house and into the porch through the screens. Joseph mowed. Kids cleaned. We grilled for lunch. We soaked up some sunshine in the back yard.

Sunday I woke up and made strawberry scones with lemon glaze. Yes, apparently I really love scones. The kids were not a fan of having fruit in the scones, which just means more for me. Ha! I also put a pork roast in the crock pot with some root beer, with plans to make shredded barbecue sandwiches for dinner. Our home church service was a bit chaotic today. It seemed the youngest kids were not in a reverent frame of mind. We all were laughing by the closing song, when Rebekah decided she had had enough. She just kept saying, "Stop singing," as she hid under a blanket on the couch.

In the afternoon I got to take a nap. It was wonderful. Then we watched a bit of Secrets of the Zoo together. It is centered around 'our zoo', and we are missing seeing the animals so much.

Boys reading after breakfast.

Monday many of the kids woke up around 6:30am. Breakfast and reading on the couch happened. Plumbers came to fix a bathroom sink that has been waiting over a month to be fixed while plumbers were not able to do anything beyond emergency calls. School happened easily. The kids have worked hard and so this week will be their last week of the 2019-2020 school year. We are all excited!

We spent much of the afternoon outside in the backyard. We found a young bird learning to fly, a nest with mama bird in our pine tree, and many flowers. For dinner we made pizza rolls (think cinnamon rolls with a cheese/butter/pepperoni filling instead of cinnamon/butter/sugar). They are a favorite. The kids even choose this over making homemade pizza.

In the evening we spent 25 minutes decluttering the boys' bedroom, then changing out the toys that are in the living room cubicle with a different set from the attic. As I type this a few kids are watching a documentary in the living room while the rest of the kids build train tracks around them.

A different view of the origami pencil holder Daniel made.

Tuesday morning felt chilly and slow moving. Kids knocked out their school work easily and got busy playing with trains, making origami, drawing, building with Legos, and just being kids. In the afternoon Makayla baked pumpkin scones. After dinner (Taco Tuesday on Cinco de Mayo!) a lot of the younger kids spent the evening using playdoh.

Magic Cookie Bars by Joseph

Wednesday I took no notes. What can I say? It was another day of quarantine surrounded by my people. We did finish reading aloud Vanished! by James Ponti. It was just as good as the first book, and the kids are already asking to start the third book. I do know Joseph and Emma each spent time in the kitchen baking (magic cookie bars by one and cinnamon biscuit rolls by the other). Emma actually was cooking with a bunch of the young women from church, they all met up on Zoom and baked together.

Cinnamon biscuit rolls by Emma.

Thursday was our last day of the 2019-2020 school year. The kids had a solid last day full of reading and creating. We did start reading aloud Trapped! by James Ponti, at the kids' request. We then spent the afternoon outside in the breezy sunshine.

Tobias wanted a picture of the bug costume he made

from his crate.

Friday I sat down on the couch and read a book just for me. There was no school work to oversee. Just me and a book... and about three hundred interruptions. The kids got to open their last crates from KiwiCo. The 6 month subscriptions (that I got a great deal on) have been a fun Christmas gift. Today's crates run the range from building catapults and arcade games, to making stomp rockets, kites, and insect costumes, to an ocean themed fishing game and a bug matching game.