Week TWO of COVID-19

We just finished WEEK TWO of no school - being at home - social distancing. 
Here is our WEEK TWO in photos:

The girl's school had us come by last Wednesday to pick up Chromebooks. The teachers have posted optional work for long distance learning and to stay engaged.  It is NOT optional at our house!

Benny & Wren finished the alphabet this week.

This announcement came through on Monday, on our day one of school at home. Looks like we will be doing this for awhile, at least until May 15.

Lily did her Sleepy Hollow mobile project.

Ella learned how to graph. 

She also did a research project on Harriet Tubman and made a slide show about her findings.

Lily & Ella created their countries flags for International Day.

We are so thankful for lots of sunshine this week. 

We have been on many walks and bike rides.

We are also thankful that we are still allowed to go out, hit the parks and explore.

Extremely grateful for a good week, at home, with these 4. Jake also started working from home on Tuesday. We are praying for God's continued blessing of health & safety. We are praying for those who are battling coronavirus as well. 

Week ONE of COVID-19

We have been watching the rest of the world and following the coronavirus updates. It seems crazy how quickly all this has happened and the world has turned upside down and then suddenly stopped.

We have been planning a family trip to AFRICA for over a year. We applied for passports, for all the kids, last June. We purchased our tickets last August and have been planning ever since. Unfortunately, after President Trump's announcement on Wednesday evening, March 11, we decided to cancel our trip. We are so disappointed, but also thankful that the decision was made for us. We are planning to go sometime around Thanksgiving - Lord willing!

As of Friday, March 13 at 4pm, the girls school is suspended per the coronavirus. Our church, The Bridge Church, has suspended all Sunday worship gatherings. And the government is asking groups no larger than 10 to meet together. Here is our WEEK ONE of social distancing in photos:

Bridge Kids at home - Nehemiah

Lots of home workouts for Meg.

Here Ella joined me for a 90 second plank and rocked it!

We are playing ALL the games and making up new ones. 

UNO is actually the current crowd favorite!

Making St. Patrick's Day cookies

Thursday was a beautiful day so we played at the beach for a few hours in the afternoon.

It can't get much better than the beach all afternoon and homemade pizza for dinner.

Zucchini pizza boats - yum!

Friday was another beautiful day so Jake took off of work and joined us at Topsail Beach. And just in time... On our way home from Topsail, around 1pm, it was announced that Wrightsville Beach and Topsail beaches are closed until March 31.

Dinner with Friends

Some sweet and long-time friends of ours are moving across the state next month. We just had to enjoy one more dinner with them. We used to hang out as newly married couples with no kids. Here we are 10-12 years later with ELEVEN children between our three families.

First day playing at WB

It was a beautiful day here in Wilmington. Benny, Wren and I played at the beach for awhile this morning.  We even scored a free all day parking pass. So we decided to go back in the evening with everyone. It's always fun having our first day back at the beach; spring is here and summer is coming!

Lily - Invention Convention

This year, for fourth grade history, Lily & her classmates studied inventors. They were then tasked with making their own invention. Lily decided to invent The Fresh Guacamole Maker.  She loves guacamole and also making nonedible concoctions from backyard finds (i.e. leaves, mud, seeds, sawdust, moss, etc...)

She developed the idea/plan & Jake helped her with the building of it.  

Benny, Wren and I were able to attend the Invention Convention today at school. We were able to see all the students inventions as well as hear their pitches and slogans for their product. It was super fun! 

We also enjoyed seeing more of Lily's work in the hallway - fractions.

Ella's latest masterpiece

Ella brought this beauty home from art class.  

We got a frame and it's added to our hall bathroom.

Kid's art fills the walls in there.

Valentine's Day 2020

Holidays are extra fun with the kids.  We LOVE Valentine's Day and this year the girls were off of school for a teacher work day. Yay! We started off the morning with exchanging homemade Valentine's at breakfast.

Family Breakfast

Mini Sprinkle Scones were on the menu as well as sweet potato apple breakfast bake.  

Jake headed off to work. Mid-morning the rest of us headed downtown to the library. A fun Valentine craft was available. And everyone always LOVES picking out new books. We had a picnic lunch packed and met Daddy for lunch.

Love notes were mailed to Jake's office

After lunch, we headed home for a playdate with friends. That evening we enjoyed a family dinner at Panera. Everyone ordered what they love and it was enjoyed by all. Especially Mom - no meal prep, cooking or clean up!