September 2020

School finally started September 18th, after additional delays caused by the fires/smoke/air quality. The day before what was supposed to be the first day, I unerolled Hollyn and Kieran to homeschool them. After all the schedules finally came out I realized it just wouldn't be feasible for all 4 kids to do distance learning because they were ALL on a different schedule: Brennan and Asher have zoom meetings 2 days a week and all their classes and breaks start and end at different times, and then Hollyn and Kieran would have had classes FOUR days a week, for 6 hours a day, and they had different start and end times for everything as well - both from each other and the big boys. Ummm, when is a parent supposed to work? The reports I'm hearing is that the stay at home Moms say it's a full time gig keeping their kids on schedule. The working parents are too tired and overwhelmed to have time to report, I suspect.

So, thus began our Homeschool adventure. Currently, I spend a few hours doing it with Hollyn and Kieran in the morning, and then I head to work during lunch time. They are supposed to do some productive things while I'm gone, and I know that isn't going super well, but I think it's the best we are gonna get under the circumstances. We're slooooowly getting the hang of this new schedule. Brennan and Asher have had the hardest time adjusting and getting their heads in the game. It feels too much like summer vacation. They're home, video games are available in the next room (or even on the very device they're working on). The distractions and temptations are so strong, especially after I've left for work. *sigh* It's pretty frustrating because there's not much I can do. We set the rules, provide the consequences, but at some point I have to also accept that they're kids struggling to find the needed self-discipline, their teachers' lessons via zoom are boring, and we just can't do much to help them stay focused in this environment, at least compared to a classroom.

Homeschooling Hollyn and Kieran is starting to get into swing also. Kieran's brain is all.over.the.place and it's hard to get him to pay attention. But I think a little bit is soaking in. At least as much as would be in a classroom, so that brings me comfort. Hollyn has gotten to attend Kylea's homeschool group with her several times, and enjoys going to that. Overall though, I don't want to be a mooch, plus I've worked hard on getting a curriculum for her (and paying a small fortune for it), not to mention the consistency of being around for lessons about the same topics we're studying. Nate and I feel it's better if Hollyn attends homeschool group only occasionally for those reasons.

We had a grand visit with Dave, Marie, Hazel, Amy, Maddie, Carden, and Tucker! They arrived on Wed the 23rd, which also happened to be Nate's first day of class for Grad School. And, we'd been trying desperately to get the bathroom #2 remodel finished before our guests arrived. AND, we'd just barely started school with only 3 class days under our belt and a struggling schedule. So, life was fun!

Like I said they arrived Wednesday evening and we enjoyed a nice full house overnight. Dave and Marie got our room & bath, Amy and Tucker and Carden had the guest room, and Nate and I took to the family room. Poor baby Tucker didn't sleep well that night, and I know babies who can see their Moms in the same room really struggle. So we switched things up when they returned.

The next day Amy and her kids went to spend the week in Yachats with her parents, and we enjoyed Dave and Marie to ourselves. Dave busied himself designing and building a corner for our fence to keep our chickens from escaping where the fence lines had a large gap. Marie helped with homeschool and about 8,000 loads in the dishwasher, laundry, etc. (It reminded her of her home growing up where there were a lot of kids/people.)

Bright and early Monday morning Dave and Hazel headed home in a rented car. Marie stuck around until Amy and the kids returned on Thursday. Saturday morning at 5:30am they headed for home.

After a short rest, we got back up to watch a bit of General Conference, then Nate and I attended a Conceal and Carry certification course, and headed back home to finally finish our bathroom remodeling, which we hadn't been able to complete before our guests left, despite working on it continually during their visit. So we worked on that while listening to/watching the afternoon session. Eventually, I was ready for a break, so the kids and I hopped in the car for Wilco to get us some baby chicks!

We walked in and there were only 2 barrels of them: one kind was a meat chicken and unsexed, and the other type was Golden Bovan chicks. They looked kind of old - past the adorable newborn phase. And I didn't know anything about the breed, it wasn't on my wishlist of "best for kids" breeds. I asked an employee if any more chicks would be coming soon and she said this was it until spring. So we walked out to the car, disappointed. I called another place and asked if they had chicks and was told they'd sold their last batch the day before and wouldn't get more until February. Just to confirm my suspicion that chicks were in short supply in general, I checked Craigslist and nobody local had chicks at all. (Side note: I always thought chicks were only available in the spring. Then I started noticing that they were still there all through late spring, early summer, later summer, early fall... so I determined that chicks must be hatching and available all year long. I was "today years old" when I learned that neither assumption was correct, and chick season is like February THROUGH September.) Anyway, we all felt so bummed after having the coop and supplies for months, and then getting the chick supplies from Marie. The idea of waiting until spring was so sad, so the kids and I went back inside and bought two of the Golden Bovans. Our ultimate plan is to raise them first, and then come spring we can get 2 more chicks. Maybe we'll just keep a rotation, getting a chick or two every year. We just can't have more than 6 at a time unless we get another coop. And that's $$$. Annnyway... Sesame and Barbecue Chicken are our newest family members and we are smitten. Initially Brennan set up their box in the garage, but we love them and want to visit them so much, we moved them inside. Oh my gosh the poop! Hahaha. I had no idea they poop, like, every 30 seconds. Nevertheless, we are excited to have them. No allergies, low maintenance, and they'll provide us with eggs - sounds like a pretty great pet for a family that is allergic to most other options and doesn't want a needy animal (like dogs).

Finishing out that Saturday, the girls and I picked out yummy ice cream flavors and enjoyed it while watching the Women's Session of Conference. We didn't get started until about 9pm and were only going to watch one talk. But then we just kept on watching it until the end. Hee hee. It was fun to eat our treats and then snuggle together to listen. Girls night at home, while the boys deep cleaned the kitchen. #goodlife

While playing with Maddie and Carden, they made little homesteads in the backyard. I loved it!

They had logs for sitting on, pretend fire pits, buckets and basins... even made a squash jack-o-lantern and picked and ATE the last of our summer squash. (Only Ky and Maddie would do that - none of the rest of us like squash much, so they've been sitting in our garden being ignored for the last, like, 2 months.)