Bowlin Beige

Okay, here we go. I've moved on from yesterday's depressing news (countdown is now 70 days, for those of you keeping track). We are ready to start a new day. And what better way to start the day than enjoying a beautiful sunrise on my morning walk with the dogs? I came home from my walk, and my lovely daughter was making waffles for the whole family! I can tell this is going to be a better day!   Sure enough, it has been better! Parker did a great job with this school work and didn't have any meltdowns. The same can't be said for Ainsley, although her meltdown was caused by technology frustrations and it ended pretty quickly. It helps that she has several support staff in the room to help her...  You know what else makes today great?! I did my 100th Peloton running class!!! For those of you who are not Peloton followers, hitting any milestone is a big deal. I was lucky that my favorite instructor was doing a live class today at a time that worked for

And so it begins... it feels like a movie trailer. The start of another week. It's been 24 days since the kids were last in school (the day before Spring Break). It's been 17 days since we found out that we wouldn't be returning to school for a little while. It's been 7 days since the Governor announced that schools would be closed for the rest of the school year. And today, on Monday, March 30, he announced that we would be on stay-at-home orders until JUNE 10.  Yes, JUNE 10. Let that sink in a moment. We now have 71 more days of this. SEVENTY-ONE MORE DAYS.   So here we go. Starting week two of homeschool. Lord, give me strength. We seem to be on a daily rotation of which kid is going to have a meltdown. Today was Parker's day. Mondays are always hard for him - getting back on track after the weekend. Today he was irritated by a writing assignment that he didn't want to do. Mid-morning I gave him a snack. A crunchy granola bar. You know, the kind that always

Momming Hard on the weekends is definitely not quite as hard , especially when we have these beautiful spring days to enjoy outside! The Monument Avenue 10k race, the biggest annual road race in Richmond, was cancelled this year. Luckily they encouraged people to still run the race on their own, so I set up a 5k course through our neighborhood (run it twice for the 10k). The kids, along with a few of their friends, ran the 5k route.  Brody, Ainsley and Addison I ran my fastest 10k time ever! All this running at home has paid off! What a gorgeous day!! All our trees are blooming and reminding us that even in these dark times, there is beauty all around us.  And since we've been spending so much time outside lately, I decided my pots needed some flowers. Nothing makes me happier than buying spring flowers and enjoying them for the seasons to come!  We stocked up on chalk this weekend, and the kids have been busy 'decorating' the driveway w

Finally made it to Friday. Thank the good Lord. Our admin staff had a virtual happy hour in the afternoon, which was a nice way to see everyone's faces and check in on the week. I especially love seeing the kids and pets joining in on the fun. The days are all starting to blur together. What day of the week is it? What's the date? March 283rd? Seems like it... More evidence that our cat thinks he is just one of the dogs. Blue loves to sit in the playroom (aka - the kids' classroom) to keep track of what they are doing.  So here we are. We made it through our first full official week of home school. We survived. Yes, there were tears (both mine and the kids) but we also laughed a lot too.  Today two of our neighbors have birthdays, so we used some time this afternoon to bake some special desserts for them. Love walking into the house and smelling freshly baked desserts! And yes, I will have that drink on a Friday at 3pm to celebrate making it through alive!

Day 11. Ainsley was already crying at 8:25am. Great way to start off the day.  Decided to get the kids out of the house for a few hours. Parker had an engineering project today, so we decided we would complete it outside. We drove the 5 quick minutes to Pocahontas State Park, grabbed his school iPad, and headed down the trail. He had to create several 'rooms.' He made a bed in the woods using tree bark and leaves. He and Ainsley made a hopscotch board using twigs and gumballs. He created a stick lean-to, covered with leaves, and created a 'security system' for it.  And he made a 'game room' with a 'TV' and game controls. LOL! We ended up hiking a couple miles, completed his engineering tasks for class, and spent lots of time fighting over who got to walk in front (always a favorite among siblings).  Then we went to Chick-Fil-A drive through and all was right with the world again. Nana and Papa met us in the parking lot and we all got to visit t

I won't say today was easy  but it was easier . I think we've come to terms with our new 'normal' and are embracing it as best we can. Every day I get better at figuring out which assignments are going to be the most challenging for Parker, and we make sure to do them first thing in the morning (thanks to yesterday's late-afternoon math meltdown). Today we managed to get everyone's work done, and without any tears.  [The day isn't over yet, but at this point I feel like I've made it far enough.]  Why did we do so well today? Well, I'll be honest... I spent a lot of time helping, supervising, redirecting, and running technology support for my kids. And I spent...not so much time actually working. Oops. I mean, I took all my phone calls and did all the things I needed to get done today. But a few of those projects I've been chipping away at? They didn't get any attention today. I feel like this has to be the new normal. I'm going to ha

Things were rolling along quite nicely yesterday (well, not really but let's not get caught up in subtraction regrouping lessons).  We were getting ourselves set up for success on this temporary schedule. We were learning things and reading things and writing things and then... the bottom dropped out. The governor announced all schools are closed for the rest of the year.  I'm sure all the other parents watching the news conference had the same physical reaction that I did. I felt like I'd been punched in the gut. Tears, anger, disbelief... my poor children. ALL these poor children. When they left for spring break they didn't realize it would be the last time they'd see their friends. The last time they'd see their teachers. Ainsley, in particular, is taking it the hardest. She's missing her last Lower School play. Her last Grandparents Day show.  No field day.  No fifth grade graduation. No class graduation party. She is heartbroken. The next time she sets

Here we are. Week 2. It's raining. This is not a great way to start the week. But here we are, both kids at their desks, working on their assignments. Yay!  Indoor recess? Ughhhhhhhhh. Luckily there was a short break in the rain so they could go outside.  Well, let's not dwell on things we can't control. We do have something exciting to celebrate today. One year ago, Ainsley adopted PANDA! This cat (who thinks he's a dog) has become quite the family favorite. He has been quite helpful during this quarantine period:  He lounges on the edge of the couch and swats at the dogs anytime they walk by.  But he is also happy to accept some snuggles.  He keeps a close eye on the squirrels in the backyard.  He participates in video calls and happily shares his opinion.  He helps Mommy schedule meetings for her boss.  He reminds us of the importance of naps.  And he gives me comfort as I watch the governor's announcement that school is

The good news? The weekend is much easier.  The bad news? The weekend is over.  We were again blessed with (mostly) beautiful weather this weekend, which allowed the kids to be outside a lot. Parker popped a tire on his bike after continuing to skid his brakes (because he clearly wasn't listening the 17 times I told him not to do that). Luckily the bike stores are still open so we could get it replaced. Surviving this crisis without a bike would've been bad.  The kids were excited because they didn't have 'school' on the weekend. They could play all day without any schedule. We finished and started a new puzzle... and about 6 hours later it was all on the floor, thanks to a particularly inquisitive cat. It's a good thing he's cute... We survived a full week. Tomorrow the kids begin a new school schedule. Their teachers have posted lessons, assignments, and videos. Ainsley will have a daily class Zoom call. The PE teachers have posted ex

Day 5: Look who's up bright and early!  After reading we had creative time. Ainsley colored with stencils while Blue supervised.  Parker made some Pixo shapes.  I had to run to school to do some network updates on my laptop. The trip out of the neighborhood was super exciting. My crazy bug was laughing hysterically with her brother.  She had her first video class with her teachers. Obviously she needed some 'help'... Our neighborhood FB group suggested that everyone draw on their driveways and sidewalks and we could go around and look at all of the designs on our daily walks and bike rides. The kids took this job very seriously, and filled up the entire driveway with a complete solar system, and multiple kinds of  ice cream cones.  Yum.... ice cream.  We survived today mostly because the weather was so nice and we were able to get outside a lot. The kids played with the hose in a neighbor's yard and got soaked while the parents enj

Day 4. It's March 19 and IT'S 80 DEGREES OUTSIDE!!! God intervened in the midst of all this to give us a glorious summer day in March. Y'all, today for recess I went on a BIKE RIDE.  Outside. For 2 miles.  I know, pick yourself up off the floor from the shock of that.  I would've gone farther but the kids were hot and tired. My beautiful bike has been hanging in the garage for... maybe 2 years? Not anymore! This momma is riding bikes with her kids outside! Mom Win for the Day.  I've told the kids they can only watch TV at lunch time, but it has to be educational shows. (I know, I know... by this time next week I'll be laughing about this rule). They've been watching animal documentaries on Disney+. We finished African Cats and have now moved on to Born in China. Oh the irony...  We had some excellent reading time while I worked this afternoon. Here are my two boys keeping me company in the basement.  We had a little happy hour on the back patio whil

Day 3. Things I have learned: 1. We go through a ridiculous amount of trash when we are all home. 2. I've been running the dishwasher every day. Every. Day. I should've stocked up on dishwasher pods instead of toilet paper. 3. Dining room chairs are not the same as office chairs. My butt can attest to this. We're still in adjustment mode. Still figuring out the schedule and making tweaks to it. Trying to answer the question about 'when we go back to school?'... and knowing that the answer is not what they want to hear. 'School closure' sounds fun until you're on day 3 of house arrest. Now they want to see their friends and teachers. "I'm so close to catching that darn mouse on the screen!" "Nevermind...SQUIRREL!!!" Ainsley has decided she would like to help me cook dinner every night. Win for mom! Bonus points because she then ate ALL of her dinner. Let's see how long we can keep this up. My goal is to have