Happy Times Marler Elementary

We found out a few days ago that the kids would not be going back to school anytime soon. We've already been doing a little bit of school work, but with no guidance from our school district we decided to make our own program, complete with a name the kids picked out. Today was our first day of official homeschool. We had science, reading, writing, and math. We did an art project and I sent the kids outside to play for "PE". There were a couple of meltdowns. Chewkie was upset when she hadn't done all of her work perfectly and Doodah was adamantly opposed to 30 minutes of post-lunch quiet time. But overall I would call it a success. I don't think I am destined for home-schooling after schools open back up. Chewkie is desperate to see friends again and Doodah would be miserable without his sister. But for now we will do our best to stay engaged and moving forward in positive educational directions.

P.S. I felt pretty proud of the paper art sign I made.

Chewkies' Sewing Project

Three years ago Doodah and I worked on his first quilt. Today Chewkie got to make her own project; something I do believe she enjoyed just as much as her brother. Instead of a quilt like her brother, Chewkie decided on a small tote. She picked her fabric, cut it, pinned it and helped me sew.

Side note: I wish I could say that I loved every second of it, but my OCD/perfectionist came out a little too much and eventually she was relegated to pushing the pedal while my fingers pushed the material through. Sigh. Someday it won't bother me so. 

Either way, I felt like a good mom and my sweet little girl earned a feeling a satisfaction.

New Bed for Chewkie

Last summer I bought a new bed for Chewkie. It needed some work, including a new paint job that I never got around to doing until quarantine happened, the weather warmed up and I needed a project to keep my sanity in check. Saturday I finally got around to it. I spent the vast majority of the afternoon working and stressing over it. Over the next few days I started feeling better about it and today it was dry enough to get it set up in her room. I love that she instantly accessorized it with her scrunchies. She adores it and Doodah loves that it is tall enough for him to sleep underneath it. Um . . . not sure how safe that is but tonight I will give it to him.

Spring Training

The weather was beautiful and it had been a while since we had been out so I suggested we get Chipotle take-out and go to a park to play Marler family baseball. I explained to the kids that they wouldn't be able to play on the equipment because of the risk of getting sick and they were really good about not giving it a second thought. I was so proud of them. They rode their scooters for a while after eating lunch and then we played ball. Watching both of them giggle as they ran the bases with their father chasing them filled my heart with love and gratitude. It was an absolutely perfect family moment.

The Beach after Drift Creek Falls

After the hike, the Jones went home but I wasn't done with our adventure so I drove my dad and the kids into Lincoln City to the beach. The kids do so great at the beach. Chewkie ran around flitting to and fro with my dad while Doodah built really cool rock sculpture creations. I mean really legitimately cool rocks balancing precariously on other rocks. I would take a picture, thinking he was done but he kept gathering rocks to add to his rock garden. When it was time to leave he wanted to knock everything down but I convinced him that someone else might want to see it. He relented. I wonder how long it stayed up and how many people got as much awe out of it as I did. I love being constantly impressed by what his mind dreams up.

One the way home, my dad treated the kids to DQ blizzards. What a completely wonderful day.

Drift Creek Falls

Today was a lovely day out at the coast so the kids and I invited my dad and the Jones to join us on a hike just outside of Lincoln City. It was a great hike even if Chewkie and Doodah sped through the first leg of it and then suffered on the return trip. Thankfully I had John with me and he distracted Doodah with a game that got us through the last part of it. His son S was also very helpful in carrying Chewkie a solid portion of the way back.

At one point we got separated from the Jones so we stopped at a big stump and took pictures of/with the kids and their "fishing poles".

Yay for sweet cousins carrying a child who is now not much shorter than he.

Quarantine Church at Home

Because of the Coronavirus we have been asked to suspend going to church and instead hold services for our family in our own home. Needless to say Doodah was ALL OVER staying home. Together he and his sister divvied up the different responsibilities to make our home church successful.

Matthew presided as "bishop" while Doodah conducted the meeting as his counselor. He led the proceedings with aplomb, choosing prayer-givers, songs, etc. He and his sister both wrote and gave awesome talks. After we were done with the main part of our services, Chewkie led our primary singing time which would have made our ward music leader proud. I was so pleased with how seriously they took the whole experience.

We were, however, a little lax in our attire. I barely made it out of my PJs thinking if I watch General Conference in my jammies, then surely they were good enough for home church. I was shown up by my parents and niece who joined us. They had dressed up in their Sunday best.

But what we lacked in clothing, we made up for in fancy hairstyles. I let Chewkie put on some of my makeup and she for the very first time ever let me curl her hair. And then after she was done, I did mine as well. It's been a while. Yay quarantine church!

Crazy Hair Day 2020

These kids have been looking forward to crazy hair day at school for quite some time. I think it actually got added to our family calendar. I've always been impressed at the people who do for reals cool stuff to their children's hair.  That is not nor will ever be me. But I guess it's ok because my children generally have an incredibly low tolerance for hair modification.

Last year we quickly made hats before running out of the house. This year we added TONS of hair gel. Doodah was very pleased with the height we got on his hair and Chewkie was so happy to show everyone the water spout coming out of her head.

Definitely not Pinterest worthy by any stretch of the imagination, but they were happy and I got to seem like a cool mom. So we are calling it a total win.

I'm especially glad they were able to have today since it marks their last day of school for the next two and a half weeks (an extra week due to the Coronavirus.

Chewkie's New Nails

Chewkie has the awful habit of biting her nails. I maintain she picked it up from one of her friends, but even so, I wanted to encourage her to stop. She had been asking for fake nails (like the Lee Press-On nails we all grew up wearing) so to give her a bit of incentive I told her when she could go two weeks without biting her nails I would buy her fake ones.

I was so proud of her resolve and her honesty as she went for weeks trying to be good, relapsing, crying, praying, making new resolutions and so on. She probably cycled for a month and a half before she earned her fake nails. Oh she was so pleased. And I was so proud of her for not giving up on herself.

They lasted through the night but didn't make it all the way home from school. Ah C'est la vie. We're still happy with our girl for kicking a bad habit.