Random August Happenings, Part I

August 3-13

The first week back home was awful. The school district decided to not open schools just yet, due to concerns over Covid. So all 3 kids were home all day and we had to figure out the kid's schedule and help them with their work. The amount of work the kids had to do (especially Elisa) was so ridiculous that Erik sent an email to all of Elisa's teachers complaining about the huge workload. Erik thankfully didn't have much work so he was around to help the kids get their schedules made and get their work done, otherwise I don't know what I would have done. Probably just given up. I am NOT cut out to be a homeschool mom. So good thing Erik was home that first week.

I suppose enough parents complained, because the next week there wasn't nearly as much work, and we we got the schedules down and understood how to navigate Canvas--the online learning platform the district was using. Aside from school, we didn't do a whole lot else, but here are some pictures of some stuff we did do:

August 3

Erik made the kid's online learning schedule on the white board

August 3

Elisa saw this fairly large-sized spider on her wall and completely FREAKED OUT. I took this picture and then made Erik take care of it with the vacuum. I'm pretty sure this little creep hitched a ride with us down to Phoenix from Utah, how else would it have gotten in her room at the same time she happened to open her suitcases?

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August 3

Thanks to the Jeuveau treatment, my forehead wrinkles are 90% gone!

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August 4

I made this awesome over-sized bath rag for myself. Actually I made two. Both for me! One side is an old towel from my BYU days that I cut up, and the other was from a large sheet of that plastic-mesh material that those scrubbie poufs are made from, that I found at Walmart.

August 4

A morning bike ride with Ian, before the day got too hot. He donned his biking gear that Grandpa Ron gave to him.

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August 4

I thought it would be fun to make a rainbow cake for the kids. I also thought it would be fun to try a new frosting recipe that uses sweetened condensed milk. Well, the cake itself turned out cute, but the frosting...yikes. Waaay too sweet, a weird texture, and just overall a very weird taste to it. And, as you can probably tell from the pictures, it did NOT spread well. It sorta just...glooped down. Even the kids didn't want to finish the cake.

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August 5

Ian hard at work during his zoom meeting. I have to say, Ian has been the most cooperative during this online school.

August 5

Elisa, surrounded by a few of her favorite things. This was her very first art project of the year. Can you spot the guinea pig?

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August 7

I bought Ian some Mario wall decals and he has so much fun rearranging them on his wall, I'm surprised that they still stick!

August 7

It's the Ian-zombie/giant!

August 7

The kids get one sticker for each piano lesson they do. After 10 stickers, they can choose a $10 or less prize. Anything they want that is over $10, they have to earn sticker-by-sticker. So one sticker is $1 but they can't cash out until they have 10 stickers. This is Ian counting his stickers! I think he bought a Mario figurine set at Walmart with this set of stickers he's obsessing over.

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August 7?

My sister Lisa helped me put on some pretty sticker-nails at the end of July just before our Bear Lake trip, and I was amazed at how good they looked for two weeks straight...they didn't chip or tear or anything. The nails looked good as new, if you didn't count the nail growth. I finally took them off around mid-august. Unfortunately for my poor nails underneath, the stickers had done some real damage. It took six weeks of growth for my natural nails look look and behave normally. In short, these sticker nails are excellent if you want to have nice nails for a week for some special occasion, but for everyday use, not so good for your nails at all.

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August 8

I made mango salsa, using some of the produce my dad gave me from his garden. The mangos were from Walmart, they were ridiculously cheap at this time, only a quarter each. I don't know if Erik liked it, but I thought it was pretty good.

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August 10

A picture of a sleeping Ian, and his drool spot

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August 12

This picture showed up on my FB memories, from 11 years ago August 12. Look how cute!! Gabe was such an adorable baby!

August 12

Look, Gabe is still a baby! Haha. He went over to his friends house to play, but friend couldn't play so Gabe came home and cried about it. Poor kid. Elisa and Ian had no pity for him.

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August 13

Silly girl making herself a picnic. She was NOT cooperative in the least bit with her online school.

August 13

Cute Ian is getting so good at the piano!