Another month into the pandemic. I think we're in month 5? Month 6? I can't keep it straight anymore...all the days run together!
In any case, we're surviving and trying to stay busy.
Little Sweetie and I walk Chesney each day while the boys take Buster. A little bit of outside exercise before it gets too hot. It's not the most fun activity of the day, but she jazzes it up when she can!
Working her dog walking skills!
Some days you just need a cape to make your chores more enjoyable!
Our zoo has been having good safety precautions, so we decided to make a trip down. It was a good (but HOT) day and just so weird to think about being here right before the pandemic took hold and seeing how much life has changed.
Limited people at the zoo was good for social distancing and just for enjoyment of not feeling crowded like usual!
Hello giraffes!
We also got to make a trip over to see Mimi and Pop-Pop to have an early celebration of their birthdays. While there, we headed to a park to check out some dinosaur footprints and got some swimming in!
Great day learning about dinosaurs!
Swimming time!
And, as always, there is cooking!!!
Cheese twists and spinach dip!
Spritz cookies!
Homemade cinnamon honey butter!
Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (made with our leftover buttermilk from the butter churning)!
She got pretty creative in her cooking selections this month too! Love a new cooking challenge.
Mexican rice!
Avocado tomatillo salsa with homemade tortilla chips!
Oniguri and miso soup!
I would have to say, though, that our biggest excitement this month was the start of school. With the pandemic still going on, it's nerve-wracking to send our Little Sweetie. However, she goes to a VERY small private school with good safety protocols in place. It gives her respite from us and from Big Brother's needs, gives her some socialization, and allows us to focus on Big Brother's therapy and learning since his school isn't back in session yet. We are praying that the kids, faculty, and staff can remain safe. Little Sweetie reports that she is happy and that she feels safe. Hopefully, all goes well and her school can stay in session, but we will continue to monitor and do what is best for her and for our family.
Uniform shopping. Someone is excited for a skort option this year!
Hope these teachers know what they are getting themselves into with this monkey!
Mask wearing practice!
One of Little Sweetie's friends from church, L, will be joining her school and her class this year, so we visited so that they could catch up.
Ready as we can be for the first day!
Gave the first day two thumbs up!
Still smiles after one week! Let's hope it holds.
Also, it turns out that personal hand sanitizer is all the rage and that both your scent and case better be "cool." I wasn't ready for status symbols in first grade, but here we are!
Height and Weight
Little Sweetie finally seems to staying on the growing side of 50 pounds and is now 51! I'm not surprised as she keeps getting taller and taller! This month is nearly 46 and 1/4 inches.
Personality
A happy and creative soul! We love the ideas that she comes up with that she's confident enough to take them on. With school starting, we do notice her getting crankier in the evenings and towards the end of the week she develops a very short fuse. We know it's a function of being tired (I mean, she did drop from 12 hours of sleep a night to 11..ay yi yi) but hope she'll adjust as the year goes on.
I love everything about this girl.
Developmental Milestones
I think she's going to be very happy with school starting and having less learning time at home, but I think she's really enjoyed all the projects she's done. She's still developing and learning and I'm hoping we have her good and ready for first grade (and have set a good foundation to keep going from should the pandemic shut everything down again).
Biology: Growing tomato plants from seed pods we receive from Big Brother's school district.
Geology: Examining the rocks from her rock tumbler.
Math: Using an old school abacus as our 10 frame.
Accounting: Working on our money skills!
Woodshop: She finished her amazing skateboard!
Fun Tidbits
As I've mentioned, the good thing we are trying to focus on during this pandemic is the family time. We've had more time with all four of us together and, while it can be tiring and trying a lot of the time, it's also kind of a nice thing. I'm glad for us to have more time with Daddy while he works from home and I'm very glad for Little Sweetie to be gaining so many memories of time with her Bubby.
Movie time!
Sibling love!
Possibly the sweetest moment of my summer: Little Sweet asked to read bedtime stories to Big Brother. It hurts sometimes to see how she's had to go from the "little" sister to the "big" sibling, but she is building such a compassionate heart.
So that's it for now. We'll see what new challenges 2020 has in store for us next month, because I honestly don't trust this year to settle down anytime soon.
Good night,
LSM
Little Sweetie's Momma
