around here: week 15 2020

{pc: Jack}

Starting... the week with a migraine and sleeping half the day Sunday.  I know it was much needed, but I hate wasting the day sleeping!!

Finishing... Wyatt's wolf dot-to-dot and putting it into the frame my mom bought for him to put it in. It looks amazing and was so fulfilling to complete.  I'm so proud of us!!

Receiving... crafts from Grandma & using them with the kids this weekend.  We made stress balls which was super fun and Carly & Wyatt painted some little ceramic critters as well.

Cleaning... house Monday while Josh and the boys laid rock in the front yard with "cowgirl" Carly's help.  The rock looks so amazing!! I am super grateful for Josh and the boys' hard work, as well as my in-law's for letting Josh pilfer the rock off their land ;) for our use.  The yard looks so good!!

Noticing... that Carly's eyes are turning green after being blue all her life.  The boys' eyes all did the same thing, but not until they were about six or seven.

Reading... so many books, it's kind of ridiculous. I went from not reading like anything at the end of March (thanks COVID stress) to reading all.the.books in April.  I'm reading The Stress Solution, It's Not Supposed To Be This Way, Untamed, The Untethered Soul, The Bookshop on the Corner, The Making of Us (on audio) and Saving Lucas Biggs (also on audio), which I finished with the boys this week. 
I have been waking up early every morning and getting the majority of my reading done during that time.  I read one chapter each of The Stress Solution & It's Not Supposed To Be This Way.  Then throughout the day I can pick up Untamed and The Bookshop on the Corner.  The Untethered Soul is al little more to digest, so I am taking it slow. 

Hearing... officially that our schools will not resume for the 2019-2020 school year.  I thought hearing word from the governor would feel like a relief, but instead it had me feeling really overwhelmed and sad.  I'm hoping with more time I will come to feel better about it all.

Consuming... massive amounts of coffee.  Having all four kids around 24/7 is no joke.

Laughing... when Carly wore her fanciest clothes on our bike ride one day this week.  She had on her pink Minnie mouse dress-up dress, her gold sweater with the diamond buttons, and sparkly gold shoes with her pastel pink cat helmet. Hah!

Loving... our daily bike rides so much.  Something about the feeling of the wind on my face brings back that free feeling of childhood and I love it so much. 
I'm also loving all the blooming cherry trees around our neighborhood.

Giving... Josh the day off Wednesday.  He went to his parents' land to work on some projects and I managed the kiddos.  We had a picnic in the front yard, much to Carly's delight; went on a bike ride where I got to pull Carly for the first time this year (oof!); and the boys decided to switch bedrooms!  Wyatt & Jack are now sharing what used to be the twins' room and Logan is having his own room in Wyatt's old room.  They did an amazing job of switching everything with very little help from me. 

Facetiming... with my mom.  I was telling Josh that I don't think he's ever talked so much to his brother, whereas I have never talked less to my mom, sister & best friend.  I am just so busy with all the kids home, and I am so emotionally drained that when I have a minute, the last thing I often want to do is pick up the phone.  Plus, having another adult here means that I often just vent to him instead of needing to reach out to my girls the way I used to.
So that's something I am working on.  Because I want those relationships to stay strong!!

Watching... Little Fires Everywhere at the urging of my mom and sister, and being completely sucked in.  Although I'll admit, I find myself identifying closely with Elena, which disturbs me.  Her organization, her desire to control everything, her sunshiny disposition even when everything is going to pot... Hah!!

Enjoying... my day off Thursday.  I literally locked myself in our bedroom upstairs and Josh took care of the kids from sunup to sundown. I took two naps, did tons of reading, watched a movie, painted my nails and started my new diamond dot art.  It was just the loveliest day.  Josh even brought me dinner!!

Cheering... when I saw the boys finished their donut puzzle during Josh's bedtime readaloud Thursday. 

Finally... decorating Carly's bedroom with Josh's help, as well as getting the laundry room shelf we ordered hung.  I've wanted a shelf in there since we moved in.  This quarantine time allowed that to finally happen, and I couldn't be happier.  It's way more convenient than storing the detergent and softener in the cupboard or on the ground, plus it looks cute!!
Carly's room feels like a dream come true.  She's never had her own room before living here, so decorating a pink room, all for her, with that new beautiful color on the walls, was lovely.  She has so many pieces of art from all her people- the "Do good, Avoid evil" by Mary Englebreit was mine when I was little; the big "C" is something she painted with Grandma Carol; the mirrored word "Dream" above her bed was made for her by Aunt Julie; my best friend Shana gifted us the curtains; Aunt Roxanne gifted her the bunny picture you see; my friend Kori took the newborn picture that I have framed in there; and my mom made the blanket that's draped over the rocking chair and folded on the end of the bed.  So much love for a little girl. It felt really magical to pull it all together.

Celebrating... our twenty year dating anniversary on Saturday. (I blogged about it here.)  We didn't do anything special. Just enjoyed our family with pizza & cookies that night and bought the new Sonic movie.  The kids were thrilled.  #parentlife

Grateful... for this week off.  We really needed a spring break to sort of regroup before we get back to school and our regular routine. I am so thankful we worked so hard last week so we could take this week for some downtime.

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What's Getting Me Through Quarantine (Days 1-10)

• Chocolate chips & peanut butter
• My new gratitude journal
• Good books
• Writing letters to loved ones
• Puzzles
• Having my teacher husband home with us
• Diamond dot art (have you tried it yet???)
• Homeschooling: our emotions unit; this history read aloud & Prodigy for math
• Organizing all.the.things
• Facetime & phone calls with family & friends
• My 5:00am quiet time 
• Social media, especially my Bookstagram friends like her & her & her
• Evening walks with Josh & Grady

I have not left my house to run errands (except to sit in the car while we pick up the kids school lunches- the kids are required to be present, and they hand them to us through the car window) since March 15th.  That's ten days of being home, in quarantine.  I told Josh that at first I was surprised at how well I was handling it all, especially considering my worst type of anxiety is health anxiety.  (I'm looking at you, Coronavirus)

But then I thought about it some more, and realized, we used to do this for nine months at a time.  We would fly (in August) into our village in Alaska (where Josh taught elementary school) and be away from friends & family until mid-May.  My entire life would happen within the four walls of our home, barring an occasional visit to the post office or co-op (local "store" that was like a glorified, overpriced gas station).  Thankfully we also had friends there, a handful of fellow teachers whom we could spend time with, but most of our living happened in our home. (I'm looking at you, -30 degree weather)

One thing I am doing that is helping (a lot) with my sanity is waking up before the kids.  I spend that time doing whatever I want.  Sometimes I just scroll my phone.  But mostly I am reading or journaling, and, per the advice of my newest library book (The Stress Solution) I am saying a mantra, out loud, for two minutes. At first it felt kind of weird, but YOU GUYS when the kids start fighting and the twins are brawling over a Lego piece while Carly lays on the floor crying because I won't let her have a bag of chips for breakfast, my mantra pops right into my head and reminds me that "I am calm and in control." It is like legit magic. Highly recommend.

For homeschooling the kids, I am using the anxiety workbook a friend's counselor recommended for my kids' anxiety. It's called "What to do when you worry too much", was less than $10 on Amazon, and is SUPER easy to work with, including the kids in each lesson with drawings and discussions.  I am LOVING it.  We're also enjoying reading The History of the World by Susan Wise Bauer out loud each day.  It's the story of the world, with tons of fascinating history facts, but written in story form, so it keeps the kids' interest. We're doing Prodigy for math, and that is saving my life because my kids think they are playing a game (similar to Zelda, maybe?) with quests, but they are really doing math! Win/win!

Having my teacher husband home is, of course, also making homeschooling easier.  He is in charge of doing Science (we use Mystery Doug) and Kahoots (a competition the boys love to do) as well as running a Storyline Online while I shower.

In addition to school, I am aiming to do (at least) one thing each day that stays done (like, not dishes & laundry), and that has mainly been organizing, room by room, closet by closet. I just tackle one small thing each day.  Every single person in the house has commented on the junk drawer since I organized it last week. (It was really bad! hah!) I'm also staying busy with reading, a new sea shell puzzle and the diamond dot art the boys and I are trying to finish for Wyatt's bedroom.  (He got it for Christmas from my mom- it's been a team effort all the way!)

I shared on Instagram yesterday that before we all got stuck in our houses, I stopped by Barnes & Noble (oh how I miss you Barnes & Noble) in Vancouver and happened to pick up a gratitude journal for $8.  It has spots to write three things you're grateful for daily, and it's been a really great way for me to look for the silver lining among this craziness.  I have never been so grateful for social media as I have been in the last week and a half.  Checking on my friends, laughing at Covid19 memes (truly the best medicine) and cheering everyone to carry on has buoyed my spirit.  I also hit 500 followers on Instagram which feels exciting!

Three things I'm grateful for right now:

• A warm cup of coffee in my hand
• Sunny weather for my kids to play in
• That I get to be stuck with my favorite people

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Best for them...

We've decided that this fall we will be enrolling all three Cunningham boys in public school.  This is a hard fought decision, made with much prayer and thought, and a huge pro/con list.  But what it boils down to is they're ready for it.  The bummer is, I'm not.  I'm not ready to have three kids in school.  I'm not ready for our days to be spent apart.  But it's not about me.  It's about them.

So I am going to take a deep breath and let go.  I'm going to let go because Logan & Jack are ready for recess and friendship and cafeteria lunch.  I'm going to let go because Wyatt is ready for choice time and calendar and following his kindergarten teachers' rules.  I'm going to let go not because it's easiest for me, but because it's best for them.

This winter when Carly joined our family, homeschooling became very challenging.  Nearly impossible.  I found I had lost my zeal for teaching and my patience.  Being a nice "teacher" made it very difficult to be a nice "mom".  It zapped my energy and left me feeling empty.  My desire in homeschooling was to make it a positive, loving, fulfilling learning environment, and if I'm being honest (which I strive to do here in this space) it wasn't anymore.

I (obviously) reserve the right to go back to homeschooling at any point, because it is something that worked for us and we had some great times together, but I am moving towards fall ever hopeful that the boys will grow and learn and be challenged, and that I can continue letting go, because that's what's best for them.

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Homeschooling Nerd

(This post has been in my drafts for quite some time...)

LOVE that Jack's a writer like his mama!

I am a total nerd.  I'm currently in two book clubs, and have at least three homeschooling books on my nightstand that I can't wait to dig in to.  I love learning about the brain and how it learns, and have no shame for my (insane, ridiculous) love of books.

So when I was teaching the boys their Saxon Reading lesson on Monday, I got all giddy with excitement as I imagined sharing all the things I'm they're learning this year.  Seriously, though, when I start to feel like I can't homeschool another day, it's my own desire to learn right alongside them that keeps me going.  It's amazing how much more you learn when you are invested.  I know I "learned" most of this stuff when I was in school, but now that I'm an adult and it interests me, it's like I've discovered a brand new world!

Everything you never wanted to know about alphabet:

• We use the Roman or Latin alphabet, which some say is the easiest to read.
• Sequoyah developed an alphabet that has one symbol for every sound, making it easier to learn how to read and spell.  (As I've taught our three boys to read, I will admit there are times I've wished we used the Sequoyah alphabet!)
• There are 26 letters in the Western alphabet, and the English language contains at least 40 sounds.
• Every word must contain a vowel, but must not necessarily contain a consonant.

And everything you never wanted to know about the history of the English language:

• The first people to live in England were called the "Celts".
• The country was called "Britannia" at that time.
• The Celts were primitive people who had no cities or roads.
• The Romans took over Britannia and ruled for many years.
• The Romans left Britannia around the year 400.
• When the Romans left, the Picts attacked.
• The King of Britannia hired the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes to help fight the Picts, and Britannia won.
• The Angles and the Saxons decided to fight the Britons and take over Britannia.
• The land became known as "Angle-Land," and eventually England.
• The Germanic language spoken in England at that time became known as "Anglo-Saxon" or "Old English."
• ... Did you follow all of that?

Until you have tried to teach someone to read, you truly cannot understand the crazy, frustrating ways our language makes and breaks its very own rules.

People often say to me that they could never homeschool, but I assure you (especially if you started with preschool) that you can easily learn as they learn and actually enjoy the process!

Lastly in this homeschooling post, I want to share a series I read this fall that really resonated with me and made homeschooling feel feasible with my growing family:
Homeschooling Inspiration Series 
If you're needing some inspiration, please click there & follow all these amazing mama's who are paving the way for you!

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Homeschool: First Trimester

First Day of School Pictures!

2015-2016 School Year

Logan Henry

Age 7

Second Grade

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Jack Sawyer

Age 7

Second Grade

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"The big boys"

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Wyatt Nathanial

Age 4

Pre-Kindergarten

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First Day of School where we homeschool at the table in the boys' oversize bedroom

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We are a good three months into school now, and I am so happy to have that routine in place.  When Josh first left, we struggled to get ourselves under control.  Adjusting to school after spending the summer footloose and fancy free was super challenging.

Once we got started, I found that "life" was the worst part of homeschooling.  I learned, very quickly, that my hardest job was going to be protecting our time.  It was crazy how appointments would sneak into our mornings and blow our whole schedule right out the window.  Now that I've figured out to schedule activities and appointments in the afternoons, things have been running far more smoothly.  

These were challenges we didn't face in rural Alaska, so it's odd to be four years in, and just now navigating them!

Our curriculum still looks like this:

Daily Journal + Picture

Handwriting Practice

Saxon Reading Lesson

First Language Lessons

Read Aloud:

-Story of the World

-"I Survived" chapter books

Saxon Math Lesson

Sign Language flashcards

And with Wyatt I am working on 100 Lessons to Read. He's already read quite a few sentences, and it's so adorable to see his little eyes light up when figures out the word.

Next trimester, I want to work on:

Daily Oral Language

More Art & Projects

Character Traits

Firming up our Science curriculum

and making time for reading aloud to mommy

And getting Wyatt to write his name consistently.

It's so exciting to look back and see the progress I've made just since August. I can't imagine how it will look at the end of the school year!