Learning to Trust and Lean: April 2020

April during Coronavirus means we were still not in school. Schools are closed "until further notice." This means I will be teacher/mom for the foreseeable future.

We did get a break in April when we had our 2 week Easter break. We were supposed to go to a favorite local hotel, Millennium in Mussanah, for a few days, but it was obviously not an option. We were also supposed to join Stephen in Bahrain where he was supposed to have a conference. That also obviously did not happen. Instead, I pulled out my summer schedule to give us something (a teeny, tiny, little bit) of a schedule. Basically, every day the boys would have the morning to read/watch TV/play video games/ride bikes. The afternoons would be filled with a small amount of school time (in the summer this is to keep them engaged), a fun activity, and a movie. Let's be honest, the movie is a daily activity around here now. It's too hot to do anything else in the afternoon when they are done with their school work.

One of the fun activities: board games

Easter fell in the middle of break. I made the boys a special breakfast (I used a pastry, veggie slices, Kit Kats, and dry erase markers to make a bunny face on their plates). They had Easter baskets waiting for them filled with some US candy, a chocolate cross, and small activity books. We then moved on to enjoying a church service together as a family on our porch. We read the Bible, watched the sermon sent out from our church, and each chose a song to sing along with on YouTube. We enjoyed a relaxing day at home before a special dinner of chicken, 3 hour green beans, mac & cheese, and a raw, healthy carrot cake.

The boys opening their Easter baskets. Note the special bunny breakfast plates.

E with his basket

J with his basket

Enjoying our Easter service on our balcony.

After the break, we continued school in an unending Groundhog Day type existence. The boys watch videos from their teachers, read, write, work on projects, and receive feedback. They seem to be enjoying their new themes for the term (Mayans for E and India for J).

What doing school work might look like for us. They get dressed for the day sometime before lunch.

Outside of school, we have so far watched all of the Star Wars movies I own, all the Pixar movies I own, some movies from my childhood, and have begun watching Disney movies in release order. We have made something like 7 or 8 different hummus recipes. We have cooked at home and done tons of dishes. The Bible Study Fellowship year ended for me, and it will soon end for Stephen. We tried out our first HouseParty call with Grammy and Grandpa. That's crazy, but the boys love it. And I've had a couple of Zoom happy hours with my girls here. Ramadan began which basically means further restrictions on restaurant times, but at least dress codes aren't necessary to follow from inside my house. We have ordered Amigos for every Taco Tuesday (though J is the only one who orders tacos). We ordered in from RazmAzaan for date night that was themed around Psych's Bollywood Homicide episode. It was yummy! And J finally lost another tooth (I think this is only 3 total for that 8 year old).