I’m Gina, mama of 3 boys ages 9, 6 and 4… trying to keep life happy and fun during these difficult times of the Coronavirus Pandemic…
I try my best to keep one step ahead of the kiddos… planning desserts and crafts to look forward to…
We saw a fundraiser concert led by Elton John where the celebrities all performed in their houses and a few like Tim McGraw and Mariah Carey played with their bands remotely. This world is changing.
I try to limit my news watching and do it when the boys are not there. This week I watched the Today Show as I wiped down all the groceries… tears streaming down my cheeks. This is our world now. Not enough masks and medical supplies for a pandemic we were unprepared for. School & life indefinitely cancelled. Human connection via Facebook and Zoom. Hearts and teddy bears and people making masks for each other…
I was inspired by this “Some Good News” broadcast by John Krasinski and did allow my boys to see it. Then they made their own version of a news broadcast called 3BNN – 3 Brothers News Network.
News Broadcast
The boys set up a News Broadcast in their bedroom. They came up with visual aids to help with the presentation, Logan played the drums, Kellen played the guitar for the opening scene.
Owen made the logo, and we made a list of things that have changed in our world, as well as in our home…
Changes in our world:
- no school
- everything is closed except grocery stores, pharmacies, hardware stores and take-out restaurants
- hospitals are running out of masks and equipment and people are making their own
- the Coronavirus is spreading around the world
- hearts and teddy bears are a symbol of joy
changes in our house:
- mom wipes down the groceries after dad brings them home from the store
- we’ve had to get creative in the games and activities we do around here
- homeschool
Games
We played Doghouse – a game where you add dice and race to see who will win…
Whangdoodleland Party
The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles by Julie Andrews was my favorite book in the 3rd grade. I remember my teacher always had a huge celebration after each book…. the ultimate book report!
So…we just finished it up and my boys loved it too. There are lots of fun characters that only exist in our imagination as there was never a book written about it.
For dessert we had ice cream and cookies kind of like the desserts they had on the Jolly Boat in the book…
SLIME
We made slime this week as well out of colored glue, contact solution, baking soda and glitter.
I’ve had all these ingredients leftover from a school party last year, so I just brought out the bag, and let the kids experiment with how much of each ingredient they wanted to include.
The giggles made it all worth it…
Kellen poured in a LOT of green glitter and had us all laughing!
Water Beads
These water beads are very fascinating. One teaspoon of them soaked in a few cups of water leads to a ton of fun!
They soak up the water in just a few hours… 
And turn into these marble bubbles that the kids can scoop up and play with. 
Baking
The boys made these chocolate marshmallow cookies….
We poked the marshmallows in…
and they were delicious!
Science
We tried an experiment with osmosis and gummies with both organic and non-organic fruit snacks. Basically the organic gummies disappeared and the other gummies enlarged with the various liquids.
Cricut Crafty Easter Projects
Eggs
This week I cut out some egg designs from Cricut Design Space using my Cricut and 631 removable vinyl.
At first I asked the boys if they wanted to weed and they said, “No!” but I didn’t realize they didn’t know what type of weeding. It turned out they loved to weed vinyl and it kept them amused…
They put the egg shapes on in a collage using the scraper and transfer paper….
Then they painted everything including the background and… we took off the egg decals and were left with some fascinating designs. 
Pretty fun!
Bunnies
I cut out these bunnies on the Cricut for the boys as a morning craft, and they put them together and wrote a letter to their grandparents.
Cleaning
I’ve been using a cleaning schedule from the Passionate Penny Pincher to help keep myself organized this year. Completing 1 – 20 minute task per day. I have been having the boys help me with these chores to help take care of our house.
The boys learned how to dust and vacuum.
Outside Time
I always make sure to allow for plenty of outdoor time…. adding colors to the sensory tub…
Exploring the woods just outside our front door…
Trampoline time…
Swingset… 
They even found some of my Stroller Strides mats and bands to workout with.
Reading, Writing, Math
Our Homeschool looks different every day, but we try our best…
Reading…
Doing computer work assigned from school…
Workbooks…
Sometimes it looks like building LEGOS while watching LEGO Masters…
or setting up the tent and “trying” to sleep in it (which didn’t work this week due to excessive giggling)
It looks like keyboard practice and trying to concentrate in the same room…
It looks like playing and love.
Because in the end, that’s what these brothers have – memories with each other every day. I try my best to mix life up and make it happy and fun. They say their good and bad news every night at dinner, and most days they have no bad news to share. They are missing friends, but right now, their life is simple and happy…
Happy Homeschool!
