Donné has been working hard to get the school environment ready, so today was hanging the whiteboard, printing and laminating, and more importantly searching for and figuring out what the right materials and lessons are going to be for the week. I think we’re mostly ready due to Donné pushing to get this done.

Today was a rezoning day. We rezoned some grass and allocated it to a veggie patch, and we rezoned part of the playroom into a school area.

That also mean rearranging everything so that we get the most from it. Our dining room table went up to become a work table for the school. Our outside table came into the dining room. The office chairs have been swiped to become chairs for the school and at Donné’s desk. The office whiteboard has found a new home in the school area. The playroom was rearrange and shelves cleared to make space for learning materials.

We’ve taken what we have and rethought how it fits into our lives and our needs. That whole refactoring of our space and things mirrors the refactoring of our lives.

The reality we’re all facing right now is that our world’s have been upended. The impact for us many faceted from a big chunk of my business income disappearing, to school changing entirely, to having to stay put.

We have been incredibly fortunate – blessed is probably a better word. We have all the tools we need for online schooling (like spare computers, webcams and printers), we have currently used office furniture and equipment, and we have a loads of space both inside and out. My business has clients who we’ve been able to continue work for, and we’ve even been getting new opportunities.

Having lost our biggest client has actually opened up my mind to think differently about the business and where we’re going. It has given me the opportunity to let go of some things that have been weighing me down. We’ve definitely had to take a few steps back, and I think it is going to be a long and very challenging path ahead, but I’m feeling excited. It feel like I’m connecting more with what makes me happy.

I am scared of the reality of bank accounts and bond repayments, but that is something that many are going to go through together, and really I just can’t compare that worry with the worries that so many have of just feeding their families. I keep reminding myself of all the things we have to be thankful of.

I can’t quite put it into words, but there is something wholesome about just being us together. I want to make sure that we keep that as we go through this, as well as when we come out the other end and return to “normal.”

It was definitely not the greatest day with plenty of shouting, frustration and boys fighting. I had a moment mid morning where I thought…there is no way I can get through this day and what? I have to be teacher, mom and all the rest again on Monday!! The worst part is I can’t even run away. Anyway the good news is we survived the day with some definite highlights.

Grace and Eli did Matt’s exercise session twice today. They really enjoyed it.

We ended the day with some create your own monsters. The kids loved it so much and I was impressed with all their monsters, especially Ads.

Today was day 2 of schooling at home. I won’t call it home schooling because I definitely do not have the resources that a home schooler would have during a regular term.

We started the day with conference calls to both Grace and Eli’s teachers which was a catch up for everyone and to determine both of Grace and Eli’s needs.

Eli and Grace were both super helpful with Adam while the other had their conference calls and Grace even took Adam to bake some fresh scones for tea. They are both very kind to their young brother.

Eli and I are working on his cursive writing and his story telling. He has also been enjoy working through some basic math on his own and catching up with his friends.

Grace is feeling frustrated with not being able to get on with some work. So we sat down and discussed a way forward for her. She enjoyed making up a story using the story blocks and emailing her teachers to request work ?

Adam is by far the easiest to engage and we had a busy day of making clouds, doing experiments, practicing writing, learning letters, throwing beanbags and just playing

After some jumping on the trampoline before bath time they came in and while Duncan helped Grace with some Math work, Eli and Adam both took out work to do, which was very cute.

School started today which mostly meant figuring out how to login and setup all the various new online class things.

Eli was bouncing off the walls from early but it looks like things will only get going in earnest tomorrow after everyone has worked out all the technical kinks.

I was running a bath and suddenly Adam bursts in crying, “I’m sorry! I’m very, very sorry!” Sobbing he holds up a broken ruler. I say to him, “That’s mom’s ruler, you need to say sorry to her.” Off he goes, heart broken, “I’m sorry! I’m very, very sorry!”

Shame, he was so cut up about it, and who can really be upset with such an emotional and heart felt apology. He’s broken many things before, but this one broke his heart too.

In other news I finally won my fight against our pond pump and got it all working today. I certainly spent way more time on it over the weekend than I would have liked to, but at least I had a win in the end.

Our children love Easter. They absolutely love the Easter egg hunt. Grace, at 10, still gets giddy as they rush out the door to go and find those eggs. It is actually lovely to see the joy of it. This is definitely Grace’s favourite holiday, and gauging the boys today, it is rapidly moving up their list too.

Donné got an Easter egg decorating kit for Grace, so we all sat down and had some fun making our Easter eggs.

The real bunny, Marshmallow, escaped again and has not yet returned. The boys are quite displeased with this, especially our sensitive soul Eli. She’s been spotted in the street and around, but we haven’t recaptured her yet.

After a night and day out partying, Marshmallow returned! We’re pretty happy about that as we’ve all grown very fond of her

Our gardener resigned a while back, and we’ve been building the habit of working together to keep the garden tidy.

Marshmallow escaped today after the front gate barricade wasn’t put back up properly (my fault). A neighbour spotted her, but she went through a fence and hid away. I’m not sure what is going to happen now – we’re hoping to catch her tomorrow.