Elias’ Scavenger Hunts

I bought each big boy some post-it notes for their school desks, and Elias had never experienced this phenomenon. He went crazy writing notes on them.

After a while he brought me one and said “Here’s your first clue mom. Follow the clues and get a prize!“ I wasn’t sure how to handle the situation considering he doesn’t write or read, so I said OK and just started finding various post it notes he had put all over the room. When I had found them all he said “You won! Come pick a prize.“ His prizes consisted of random Legos, rocks, sticks, and some pictures he had drawn. It was awesome. He decided some others needed scavenger hunts, so we made kits and sent them in the mail/delivered them.

I love Preschool brains.

A Glimpse of Retirement

Logan and I were relaxing after bedtime the other night and he decided to start polishing his amber pieces. He’s had them since the 8th grade, and likes them because Jurassic Park. 

He researched how to polish it, bought (many) supplies, and set to work. He very much enjoys it, and comments throughout the process. 

I realized as we sat there that this is a small glimpse into retirement with my guy. Sitting around talking about polishing sap. It made me roll my eyes and smile at the same time. I’ll take it. :)

Augustine’s LEGO Creations

I made Augustine a book of LEGO sets. 122+ picture of sets he wishes he could buy. He will look at the picture and build extremely similar things with the Legos he already has! It’s very impressive and I love that he can do this! Here are some of his creations. 

Something Different

We just needed to do something different, and OUT of the house, so we picked up a lunch treat (Jimmy Johns because we can all eat there, and they have a drive thru) and had a car picnic at the lake. It was horribly hot so we didn’t want to sit outside. I would’ve never let the car run for a half hour just to eat lunch inside in the past, but now it’s all we have. 

Sensory Fun

Aunt Pat always gifts us a membership to the Children’s museum for everyone’s birthday, but this year that didn’t sound great, so we’ve been waiting to find the right things that everyone will enjoy. 

Ive been doing a lot of learning about sensory processing in children, and I think a few of my boys struggle with it. Therefore I’ve been giving them activities that help their brains learn to process sensory input in a better way. 

Thanks to Aunt Pat, we have a fun set of ocean water beads! It’s great sensory input and lots of fun!

Look at how cool it is on the light pad!

Thanks Aunt Pat!

Goat Playground

I recently sold this little climber and got a different one for the deck. I was a little hesitant to sell it because the base in the middle was a little wobbly, so I was very clear both on my post and when the buyer arrived to pick it up. She said, “Oh not a worry at all! My baby goats won’t have a problem with it.”  

Um, goats?

Yep. She has wanted goats for years and finally talked her husband into purchasing some. 

She was SO excited to let her new baby goats play on it that she sent us a photo a few weeks later when they arrived. We thought it was pretty funny!

Stump Grinder

Our awesome neighbors offered to grind the cedar stump in the front yard. It was great entertainment, and cleaning up the chips have provided hours of fun for the boys. 

More Sleep

Bed time hadn’t been going well. We put the weighted blankets away during the summer because they’re too warm. It makes for difficulty in calming the boys down to fall asleep. 

I recently learned about compression sheets and WOW. Magic. They act like a weighted blanket but are way cooler. Lewis is falling asleep faster and sleeping longer in the morning. It isn’t taking Augustine hours to fall asleep and we think he’s getting about two more hours of sleep a night compared to before. 

Sensory regulation for the win. 

Officially A Toddler

He is EVERYWHERE. 

He is often here looking at a book, or just looking suspiciously innocent. 

He insisted on getting this toy out, which isn’t super safe for a toddler, so I sat right next to him and he figured it all out by himself! 

It was impressive fine motor, hand/eye coordination, concentration, problem solving, and attention span skills. 



He wants to like the felt board, but it mostly frustrates him. 

Big Ideas

He’s in the air quotes phase. Always funny!

Pandy had a lot of swinging fun the other day. 





“When I grow up I want to be a lawn service guy.”

He smacked the back of his head pretty badly yesterday. There was a goose egg. He couldn’t even stand it touching the car seat so we put a soft (clean) diaper behind his head. It worked. 

Buddies

People have been saying that one of the reasons that children need to get back to school is so they can continue to learn social skills. 

If you have siblings at home then social skills practice never ends. In fact, it’s incredibly intense and you have to structure your day so you get a BREAK from it. 

I’m so grateful they have each other. They’ve hit a new grove recently and it’s so fun to have a front row seat. 



If I get one toy out they haven’t seen in a while, it’s hours of fun!

Levi even got to play with a LEGO car yesterday. He didn’t break a single piece. He was too elated by the fact that he was included. 

Missing Friends

The boys haven’t talked much about missing their friends during the pandemic. I’ve asked them, but they shrug and say “kind of”. I offer them to FaceTime chat, write letters, make art, send a little gift but they don’t take me up on it. Augustine has FaceTime-ed two friends, and Lewis wrote a note to one friend. 

I was very nervous about Lewis’ note because he refused to let us read it, and it wasn’t easy to know if he’s telling the truth about the content. 

Turns out he was and it was super sweet. I love it when he surprises us like that. 

“Mary how are things going? I hope you are not sick. Please send something back.”

Care package!

We’ve been extremely careful the past two weeks because we may have been exposed to covid-19 three times removed. Some might not consider that exposure, but we take no chances. We have stayed put and done our part just in case we are carrying the deadliest virus the world has ever seen so as not to pass it on. 

Vranas stopped by one day and (carefully) passed off a fantastic care package for us. It was the highlight of our day! They told us to guess which item was for which member in our family. Super fun!

They included: beer, coffee, blank books, clay, car/little people, gummy bears, Paw Patrol art pack 



The clay was such a hit with the big boys that we got another tub. They played for two hours and made all sorts of things for the art show next year. Not sure it will last that long but we can try. 

It also inspired Augustine to get out another clay set he was given. 

I think we all guessed right on which item was for who. Levi grabbed a beer at one point and we got a great picture, but then I realized he’s in his diaper in all the photos so I can’t post them. Oops. 

THANK YOU VRANAS!!!

Seton Homeschool

Well, I never thought I’d teach anything other than preschool, but here we are living in a pandemic, so I’ll be the teacher for a toddler, preschooler, 2nd grader, and 4th grader. Here I am with my class. 

We ordered very organized curriculum so as not to be quite so overwhelmed, although it’s still completely overwhelming. We ordered two desks for the big boys. I’m working on creating a kindergarten readiness list so we can develop the skills Elias needs to master this year in preschool. Elias will do preschool once a week with Grandma Susan at her house. We’ve gathered school supplies to put in the desks. We had most of what we needed already. I got a laptop...haven’t needed one of those for almost 20 years. I’m working on ordering a cupboard for my stuff. It will be fun to set up a preschool classroom, but our playroom is pretty much that already. 

It was fun to get the box of school books! The big boys will go to G&G’s periodically too. We’re calling G&G days the big boys “specials”. Foods, technology, sewing, special projects. 



We will add our own art lessons and (hopefully) have our annual art show next spring. We will also being learning all about sensory processing for children and try to overcome some of the challenges we face. We may also dabble in a curriculum called Choose Love. 

Ambitious for our first go at this? Yep. Bring it on.