Deeper Satisfaction

Recently, a girl in our small group asked if we could pray for her to find satisfaction only in the Lord and not other things.  I told her of course our group will be praying, not thinking it's something I'm currently struggling with.  Until today.  It literally rained ALL DAY and I thought I was going to go crazy!  So I found myself checking the weather forecast and looking forward to the next best thing that would satisfy me: warmer weather this weekend and I began planning our outings.  I supposed in and of itself, those longings are not bad things.  But I had to check myself, Am I longing for those things more than God?  Am I finding my satisfaction on these temporary things only to be longing for something more?   I'm not sure, but I know I'm not looking to God first.  So I guess that needs to change...

Hard at Work

School has been somewhat challenging this week.  The boys are tired, bored and have lost the initial enthusiasm for distance learning which I don't blame them.  I'm feeling pretty much the same way.  But I'm trying hard to motivate them...and bribe Gavin with candy.

Despite all that, they are still working hard and here are some of their recent work:

• Gavin's online book:

https://app.bookcreator.com/library/-M4Lb-j4zoDGR4YHtxJ9/lcwxWVELExclNsP7DBRwK23MxII2/8cY33uVZR1KMdUnzHSxPcA/pNoP2-HCQ0Su4LB4zIyT_Q

• Gavin's acrostic poem:

Shoot hard!

Oh my, that was a long game!

Cold day, hot day you still play

Crowds cheer for you.

Extremely awesome.
Rush to the ball!

• Ethan's acrostic poem:

Sunshine

Peace

Rainbows  

In the rain 

Nothing but flowers

Green grass

• Ethan was selected by his teacher and was featured as CES's Weekly Soaring Eagles 5^th Grade today:

Ethan B. – always has a positive attitude in class and has done extra, optional assignments such as Earth Day Acrostic Poem Activity.  Great job, Ethan!
http://www.viewpure.com/XKDXaG4eGq0?start=0&end=0 (2:20)

Boys Day Out

Brian took Ethan and Gavin biking so I could have a quiet house to myself and for that,  I am SO thankful.

We're going to start keeping track of all our biking trips:

04/25  Washington & Old Dominion Railroad Trail (W&OD) - 9 miles

04/24  Our house to the Blounts' house - 6 miles

04/19  Cub Run Trail System - 5 miles

Total:20 miles

Happy Friday 4.24

Yesterday we celebrated Brian's 4 year work anniversary at Cornerstone with a yummy carrot cake from Wegman's.  Congratulations and thank you for providing for our family!!  

This is how we celebrated our Happy Friday today:

Given to Brian on his birthday back in September

Brian finally found a bike and made a purchase

Ethan and Gavin enjoying a FANTAstic drink after a 6-mile family bike ride

04/24  Our house to the Blounts' house - 6 miles

04/19  Cub Run Trail System - 5 miles

Total:11 miles

Happy Early Earth Day

*They were featured on the school news this morning
http://www.viewpure.com/CMtsCg7eqQM?start=0&end=0 (0:45)

I woke up this morning feeling super tired and unmotivated.  Couple that with the fact that Fairfax County Public School (the 2nd largest public school system in the country) is having more issues with their distance learning and cancelling all live classes the rest of the week, I decided we're going to do Legos this morning.  That was our "creative time."

We're trying to be flexible and patient through all the learning curves as the school system tries to figure out the security issues for the teacher-led virtual instruction and at the same time be able to support the traffic of 189,000 students all logging on at the same time.  Apparently after day 1, they came up with a patch that was installed last week only to find out this week it didn't work like they had hoped.  So I guess they're scrapping the whole thing and is now looking for a new system altogether.  Who knows.  I feel terrible for the teachers who are trying to figure this all out only for it to change on a daily basis.  I do appreciate that they're trying to keep parents informed with what's going on, but at the same time, it's hard not to feel overwhelmed with ALL the texts and emails from FCPS, our principal, and the boys' teachers that come through multiple times a day.   

Anyway, the boys continued their morning routine as usual as I stepped outside to get some fresh air.  That's when I realized it's a really beautiful day today.  So on a whim, I told the boys that we're going to bike to a nearby trail and pick up trash.  Like.right.now.  And so off we went!

 Ethan's new gloves

 Gavin using the new trash picker upper

Beautifying Centreville one spot at a time!

Hand Washing

Since Ethan and Gavin are visual learners, I thought this video on hand washing was super helpful!

Shiny Brand New Bike

Yesterday's visit to the bike shop was 1/2 successful.  I left with this shiny brand new 27-speed bike.  My very first one as an adult!  Now we just have to find Brian one.

Then today I took it out on the trail trying to figure out what to do with all the gears - what to click and when to click.  It was rather confusing.  But after 5 miles of riding and trying to keep up with the boys's biking and Brian's running, I think I finally figured it out.

04/19 Cub Run Trail System - 5 miles

Total: 5 miles

Just For Laughs

Brian's cousin sent this to us.  This was so good I thought it was for real!

Happy Friday 4.17

I try to celebrate our success each week with a Friday treat...as a motivation and something we can look forward to.  So far we've gotten:

-smoothies from Tropical Smoothie Cafe

-lunch from Chick-Fil-A

This Friday treat is an Oreo shake from Pot Belly!

Some Good News

This is what we're digging right now:

John Krasinski from the Office has debuted his at-home, mock evening news show dedicated entirely to good news in order to bring a smile to the internet amid uncertain times.  I love it...even made me teary eyed a few times!

Episode 1

Episode 2

Episode 3

Distance Learning

Day 1 of distance learning has begun and we're off with a good start!  Gavin woke up a little tired because his sleep routine is all messed up.  For some reason, he's struggling to fall asleep at night again so we'll have to try to figure something out.  

Since some of their live teachings coincided, we had to split the devices for them to use in different rooms.  I typed out schedules for each of them so we know who needs to be where and on what devices.  Thankfully Brian has a spare work lap top for us to borrow.  Otherwise I'm not sure we would be able to do this only on the tablet!  

All in all, I thought the boys did really well!  I had to tweak the recommended schedules and decide to scrap science and specials (PE, Art, Music, etc.) because it was too much for them.  Instead I implemented part of our COVID-19 schedules in the afternoon so they're doing the same thing at the same time (like Quiet Time).  That seemed to work out so much better!

I'm also thankful for Centreville Elementary School's principals and teachers who are dedicated to making this experience educational, fun and memorable for the students.  I'm learning that, for all of this is more than distance learning but also opportunity for character building - being flexible and resilience, having patience with each other, having patience with technology, problem solving skills.

Never thought of it this way, but Mr. Douds, our principal sent us this email:

Today is a historic day for the FCPS Educational system and CES.  We often talk to our students about history and ask them to imagine what it would be like to be a student during those times.  Well, we are truly creating living history today and the next nine weeks.  Distance learning and the COVID-19 pandemic will be discussed for generations.

Who would have thought!

Our Eternal Hope

Celebrating Easter at home was kinda weird this year being stuck home and all.  But despite the circumstances, we were determined to not let Satan steal our hope and joy.  So we got dressed up and celebrated this great day ever knowing that Jesus is Alive!!

Here's a He is Risen video from Fairfax Bible Church - we are at 1:08 mark

Bunny ears are appropriate for the occasion

Outdoor egg hunt included Giant Eggs

Saving Grace

The outdoors and take out have been our saving grace lately!  

Brian recently bought a hitch and a bike rack for the Pilot so we could haul Ethan's and Gavin's bikes with us as we hit the trails.  Now we just need to get bikes for ourselves so we could keep up with the boys.  Today we revisit an old trail at Thaiss Park where we used to go walking when we lived in Fairfax City.  A fun trail that I totally forgot about.  We'll definitely be back!

Flash back to 2012 - oh my, how little they were!

Switching It Up

I've been trying to switch things up around here so it's not so mundane:

Friday: forego all school work and had a movie day
Monday: forego all school work and made cards
Today: a facial with "spa" music in the background

 followed by outside time after lunch instead of in the late afternoon.

The boys wanted to go back to the creek and do a little bit more cleanup.

Weekend Warriors

Saturday morning, Brian and I went on a spontaneous coffee date at Starbucks drive-thru.

Today, we tried to mix it up and went hiking at Burke Lake Park (5 miles).  It was a lot of fun!

Centreville Covid Cleanup Group

What a time of emotional roller coaster.  I feel like one moment I'm feel fine and trying to be positive for the boys.  Then the next, I just lose it.  Ugh, I'm such a mess.  This week a friend texted, "The truth is that God's mercies are new every morning even though it might not feel true!"  I needed that reminder!

A  couple of little things I started doing to help boost the morale:
-putting on make up and curling my hair every Friday
-Ethan and I recently joined the Centreville Covid Cleanup group and went around the neighborhood to clean up trash.  It was a good bonding time!  This was our haul of the day: