Puzzles and Masks

I decided this would be a good time for the girls to assemble the Mulan puzzle that Sam gave them for Christmas.

They'd originally started it on the school room table, but that wasn't working out for us, so we put up a table downstairs where they could work on it.  This wasn't easy for them, and I kinda had to nudge them along to finish it, but I'm glad I did.

Hannah pointing to the last piece.

We had our first quarantine birthday.  Being a quaranteen kinda sucks on a regular day, let alone your birthday, but he's a good sport.  When the world reopens, he wants a pair of boots.

Eli left birthday cards for Jack and Hannah before he went to boot camp.

This was about the time I decided to take matters into my own hands regarding school work.  The kids' school has not been a shining example of excellence during this time.  So I decided we're going to do an Around The World unit study, with an added look at how each country has been impacted by COVID-19.

Jack and I got out for a bike ride.

It was wonderful, and I discovered a Little Free Library in our neighborhood.  I've got a little pile of books and a clip on hand sanitizer ready to go next time we ride out.

Masks.  I made a couple and then started thinking, "Batch sewing these would be pretty easy if I started with tubes of fabric..."

So I did.

And it worked.  Cutting went very quickly. 

It was sewing them up that became a bit tedious.  So far I've given away or sold about 70, and I have more in progress. 

I have us doing a unit study of different counties each week.  It's something we can work on together, which is fun.  Our first country was Spain, and our next country was Italy, so I splurged on a puzzle of Europe (affiliate link) from GeoToys.  Great puzzles.  We have 4 now. 

I cut a bunch of paper spring shapes with my Cricut machine, (affiliate link) and let the girls design their own pictures to put in the windows. 

A friend gave the kids some little wooden model kits.  Jack's is a plane (jet?). 

The girls are still practicing piano every day.  They've been at it for over a year now!  Hoping to get FaceTime lessons going soon, but waiting to hear back from the power that be on that one. 

This was a fun activity!  I used my Cricut again to cut out a couple of paper dolls and half a dozen outfits.  I assembled the dolls, but left all the clothing and accessories in a pile and let the girls dress them up in different ways.  My goal is to pull these out again and have them pick a favorite outfit.  Then, we'll glue the outfit on, they can name their dolls, and make up a story about them, build houses for them, etc. 

Hoping this finds you and yours safe and healthy.