Oregon or Bust... COVID Style

Oregon or bust!

Matthew is missing out on our school's amazing 4th grade Oregon Trail simulation due to kids not being in school. I was planning on doing own at home, and the 4th grade teachers were encouraging kids to do so also and created an amazing online curriculum for the kiddos (I cannot tell you how much I appreciate teachers right now.. they are doing an incredible job!)

My friend Jen (mom of Ellie and Sam, Evelyn and Matthew's close friends) reached out and asked if we wanted to do something together. Of course I said YES! With Jen's help (and her amazing creativity) we did our own simulation this week! Over course of three days (and using three different parks) We stopped at and signed Independence Rock, made butter, climbed over the Rocky Mountains, hunted and walked a lot before making it to and staking our claim in Oregon! It wasn't the same as doing it with all of their classmates but we all had fun and the boys learned lots along the way!

Meet Benjamin McIntyre and Waldo Fluchel (they each came up with a trail name)

The Morris family came to Oregon with a horse cart, not a covered wagon. When Evelyn did the trail 3 years ago, Doug and the kids built a replica of it. Also, "Benjamin" is a blacksmith who is looking to use his skills to make a good living in Oregon!

We sang songs on the trail.

Yes, Evelyn and Ellie dressed up and came along.. they were both good sports!

Made it to, talked about, and signed Independence Rock, just like the real pioneers did!

The boys made their own butter. It was delicious! 

Made it up and over the "Rocky Mountains"

Ready to go buffalo hunting!

The "buffalo"...haha!

Had to get some photos of my pretty girl... 

We made it to Oregon! We celebrated with fresh strawberries and whipped cream.

We did it! Yay!

The boys' final task was to "stake their claim" with string and wooden pegs. We hope they both are successful in the new territory..haha! :) 

"Ma" was pretty proud of her boy Benjamin and was also happy to make it to the end of the trail! :) 

It was a super fun week with friends, and  I hope the boys will always remember this!

5th Grade Pledge

 Every year at Fir Grove, at the end of year assembly, the 4th graders stand up and take the "5th Grade Pledge", a commitment to be a good and responsible leader in their last year of elementary school. It is a special tradition at our school and it is a BIG deal to 4th graders!

Obviously this year is different (thanks to COVID), but our Principal and staff still wanted to give the 4th graders the honor of doing the pledge. So today there was a "all 4th grade" zoom call and Mrs. Miles led the kids in the pledge. 

I both filmed and took photos.. all while crying. Shocker..haha! Sad tears that Matthew doesn't get to take this pledge the "usual" way, and happy tears of pride and thankfulness for this boy. I cannot believe he will be in his LAST year of elementary school next year!

Love him so much!

Ping Pong

We have talked as a family about things we can do to keep us entertained while we are in quarantine. The kids mentioned getting ping pong table. Well.. with our lego table and ALL of our legos there really was no room in the basement. The kids started talking up ideas to clean up and store legos, and how they didn't need the lego table anymore and would happily trade it in for a ping pong table. It was a fun idea, but trying to find a decent ping pong table at a decent price was tough. 

Well..early last week we were on a walk and saw our friend JB. Matthew briefly mentioned us possibly getting ping pong table. I told her my struggles to find one. She smiled and said, "Do you want ours?"

WHAT??

They had one that has been sitting in their garage for years and she and her husband would be more than happy to let us borrow theirs for as long as we wanted! What a generous offer and what a blessing! We all were excited!

The kids made good on their promise and cleaned up and organized ALL of our legos. We gave our lego table to our worship pastor at church for his young kiddos to use.

We picked up the pool table today.. and we love it already!

I anticipate MANY fun games happening here!

Thank you so much Hickman's!

Mother's Day 2020

I had a lovely Mother's Day today!

Breakfast brought to me outiside on our red plate. It was a beautiful morning!

Church

A visit to see my momma!

Being their mom is my one of my greatest joys!

Dinner take out from Roxy's

This pretty much sums up how the cat feels about me..haha!!

Thankful for the gift of motherhood!

 

May the Fourth

 Today is "Star Wars" Day and Matthew made sure to celebrate!

A free hand drawing of the Star Wars logo and his R2D2 piggy bank and Stormtrooper Clock were the main focal point of his "desk" for school. (And by desk I mean the kitchen table..haha)/

And this is how he showed up at his class zoom meeting today! It was perfect and it gave his whole class a chuckle. Me too!

May the Fourth Be With You!

Ant Hill Studies

 Matthew was outside playing this morning and came running in the house. "Mom I found a bunch of ant hills.. come see!"

Indeed, at the end of the driveway was one big ant farm with several different entry points. He spent a good hour or more watching them. He got some bread and watched how they worked together to move the pieces into their home. I watched with him for a bit and it truly was fascinating!

Later that day he looked up a bunch of stuff on ants and found even more interesting facts. I'll take that as a home school science win..haha!!

Easter 2020

Since we are sadly still in "shelter in place" mode due to  COVID-19, our usual large Easter celebrations were not happening. While this was sad and disappointing, we knew that the reason we celebrate Easter hasn't changed (thank you Jesus for saving us!). We pivoted the best way we could and our day ended up still being special, even if it was different. 

I woke up early and made some gluten free donut holes... for the very first time! They fried up a little darker than I had wanted but they were really yummy and enjoyed by all of us! 

One thing the kids were sad about is that there would be no "cousins" Easter Egg Hunt, a tradition all of the Morris cousins enjoy. Well, after we were all awake, I opened the front window shades, and to my surprise found this...

I called for the kids and they were both perplexed and excited. They quickly thru on a sweatshirt and shoes and headed outside. 

Out collecting eggs in the morning sunshine.. they had so much fun! I love that they still enjoy stuff like this even as they age. 

The Easter Bunny was very COVID- friendly! :) 

Doug and I even got a little something from that sneaky bunny! :) 

(So... Doug's brother and family know how much our kids love this tradition. They decided to drive over from Gresham IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT to surprise us with this blessing for Easter morning. It moved me to tears and I am so thankful for the way they loved on us in this way!)

I decided that our family  would still dress up, even if church was online and we would just be a party of 4! 

I may be bias, but I think they are fantastic!

More Easter fun came the kids' way during the day..

Doug's Aunt Mary made a big basket full of goodies for Evelyn and Matthew. Needless to say it was well received..haha!

I usually cook a big meal for our extended family. Since so many local businesses have been hurting due to the Corona virus shutting things down, we decided to instead get Easter dinner from a local bistro, La Provence. They had a great special on Easter dinner packages and it was great to support a local place. 

It was such a beautiful day so we decided to eat outside. It was strange only setting the table for just the 4 of us, but I think it turned out pretty nonetheless.

Cheers to Saving Grace!

...and cheers to an amazing and delicious meal! We had salmon and a chicken/bacon mac and cheese. It came with lots of sides and was perfect for all of us!

After we ate we got to spend time with both sides of the family via zoom, which was super fun. 

A great, abeit different, day to celebrate our Risen Lord!

Happy Easter!