Lockdown Day 14.

Today, we learned about what fire needs to keep burning: fuel and oxygen.

We lit a candle in a dish of water and covered the candle with a glass. The flame extinguished as the oxygen was depleted. At the same time, water was drawn into the glass to fill the space the air had left.

Fascinating stuff for our big boy and we extended the experiment further to test it with multiple candles (the flames extinguished faster and drew even more water into the glass).

It was a bit of a bummer to realise that locations of interest visited by covid positive people now include an Asian grocery store we frequent (not recently). We will likely see more local locations of interest pop up in the next few days. Just as we were feeling confident enough to start exercising around our neighbourhood, this happens. 

God bless us all. 

Lockdown Day 13.

Today wasn't great. I wasn't as patient as I hoped to be. Argh.

The morning went all right and we made face paint with cornflour (hands down my ingredient of choice this lockdown!), lotion, water and food colouring.

The afternoon got a little more chaotic with the older boys picking on their younger sisters. 

I made dumplings this evening and I realised that it takes the same amount of time to make a dumpling as it does to say a Hail Mary. That made for 54 Hail Marys for the people who will eat the dumplings. And for family back home, too. 

My body's feeling a little achey and my head feels heavy. May tomorrow be a better day. 

Lockdown Day 12.

It was a day that started out with absolutely nothing planned. Here's how it went:

- I got my first covid vaccination. 45 minute wait in line, no booking. No symptoms so far, apart from slight soreness at the injection site. 

- While I was out, the children decided to put up a play. They decided on the Nativity play. Lots of creative use of props, some good laughs and an all around great effort from all!

Angel announcing Jesus' birth to the blue-sheep shepherd.

Wise man presenting gifts to Mother Mary. I think.

- Taco shell rolling session. These guys enjoy soft tacos, so it felt apt to get them involved in making them. The older two were on-task while the other two... Were anything but. Who knew raw dough was so appetising...

The weekend has passed way too quickly and we're face to face again with a full week of online learning. Here we go! 

Lockdown Day 11.

Rainy day.

I'm not sure where the day went, exactly.

Our little man has developed an interest in the board game, Ticket to Ride First Journeys. We played that this afternoon while the little lady slept. He teamed up with his big sister. Aww. 

And then we got moving with a family game of Musical Statues. The husband and I have two pairs of left feet between us, but we figured, why not. We all danced to movie tunes off YouTube.

"Supercalifragiliciexpielidocious", chosen by our big boy, was probably my favourite dance. 

A few rainy days lie ahead. Time to stay warm and think up more fun indoors. 

Oh yes, our big girl got a haircut. She got tied of maintaining her long hair (it tends to knot easily) so we cut it shorter. It's a lot easier to care for now, and she looks a couple of years younger! 

Lockdown Day 10.

It looks like Auckland will be at alert level 4 lockdown for at least another 4 days + 2 weeks. In all honesty, I enjoy having the children home and having all this time together. I think we quite like being together, which helps. That being said, it's also extremely tiring. So while I'm quite ready for this lockdown to be over soon, I am grateful for the company I'm stuck with. 

These guys are still all smiles at the end of the week, which is a win in my book. 

Papa built them a fort to have dinner in AND watch a movie from. I was really impressed! Aladdin, pizza and butterscotch pudding were our Friday treat, an easy end to a pretty full-on week.

I captured this moment between the two siblings. Our big boy has a huge soft spot for this one here, at least enough to let her "brush" his teeth. 

Lockdown Day 9.

Online learning today was tricky, at best, with motivation dwindling. We had some tears before lunchtime (not mine). We did a little bit of work and decided to move on to play earlier than usual. 

Papa swooped in and lifted the children's spirits with "Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo" Nintendo Switch game. A good way to get them moving indoors and have a virtual go at different Olympic sports. 

Granny conducted a lockdown origami class for the older ones in the afternoon and had a followup session (with their cousin) in the evening. She taught our big girl to make a crown and our big boy to make monster claws. It was a success, and quite timely given how bumpy a day it was.

I'm glad we managed to end the day with some smiles. 

Lockdown Day 8.

The self-donative nature of parenthood truly comes to the fore in lockdown, as we manage the daily demands of the household (laundry, cleaning, cooking), the children's needs and their schoolwork. So much is asked of us, but there are also countless opportunities to show love. A part of me recognises how blessed I am to be able to give this much of myself to my family and provide stability in this time. 

The novelty of lockdown is wearing off and we are settling into a fairly steady routine. Our work/play balance seems to be a good one: we generally work in the morning and reserve the afternoon for play. 

Gratefully, our days are marked by prayer. We start the day with morning prayer, gather at noon for the Angelus, and finish the day with night prayer. Grace before meals peppers the time in between. The Angelus is a new addition and the children have picked it up quickly. They take turns to lead us in the Angelus each afternoon.

As much as we are called to give to our children, I am learning that we cannot cover their every need. Our big girl was chatting with her godma this evening, delighted to see her as she's missed her. She mentioned in passing that she has been bored during lockdown. 

My own mothering instinct responded by feeling there must be something I'm missing, for her to feel this way. Such conflict, as I also, at the same time believe that boredom is good, underrated, and the root of much creativity. 

This episode became a good reminder that I'm not called to be all things to my children. I cannot replace everything that lockdown has taken away. I just need to do my best and trust it is enough. Work in progress. 

Folding paper planes with Nanogirl during a live episode this afternoon. 

Finished product! Yes, that's a plane. 

Painting the house with washable cornflour paint (1tbs cornflour: 2tbs water plus food colouring)

Don't forget the windows!

Safe space (for two). 

Lockdown Day 7.

I did something I never thought I'd do: mud play. Definitely out of my comfort zone but I thought, "why not?"

I found a patch of dirt, added water and got digging. Then invited the children to join me. 

It was a new experience for all of us. Our big boy retreated as far away as he could and hid in the fort. 

What amazed me was how our big girl embraced the entire experience. She didn't get extremely dirty but she immersed herself completely in the play. She made mud pies and made paint by mixing mud with more water in a tray. 

Our little lady saw me making muddy handprints and stuck her hand in to give it a go. 

Our cautious little man did the same but immediately washed them off after. 

The husband had a horrified look on his face when he emerged from his study to find out what we'd gotten up to.

We cleaned up properly after. Mud play is a well-documented form of play and mud kitchens are a Kiwi favourite. So... I guess you could say I was embracing the culture! 

On a slightly less crazy note, we also arranged for the older children to have some virtual catchups with their friends. Our big boy enjoyed his immensely, and of course, the younger siblings got involved too.

Lockdown Day 6 (And an extension.)

Online learning was a success today, and we had a good chunk of time where the children were pretty focused on their work. 

Play dough mats were a boredom buster too:

Playdough dinosaur eggs in a nest.

Our big girl made us "Olympic" medals as part of her school-assigned work. 

And we spent some time trying to come up with a challenging course. Not sure we succeeded.

News that Auckland's lockdown would be extended was not unexpected. It's been extended another week. Still, hearing it for real was still a bit of a bummer.

Our big boy: yesss!

Big girl:Nooooo I want to go back to school and see my friends!

Chalk and cheese, these two are in this respect. Well, we arranged zoom playdates pronto after hearing the news. They'll be seeing their friends soon! 

Lockdown Day 5.

This time last week, we were preparing to start what we thought would be a normal week. Instead, here we are, planning activities for our little man and lady (dinosaur-themed playdough mats), and making sure the house is ready for online learning tomorrow. 

I made kaya this morning (yummm) so the breadmaker will be working tonight to make sure we have fresh bread in the morning.

It's amazing what children can do with a few loose parts. Today, the planks of wood became see saws. 

The sun was shining, so I figured a car wash would be a fun way to get moving. The car hasn't been this clean in months! 

The children were excited to go out for a drive after dark to go pick up our groceries from the supermarket. We spotted the line of people waiting to enter the supermarket (covid restrictions) and were grateful we had our groceries ready for us in a locker. 

It was like Christmas as the children spotted treats and eats in the various bags. So thrilled were they that they eagerly helped to pack everything away. We have enough to last us a couple of weeks, at least.

The husband has finally succumbed to the bug that got us all down. With the lockdown, it's much easier for him to take a day off sick, which is exactly what he'll be doing tomorrow. 

Lockdown Day 4.

Family hide and seek this afternoon was a huge hit. The adrenaline rush of finding a hiding spot and wondering if we'd be found was quite exciting indeed. Our big boy was in tears at the end though, cause he was never the last to be found. Funny boy hid in the same place every time hoping for a different result! Nonetheless, he shared that family hide and seek was still the highlight of his day.

An overcast, chilly day made dress-ups an appealing option. 

An empty box made a great ride. 

Papa made a pulley on our stairs, which was helpful in transporting things up and down. Not sure we saved much effort in doing so, but it was definitely entertaining. 

Obstacle course part 2 made use of more loose parts we had lying around. 

We've not left our property since lockdown first started. Our little man is starting to ask to go out; it's a running challenge to see how long we can keep this up. Thankfully everyone is still in good spirits. 

Lockdown Day 3.

The older ones usually spend the mornings doing some school work while the younger ones play. 

The afternoons often find us doing things we enjoy:

Papa giving his seedlings some TLC, our big boy doing some origami and our big girl loves her crafts. That's a paper plate diplodocus!

The sunshine got us outside and working on a floor-is-lava type obstacle course:

Part of the course involved traversing the fence!

Running low on snacks means we make our own. A Weetbix slice makes a good lesson in measurement and fractions when Papa is the one in charge!

Papa: 2 days of online learning feels like a full week of work.

It's been tiring. Our friendly greengrocer just delivered fresh fruit, veg and snacks this evening so we are all set to settle into the weekend.

P.S: This is a map of the locations of interest visited by covid positive cases so far. We are blessed to be in the area circled orange. Hope it stays that way for awhile more.