Projects!

I always have a running list in my head, and on paper, of what projects I want to get done around the house.  Of course there's never any time to do them...until now!  We are hammering out projects left and right these days and the boys are getting in on a few too.  We're so productive, we've (Erik) has taken our (Erik's) skills on the road!  I was a little worried I'd run out of things to do but the more time I have to think, the more time I have to come up with new ideas.  So, I can safely say we'll never run out of things to do.

This is the laundry room.  Some day I'll post before and afters.  

This room has been mainly completed for awhile, except for the door under the sink that the towel is mounted on.  That FINALLY got finished and installed (after 6 years of nothing there).  It finally looks like a finished room!

Erik has been helping build a lean-to for the mini horses.  They're moving out to his sister Erin's place.  Here the boys "helped" by staying out of the way and getting SUPER muddy on the 4 wheeler.

And here Mason actually did help!

Cutest carpenter I've ever seen.

We did some updates to our kitchen (still not finished) and took out some cabinets.

I decided to paint them and utilize them in the basement as a bar area.

Erik caught me in action sanding the countertop.

The finished product!

Still needs some decorations to make it complete but we can cross that off my list now!

I'm sure Erik is dying to know what's next on his list!  (He's not)

We made it!!  We're done with school!!  I can't say it was pretty but we're all still talking to each other.  I also can't say the boys came out smarter than they were in March when they left their teachers, but they're definitely not dumber so I consider that a solid win in my book. 

Kade still has a couple things to finish up before Friday when the official last day of school is but we no longer have to plan our day around school work for Mason, which was our biggest struggle.  His 1st grade teacher will have their hands full when that little man heads back into school.  Uff da.  Like I always tell him, "He's lucky he's cute!!"  If every single lesson revolved around fishing, getting dirty and just overall "boy destruction", he'd be considered a genius!

Kade's still hunting that elusive turkey.  Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday I wake him up at 4:15 to head out and every time he's come back empty handed.  He's hunting in the woods next to our house so Erik and I sit out on the porch and listen to him and Grandpa calling them in.  It's pretty entertaining but we still haven't heard a gunshot.  Poor kid.  I will say his determination and dedication, at 9 years old, is pretty impressive.  Fingers crossed he gets one before June.

Baseball has been canceled for the summer.  Camping is still up in the air, although even if campgrounds do open up, I'm not sure we'll go.  We've got it pretty good out here in the country.  So, we decided this was definitely the summer to buy a fishing boat!  They've taken it out on the water a couple times with no luck, good thing Mason has just as much fun pretend playing in our driveway!

Not surprisingly, Kade is a pretty good pitcher.  He's been practicing a little bit with Erik giving him pointers.  Hopefully next summer we'll see a lot of strike outs with him on the mound!

Mason posing in front of Erik's latest project completion.  

A firewood holder.

We're in the final stretch of our "new normal", there's only 5 days left of "distance learning" (it's funny how 2 months ago I would've asked what the heck those 2 phrases mean and now that's all we hear!) and then it's officially summer!!!  

Kade has done fine with home school, he gets up and does it right away.  I honestly haven't even looked too closely at his requirements and if he's meeting them.  I probably should but he's such a rule follower that I'm trusting he's doing everything.  I've also taken on the attitude of, "is he going to fail 3rd grade if he doesn't get something done?  No.  So, really, who cares?"  Probably not the best attitude to have as a parent.

Mason, on the other hand, has been a struggle to say the least.  He does not want to do anything and I don't blame him but, dang, is it frustrating to just get him to do the bare minimum!  We've had to get creative with bribing him and 99% of the time it involves fishing.  Again, he's not going to fail Kindergarten but I cannot wait until the pressure is off and we can just enjoy the day without schoolwork looming over our heads.

These boys are GREAT at enjoying their day.  We've been counting our blessings that we are in the country because they have so many places to go just on our property to play and use their imagination.  The biggest hit so far has been the sandbox, they've got quite the farming operation set up in and around there.  The waterway has also been a top contender.  They load up their 4 wheeler and pretend they are on a hunt, or they're living in the wild like Bear Grylls.

I'm not sure what the summer holds in store for us but I do know that in 5 days I'll finally get my dining room table back!!

Fishing season is officially open!

Can't social distance from cousins forever!

Kade and Violet resting between horse lessons with Grandma.

Seemed like the perfect day to do some shirtless schoolwork in the sun!

The squirrel feeder has found a home...

and a repeat customer.  This big fella spends hours at the bar.

Ok, it's official, we've gone off the deep end as the pictures below will show.  I guess the good thing is, at least we're all enjoying ourselves!  We haven't had this much time on our hands since before I can even remember.  Projects are getting done, projects we didn't even know we wanted to do are getting started, the boys have found a rhythm together that has tightened their bond even more than it was.  Erik and I have started running again!  We haven't done that since before Kade.  It's not pretty, it's not fast and it's not far but it feels good to be consistent again.  Oh, and there's only 10 school days left...but who's counting.

The boy's idea of "going out" nowadays is to go to a tree in the middle of a field that has a little water running by it.  So, at the end of the day, when their school work is done, we head out to the tree and they play for hours.

Of course Mason attempted to jump across the water.  And missed.  Thank goodness Kade was there to help!  Although Kade was laughing so hard I'm not sure how much help he was.

I showed Erik this picture from Pinterest.

He thought it was hilarious.

2 weeks later, he made this!

Yep, we're officially feeding the squirrels.

And he made 2 of them so we can feed squirrels at the front of the house and the back of the house.

And last, but definitely not least, the boys needed haircuts.  All of them.

Mohawks for everyone!

Week 798, or so it feels.  Everything would be perfect if they'd just cancel school!  This homeschooling is for the birds!  

Kade got to go on his first turkey hunt this year.  Luck hasn't been with him so far, but he's going out again this weekend and I have a feeling his time is coming.  He's loving every minute of it and he's definitely the hunter in the family.

They had a school assignment where they had to use the letters in their name to describe themselves.  I had to giggle at his "E"..."I eat".  Yes he does!  I swear they are both in a never ending growth spurt that started the day school let out.

My dad gave Mason his old lawn mower.  He drives around the yard pretending it's his combine.  It's providing hours of fun!

Catfish hunting

Last weekend I took out a couple loaves of frozen bread dough to use for homemade pizza crusts.  I put them out in the morning, went outside for the day and completely forgot about them.  I could not stop giggling when I came in and saw this.

So, of course, I had to show the boys.

Erik got in on the action too!

We were all laughing so hard our stomachs hurt.

I don't even know what week we're on for home schooling/social distancing.  I do know that the weather has finally turned and these boys want NOTHING to do with school work!!  They head outside in the morning and don't come in until 7:00 for supper.  I'm about ready to hang up my imaginary teaching license and call it good for the year!

We got word a week or two ago that there may be some temporary furloughs and pay decreases at our jobs.  Erik got notice that he is taking a 7% pay decrease and will need to furlough for 6 weeks.  Basically he's making about what he did 2 years ago and since our finances haven't changed since then, we'll be fine.  It also means that he has most of the summer off.  He's not been outwardly showing it but I can tell he's secretly pretty excited about this.  So far, my pay and hours are basically the same.  I will be taking an extra day or two off every pay period but I have a feeling my work could pick up soon.  So, I'm enjoying my days home while I can!  And let me tell you, if I have to start going in to work more, then we will DEFINITELY be playing hooky from home school!!

Easter was a bit different this year but we still hid some eggs and had a delicious brunch of egg bake and monkey bread.

It also snowed 9 inches on Easter so we laid around all day watching movies and zooming with family.

We played a silly game when we were eating.  You had to take a bite and not smile.  If you smiled, you had to do 5 push ups.

Guess who smiled!

Umbrella Day for school

So we had our first taste of spring a couple weeks ago.  Since then it's snowed 9" and of course, stupid me, I washed and put away ALL of our snow gear.  This isn't my first rodeo so I'm not sure why I fell for it when MN teased us with 60's and sun.  Anyway, Erik and the boys managed to accomplish a somewhat big outside job in that little time!

But first, the weekly update.  School is still going fairly well.  I don't love it, the boys don't love, Erik really doesn't love it on the days I'm at work and he's trying to work from home with our handsome, little scholars.  But, we don't complain because we know how lucky and blessed we are.  Everyone is still healthy, happy, we all still enjoy each other's company, and these boys (Erik included) are eating me out of house and home!

Mason's Easter art project.

He named him "Roley" (pronounced Rawley).

It was "Hat Day" at school that day!

For real, it was.  

All of the teachers were wearing hats for their online classes.

A picture of Mason's daily journal that we submit to the teacher every Friday!

Onto the project.

When we moved in there was a basic swing set in the back yard.  The boys played on it exactly 6 times in the 6 years we've been here.  Being the age appropriate hoarders that they are, they've always refused when we say we should take it down.

Since Kade has been mowing though, he's changed his tune.  Mason was happy to help when he realized it meant he got to destroy something.

I tried to talk them into keeping the base of it and attaching a porch swing to put by the fire pit.  I lost.  The lumber is going to be used to build a lean-to for firewood.  Lame.