Jack

 Jack has true enterprising spirit. Yesterday he "sold" the only restate he has, the top bunk of his bed. He sold Amelia the rights to sleep and hangout there with an option to put things on the walls. He sold it to her for a Gameboy thing she got for Christmas that he wanted. He even typed up a contract stating the terms of the agreement and was going to have Dan print it out at work so they could both sign it. Alas, the deal fell thru since Amelia wanted to move in before the contract was signed (although she had given him the Gameboy) and Jack said she couldn't so Amelia got all huffy and took her things back. Jack told me afterwards that he wasn't going to keep the Gameboy but send it to Maysen for her birthday since it was actually Maysen who wanted the thing in the first place. He is so sweet. 

Jacob

This kid is 13! My little angle baby is such a wonderful young man. We celebrated with cake and ice cream at Umma and Uppa's.  What can I say about Jacob, still a hard worker, still kind hearted, still my sweet boy.

 

Jack

This year Jack bought me a Christmas present for the first time with his own money. He is very proud of that fact.  One of his teachers showed him something she made and was selling (I think she was selling it) so he typed into chat he wanted to buy it. She came by later that day or maybe the next to drop it off to him. Jack is so thoughtful.  I love him so much.

Ms. Stephanie

  Well Ms. Stephanie died on Wednesday, December 9th. It was expected because her cancer had spread but also because she had declined quickly over two days. On the Sunday of Jacob's birthday she invited him over for a piece of cake, a card she made for him and some birthday balloons. She told me she was sorry she didn't have a real present for him but I told her that was ok. It wasn't ok with her. 

Ms. Stephanie also sent Amelia the special Advent calendar she buys her every year. The last couple of years Ms. Stephanie bought the calendar but she just downloaded it on her computer so Amelia just played it at her house. It was super sweet of Ms. Stephanie to remember the calendar at the end of her life. I have made a note on my calendar to buy one for next year.

Jack was apart the communication of her decline. Mark kept accidently texting me so Jack kept relaying me messages. He could tell by the messages that something was up. On the day she died I told the kids it would be soon. That night she passed away.

We were so lucky to have Ms. Stephanie as a neighbor. She was so great with the kids. Each of them had a special relationship with her. She was able to see each of the kids for their individual strengths and specialness. She nurtured each of them. Because of the coronavirus there has been a bit of a distance between them, obliviously for health reasons, so the kids right now can't absorb the absentness of her love. But it will come. And I pray as they get older they will remember that love. I pray that they can recognize the ease that she loved them and how they took advantage of that easy love because they were kids that received so much of it.

Jack and Amelia

 Jack, Amelia and I did some fun Christmas string art. It was fun evening a winding string around nails. I think, both kids threw one fit each and I messed up one time, but for the most part it was pretty easy and lots of fun.

Amelia

 

A sweet picture Amelia drew of the two of us to cheer me up one day.

Jack

 Jack loves playing video games. He especially loves the online server game Roblox. I am not sure what it is exactly but I do know there are tons of different games where kids get to do everyday life things, just in crazy kid ways. Like I think one of the games is pizza simulator where the kids run a pizza shop. Or a game about a shark eating people in boats. I think what Jack likes most right now is that you play it with other kids. Jacob and Amelia play to in the same room so they are always talking to each other about the games. Jack also plays with Umma. He likes to get her on FaceTime so he can talk with her and play the games with her. 

I don't think Jack realizes how much his Umma loves him to play a stupid online game with him. I can only guess that 3 years ago if you asked her if she wanted to play a video she would have said "Absolutely not, video games are stupid!" But because she is such an amazing Umma she plays.

Jacob

 Well my little Baby Jacob has caught puberty. (Jack is always saying he doesn't want to catch puberty.) Jacob is growing SO tall. He has a bit of acme, but not too much. But the real tell tale sign is that his voice is changing. Sometimes he sounds like a little kid and other time defiantly not. 

I tease him that I am going to throw him a 13th birthday party with presents like pimple cream, razors, deodorant and books about his changing body. He just rolls his eyes and says no way to the presents but ok to an actual party.

Just a big sigh for my mother's heart that my little guy is growing into a man.

First Hunting Season

Jacob and Jack got to go on their first hunt! They were so excited to go. Lucky for them, they got to hunt on Kory's (Uppa's cousin's husband) family property in Dayton. Uppa called to say he was on his way to pick them up and gave me a quick list of what the needed to pack. I had no other information then that but both boys had about a dozen questions each about what was happening, where they were going, and who was going to be there. 

First Uppa showed up pulling a tent trailer. We were like, where did you get the tent trailer? Turns out he bought it for hunting. Oh my what a surprise, and of course, more questions to come about how it works. While Uppa took a quick shower I headed to the store for food supplies. Prior to Uppa showing up I was trying to call Umma to see what she had already packed. She was unavailable but it worked out just fine; no one would starve. Once I got home the boys and Uppa packed up their things and were off!

The very first day Jacob got his first deer! A cute little doe. Apparently each day each boy would split up between hunting with Kory or Uppa. Jacob was with Kory that day. I can't remember who spotted the two deer but as soon as they did, Jacob said they belly crawled to a fence. Once there, Jacob set up his shot. Kory and Jacob were uphill, with the deer lower in a field. Jacob said he missed twice high but on the third shot hit the deer in the upper spine. The deer dropped where it was. Kory shot it in the head to finish it off. They then had to drag the deer quite always back to the truck.

Now Jack got his first deer on the second day. Jack got several different looks at some great deer but he wasn't either able to take a good shot or missed. Uppa and Jack snuck up on a 4 point but Jack wasn't able to get a shot in. He was really disappointed that he didn't get that deer. Later that night as the four of them were driving a couple deer jumped across the road. Who ever was driving slammed the car into park so Kory and Jack could jump out after the deer. Jack was able to shoot the deer right thru the lungs and heart, a perfect shot! The bad part was that it wasn't quite a doe, but very quickly it was made into one.

Each night the boys would call to give a report. They loved the tent trailer. I think each of the boys had to give us a tour of it. They got to eat a lot of junk food. Jack reported that lots of the guys there smoke and drank, which of course he isn't use to but was fine. Jacob told me about being charged by a bull. He had to duck under a wire fence really quick. They both told me lots about Kory and different ways he was cool. They got to ride a little motorbike around. There was a dog named Lady Bear that was super nice. It was super cold, with compact snow and ice on the road. They  told us about helping some people out of the ditch and it taking forever. Jack had to tell me all about how much adrenal was pumping thru his body each time he was about to take a shot.

Uppa and the boys brought the deer back here. We hung them in the garage so the next day we sent up a table to cut up the meat. The kids did a good job, even Amelia helped cut it up. Now our freezer is full of tender deer meat. 

Just in general it was a great memorable trip. Both boys said they wanted to go again.

Jacob

 Can I say how easy Jacob is to parent!! Although he hasn't been 100% excited about online school, he has done a great job. He does his zoom meetings and homework. He is trying his best. His attitude is good. As a reward I have bought him some stuff I normally wouldn't. I have tried to be a little more flexible with him since he is really doing so outstanding. I keep my eye out for him and tell him he can be upset if he wants/needs to be because I don't want him overshadowed by his siblings needs. As of now though, I think he is the most grownup of the household, including me. 

Jack

 

Dear Mom,

Please consider letting me out (of my room). Today mistakes were made. I promise to be good. 

With Care, Jack Fisk

Amelia

 Today Amelia showed me a kindness. I had a rough day so she decided that she would give me a spa treatment. She cut up some cucumbers, she kept calling them pickles, for me to put on my eyes. She also cut extra slices for a snack. I laid down on my bed with "pickle" slices on my eyes. She then rubbed my feet and hands with lotion. After she fed me some cucumber slices and sips of water she read to me from the Owl Dairies. It was just what I needed. I feel so loved that she would do something extra special for me. She is such a sweet girl.

Jack

 Tonight Jack told me tomorrow is going to be the best day ever! Here are his reasons:

1. No school

2. He gets to go to the Middleton Fall Festival with friends

3. He gets screen time, plus an extra 40 minutes - When he talks with his teacher during the "office hours" he gets an extra 20 minutes of screen time with a max of two teachers a week. He saved up his extra screen time for Friday.

*** I added the extra 20 minutes of screen time bonus to help entice Jack to talk with his teachers one on one. Because of the utter joke the school year is, Jack has had a hard time connecting to school, teachers and classmates. I thought at least he could get some individual time with the teachers to help make a better connection. Of course I let both of his core teachers know the plan so they have been super great about checking in with Jack academically while also exchanging some general chitchat. 

Jack

This week I let the boys watch a scary movie for the first time. I found a list of PG13 scary movies that were ok for tweens, meaning not too much gore, cussing and sex. It has several levels of scary so we picked a "not so scary" movie to start. We watched the Poltergeist (1982 version). The special effects were 80's bad and the scary stuff takes a while to get going but its still a good one. There is one jump scare in the movie that got Jack pretty bad. After the movie was over Jacob said he didn't really like scary movies, he liked comedies better. Jack thought it was great and couldn't shut up about the scary parts and how he felt at each moment of the movie.  

All was good, everyone went to bed; of course Jack had every light on in his room. Later in the night Jack said he had a nightmare about a tree eating him (a part in the movie) so he came into our room to sleep on the floor. He tried to pull it off as he was sleeping with Skipper but the wooden cross I found by his pillow gave him away. Lol With a big sheepish grin and twinkle in his eye, he admitted he was scared. Of course, he has since tried to convince that he thinks being scared by scary movies is fun and wants to watch another one! I said maybe, but he has several "levels" to go in our list of scary movies before he even gets to the "pro" level. Not sure what movie to have him watch next.

Made it thru September

 So September 1st was the first day of school and I can confidently say it was the hardest month ever. I congratulate myself for getting thru the month. Part of my strategy was taking a two week sub job that pushed the kids into independence. It worked for Amelia very well. She can now get her work done by herself. Now I don't know the quality of that work but hey I guess that is her teacher's problem. Jack needs another week or two of getting into the routine of daily tasks plus assignments. He is working on turning in quality 6th grade work. Jacob was good from the start. He just needs a reminder to breath at the beginning of each week because of the new load of assignments assigned to him. 

This distance learning is just the worst. Kids don't have the developed self-discipline or motivation or developed skills to do this. Everyone I talk says the same thing about this being so hard and stressful. I just wonder what the kids will remember about this time when they are older. I know for sure that I am so grateful to Umma and Upppa; spending time with them has really been a Godsent for the mental and emotional health of the kids. 

Amelia

 Well Amelia's school year is going like crap (that's the nice version of what I think its going). Her computer has worked one day out of the last 5. She literally lays on the ground and throws a fit about school work, her computer or anything related to school. She was nervous about starting the year off at a new school with new kids so throw that on top and you have a childhood trauma event that we are reliving every day there is school. I am trying really really hard to help her thru this. Last spring she threw fits after she had to do work from school. Anything new or challenging made her scream and cry. She is now doing the same thing. For every assignment she completes she cries for at least 15 minutes, either before, during, after or a combination of all three. At home learning is a joke for her.  She needs in person interaction. She needs other kids to play with. She needs a place where other adults can help her. She needs a place where she can be helpful to others. 

2020-2021 School Year

First day of school 2020-2021. Let's see... the boys have sat thru the same power point presentation in all of their classes. Basically going over how to click on a Zoom link to get them to class (note they clicked on a Zoom link already to get them to the class to watch the presentation on how to click on a Zoom link.) or how to email a teacher. Jack got to help his technology teacher out by showing how to toggle between a video and his screen. 

Amelia hates her Zoom class meetings each day. She hates sitting there listening to a tiny head on the screen talk with her. Today her computer did not work right so we was like 15 minutes late to the class meeting. She then was so upset she had to use the our personnel computer she wouldn't even sit at the computer. Now she is laying on her floor crying because she doesn't want to complete the work on the computer. 

Online school sucks. It is not good. It is a joke to think this is ok for kids at all.

 

Jack's Summer Journal

 Date: 6/1/20

Gratitude List: I am da grateful for my new gun in zombie rush because I had to kill about 100 zombies to get it.

Prayer: Dear god, Please let me get the new gun in zombie rush today.

I am very proud because… I got a new gun in zombie rush. The gun is super cool it has a purple barrel and a crom body. It took me twenty minutes to get witch is long to me.

Date:6/10/20

Gratitude List: I am grateful for silver wood staying open because we are going tomorrow.

Prayer: dear god thank you for skipper since he is so cute and playful.

What is your favorite room in your home and why? My favorite room is the house is the living room. I think it’s the best since it has the Xbox that I play games on. The fire place because it keeps me warm in the winter. Finally, because it’s where my family sits and we all watch tv together.

Date: 6/24/20

Gratitude List: I am grateful for my loving family and my new Lego set

Prayer: Dear god, thank you for my new Lego set and my loving family

What is your favorite time of day? My favorite time of day is morning because it is when I get the most screen time. Another reason is it is when I get the whole down stairs to myself. There is no sound silence and that’s hard to get these days. 

Date: 6/25/20

Gratitude List: I am grateful for skipper being super good on are walk

Prayer: thank you god, for skipper, two rivers, and that pool that I can’t remember the name of oh yah Hermiston pool.

Describe your best day ever? My best day ever was when I woke up to mom and dad taking us to Disney land. It was about 4:00 am and I woke up as usual but then I heard the blow drier and I was like but dad doesn’t have any hair so I got up any way and went to dads bath room to see my mom and now I am really confused then mom said get dressed and go down stairs and that’s where I learn that we were going to Disney land. 

Date: 6/29/20

Gratitude List: I am grateful for, bill gates, mike birthday, and amazon.

Prayer: Dear God please help Mike have a good B day.

What is your favorite song and why? My favorite song is “I’m a Banana.” It is a funny song. It can get girls to flip me off, that’s funny. It can also get girls to say I like your moves.

Date: 6/30/20

Gratitude List: I am grateful for mom taking us to get white man fire works and the 4 of July.

Prayer: thank you god for everything that I have.

I want to be a gangster when I grow up. Then I will…. Ride the rails illegally. Next I will beg on the streets. Finally, I will rob banks and mug people walking by.

Date:7/15/20

Gratitude List: I am grateful for Jacob, mom, dad, robin, skipper, tater tot, and princess.

Prayer: thank you god for Minecraft, Roblox, and YouTube.

I wish I could go to Disney world because…. one it’s a no brainer I mean who would not what to go. Two, I have been to Disney land, but I have never gone to Disney world. Three, you can swim with sharks and that’s cool right.    

Date: 7/17/20

Gratitude List: I am thankful for tiny tanks, mad city, and death run.

Prayer: thank you god for tiny tanks, md city, and death run

Older people are… are wiser because they have had more experience. They also been alive longer, so they see more stuff. Finally, they have been in more fights, so they know how to defend in more ways.

 

Date: 7/20/20

Gratitude List: I am thankful for tubing with Sam, Sawyer, Kris, Mark, and today hopefully oldie.

Prayer: thank you god for Mrs. Stephanie for her kind family and their boat.

Younger people are… dumber because we have less experience then old people. Also, they have done more stupid things than smart. Finally, they have been in less fights, so they don’t know how defend them self.

Jacob's Summer Journal

 

Date: 6/5/2020

Gratitude List: I am thankful for skipper and how he walked well on our walk today.

Prayer: Dear god thank for our blessings, watch over us as we go to Silverwood in 6 days and make Silverwood come sooner.

Name one thing you do well: One thing I am good at is baseball. I am good baseball because I can hit far, when I do hit the ball which is very hard. Another thing I am good at in baseball is left field and when the ball comes to me I will catch it. Finally, the last I am good at is supporting my team, I yell at them to hit the ball with a funny nickname.

Date:6/8/2020

Gratitude List: I am grateful for my house and that it keeps me dry.

Prayer: dear god thank you for our blessing. Thank you for my bed and that it is warm at night. Finally, help my mom learn how to become a better mom.

What is your favorite room in your home and why: My favorite room in my house is my room. I like my room the most because its my quite space and I can watch YouTube there. The other reason I like my room is I sleep there, and I love sleep. Finally, I love my room because it is a good storage space for my toys.

Date: 6/9/2020

Gratitude List: I am grateful for getting the stupid piece of bacon out of my teeth.

Prayer: dear god thank you for our blessings thank you for skipper and his new toys. Thank you for screen time each day.

Describe what it means to be a good neighbor: What it means to be a good neighbor is to be kind to everyone. You can pray for them when they need it most. You can help them out by getting their mail, mowing their lawn, and just helping them. Finally you can make them a cake or other types of food. But most of all is that everyone is your neighbor, from next door to the other side of the world.

Date: 7/8/2020

Gratitude List: I am thankful for my mom because she is the best mom.

Prayer: dear god thank you for my blessings thank you for mom and how she takes care of skipper.

Older people are ok. Older people are ok because sometimes they can be mean or sometimes they cane be good. One example of this is my mom because she makes me type every week day. But she is a good mom.

 

date: 7/9/2020

Gratitude List: I am thankful for Josh and Beth coming over.

Prayer: dear god thank you for our blessings thank you for skipper and let Josh and Beth have safe travels.

Younger people are the best. Younger people are the best because they are cool and funny. One example of this is Jack because he can sometimes be funny. Amelia is cool because she dose not annoy me.

 

Date: 7/20/2020

Gratitude List: I am grateful for tubing with Sam and Sawyer. 

Prayer: dear god please let Umma and Uppa have safe travels.

The perfect place in the whole wide world is at home. This is because my family is at home. Also, that is where my money is and my phone. Another reason I like home is because I have good neighbors.

Amelia's Summer Journal

Part of the kids' summer work this summer was a journal. Here are some highlights of Amelia's that I enjoyed.

8/5/2020

Gratitude List: the earth, art and good people

Prayer: Dear God please make a lot of people happy.

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

At my house. I have a lot of friends. It is really good weather. I have nice neighbors. 

8/4/2020

Gratitude List: life on earth and school

Prayer: Dear God please help me get Prodigy

If you could give any gift in the world, what would you give and to whom?

I would give them a Nintendo Switch. I would send it to Trevor. 

7/10/2020

Gratitude List: food and water

Prayer: Dear God please make Jack's doctor be nice

The house was so quiet, but then I heard....

I heard a scratching. It sounded like something was trapped. We opened every door in the house. We opened the last door........... It was MY CAT!

7/11/2020

Gratitude List: my bed and toys

Prayer: Dear God please make Skipper have a good sleep.

If you could have been someone in history, who would you have been?

I would have been.... Jesus!  I want to show people how good God is. I want to teach people about God. I want to heal people. 

6/9/2020

Gratitude List: my mom and dad

Describe what it means to be a good neighbor.

First to be a good neighbor is to be friends. Second you invite them over. Third you talk to them a lot.  That is how to be a good neighbor.

Summer Trip

 We did a week long vacation in two parts, well three for the kids. 

Part 1: The kids got picked up by Umma and Uppa for a week of fun with them. The boys went backpacking.  Amelia just hangout with Umma. 

Part 2: Dan, Moana and I showed up on Sunday night for the next part of the trip. We headed out to Ocean Shores to stay in Linda's beach house. It was a nice time. The weather was sunny with a slow breeze. We played on the beach, played board games (a Christmas present from Grandma Linda we got then), drew pictures and watched movies.  One day we went miniature golfing and go-karting. All the usual fun of a beach trip. On unusual thing about the trip was there was a dead whale right on the beach in front of Linda's house. Boy could you smell it when you walked down! But once we moved down the beach a bit the wind took the smell away. The tide would wash all the intestines and chucks of whale all up and down the beach. Gross but cool.

Part 3:

Once we got back from the ocean we did wash, got some more groceries and packed back up for a camping weekend at Holly. Umma, Uppa, Shannon, Gary and Josh's family was there. We had great weather. The kids went kayaking and swimming. This year Uppa brought his 4 wheeler up so the boys took turns riding on that. Gary brought his side by side to ride in so we all got trips in that. I think the kids ate chips and cookies the whole weekend so of course they enjoyed that. 

*** Because Jacob wanted to bring his go-kart to ride at Holly we rented a small tow behind trailer to haul it with. Jacob didn't end up riding it much but it gave  him and Uppa something to work on the week he was there. The trailer worked out great to pack things in so we had plenty of room. And because we had the trailer we invited Moana to come along since we now had an extra seat. When I got to Umma's the kids were excited to see her and Skipper.

Backpacking - Jacob and Jack

 

The boys got their first experience backpacking this summer. Uppa and Umma came and picked up all the kids but just the boys and Uppa went hiking with Josh's family. They did an easy hike into a campground that had the road washed out. All went well expect that Jack and Burton's tent didn't have a rain fly so when it rained that night they got soaked! Also Jack and Jacob's packs were heavy, 20 lbs or so, and Jacob's pack didn't fit right. Despite the challenges they had fun.

Tubing

The kids got to go tubing for two days in a row with Mrs. Stephanie's son's family. They had a blast bouncing behind the boat.  Each day the kids had to come home and tell in very specific detail what happened on each ride. The kids have been so blessed to have Sawyer and Sam as friends this last month or so.

Jacob and Sawyer especially have become fast friends. They have worked together, played, hung out, just be buddies. Actually Jacob was upset about the fact that after today he probably wouldn't see Sawyer anymore. I know, so I hope Jacob can know some day, that God puts people in our lives for a purpose. Even if it is for a brief time, there was a reason these two friends had each other. I pray they can stay in touch, maybe thru text, but I pray more that Jacob will carry the value of his time and friendship with Sawyer as a building block for other relationships.

Jack

Jack had his Well-Child visit this year. He mostly had to go because of his 11 year old vaccinations.  Going in I knew he wasn't the biggest fan of getting shots but he took it too a new level this year. lol He got 3 this year, no big deal, but to him it was. The nurse came in to give him the shot, she asked if he wanted it in the arm or the leg. Jack chose his arm but as the nurse went to pinch up the skin around his arm where she would inject the shot he scrambled away from her. It looked like she was going to lean on him and give him the shot anyways but I told her to give him some room. He promptly hopped off the table in flight or fight mode. It took a minute of talking to him and talking him down for him to get back on the table. The nurse did a good job of making it quick and not giving him the injection that stung until last. I told him he was acted like a big baby and he looked pretty sheepish about the whole thing afterwards, lol oh that kid

Summer

This summer has been slow. I think that is a good thing but I am not sure the kids would agree with me. We have had visitors and went swimming a couple times but that's about it. The kids appreciate when we get to see people and go somewhere now.

4th of July

This 4th of July we stayed home. I did take the kids up to a Fireworks stand in the Yokes parking lot early in the day. Jack got the most, mostly because he had birthday money. It was a white man fireworks stand so the fireworks were expensive and not as fun, but it was better then nothing. Our neighbor Adrian also gave the kids some firecrackers he had leftover from last year. They spent about an hour in the afternoon shooting those off. They figured out how to blow them up a bucket of water, light them in their hand and throw them, and twist three or four together for a louder bang.
At night Jack got to light off his fireworks. He had SO much fun lighting them all. He said it was the best 4th of July of his life since he got to light off his own fireworks. Maybe next year we can get some good Native fireworks he can light!

Jack

Jack turned 11 this year. We spent the day at 2 Rivers Park swimming. He also wanted We-Ice instead of a birthday cake this year. I think since we have so many cakes before his birthday (mine and Amelia's) he likes to choose another treat. He got to have a "large size," which was awesome for him. He also got another carnival Lego set that he put together.
Jack is a charismatic, caring young boy. He likes to play video games, watch YouTube, ride bikes and talk. Jack is a very vocal processors. I pray that as an adult his fierce sense of justice and caring will impact his world and the rest of the world for good. I pray that Dan and I can guide him to become effective in communicating his feelings and actions in a positive way.

Amelia

Amelia turned 9 this year, last year of single digits for her. She was lucky, in that we were at Umma and Uppa's house for her birthday. Josh's family, Tanya and the girls and Mike's family were able to come over for pizza and cake. It is always a special birthday when we get to spend it with family. I know Amelia loves to have everyone over. She and all the kids ran around outside playing.

Amelia is a spunky, fun loving girl. She likes books, Barbies and fashion. She makes friends easily and can play with just about anyone. I pray she continues to grow her into a confident, compassion girl.

Jacob

We received some information about McLoughlin Middle School, via virtual tour, today. While going over the information with Jacob, I could see him really focusing. He doesn't show it much but I can tell he is a nervous about the transition. He was concerned about the dress code not allowing all red or blue shirts, he wears a lot of red shirts. He wanted to know about lunch procedures and counselors. The biggest thing he looked super freaked out about, and even said he didn't like it, was dressing down for PE. It was a huge shock to him that he would have to change his clothes for PE in a room full of other kids. I tried to tell him no junior high kid likes changing in front of others so he isn't the only one. But I think he will just figure that out as we all do as we get older. 

Jacob is a tricky kid, in that he is responsible, kind and hard working so he seems like a mini-grownup sometimes. But really he is just a kid, an almost 13 year old kid, frazzled inside trying to figure things out with undeveloped brain. 

June 1st

Jack

Jack has in his mind that he wants to set the world record for the amount of rubber duckies he owns. Not sure where he got this idea but it's one that he has held onto for almost 7 months now. Usually he stores his ducks in a tub in his room, he says he doesn't want them to get moldy with water, but because of the massive amount of time we have on you hands he recently took a bath with all of them. 

                                                              300 + ducks in the bath

Mother's Day

For Mother's Day this year I had a great start to the day. Jacob made me breakfast in bed: pancakes, eggs, bacon and coffee! Jack got up early to make me chocolate mouse! It was very good but the best part was how proud Jack was about making it. Amelia made me a coupon book, a small card, a large card (at least 3 feet tall) and a sign saying "We love you so much!"
And of course the best part of the Mother's Day is there was very little whiny, arguing and talking. Yay!

Jacob

Jacob at age 12 has the same size feet as me.

Electric Moped

So for 10.00 dollars the kids scored an electric moped from Dad's coworker. It needed new batteries, which we had and that's about it. It can go about 15 miles an hour for a range of 8 miles on a single charge. So all and all it's pretty darn awesome. The first couple of days it was up and running the kids were fighting like crazy over who got to ride it and who had the longest turn. So we (I) decided that the day a kid walks Skipper is the day that kid gets to ride the moped. Surprisingly they were all on board with that idea.
Now I have to say watching them speed along on this moped scares me a little. I am sure one of them is going to break a bone riding it or get hit by a car by the end of the summer. But they enjoy it and always wear a helmet so I will just pray hard and let God take care of the rest!

Fun Activities

During our "stay at home" time, the kids have been coming up with ways to occupy their time. Here a couple examples: 

1. We got the badminton set from Myrna since she was cleaning out her garage. It was a lucky score for us.
2. And rolling on a wine barrel. We got a barrel from our other neighbor Adrian for a storage container. Before we cut it in half the kids spent several days rolling around on it like a circus performer. They were kinda mad we cut it. 

Go Kart

So during this very long "stay at home order" Jacob has kindle a passion for fabricating and modifying vehicles. It started with taking apart is electric go-kart to see if he could fix, it hadn't been working for a while. He figured out the engine just couldn't be fixed soooo.... he decided to take the engine off to put a gas powered one on the frame. Then he figured out a gas powered engine would not fit on the frame sooooo…. he decided he wanted a gas powered go-kart frame so he could put a gas powered engine on that! Well apparently it is hard just to find a go-kart frame. Lucky for Jacob Dad's friend was selling gas powered go-kart!
Between Jacob and Jack pooling their money together they are in the process of getting this go-kart to run. The thing needs a chain guard and new tires to run but together with Dad they are learning about changing the oil and all the other parts of. Despite the obversion all three boys now have about finding parts and plans for the go-kart it is cool to see them have something to do that they enjoy doing together.

Jacob

Spanish Flu vs COVID-19

By Jacob Fisk

               What do you think is worse the Spanish flu or COVID-19? Well this is going to answer questions about both and maybe you will change your mind. First, we will talk a little about both of their time periods or when they came into play and how that effected the spread of them. Second, I will talk about how much of the population effected. Next, I will tell you about how humans tried to stop it. Finally, I will speak about the outlook to the future of both viruses.

First, we will talk a little about both of their time periods or when they came into play and how that effected the spread of the viruses. The Spanish flu came into play in at the end WW1 or 1918. Since in war there is a lot of contact it spread quickly. The Spanish flu was a combination of the H1N1 and avian flu. The COVID-19 started in 2019 almost 100 years later. The COVID is not a new virus but the COVID-19 is. It started in a live animal market in China.

Second, I will talk about how much of the human population effected. The Spanish Flu had a lot of contact between people, around 1/3 of the human population got infected and 50 million died from it (CDC 2020, March,23). It most affected the ages between 20-40 years old worldwide. For the COVID-19 the human population has grown but so far only 230,000 people are infected and close to 10,000 have died worldwide. Its most effected ages 60 years old and up and people with underline health problems.

Next, I will tell you about how humans tried to stop it. The human response to both viruses is pretty much the same. People with the COVID-19 and the Spanish flu were quarantined. But the people in war are kind of hard to quarantine because there are a lot of them, so the flu spread. The schools, business, and restaurants where still mostly open during the flu outbreak causing it to spread more. In 1946 the CDC (Center of disease control) created vaccinations for the flu and created national emergency procedures for outbreaks. For the COVID-19 we are social distancing, and everything is shut down from schools to restaurants.

Then, I will speak about the outlook to the future of both viruses. At the beginning the Spanish flu did not have much medical help because most doctors and nurses were at war and no medicines were able to stop it. Since then the Spanish flu now has vaccines, drugs, antibiotics, and ventilators which humans did not have in 1918. The COVID-19 has no vaccines or drugs so there in no stopping it currently. Luckily researchers are making vaccinations to stop COVID-19. More info will come from future research on it.

Finally, I have given you some information on both viruses. First, you learned about the time periods of both viruses. Second, we talked about the population affected by both viruses Then, you learned how humans tried to stop them. Next, I told you about the future of both viruses. I hope you made your decision on which is worse, I think it will be the Spanish flu but the COVID-19 is still going on so you never know.

Work Cited

 Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020, March 23). History of 1918 Flu Pandemic. https://www.cdc.gov/flu/pandemic-resources/1918-commemoration/1918-pandemic-history.htm

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Jack

                              Polio vs covid-19

Have you ever wondered who would win polio or covid-19? Well I am here to tell you who would win. For an Opening I will tell you about the population affected and what the symptoms are. Next, I will tell you about the human response. Finally, I will tell you about the outlook of the diseases.

First, I will tell you about the people affected and the symptoms. The population affected for polio was kids but mostly little kids. In 1942 it started infecting people in their thirties to mid-forties because the immunity they got from their moms had worn off. The symptoms for polio are headache, nashis, and muscles breaking down. On the other hand, the population affected for covid-19 that are at high risk are older adults and people with heart problems. The symptoms for covid-19 are fever, cough and shortness of breath.

Second, I will tell you about the human responds. The human responds for polio was everyone quarantine them self-inside their houses. If someone got polio, they would burn all their stuff. There were special wards with machine inside called iron lungs, they would help the infected people breathe. The human response for covid-19 is social distancing. The government has shut down schools and closed all non-essentials business and stores.

Third, I will tell you about the outlook of the diseases. The outlook of polio was that a vaccination was invented in 1955. Since 1979 polio is gone in the USA because of the vaccination. The outlook for covid-19 is they are researching a vaccination. But all we can do is hope.

In conclusion I think polio is worse because it killed a lot more people then covid-19 will. Its symptoms are worse because polio can cause muscle break down lasting for many years, if not forever. Covid-19 can only give you a fever but hey that’s just my opinion. What do you think is more dangerous polio or coivd-19?

The end

Coronavirus

As of March 13 the kids have been out of school. The world pandemic of the Coronavirus has shut the schools down in the state of Washington. The Seattle area was the start of it in America and the state but lots of things and places has been shut down since then. The kids' teachers sent workbooks home with the kids the Friday before the shut down and the schools have provided some online learning sites but basically the kids are out of school until at least May 4, maybe longer. 

We do about an hour or so of work each morning: reading comprehension, math, writing, and reading for at least 30 minutes of some kind. Basically its a maintenance learning time like summer.

The second week they were out of school we went over to Umma and Uppa's house. That was a nice break because the kids did what we usually do when we are there: watch cable, eat junk food, play in the woods. I figure we will go back over to Umma and Uppa's later in the month but other then that its at home. Now that we are home we just kinda hang out. It's a lot like summer with less places to go but oh well. Kids are fine with it right now. At least the weather is getting nice so we can play outside.

March Re-cap

So I missed a whole month of blogs! I blame that entirely on our trip to Uganda, the computer breaking and our busy schedule. I will try and do a recap of what the kids did in March besides just school.

Jacob:
Jacob received the "responsible" award from school. His basketball team also won the 5/6th Grade Upward basketball championship! He did great this season, really trying his best each game. It was very exciting to win together as mom/coach and player/son. It is his last year he can play Upward so what an amazing way to finish!

 Jack:
Jack's team wrapped up their Destination Imagination challenge. I wasn't able to watch it since I was coaching Jacob's game but Dad videoed it for me. The kids struggled right up until the week of the presentation but pulled it together at the last minute. The presentation was the best that they had done so far. Unfortunately for the instant challenge they totally bombed! So they ended up getting 7th place. Which kinda sucks since their presentation was way better then they team that got second, but that is how it goes.
Jack also took part in the school talent show for the last time. He did great during rehearsals but totally choked at both the day and evening performances. It was pretty hard to watch but I am proud of the fact he got up there and tried.

 Amelia:
Amelia received another SOAR award at school. She got the responsible award from the librarian. I think that is even better then the one from her classroom teacher because the librarian has the whole school to choose from! So we are super proud of her.
She also participated in the school talent show. She proudly and wonderfully sang the National Anthem at the beginning of the day and evening shows. She knew all the words to the song and she sang into the microphone very well. Plus she looked adorable in her dress.

Jack

Jack had his winter band concert. He did really well, said he played every song except two. It was great to see him playing. He is now almost a yellow belt on the clarinet. Although he hasn't really practiced at home too much; he has started again so that he can pass his yellow belt test.

Jack

Jack made a goal at the beginning of the school year to be a top runner at the school's Franklin Feet program and to get a marathon t-shirt. Well this last Friday Jack completed his marathon! 5 cards totally filled plus five more punches, 105 laps. I am so proud of him. Jack actually stopped running the Friday before so that I could be there when he completed his marathon. At the end of his last lap he sprinted in with a couple of his friends. He ran straight over to give me a hug; it was a very sweet moment for me. He continued to run, since he wants to be a top finisher so he just keeps going.

Amelia

Amelia had her first basketball game! She was so cute running out when they called her name to slap everyone's hand. When she first started playing she was soooo nervous. She kept picking at her fingernails, looking more at her hands then the game. She did however catch the ball when her teammates passed it to her and made the first basket of the game!  Actually she made several baskets in the game. By the end she was running up and down the floor, trying to get the rhythm of the game down. She said she had fun even though the snack wasn't very good.

Jack

Only a kid could "accidently" run into a wall.