Small updates

This is the first week of no Zoom classes or other schoolwork for the children while Joshua and I keep working.  So far, so good. We are keeping our regular schedule -- up at 6:45 a.m., breakfast as a family before leaving on our 1.67 mile walk (my newish Garmin watch is fun for tracking our movements) before Joshua and I start work at 8:30 a.m., lunch at 12 noon, dinner at 5/5:30 p.m. So much structure creates a nice sense of ease and stability in the house. The kids are happy to have most of the day as free time to read, 3D doodle, play with Legos, and act out stories together.  Next week Joshua will be fully done with school and will add a little more structure to the daytime activities (a.k.a. "Daddy Camp").

There is so much going on in the world -- a pandemic and riots/other demonstrations to highlight racial inequality in our nation.  While we are trying to do our part through donations and supporting Black-owned businesses, we recognize how privileged we are to live in our suburban/White bubble.  These updates about the small joys in life come with the caveat that we recognize our privilege and that our hearts, minds, and family conversations are often focused out in the larger world.

• For the kids half birthdays, they receive small gifts each June ("a little more than a stick of gum") so this year they received bubble guns and water guns.  
• We watched the NASA - SpaceX take off with a lot of excitement.
• After the long Harry Potter series, we finished a number of E.B. White books (Charlotte's Web, Trumpet of the Swan, Stuart Little).  Now we have started our next series of books: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.  It is fun to read these in the evenings as a family.  Sometimes we lounge around on the front porch while reading but oftentimes we snuggle on the couch in the living room.
• With the stay-at-home order, we have also integrated television into the evening schedule.  Every other day, while I do some doctoral research or writing, Joshua and the kids watch a baking or cooking show on the Food Network.