Enjoying the Small Things

Enjoying the Small Things

Back to School Normalcy

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This post is sponsored by Stonyfield.

It’s official. We’re back to school, navigating the first days of online home school which is kind of like learning to ride a bike except 50 times harder. Everyone is showing up, teachers are pouring their hearts into this mess, and tech support is hustling to smooth out the glitches. We know and expect that there’re a lot of things that won’t run as smoothly as normal, and because of that, the routines in our life that haven’t changed are even more important. We cling to brain breaks and lunches–our daily solids during this interesting year.

Even though we’re learning at home, we are handling the day as much like a regular school day as possible.
A few school routines we’re keeping to cling to some normalcy:

Favorite School Lunch Treats

Packing lunches is one morning task I’m definitely happy to give up right now, a small silver lining to this situation. But the kids still love picking out special snacks for school lunches, so we’re stocking our pantry and refrigerator with their favorites to keep school lunches special. One of our favorite school lunch snacks has always been Stonyfield yogurt.

We love their yogurt pouches (we had our cooler packed with them on our road trip) and their yogurt smoothie drinks.

The smoothie drinks are convenient for quick pick-me-ups during school and, like all Stonyfield yogurt products, are made from organic milk sourced from small farms and free of toxic persistent pesticides.

They also happen to be delicious, and the perfect sized “shot” for a little energy boost.

We’ve found the kids’ Stonyfield product containers can be repurposed in so many fun ways for crafts, so we wash and save a lot of ours. Our latest repurpose? We sprayed the smoothie cups with chalk paint and then dipped them in black craft paint to make these cute bud vases:

Other routines we’re keeping to make school at home special this year:

Laying Our Clothes Out
We may be attending school in the dining room, but we’re still dressing for the day. The kids lay out their clothes at night for a smooth morning routine the next day, and we did our back to school shopping with the same enthusiasm we put into first day of school outfits for in-person school. It helps set the tone for productivity.

Creative Socializing
The hardest part about this school years is the lack of socializing like we are used to–free, fun play; hugs; crowds of kids on the playground at recess. We are working really hard to safely give our kids a sense of community and maintain their friendships. That might mean ice cream meet-ups after school (finishing our first day definitely deserved this!), socially distanced races in the park or, for Lainey, Face Timing with friends who share her online classes while they are in front of their computers learning.

We got this!

While you’re prepping for your kids’ first day or navigating the first weeks of 2020 learning, you can stock up on your favorite Stonyfield yogurt snacks by finding a store near you that carries them. If you need a good art project, you can find other ways we’ve repurposed our Stonyfield containers here and here.

Our Home Learning Classroom

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I picked up the kids’ textbooks and laptops from school this morning, my lone car sitting in an almost empty parking lot that is usually a bustling carline this time of year filled with teachers and students finding their places during the first week of school characterized by nothing less than electric anticipation. It took me a minute to recognize the face of the masked assistant who took my paperwork from the window and passed two laptops and two large bags filled with text books and materials that have been carefully organized by teachers. I’m sure the school staff is weary of replying to all the obligatory comments–“This is so weird,” “I’ve never seen the school so quiet!,” “2020, eh?“–but I couldn’t help myself: “I can’t wait until we’re all together again,” I mumbled. “You guys are working so hard. Thank you. We miss you all!” And then I drove away and cried.

It is what it is, and we will make the best of it. We have chosen the option to stay home, following the kids’ regular curriculum online. We opted out of a full live virtual experience because my kids will tap out with that much screen time. Everything is fluid though, and we have the option to change plans if our current situation isn’t working. We look forward to our kids being back in their classrooms with their friends when we feel enough has been worked out for them to safely and comfortably do so in a setting that doesn’t cause them stress. My heart goes out to all the teachers and administrators working so hard right now to fit a square peg in a round hole. Our teachers are heroes, and we fully support them and can’t wait to hug them.

So what do we do with these moldy old 2020 lemons? We make the best damn lemonade we can. I’m pouring all the love and attention I can into supporting my kids’ at home learning, and it begins with a designated space–a learning home base, if you will. The kids will probably move around several times throughout the day, and Lainey will probably do a lot of her work in her bedroom; but I wanted a central area where the little ones can at least begin their school day in a spot where I can easily supervise them. The kids used my office a lot last for e-learning last year, but I had to kick them out so many times when I needed my own space. When we were in Michigan, I started thinking about where we could set up desks and build an affordable classroom (especially since this is temporary). I pulled up photos of my dining room, realizing there’s a wall nook that would probably work really well for an extended desk. My neighbor ran over and measured the space for me, and before we even left Michigan, I started ordering things to build my dream learning space. I called my sister who is an amazing decorator, space planner and D.I.Y. genius. She had built a similar desk in her house to the one I envisioned. Within an hour, she sent me links to modern classroom art for the wall, helped me decide on some chairs, and we created a story board for inspiration.

Before:

And After,
Our beloved new at-home learning space:

My favorite thing about this space is how inexpensive it was to create. I had seen some inspiration online for similar desks that called for pricier drawer units as bases and expensive butcher block for the workspace top, but we created this desk in a matter of hours for a little over $100. The cube units are the exact height of a desk and are $30 each (drawer cubes are $10), and the desk top is a $45 15-inch wide formica project panel I bought and had cut at Home Depot. It’s cut into two halves (you can see the seam in the middle) just so I could manage getting it into my car alone.

Wooden Folder Holders

The textured brick wallpaper is peel-and-stick–a great temporary way to jazz up a gallery wall. And the upholstered chairs came in a set of two for $100. I love them.

Wall Art: Green Chalkboard (I’m so excited about writing with chalk, I actually bought my favorite teacher item–a chalk holder!), “Together We Will See It Through” Oxford Pennant, Vintage School Supplies Sign, Red School Clock

 

The storage cubes hold all of their supplies and books, one cube unit for each kid. And of course, I had to display all of the school supply delights that make me so happy, out in the open–freshly sharpened pencils, new crayons, markers, erasers…oh my.

The room still functions perfectly as a dining room with plenty of room between the two spaces.

I love this new space and what it’s done for our school morale–the kids are excited to start, organizing their supplies in their drawers and making plans for who will sit where.

And I love that we’re not all crammed in my office and that I can keep an eye on them from the main area of the house. We still have plenty of quiet spaces they can move to if they need a little more privacy. But I love that we’ve created a collaborative learning space as much like their real classroom as possible–and that we did it for very little $$!

We got this. And we are going to learn so much from all of this year’s lessons. We are not putting unrealistic pressure on ourselves. We know that more than anything, our kids need love and reassurance right now. We can do that.

For all those starting school in whatever way, shape or form that works for you, we’re in this together. And for our beloved teachers who are working harder than they ever have and are just as sad as we are for what things look like right now, thank you.

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Sources all in one place:

Cube Storage Unit
Cube Storage Drawers
Set of Two Chairs
Chalkboard
Red School Clock
Oxford Pennant Flag
Vintage School Supplies Sign
Wooden Folder Holders
Peel-and-Stick Textured White Brick Wallpaper

Summer Fairy Houses

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This post is sponsored by Stonyfield.

Hello from Northern Michigan! We made it to my dad’s cabin after a 5-day road trip here and are now safely tucked into the woods with our family, stashing away summer memories in our favorite place. We brought books and crafts and twinkle lights–the Holy Trinity for summers up north.

A few years ago, we started a tradition making fairy houses, an idea born from a little box I found by the lake several years ago. “Fairies” was written in fat black marker, and the box had been left next to the dock steps by an unknown kindred spirit who believes in the kind of summer magic I love. In previous years, I’ve ordered milk cartons to make our fairy houses, but this year we were resourceful and reused the packaging from our favorite Stonyfield yogurt pouches, a treat we’ve been enjoying for years. I always have them in the refrigerator for lunches (especially when I was packing lunches), but they’ve been such a great on-the-go treat for summer as well (the pontoon cooler is full of them :).

My favorite is the Pear Spinach Mango pouches. They’re perfect for making fairy houses because A: Recycle, Reuse!, and B: they’re waterproof, so you can leave the outside. We went ahead and used the Stonyfield box the pouches came in for an added building in our fairy village, but the box won’t last as long as the pouches.

My kids LOVE this tradition, especially because our fairy house creation day always ends with a special surprise. Once we set up the houses in the garden, the kids sprinkle glitter around the fairy houses to lure the fairies in (they fly so fast, you need something sparkly to catch their eyes!). When we aren’t looking, they swoop in to the houses and leave candy treats.

Here’s how we made our fairy village:

After we enjoyed our yogurt, I rinsed out all the pouches (you’ll want to get all the yogurt residue out if you’re going to leave them outside so they don’t bring in critters), dried them and then spread them out (along with the box they came in) on a tarp. We spray painted them with a base color. I wasn’t sure if I was going to keep the caps on or not, so I left them at first but ended up cutting them off when they dried. To keep the pouches sturdy and weight them down so they stand up well on the ground, you can funnel a little sand or dirt in them after the paint dries.

Then the fun part begins. We used craft paint, some silk flowers, Sharpie markers, a package of moss I picked up at a craft store, a few little butterflies and dragonflies, and this amazing kit of fairy decorations that has plenty of enough supplies for a large group of kids to make their fairy houses (we had lots left over).

And then the kids went to town with the glue gun.

They turned out so cute!

The best part…glitter magic.

The fairies came later in the evening, leaving lollipops and chocolates.

The fairies now have their own little village in the garden, and we have lots more Stonyfield yogurt to carry us through our summer adventures. The pouches are great for road trips too because no mess! We’re also big fans of their smoothie pouches. And, as always, all Stonyfield products are made without the use of toxic persistent pesticides, artificial hormones, antibiotics or GMOs. You can find Stonyfield products at most supermarkets and natural food stories.