No Place Like a Cozy Corner and the Outdoors

 Forts are always fun to have around, but what about a new type of fort? Well, my brother has a little corner in his room. He called it his reading corner. We decided to make his reading corner into a cozy corner. I absolutely loved it. We had blankets, comfy chairs, tablets, toys, a lamp, and decorations! I loved being all cozy ed up. Playing around is really fun and when we get bored, we watch videos on my tablet. Adam's tablet is our fireplace. He will look up a fireplace and it will have a video of a fireplace. It was perfect because it rained days and days in a row. You know, you can't just sit all day, you got to get out a bit, so we have been going outside a lot especially when the weather improved. Bike rides and walks everyday. When it rains, you can't spend as much time outside. Some rain is fun at least! I like when you can jump in puddles and taste the rain with your tongue. No worries, you can always take a nice warm shower afterwards.

 

 Cleaning windows is not cool at all. Well Mom and Dad had to clean the windows, so I made courses for Adam and me to ride are bikes around. I mean you got to find a way to entertain yourself! I don't know if you knew but I had a wiggly molar. For breakfast I had cereal and I accidentally bit on that tooth and made it really wiggly. Later that night, after dinner, I pulled it out. Now I can say that I have lost 17 teeth.

Wonderful Wetlands Winner and a Fun Fire Pit Dinner

So much has been going on. At the very end of April, I got a package in the mail. I opened it and I found a stunning surprise inside. I had got my certificates from my Wetlands are Wonderful poster, which was amazing, and checks from my poster. For my spectacular success, I had won two hundred dollars and I was three time winner! I had gotten 1st place in the regional poster contest and 2nd place in the whole state. I also got a letter from the Wake Soil And Water Conservation District Now that is quite an accomplishment indeed! 

 Now that we had the fire pit, we could use it for fires. I mean, whats a fire pit for if your not going to use it. So, we had our first fire in our house. It was a beautiful night for having a fire. For a fun activity, we had dinner and s'mores. Dinner was hot dogs and pasta salad. We cooked the hot dogs over the fire. I tried to get my hot dog some black on it so it was cooked enough. The s'mores were absolutely delicious. The melting warm marshmallow and the creamy chocolate compacted by the gram cracker, is so scrumptious. I had two s'mores. Nothing could be better. I mean nothing can be better. 
 Baking in the kitchen has been a big entertainment. I had called Mimi one day, and she said that she had made soft pretzels, so we decided to make some ourselves. I helped mom make them and when we were finished, we made cheese sauce and mustard to dip the pretzels in. The pretzels turned out really good. My favorite part of making the pretzels was twisting them to make them look like a soft pretzel. I also enjoyed kneeding the bread. I was so proud of mom and me. I guess we will have to make more sometime soon!

Staying Home but Having Fun!

 There's so much that happened in April and it all started with Easter! Adam and I were so eager to start coloring eggs this year! We tried our best to make the eggs colorful and bold. It was so different coloring eggs in a new house, but I still really enjoyed it! The night before Easter I kept thinking about COVID19 and if the Easter Bunny would be on quarantine, but in the morning I found my favorite candies in my Easter basket, which I couldn't wait to dig into. There was also a coloring book with illusions. My Easter had started out very well. Of course we had our Easter dinner, ham and cottage potatoes, and it was very good! After Easter, my family and I were ready to get back to work with the backyard. We figured out that we needed more mulch and we needed gravel for our fire pit, so we got another load, and I was ready to help in an instant. The gravel turned out really nice. The only thing we needed now in the backyard was the fire pit, so we made it. One thing that really helped was that the weather was perfect. The only thing I could do to help with the fire pit was to smooth the concrete. Now I can say that I have helped make two fire pits in my life!

Since I am out of school, I have to work from home now. My family and I have made our little office in the dinning room, so all of are meals are in the breakfast nook. I must say its not bad working at home. There are some pros and cons on it, but I would rather learn then sit around all day being bored. Every day is pretty much the same. I wake up, get breakfast, get dressed and brush my teeth, play for a little bit, do school work, get lunch, and enjoy the rest of my day. I have slowly gotten used to it and luckily my family is still healthy and doing well, so I am not worrying. I think my favorite subject in school on the computer is learning about animal mechanisms and the way animals defend themselves. I especially love when I get to watch videos about what I am learning. I am sorry COVID 19, but you're not stopping me at all!

Well besides all the working from home, April is the month of mom and dad's anniversary! I had planned so many things for their big day. The night before their anniversary I sneaked into their bedroom so I could put a banner in there, but right when I was about to leave their room, dad rolled over and got me really petrified, so I quickly ran out of there so that they wouldn't spot me. In the morning, Adam woke me up and told me that he really wanted to make breakfast in bed for mom and dad, so that is what we did, we made breakfast in bed for them. We made waffles, 4 to be exact, toast, and cereal. After that, Adam and I got our breakfast and talked for a little. Then in the afternoon, mom and dad told us to dress up for our dinner party that we had planned. I got to wear make up. After all of us were done dressing up, we had an appetizer of crackers, salami, and cheese. Mom and dad drank white wine and Adam and I had sparkling grape juice. Then our neighbor took some pictures of us. For a delicious dinner we had roast beef with potatoes, gravy, and cooked carrots. After dinner, as a family, we made apple crisp. It turned out to be really good! At night when mom and dad were tucking me in for bed, I remembered that I had made a card for their anniversary. I quickly ran downstairs to grab it and came upstairs just in time to give it to them. It had been a great day and indeed a day that I would remember!      

The day after mom and dad's anniversary I showed them a google slide about them that I had secretly made. The end of the slide had a scavenger hunt and they really enjoyed it. I had hid in the scavenger hunt their wedding book, pictures of when mom and dad first met and pictures of what I had drawn. I knew they enjoyed it by the look on their faces! It was an amazing month of April! I really enjoyed it!!!

Fast February

Making Granola!

Between school, casts, and oh, by the way moving to our new house, February just flew by in the blink of an eye. We spent lots of time getting things packed up and moved between our storage unit, apartment and new house, but we finally made it. Mom and Dad are so incredible, they were able to paint my bedroom the color I wanted the same day we moved a bunch of stuff! I love my new room, my own bathroom and having the piano back to play. I think I surprised everyone in my ability to pick the piano right back up as if I hadn't played in 8 months!

Parfait with my delicious granola!

Hanging out at Fallon Park

Little did we know though, that as March started, our lives would be turned upside down and we would get the opportunity to spend  A LOT of time at our new house. March started off normal, but just like a flip of a switch something swept across the globe called COVID-19 which cancelled school after the first week of March and we took the next few weeks at home trying to keep busy and figure out what to do. Thankfully we had lots of landscaping we could do outside, and lots of baking to do inside (in between Mom and Dad trying to work). We have gone on countless walks and I've made lots of granola. One cool thing that happened one of the first weeks at home was our teachers did a school parade. Adam and I ate lunch on the porch while we waited for all of our teachers to drive by the house honking their horns and waving. It was fun to watch! One of my favorite days of the year also happened - mulch day! Mom and Dad ordered 20 yards of mulch that needed to be spread, and thanks to help from Adam and me, the huge pile of mulch disappeared really quickly. I just love mulching! So despite our change in routine, we have been able to cope with being at home. Let's just wait until school actually starts!

Waiting for the parade on our new front porch!

The Joyner teacher parade!

I won't forget the evening the tree came crashing down in the backyard!