Today at NLS:

• We had a double-header for Song of the Day: first This Land Is Your Land by Woody Guthrie and then, by popular demand, Puff the Magic Dragon by Peter, Paul, and Mary.

• No new assignments from Oakhurst today, so we were able to use the time to finish up assignments from earlier in the week: art, Spanish, and PE.

• After that, we followed up on some other projects. We checked Lucas' bell pepper seed in the plastic bag on the window and IT HAD SPROUTED! We transplanted it to a new pot outside, but Daddy isn't optimistic that he provided good enough guidance to help it take root in the new soil. We'll check back soon.

• We also returned to the Family Tree Project and really enjoyed learning all of the answers we got from Aba, Tata, GrandNan, Grandpa Richard, and, Great Aunt Dianne. Thank you!! We might be back soon with more questions.

• AM recess included backyard baseball with both boys. No PM recess, but Nico did have a playdate with Mace!

• During our snack breaks this week, we've been watching the 2019 MarbleLympics. If you haven't seen this before, check it out! 2.5 hours of gripping entertainment for the kids (and their dad : ).

Today at NLS:

• The NLS Guitar Sessions continued with today's Song of the Day: La Bamba by Richie Valens.

• Today both boys did a great job stretching themselves to do something that they _really_ didn't want to do at first. Even though Mrs. Staton only asked for two rhymes for his money-themed "rap battle," Nico stuck it out and came up with a few extras, and it turned out great! And Lucas was definitely in the "I DON'T WANT TO PRACTICE PIANO" camp after rest time, but practiced anyway and crushed it! Great job kiddos!

• For his science today, Lucas learned more about pollinators -- he watched a video that was literally about the birds and the bees -- and wrote THREE sentences describing what he learned, along with a very pretty picture.

• Our unexpected computer skills training continues, and Nico's big breakthrough today was learning how to create shortcuts for the websites he uses on the Chromebook and then how to pin those shortcuts to the task bar. One of the pictures here is him showing Mommy how he did it. And both boys asked for more typing practice!

• Nico had a FaceTime playdate with Liam today; No AM recess, but a long PM recess of biking!

Today at NLS:

• For Song of the Day we pulled out the guitar again for Closer to Fine by the Indigo Girls. We talked about how Amy Ray and Emily Saliers met each other at Emory and started making music together, and then look what happened!

• For distance learning, Nico had writing, science, and art and Lucas had fundations, reading, writing, and art. For writing, Lucas read The Day the Crayons Quit and wrote an opinion piece on why blue is his favorite color.

• AM recess: baseball and other outside play with Mommy, including Nico's' first career backyard home run! PM Recess: a LOT of biking.

• Before our midday rest time, we finished reading A Big Day for Baseball in the Magic Treehouse series, in which Jack and Annie traveled back to Brooklyn on April 15, 1947 to be at Ebbets Field for Jackie Robinson's first day in the Major Leagues. We got to talk about why this was such a big deal and how Jackie Robinson responded in the face of a lot of very mean behavior. And we talked about how GrandNan grew up in Brooklyn and LOVED the Dodgers (until they left for Los Angeles). And we watched some archival footage of the 1955 World Series and thought it was cool that Jackie Robinson's first day was exactly 73 years ago.

Today at NLS:

• Nico set a personal best with his 6th consecutive day wearing pajamas!

• Song of the Day today was Let it Be by The Beatles, again on guitar with excellent strumming help from Nico and Lucas.

• As we make our way through our online learning, both boys are honing their computer skills. Nico learned today about copy and paste and the Ctrl+V shortcut for paste (hooray for shortcut keys!), and Lucas entered a lot of the information on his Google Slides assignment by himself!

• Nico had fundations, math, and PE today; math included a game that looked cool but Nico did it so quietly and fast that Daddy didn't even have a chance to see it. Lucas had math and science and practiced piano. Science included a continuation of the unit on plants; see the pictures for a helpful infographic.

• AM recess: more foosball! PM recess: more biking!

• And two very special after school treats: First, we discovered a very nice chalk greeting from Lucas' teachers Ms. Hollingsworth and Mrs. Joiner! And then, as the saying goes, when the Easter Bunny brings you lots of Hershey's Kisses, you make fondue for dessert! Mommy rigged up a great recipe with the ingredients we had, and the boys were expert candy unwrappers and eaters.

Week 5! Spring Break is over (oh well...) so we're back to online learning. Today at NLS:

• Song of the Day was Paradise in honor of John Prine. We pulled out the guitar for this one and took turns strumming the chords. Nico and Lucas are ready to rock!

• Lucas had a virtual meeting with Ms. Hollingsworth today! She said something about a surprise tomorrow, so we're excited to see what it will be.

• Nico learned about how to choose a "just right" topic for a writing assignment and Lucas wrote a persuasive (and long!) opinion piece on why the kid in the story he read should NOT step on the ant.

• In a very exciting development, we discovered that both boys are now OFFICIALLY TALL ENOUGH TO PLAY ON THE FOOSBALL TABLE! So that made morning recess extra fun. For afternoon recess we went back to our favorite church parking lot for some bike riding.

• Nico is working hard to set a record for most consecutive days wearing pajamas. He also finished the Lemony Snicket book he got for Easter yesterday(?!).