TODD TWINS: June 2020

4th Grade Graduation

Stella surprised us with this
graduation hat she made for herself!

This has been a tough year for Stella's class. The teacher they started the year with ended up taking an unexpected and swift retirement early in the year. They had a long-term substitute until just before Thanksgiving, and then COVID-19 disrupted their time in the classroom. Despite all of those challenges, it was a spectacular year and we are so proud of Stella. She's a hardworking, kind, smart, and compassionate girl and we know she's going to do amazing things.

Here are some highlights from her 4th grade graduation, which SLC did an awesome job celebrating digitally!

Great job class of 2028! We are so proud of your growth, friendship and fun through the Elementary years. We are looking forward to seeing what Middle School has in store for you!

May: NYS still on pause...

Nature Walk behind school

The month of May came and went with no return to school. The girls were so very sad, and honestly, we were too. But we have found ways to stay busy despite not being able to be with others. Our routine of work and school from home has continued to go well. The girls complete independence and responsibility for their required school obligations has been so helpful. We've been very grateful to their teachers for finding ways to make digital learning work.

SLC Family Game Night

Santa brought the girls a Ninja Warrior slack line this year and they've been looking forward to trying it out. So far it's been great fun!

Neighborhood silliness with the wagon

Dropping off some slime for Madilyn Austin was a nice lunch
break bike road on a nice day

Classroom Read-A-Loud

Birthday Drive-by Parade

Mother's Day Drive-by Paraade

Mother's Day was particularly tough this year. The girls made it very special by making me breakfast in bed, along with such sweet handmade cards. But not being able to spend the day with Grammie was so sad. We dropped off a gift for her, along with the ingredients to make ice cream sundaes. Sharing an ice cream treat is a Mother's Day tradition for us and while we didn't get to share it this year, I wanted to keep it going.

More homemade cards - this time for Tri-Town Rescue
baskets from GS Troop 50303

The first SLC game night was so much fun. Mr. Hirschey came up with songs from movies we had to guess. We really enjoyed it and were so glad he planned a second one.

For game night #2 he blurred photos of movie posters and then slowly zoomed in on them. While part of the point earning system for this game is speed, our strategy was to take our time until we were certain of the answer and it paid off. We won 1st place! It was so much fun!

On a warm sunny Sunday we went to Stone Valley for a hike. Claire did not want to but once there, had a really good time.

Some self pampering

Early season swim!

Making Strawberry Rhubard Jam
This year,the dye free jello made a real difference in the color!

A fire with smore's:

In February we had planned to see Angels and Airwaves in concert but Tom Delonge came down with an upper respiratory infection and the show was delayed until May. Then, the entire East Coast tour ended up being cancelled due to COVID-19. I was so disappointed! So, daddy came up with a playlist of videos from live shows, and I made the Moon Man logo shirt with our Cricut, and we had our own show. The girls joined in, and even Lily hung out with us. It was definitely not the same as seeing the band live, but it was a fun night with some awesome music and memories from the prior shows we'v

The girls having a night swim with daddy - in May! Hard to believe how unseasonably warm for the end of May but nobody complained at our house!

Claire decided to start her own Slime making business. Anyone who knows me would know how much I would hate this idea. But, not wanting to discourage this kind of entrepreneurial activity I helped them get started. They've worked on orders together and have shared the money. Not sure how long this endeavor will last, but it has given them some things to think about: marketing, budgeting, packaging, production time, team work, pricing, and communication. Hopefully their customers have liked the slime so far!

April: NYS on Pause

iReady on the Chrome Book

With our state "on pause" we don't leave our street much, but have found plenty of ways to keep busy!

Outdoor Fun

Go Larries!

Virtual Spirit Week!

Pranking mom on April Fools day of course! The snakes might not have worked, but the spiders on the toilet paper did startle me!

Wacky Wednesday!

Partner Yoga for PE?!

Building church into our lives is a real challenge right now, because so much of our worship involves the connections and insight from others which in-person fellowship allows. But, with Easter approaching, we decided to add some Holy Week activities into our week. On Monday we mailed Easter cards to family, Tuesday we walked to the park across from church to pray, Wednesday we brought out our Resurrection Eggs and read through the story, Thursday we made unleavened bread together, Friday we decorated eggs, and Saturday was really special for the girls, who delivered goodies to friends and family they had worked on in their crafting area all week.

When we returned home from our deliveries, we discovered a visitor had stopped by our house and dropped off a treat. Thank you to the William's family for including our girls in your Easter drop-off. They loved the cookie decorating kits!

Easter morning was a bit of chaos at our house. The Easter Bunny came in the night, but so did some critters, who seemingly figured out which eggs had candy, and which didn't. And they opened nearly all of the plastic eggs with candy and left just the wrappers behind. Momma thought this was hysterical, but the girls not so much! I can only imagine a little raccoon family enjoying this glorious find!

This year was not like our typical Easter celebration but we did make the most of it! We tuned in to online Church. We also had the traditional ham and mashed potatoes dinner, and saw all of the Goolden Girls with Grammie and Pa through a Zoom call. Although we had heard the Easter Bunny was an "Essential Employee", we purchased the 'Create This Book' art series for the girls (sold by one of their favorite YouTube celebrities Moriah Elizabeth) just in case the Bunny didn't make it. This offered a fun activity for the girls to engage in throughout the day, and for many days to come!

Our new routine is for me to visit campus every Monday, and work from home the remainder of the week. Randy was visiting his classroom regularly to print shield bands for local hospitals with his classroom 3D printer equipment. When BMC began waxing his wing, it didn't make sense anymore to continue this operation at school though, so the printers came to our house. They sound like something from Star Wars, but this was such a great initiative for Randy to become involved with and a nice way for our girls to see how easy it can be to help others. These printers run regularly, and each mask take approximately 5 hours to print. 35+ masks were contributed to this North Country project aimed to fulfill orders for our local hospitals. While we work, Stella and Claire spend a lot of time on screens. More than we are comfortable with, but it is our life right now. They work their way through online assignments, message with friends, play online games, and video chat. When off screen, for the most part, they are getting along very well together and finding ways to keep busy.

BMC/Randy Todd II donate material for shields

Image ran in the Malone Telegram

Dance Party in the House! We've been coming up with ways to enjoy family time that doesn't involve a screen, other than movie night - which can't be missed! Some favorites have been 'Playing with Fire' and 'Trolls World Tour'! We've also had many game nights, and the favorites have been when daddy has introduced the game of poker! Then there was the night of the dance party. Mommy was trying to slice a tomato to have with our cheeseburgers for dinner when there was an accident. We ended up going to Urgent Care, and I needed 9 stitches. But, it was a quick visit, and we were still able to have our dance party! Even Lily joined in!