Quarantine almost 5 weeks in...

We are almost 5 weeks into this weird time of "staying home".  I feel so thankful that for us, life is simply inconvenienced, and I feel so sad for those who are truly suffering in some way because of this.  It felt so strange a few weeks ago to cross through every single thing I had written in my planner through the month of April.  Baseball games for both boys, Georgia's dance classes, school programs, birthday parties, get togethers with friends, appointments...  I don't necessarily miss the busy schedule (in fact, the kids haven't even asked about baseball or dance), but we just miss our people.   Up until this point I feel like we've done pretty well overall, but this week has felt harder.  Like I told the kids, I think we can love things about this and hate things about this at the same time.

We've had some really good days and some hard days.  We've filled some of our days with bike rides, crafts, board games, movies, and some fun activities thanks to other people sharing their creative ideas for others of us to copy. ;) 

We've also filled some of our days with much more iPad time than normal, lots of fighting, and too many snacks.  Somebody ALWAYS wants a snack.

Some days have looked like this...

And some days have looked like this...

Sidenote:  Rhett has not worn clothes at least 50% of the time during this quarantine situation. 

I asked the kids what their favorite thing about this time has been and their answers didn't surprise me at all.  Reid said that his favorite thing has been the extra iPad time.  Georgia Kate said that her favorite thing has been doing lots of crafts.  Rhett said that his favorite thing has been snuggles. :). We've also all loved seeing Chris throughout the day.

It's a weird time for sure, but I'm also so thankful for the gift of these days when time is standing still with our 8 year old, 6 year old, and 4 year old.  

A Day in the Life - Quarantine Edition

Monday, April 13th, 2020

I knew when we started this thing that we would need some sort of schedule to use as a guideline for our days.  While every day looks a little bit different, we generally stick to something along these lines...

I made a dry erase board schedule in my classroom every day when I taught, so this makes me happy!  The kids know that this is subject to change, but it helps them to have some predictability.  

I woke up at 7:00 to find all the kids in Reid's room.  They weren't really doing anything, just kind of laying in there talking.  This isn't typical, as we usually have one kid in our bed in the morning.  Chris was already upstairs in his temporary office at this point.  I got everyone their breakfast (oatmeal for Reid and Georgia, cereal for Rhett) and turned on the TV.  This was the scene from about 7:15-8:15...

While the kids are eating breakfast and watching their shows, I am usually catching up on social media/news, getting myself "ready" for the day, and prepping things for the day.  After I turn the TV off it's time for the kids to unload the dishwasher, get dressed, brush their teeth, and make their beds (which really only happens about 25% of the time, but it's a good goal).  

Georgia is such a peach in the mornings! ;)

At 8:45 we started our "Table Work".  This is basically our time of the day when we do structured "school".  Our teachers send out the assignments for the following week on Fridays.  A couple of weeks ago we decided to have Reid and Georgia knock out their assigned schoolwork on Saturdays and Sundays.  It takes about 3 hours total to get it all done.  The reason for this is so that Chris is available to play with Rhett while I sit with them and basically act as their technology assistant.  Once we started doing this, our weekday mornings have been so much less stressful.  Now, I basically come up with my own assignments for table work time that don't involve logging into something. :) 

We usually start with a read aloud,

then head to the kitchen table.

While the big kids finished up, Rhett worked on unwrapping plastic letters and putting them on the alphabet arc. 

Everyone was finished by about 9:45, so we had cotton ball races and then I told them to go find something to do for a while. ;)

Georgia had her class zoom meeting from 10:15-10:45.  She has two meetings a week.

While she had her meeting, Reid and Rhett played mini air hockey while I folded laundry.

After the zoom meeting, it was time to head outside!  We always make a point to get outside late morning.  Today we went on a "social distance" bike ride with Alli, Perry, and Luke!  

Next, the kids and I got in the car to go drive through the Walgreens pharmacy and pick up 

Chick-fil-a for lunch.  We love getting to see Chris at lunch time!  We ate lunch at 12:30.  

Every day after lunch we have "Room Time" for about 45 minutes.  This is basically time when they have to stay in their rooms and play quietly.  Today Rhett played with legos, Georgia played Barbies, and Reid worked on his word search book.  If they stay in their rooms then they get a lollipop when it's time to come out. This is what it has come to around here. ;)  I usually eat my lunch during this time and enjoy the quiet house.  After room time they get to have IPad time.  Rhett usually plays for a few minutes and then decides that he would rather watch a couple of shows.  While they are being entertained by screens I have been reading and then I usually end up dozing off for a quick power nap!  It's been very nice!

Reid had his zoom meeting at 2:00.  He has 6 meetings a week.  

After Reid's zoom meeting it was time to get back outside and enjoy the beautiful day!  The boys had scooter races,

while this girl sat and convinced me that she really needed her own scooter.  I told her that if she wanted to buy one with her own money that she could get one.  

We spent time outside and then the big kids did some drawing from Art for Kids Hub on YouTube and Rhett watched another couple of shows while we waited for Chris to finish working.  He was done at 5:45 and then we all loaded up to drive to Target to get Georgia her scooter.  Chris was the only one that went in and he wore a mask.  It's such a weird time. 

Happy Girl!

When we got back from Target it was about 7:15.  The kids had a picnic dinner on the driveway and then played outside until 8:00.

After coming inside it was time for baths and bed!

It was my night to lay with this girl until she fell asleep. :)

All in all, it was a good day!  

Easter 2020

Easter certainly looked different this year!

On Saturday morning Grandma and Grandpa stopped by with some Easter donuts for the kids.  We had a social distancing visit on the back patio.  

We also decorated eggs with the egg-mazing spinner (instead of dyeing them) and it was really fun!

The kids were VERY excited about the Easter Bunny coming to visit!

In fact, Georgia Kate was so excited that she couldn't sleep.  She came into our room at 2:00 and was still wide awake at 3:00.  I finally asked her if she wanted to look at her basket then, so that she would go to sleep.  So she got a middle of the night peek! :)

The boys woke up at a semi-normal time on Easter morning to see their goodies!

We had an egg hunt in the house this year because it was drizzling outside.  

We watched church in our pajamas...

and then I made them put on their nice clothes and go to a few pictures outside.

Later that afternoon, Mumsie and Popsie stopped by with Easter baskets and Mumsie's famous bunny cupcakes!   We had a nice social distancing visit with them outside.  

We ended our day with a swim!  

It ended up being a sweet, simple, and special day.  

Bluebonnets