Quarantine Week 6

I had some funny facebook memories pop up and I'm not sure if I blogged them or not so just to be safe I'm going to write them here. In April 2017 Piper age 5 said: "Mom, I'm a little like Elsa," "oh yeah?" "yeah, the cold doesn't really bother me." So cute and funny. Today a Gabby facebook memory popped up "Gabby my 5 year old just said to me, "It would be crazy if I was three and was so nice and if I listened to everything you told me to do. That would be the craziest thing." That had me rolling today.

Ok well things are same old same old over here. Home school went pretty well except for week 1 Piper did great and this last week not so much. It was much more difficult to get her to do her work this week. 2nd graders seem to have SO much stuff to do. Somehow Piper seems to have more work to do than Gabby. Also she's very slow and meticulous when she works so it takes her much longer. So that wasn't great. Everyone else seemed about the same.

I sewed a ton of masks. I made one for everyone in my family plus 5 others for a friend. My sewing machine has been on the fritz but it actually cooperated for a good while there and then got angry again at the end. That machine makes me so mad most of the time because it doesn't like to work but it makes me very happy when it decides to work.

On Tuesday morning I went to work for a while. The staff did a social distance greeting for the seniors picking up their cap and gowns. It was pretty neat to see how the staff could try to do something special for the Seniors. It was really cool. That night we had a social distance book club meeting in my back parking lot. It was great to talk to those ladies. We were out there until 10:30.

I haven't really had to do anything for my work yet other than make some phone calls but I got a late night text Thursday night about a mandatory meeting in the morning. In the meeting they told us they expected us to start working full time from home. I was kind of reeling and trying to figure out what I would do to fill those hours...thinking they would start on Monday but then they were like we expect you to start today. So that was a bit of a shock to be suddenly thrown into. They aren't really giving us specific things to do, they just gave us some ideas. There is no way I can watch training/educational videos all day straight for 5 weeks. I decided that home school should count as work hours because helping kids do their work on a kindergarten level is literally what I do at the school. I'm killing two birds with one stone there. I'm not asking permission I"m just doing it until I'm told otherwise. I'm also going to try to get some audible books on relevant subjects (like autism, down-syndrome, special education related) so I can listen to a book while I'm doing something else like yard work. I have to figure out a way to make this work so I don't lose my mind. Wish me luck...starting full time work from home already! I mean it's totally fair for us to have to work our hours but it's just hard to be thrown into and navigate with so little direction (but that also allows for freedom). So I'm a little nervous about that and now even more than before am hoping school will go back in session although I have little hope it will.

Scott has been working on our yard a lot. He's currently making a garden box for our raspberries and is trying to decide what plants to buy and where to plant them. He wants all the things! I am all on board for anything that will make our yard nicer.

Alright well that's all wish me luck in filling 37.5 hours from home doing something!

Social distance selfie. That's Hannah my supervising teacher behind me. She is awesome. 

Social distance book club.

Piper doing some of her home school on the back patio.

Ryan wearing his mask just for fun. 

Piper has been sucking her thumb all day straight since the quarantine started. I swear her teeth have moved out even since she's been home. I'm trying to get her to wear her mask so she won't suck her thumb!!!

Scott staining the wood for the garden box.

Scott shared this cutest pic of Gabby and Willow. I had to post it. So cute. Break my heart. 

Quarantine Week 5

Okay so highlights from last week...I made strawberry jam, I sewed some new masks, and I did a lot of home school with Ryan. I picked up the packets for all 4 kids on Monday. I'm really glad they are printing packets because I would be printing at least 80 pages a week and my printer could NOT handle that. I was apprehensive about how it would go but it was actually great. My big three are basically independent with the occasional question (praise be) and Ryan needs constant supervision and help which is frustrating/annoying and cute/bonding at the same time. I'm actually super happy about the provided home school and teacher support. I really don't want my kids' brains and bodies to turn to mush in these weeks/possible months in quarantine.

We are all doing well and keeping our sanity pretty well. The shed could not have been made at a more perfect time. I love escaping by myself out there and taking a nap, watching a show, or reading a book. It's heaven!

Scott is still working everyday and trying to be cautious about germs. The kids are doing well and loving quarantine for the most part with the exception of Gabby who would very much like to go back to school, but overall she is also doing fine,

We had a rat adventure the other night. Piper woke me up at 5:00 in the morning saying a rat was in her bed and it woke her up by crawling on her face. I think I would die if I was awakened by a rat crawling on my face. Die! The rat kept running back and forth on her bed and she was crying and I was telling her to grab it because it was her friend but she wouldn't so I had to grab it. I think that's the first time I've actually touched one of our pet rats. They are smart little buggers and have escaped their cage several times. Luckily they are very social and easy to catch. They come right up to you. I keep trying to escape proof the cage and they keep getting out. Oy!

I keep checking the websites for job postings for next year but so far haven't seen any for Health or Biology teachers. It will be interesting to see if I can find a teaching job next year and what I will do if I don't get one. I really don't know if I would want to continue to work full time as a para making so little money. Time will tell.

The kids having their forced outside time. Ha.

Oh shed how we love you!

Scott's peach tree.

Blueberry bush???

Enjoying the beautiful weather.

This mask was horribly claustrophobic. 

New mask. Haven't sported it out yet but will soon. Should be much better.

Scott's new mask.

Scott having some rat time.

The girls playing with the rats.

Rollerblade girl. I love having access to a church parking lot through our backyard.

Quarantine Week 4

Alright we've made it through another week. The weather was AMAZING most of the week. I did a lot of yard work and sprayed down the house. We really really need to paint the exterior, I've been putting it off for years! I really can't decide if I should just paint it the same or change it up some how. I need a Joanna Gaines consult. Stat! I also sanded down a couple of chairs and spray painted them again, They were looking rough. I made a couple of face masks with supplies I already had. I don't have enough bias tape to make more and Walmart was out. I'm not worried about making the kids' masks at this point because we aren't taking them anywhere. Point of all of this is I finally started doing some projects. Go me! I'm not sure when I will get to that cleaning list I don't want to start.

I actually had to go into work on Friday. They had me making phone calls for about 4 hours. That is not my favorite! I got pretty good by the end and had a good system going. I'm not sure if I will work this week or not. I am just on stand by for if and when they need me to do something.

My friend Lisa had her birthday on Friday. We all got together in the parking lot in our backyard and had a distanced birthday party for her. It's the first time I've seen my friends in a month. It was fun!

The kids home school officially starts tomorrow. I'm nervous about navigating all of that especially with Corbin. The elementary kids are just getting packets that I'm assuming should be pretty straight forward but I'm not quite sure what's happening on the middle school level. I've gotten a few emails from some of his teachers but it's all a little overwhelming so I'll worry about that tomorrow.

Well nothing much else to write about. The kids are doing well overall. It's been hardest on Gabby who is more of an extrovert. Luckily her dance teacher is doing class twice a week online so she has some social outlet which is good.

I thought I would try to make crepes because I love them but I am intimated by them. I got a recipe and instructions from a friend. The key is...the right size of pan. I finally figured that out after making lots of disaster octopus crepes.

Alright that's all wish me luck with pages and pages of home school to navigate this coming week.

Corbin jumped in bed with me. Cutest. That never happens.

Octopus Crepes!

I had much more success with this pan.

Even the misshaped ones rolled up were delicious. 

Chair touch up.

Nana sent Easter things! 

The kids went with me to go wash the car. So exciting. I think it's their first outing in like a month! 

Face Masks.

Phone calls...EEK!

Birthday girl.

Social Distance B-Day Party.

Quarantine Week 3

Well lets see we are still in a planet called Crazy Town where everyone is trapped at home and where Idaho has an earthquake. The last earthquake in Idaho was in 1983, I think school got canceled and my parents took the family to Disneyland and left me at home since I was just a baby. On Tuesday sometime around 6:00 pm we had an earthquake! I was standing in the kitchen and the refrigerator started shaking pretty hard along with the rest of the house. We all gathered and were screaming like what the !@#$. There was no damage and nothing even got knocked off the walls. It was crazy though! My heart rate was up for awhile. Piper said, "we need chocolate melty cakes." So we decided we indeed needed chocolate melty cakes. Corbin being the most motivated helped me bust those out. The earthquake was a 6.5 in Stanley Idaho and apparently was felt from Oregon to Vegas. Crazy! Like I said...Crazy Town!

I did start my kids on some home school this last week. Not a lot but something is better than nothing. Corbin loves to get his stuff DONE so he can do what he wants. I came out at 7:40 the other morning and he was already done with all of his school work and was ready to exercise so he could have his day to himself. We are still doing hourly 9-5 jumping jacks. It's pretty cute and fun I must say! 

I haven't motivated myself to do any extra projects. I've been exercising a lot and still cooking with the kids. We had a staff meeting Wednesday morning on the computer. I will be paid even if we never go back to school so that is awesome! I'm so glad I took a full time job 1 1/2 months before CRAZY TOWN! We are supposed to be doing any assignments given to us but I honestly don't know if they can think of anything for us to do. So it will be interesting if I have any work responsibilities. I'm just glad I'm getting paid and I don't have to get up at 4:00 am! 

For book club we watched our show together again this week and our friend group watched a scary movie together as well. It was fun! And by together I mean alone at home but communicating through our phones. 

The weather was COLD again and I couldn't make myself or the kids go outside. The weather is supposed to be warmer now so we will have to resume our daily bike riding. Although I'm not sure if we should go outside at all. I have a friend in New York City with three kids and at this point they aren't even leaving their apartment at all. 

We celebrated Easter this weekend because I wanted to and in Crazy Town you can do what you want. We decorated Easter Eggs and had a hunt yesterday. They found their baskets this morning and we will have our Easter dinner tonight. 

This last week was much better for me than the week before. I was super anxious the week before but this last week has been fine. I mean not fine but fine. I'm very used to being at home a lot being raised in the middle of nowhere on a farm. I was talking to a friend about it and she was like, "I get it Arco you were made for Quarantine!" I died! Ok that's all this has been long enough! 

The kids doing an art project. I told Corbin he could do the art project or do an extra job. He was like "stop blackmailing me!" 

I had to go to Walmart on Wednesday and I miss shopping so much I wanted to buy all the things. I bought a special curling iron to spiral my hair among other things!

Ryan working in his writing journal. "I happy time coronavirus because I get to play on my computer." 

Piper helping me make homemade noodles for chicken noodle soup.

Decorating Easter Eggs.

Easter Egg Hunt

Easter Egg Baskets!

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