Lockdown Continues

It's official ... the kids will not be going back to their school this academic year. They are sad. I am sad. Teacher Daddy is very sad. The writing has been on the wall for a while, so we have been quite honest and preparing them for this possibility. The day our governor made the announcement was a hard day. But then something interesting happened. Attitudes shaped up a bit. It was almost like knowing (even if we didn't like it) felt better and more in control than not knowing.

I will say it again - all three kids have the best teachers!! Their teachers are just as sad to miss the end of the year with the kids. But the teachers are working so hard to bring some of that end of the year magic to distance learning. We are so grateful for them. And for technology to keep them connected. And for kindergarten teachers who take the egg hatching unit online and set up a Google Meet for a Sunday night so that the kinders could watch and participate as duck and chick eggs went into the incubators.

We had a rough couple days after Easter. It was cold. It kept snowing. As much as we like winter, we had gotten used to the springtime weather. The walls were closing in on us. So when the sun came out on Wednesday and it warmed up to tolerable, you can bet that we were out enjoying it after work and school were done. [To be fair, we were out even when the weather wasn't very nice. But it was much more fun later in the week!] Attitudes also shaped up with more fresh air!

Mike is clearly missing his IT work - and has decided that if he has to teach Art, there is also going to be computer class. So he grabbed an old desktop computer and monitor that we have (there are so many random computer components that live here!) and configured a computer for the kids. He is bound and determined that these children are going to learn how to use a mouse. Fact: they were so completely confused by the mouse at first. This tablet generation is like "I do what and click how?!?!"

He added Klondike solitaire, which Quinn has been obsessed with. She's getting the hang of it and has even tried with real cards a couple times. Dec is also learning how to play it - but needs a little more help. Fiona claimed she didn't want to try ... but then I found her testing it out a couple days ago when the other two were outside. She does not want to learn in front of Quinn. But she and I had a good time working on it together. Mike also put on a paint game that all three love. They are creating awesome pictures - and really working those finer mouse skills. Tricky tricky daddy.

We changed up our evening a couple Thursdays ago and watched the Disney Family Sing-a-long on ABC. Everyone snuggled up in blankets with their pjs on - and it was just a nice break in the monotony. I don't think they knew a lot of the celebrities who participated, but they enjoyed the songs, sang Let It Go at top volume, and were thrilled to see the cast of High School Musical all sing.

Our state "stay at home" order expires next Monday. There will likely be a slow reopening of things. We don't know what that will mean for us yet. Until we know more, we'll continue on with working from home, distance learning, lots of family time, and trying to find fun in each day.

Easter Sledding Becomes a Thing

Easter Saturday found the kids hunting eggs in tank tops. Easter Sunday found us hauling sleds, snowboards, and skis to the sledding hill. It really was a "tail" of two Easter bunnies. [As much as we like snow and winter, that was a hard mental shift to make from one day to the next.]

Despite spending almost all day outside on Saturday, the girls were so excited for Easter morning (it is hard to blame them. Things that are different and exciting are few and far better right now) that it was close to 10:30 before they finally fell asleep. The Easter bunny was unimpressed that it was nearly 11pm before bunny activities could commence.

The kids slept until close to 7:30, which actually felt like a win. Dec found Quinn and Fiona's baskets and Quinn found Declan's. They are good about not ruining the hiding spot if it isn't their own basket ... but their poker faces could use some work. The best was Dec opening the dishwasher, saying "oooohhhh," closing the dishwasher, and then yelling "Fiona, do you want a hint?" Way to be cool, dude!! Dec's basket was in one of the end tables and Q's was in the TV stand. The bunny may need to expand to the basement - because we are running out of hiding spots upstairs.

They were so excited about their baskets and the big hit of the year was a Garmin Jr fitness tracker watch for each of them. I got a Fitbit for Christmas and Quinn especially is obsessed with how many steps I get each day. Dec asks for the time about 5,296 times a day - so it was imperative the boy get a watch. Their watches track their steps, active minutes, and daily chores. They've definitely been enjoying them and get very excited when they meet their daily goals.

After examining their baskets, we took a quick breakfast break to eat some of our hard-boiled eggs. Then we headed downstairs for the egg hunt. One of Q's eggs proved very tricky until we realized that she had miscounted and only put out 11 instead of 12 eggs in her color for the bunny ... but one magically appeared and her very Type A laser focus was satisfied. The egg hunt was particularly difficult this year. Lots of climbing, contorting and work to discover all those eggs. They really seemed to enjoy the challenge.

Their colored eggs had money in them and the joint eggs held a clue that said "Look high look low in the place where coats go." After some searching, they discovered Tenzi hidden in my rainboot. While we definitely missed church (and the caramel rolls), it was a very fun, relaxing, laidback morning.

I made ham, cheesy potatoes, green bean casserole, and rolls for our Easter dinner. One tradition that didn't change ... I made way too much food! But it turned out well and everyone enjoyed it. The kids decided to dress up - so Mike and I did too. I even put on make up. I was afraid I had forgotten how! The girls wore tights, shared their fanciest dresses with each other, and put on make up too. Dec wore his tie for a bit, but eventually decided a collar was good enough.

After dinner was cleaned up, the kids and I used candy melts and pretzels to make some spring-themed desserts. There were lots of butterflies, flowers, dragonflies, and other more abstract creations. They had the best time and enjoyed having the freedom to use their imaginations. We even had a lesson on drizzling! It was a huge mess, but we had fun ... and really, where else were we going to go?!?!

Well, actually, we did have a place. After I got the dining room cleaned up, we grabbed our winter gear and outdoor toys. There were eight inches of fresh powder on the ground that we were not going to waste. Off to the sledding hill we went. We didn't stay out for a long time (the ground wasn't frozen so it was hard to pack a trail), but it was really nice to just get outside and play in the snow. It was also fun to add Easter Sledding to our repertoire. We've gone Thanksgiving sledding and Christmas sledding, but Easter sledding was a first! The night ended with an easy dinner, pjs, and watching The Easter Bunny is Coming to Town.

It was not the holiday we had expected. We missed Auntie, Gma, and Gpa (and anyone else we could have talked into joining us!). We swung between having a fun time and missing normal. We are grateful for FaceTime and Messenger video chats, Easter basket treasures, messy cooking projects, and great books that help us talk about the Resurrection. It was a different Easter, but it was still a good one.

Tail of Two Easters

I had Good Friday off of work and the kids had it off of school (that three week "spring break" wasn't enough time off ...). As weird as it seemed to be excited about a "day off" after four weeks of being stuck at home, we all were! In some ways, getting back to school has made weekends (and holidays) more distinct and we appreciate them more.

We started our Good Friday verrrrrrrrry slowly, which was lovely. Once we finally got ourselves rolling, we dyed our Easter eggs. Mike had purchased an egg spinner on Amazon when this whole lockdown started and it proved quite the hit! Everyone could use it with no help and they were quite proud of their final results. Dec was super nice and loaned me one of his eggs so I could test out the spinner. I will admit that it was extremely fun and satisfying. We blew their minds when we showed them that they could do the designs on the spinner and then put the eggs in the dye!

Then Friday night, we admitted that the girls' hair was out.of.control and it was time for me to cut it. I had Fiona go first because I could tell Quinn was really nervous. Fiona was too - but I knew it would go better for Q if she could see Fiona being successful. Bugs was very sweet - but did tell me (in the nicest possible way) that she "trusted the people who went to school for hair more." I told her that I did too, but that I also knew I could do it and would not be cutting her hair if I wasn't confident in that. Her cut turned out great. 

Then it was Q's turn. Other than taking forty-five minutes because she has so dang much hair, hers went well too. We both took several stretch breaks because a toilet seat and a folding chair were not made for that long of a commitment. But other than sore bottoms, she did great. They both look super cute - and much less mushroom-y and straggly (technical terms for those of us who did not go to school for hair). 

Saturday was the most glorious spring weather, so we decided that even though we couldn't have our friends over, we would still have our annual Easter egg hunt in the back yard. Although missing our friends a lot, it was still a lot of fun. Quinn and Dec helped me stuff the eggs and then Mike and I hid them. They are all old enough, so there was definitely climbing involved for many of the eggs. [I continued my strategy of not counting how many we hid ... so there may still be some out there]

When we let them loose in the back, there were a lot of giggles and shrieks. I think they enjoyed the harder and trickier hiding spots! In fact, they had so much fun that when it was over, they asked us to hide the eggs again. Since we quite literally have nowhere else to go, we figured why not  ... and so we did. 

The second hunt was just as fun as the first. Except for Q's basket, which suffered some major structural damage when she jumped off the fence from retrieving an egg and landed on it (apparently telling her 20 times to be sure to not put it under where she was climbing was not sufficient). I managed to tape it back together enough that it was still usable by the Easter bunny that night. 

By the time the second hunt was over, the kids were wearing sundresses and tank tops. It was such a lovely day that we stayed outside for the rest of it - soaking up the warmth and sunshine, jumping in the trampoline, and going on a bike riding adventure. 

We are so glad we did - because it snowed 8 inches on Easter day. But that's a story for the next post.

Big Boy Life

As the world has ground to halt (who knew that could actually happen!?!?), there are things that refuse to stop. Like Declan growing.

During the first week of Lockdown Life, I was tucking D into bed and he said, “my knees hurt when I get up in the morning because I can’t straighten my legs.” It was official. The toddler bed was too small, and it was time for us to figure out how to fit a third twin bed into the shared bedroom space.

After multiple discussions, a lot of research, and a couple shipping speed bumps, we decided on a mid-height loft bed that included a bookcase, dresser, and desk that tucked under it. I’m most excited about the dresser … drawer space is a premium right now and everyone’s clothes keep getting bigger. Heaven help me when we need shorts AND pants in drawers. However, the additional bookcase shelves are pretty exciting too! We have lots of books and trophies that are excited for a new home.

D waited with great anticipation and was SO excited when four boxes were delivered last Tuesday. Mike used the bed to his great advantage to inspire willing helpers (Q and D) to get their schoolwork done quickly on Thursday. Thus, Thursday afternoon became Shop Class for the two. They were great helpers and had so much fun. It’s really fun to see them engage in a project and have ownership in the finished result. I think Mike enjoys teaching them as well. [And I enjoyed Fiona sitting at the desk next to me finishing up her schoolwork for the day.]

Currently, the bed and bookcase are complete – and the kids are using the open space underneath as a fort / reading nook / homework space / anything else they can think of. They know eventually that space will be consumed by the other furniture, but there isn’t a big rush. Currently, we take advantage of things that bring joy.

As expected, when bedtime came on Thursday night, Dec wanted his old bed and decided he was afraid of the new one (sigh …). Then he realized that he and his seven stuffies had lots of room to stretch out and he figured he’d give it a try. One night and he was fully adjusted – and quite delighted with the extra space.

The room will continue to evolve in the coming weeks as we add the other furniture, redistribute items, and maybe even retrieve a few things from the storage unit. But for now, the dude is quite content with his big boy bed, his new shark sheets (there are also dinosaur ones), and the fact that his bed is the new cool hangout spot.

Homeschool Week 1

Distance learning started last Monday. Tuesday night after I tucked the kids in, I walked out to the living room to find an exhausted Mike with his head in his hands. Mike looked at me and said, "at least it's Friday." I had to tell him it was only Tuesday. So that's how homeschool is going.

The girls are mostly self-sufficient, with varying degrees of motivation to complete their lessons. They both have such great teachers who are working hard to make this distance thing go smoothly. They get daily videos with the lesson and then have projects or worksheets or various responses to do. It's definitely not the same as being in the class. The teachers say the same - so much learning is part of the conversations they have in the classroom. But we are all doing our best.

Dec, on the other hand, needs help with everything. He's in kindergarten, he is not a proficient reader, and you just cannot replicate a kinder classroom from afar. His teacher is also great and is doing her best to make it fun for the kids. But eleventy-billion sight word flashcards and filling out a worksheet writing numbers 1-100 is not D's idea of how he is going to spend his day. Monday night, I asked him to do his flashcards with me. Instead, he buried his face in the rocking chair.  Dec loves school and his teacher. But school is for school and home is for home and he is also not supportive of this new crossover scenario.

In addition to work from their classroom teachers, they still have their "specials" too (art, media, gym, music). Each day has a different special. Mike now officially hates Wednesdays. Wednesdays are Art days. Wednesdays are Mike's version of hell. Last week was "paint stamping" with household objects - which he described as "twenty minutes of getting them set up, 15 minutes of standing around while they did it, and 45 minutes of cleaning it all up." Tuesday and Thursday are PE. Gym teacher Mike is much happier on those days.

Gym class

School started out fresh and shiny for two out of the three last week. Everyone was happy with the fact that there was no school on Friday. Tomorrow starts Week Two and a five-day week. With a less-than-optimal weather forecast. So ... here we go. My hope for the week is that next weekend, I'm not sharing a photo of all of us with our faces in the rocking chair ... and that Mike doesn't think it's Friday on Monday.

[Final note: although a strange thing to be grateful for, a huge silver lining is Mike not working right now. Honest to goodness, we don't know how we would help three people with school and both work full-time. We add plenty of breaks for playing and getting outside, but school work honestly takes all day long. So ... unexpected blessings.]

Stories from Lockdown

You guys, I'm worried. It is Day 22 of life on the inside. No one has stabbed anyone else in their sleep and we do still like each other (I married really well!!). We are settling in and actually having fun. But ... will we know how to interact with other non-V people when we're released?!?! I mean, we are looking forward to trying. But be kind if our social awkwardness hits new levels of special.

Last week, Mike held a special Shop Class workshop in the backyard and the garden that we promised Quinn a couple years ago has been completed. We didn't build it last year because we were deep in the house search. But now that we know we're staying - and Mike has plenty of time - the garden was top of the list. We had a few days of great weather where the kids could play outside and Mike could work. It went together more quickly than he expected and Q and Dec even helped put the baseboards in.

During the garden project, Mike also found time to build a monkey bars off the climber in the backyard. He's had the actual monkey bars for a while, but didn't have the time or lumber to construct the frame. We had been using the monkey bars as a ladder to the tall part of the climber. So the only obvious solution once the ladder was gone was to install a fire pole. When Mike first mentioned getting a fire pole, Quinn stopped dead in her tracks, gave him her most serious face, and said "Don't lie to me." To say she was excited when it arrived is an understatement.

On Saturday, we were out in the yard playing and a little boy walked by with his dad. He asked his dad if our yard was a park. His dad said "no." The little boy did not seem convinced. **Now, more than ever, we stand by our choice of not compromising on the yard when looking for a house!

It took three weeks - but the great Lego project has been completed. The Volkswagen camper was constructed in full. And now can be played with ... the whole time they were building it, Mike kept telling Dec not to play with it because "it's not a toy." Ha! The bin of Mike's old legos has also found its way to the lego table and creativity is at its prime. Today, a space rover was built. And a helicopter.

Mike broke out the N64 and the kids have been obsessed with watching him play Bond (notice all the legos in the background). I found a game map online to help (end the insanity) and Quinn has taken it upon herself to analyze the cheat maps and direct Mike while he plays. It's actually quite impressive. Fiona just likes it when someone falls down the stairs. Dec can't wait to learn to play himself.

He did learn to play a snowboarding game. Mike had run to the grocery store, so Fiona was his tech support. We are all learning new skill sets these days.

I hate Peeps. I think they are gross. So I never think to buy them. When Mike was doing the grocery shopping, he bought a couple packages so the kids to try them. They are fans. They even came down to visit me "in my office" for the inaugural taste test.

I still think they are gross.

A favorite place to read or do art is on the bed in the guest room. Why? Because it is right next to me while I work. As long as I'm not on a really important call and they are quiet, they know they are welcome to hang out. It's ideal for when someone needs a quiet time break from the whole gang. Quinn prefers to color, while Fiona likes to bring her latest book down. I sure enjoy their company!

There has been a lot of rollerblading and street (driveway) hockey on nice days/evenings. The two hockey players are getting really good on their blades and Fiona is making big improvements (and having fun). Mike has set up several practice drills for them (and I think he enjoys it just as much as they do). Tonight, Dec's face took the brunt of a weird ball bounce. He was fine, but I'll be interested to see if we have a bruise tomorrow. It did not, however, stop him from playing!

Fiona is Almost Ten

Fiona is nine and a half. For real. This is not an April Fool's Day joke. Like ... the next time I do an age post for her, she will be ten. Two hands. Double digits.

Formal protest.

The official half birthday occurred during week 1 of lockdown. Today, Mike tried to play an April Fool's joke on the girls that they would have to repeat their grade next year because of all the school disruptions. Bugs was like "with the same teacher and class? Great. I'm in." Joke fail. Sweet girlfriend is missing school. And her friends. And normal. She is feeling ALL the feelings about this whole lockdown life.

That is not to say that she is not being a trooper. She really is. We are so proud of her and how she is handling things. Fiona, more than the other two, senses our stress and recognizes the magnitude of the disruptions. She asks me about my colleagues in Europe and wants to know what is the same there and what is different. She's asking big questions as she works through her thoughts. It's really cool to see.

While all our kids need big muscle outlets, Quinn and Dec need them more frequently than Fiona does. Bugs needs quiet time and space. So she's taken to sliding inside while the sibs are out playing with Mike, grabbing a book, and coming downstairs to read on the guest bed while I work. She's super quiet and I love having her. She listened to me on a conference call today - and then told me she still has no idea what I do. I think she also comes inside because her bestie lives across the road from us. When she sees Ev outside and can't go play with her, it hurts her heart. So she chooses to find something that makes her a little less sad.

Fiona and Declan have found an intersection of interest ... the online game Minecraft. I understand essentially nothing about it (it's like the bey blades thing all over again). Apparently there are zombies and creepers in the game. Now Declan won't stop talking to me about zombies. I even agreed to an after dinner treat today "if you promise to not talk to me about zombies anymore." Fiona is being so sweet and patient and really enjoys how excited he is to explore the game with her. I also heard her advising him to lay off the zombie talk. It will make no difference. But I appreciate the effort.

We have been going for walks/bike rides every night when I finish work. Fiona is working so hard and is really proud of the growing strength in her legs. We have to go up some sizable hills on the back end of the walk ... and she can now pedal up all of them by herself! This is a huge accomplishment - and she knows it. Today, her goal was to "never stop riding" - so she rode in circles as she waited for Mike and me to catch up.

It's a lot to become a big kid. Even more when you put a totally unprecedented global pandemic on top of it. We know these moments will shape her in many ways. So we're encouraging her to ask the questions, feel the feelings, and give herself (and the rest of us) grace. Because while we can do hard things, they are still hard.