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| Despite the dark news everywhere you look the memes throughout the virus have been a high point for me. I can't take credit for any of them, but I've included some of my favorites in my post. |
As the third week of March began and the social distancing continued, we continued on through grief-like stages. The week started with the anger/annoyance that we had the day prior and then skipped over the 'bargaining' stage to the stage of depression. My mind was racing with all of the news floating about and the events going on and my heart sank. The only thing I can compare it to in my lifetime is the sadness that I felt as our country dealt with the aftermath of the 9-11 events. Obviously it isn't the same but like that event I know that this event, this virus, will change us. Life as we knew it before the virus would never fully be the same. In one way or another, we will be forever altered and although we will try to regain our 'normal' deep down, I know we will never get there fully.
And even so, depression or not, life goes on. On Monday Eric and I went to work as normal and all three of the kids went to daycare together. That morning, we both had meetings in our firms to discuss what was going on and how to move forward. My firm agreed to working partially outside of the office to allow for more social distancing, which for me meant I would work from home on Tuesdays (starting next week) and Wednesdays and in the office on Mondays and Thursdays (or so I thought). That said, for us not a lot changed from our typical day to day schedule...
Monday, March 16
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| 3/16/20 FB Post: My neighborhood is doing this fun activity tomorrow. No idea who came up with the idea but thought I’d share for others to do |
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| FB Post: Captain’s Log/March Madness Day 3: Today the crew and I sailed our separate ways for the day and I prayed it was the right decision. I’m trying to keep my spirits up but few times in my life have felt so heavy on my heart. Flashbacks to 9-11 have been coming to me frequently and while I know God is in control, I’d be lying if I said I had no fear of the rough seas ahead. Like 9-11 my heart knows that this event will change us. We will never be the same as we were before and honestly I’ve never been good with change. God is good ALL THE TIME though and JOY comes in the morning. So tonight I choose to focus on the best of 9-11 and apply it to present circumstances: the humanity...the kindness...the brotherly/sisterly love. In the morning my ☘️ while show through our window for other sailers to find (thanks to a neighborly suggestion) and my postperson will find a note to bring a smile as well (thanks to a suggestion from my church womens’ ministry). In this dark time, may we all be lighthouses❤️ #coronavirius #socialdistancing #marchmadness2020 |
Tuesday, March 17
On Tuesday I needed to push through the darkness which was weighing me down and reach to the light. Therefore I did my best to press on through the day and then enjoy some special time with my little loves that evening.
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| Trying to look on the positive at work on St. Patrick's Day |
Video: Clover Hunt
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| FB Post: Captain’s Log/March Madness Day 4: In an effort to raise our spirits today the crew and I set off on the open seas to find hidden treasures. Not only did we find several ☘️ around our neighborhood, but we also found some laughter, excitement and smiles that we so desperately needed. #coronavirius #socialdistancing#marchmadness2020 |
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| As the kids and I walked back home from our Clover Hunt, they asked if we could play at the park. With no other kids there, I thought it would be fine and so we stopped for a few minutes. After a couple of minutes on the swings they asked if Hazel could go on the slide and since it is very small and enclosed I thought it would be fine. I was wrong. Apparently it was MUCH too fast for our little girl as she was NOT impressed!! |
Wednesday, March 18
3/18/20 FB Post: The shamrock hunt yesterday was a lot of fun and my neighborhood is planning to continue providing fun “hunts” for kids. This week will be 🦋. Others have had some fun suggestions of what to do at home with the kids, including the sock puppet eating cars (or pedestrians) which I’d love to try if our street had more action on it. I’ve included a few that I’ve seen below. Also, for the select few out there that know what I’m talking about, I can’t help but think that coordinating a game of sCARdines would be a BLAST!! 🚗 🚙 (sCARdines in college...such a fun memory!)
Thursday, March 19
3/19/20 FB Post: Feeling claustrophobic stuck at home? Last night I called my favorite neighbor who will turn 90 this fall to check up on her. As we talked she told me how the closest other event in her life that she likened to what we are going through was the polio scare. She then told me how people were treated in the “iron lung”. It sounded familiar to me, but I had to look up what it was. As soon as I saw an “iron lung” I was immediately grateful to have my home to spread out in even if I have to full-on quarantine. I cannot imagine spending weeks or sometimes years trapped in that!!
3/19/20 FB Post: Feeling claustrophobic stuck at home? Last night I called my favorite neighbor who will turn 90 this fall to check up on her. As we talked she told me how the closest other event in her life that she likened to what we are going through was the polio scare. She then told me how people were treated in the “iron lung”. It sounded familiar to me, but I had to look up what it was. As soon as I saw an “iron lung” I was immediately grateful to have my home to spread out in even if I have to full-on quarantine. I cannot imagine spending weeks or sometimes years trapped in that!!
Friday, March 20
On Friday, just as we began to get used to the new schedule of working from home and the office and sending the kids to Christina's, things began to change...again. The governor of Illinois issued a Stay at Home Order and I knew that meant that we would likely be next. Even so I tried to do my best to enjoy time with the kids while keeping in touch with the events going on outside our home.
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| The boys made a table fort for Hazel. She loved it. :) |
Saturday, March 21
One of the obvious results of the schools being closed is that there is a definite change in learning. For Avery that change really isn't a big deal as he was already doing very well and above and beyond what he needs to know to enter kindergarten in the fall. For Asher, on the other hand, I was/am worried. He is a smart kid and he works hard, but he has always struggled in some areas of school. While he excels at Math and we've been told performs at a 3-4 grade math level, reading is another story. Eric and I blame ourselves for not working harder to get him into a preschool, but no matter who is to blame, nothing changes the fact that he has struggled with it since starting grade school. Because of this, we have all worked hard to get him caught up, but for the past three years it has been a constant struggle. This year though, Asher's teacher has been absolutely amazing and has gone above and beyond the call of duty to work with him and us. He has made amazing progress this year and now I fear that isolation homeschooling is going to ruin that. For this reason, he and I spent a large chunk of Saturday morning going through all of the books that we have and seeing which of them are at his AR reading level and which allow for AR testing at home. I was surprised that we were able to find a pretty good sized stack of books to work on!
The remainder of the weekend pretty much just continued with our normal home weekend isolation (which other than not going to restaurants or Meijer really is pretty much the same as it has always been).
My SIL introduced us to the Quarantine Lego Masters group on Facebook which gives a new Lego challenge by age group every day. Today's challenge was to build your dream house...
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| Asher's Dream House (the first floor is a bathroom right when you open the entry door...I may need to talk to him about design practicality!) |
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| Avery's Dream House |
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| For dinner on Saturday night I made our traditional St. Patrick's day dinner of potatoes (chips) & Ruebens (Yum!) since I we couldn't get the ingredients we needed to have the dinner on the actual holiday. |
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| For dessert, something green. This year I made one of Eric's favorites: Pistachio Dessert. |
Sunday, March 22
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| FB Post: I needed a good laugh this morning and these actually made me do so out loud 😂🤣 |
For church on Sunday we again gathered in our living room and since we were not going to be able to support our favorite team this year for March Madness we all dressed up in our Maize and Blue.
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| Game Night on Sunday to close out the week. |
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| Little Miss has recently become very interested in 'reading'. |
Monday, March 23
On Monday we started the week off normally (or as much as it gets these days) heading off to work and daycare. Then that morning word came that Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers would issue a Stay at Home Order on Tuesday requiring all non-essential businesses to close and/or work from home. With that, I gathered all of my work and prepared to leave my office until the order was over.
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| FB Post: Forever looking up to her big brothers💕 |
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| Hazel trying out the pistachio dessert for the first time (since she was asleep when we had it the day before). |
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Tuesday, March 24
On Tuesday our new work from home situation began and I had the hottest coworker ever! 😜 Seriously though, it was pretty great. The sun was shining and since Eric and I sent the kids to daycare the house was quiet, allowing for a relaxing and productive environment. We continued this set-up for the remainder of the week and I have to say it was glorious. We ate when we wanted, listened to what we wanted and even enjoyed daily lunch-time walks around the neighborhood together.
Wednesday, March 25
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| My Girls (& Little Miss picking on Emma) |
Video: Parking Lot Fun
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| Avery showing on his Candy Village as part of yesterday's Lego Challenge. |
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| Avery's Black Panther Face for today's Lego Challenge. |
Friday, March 27
By Friday the news of the pandemic continued to look more and more bleak in the US and Eric and I felt that for the safety of our family we would feel better keeping the kids at home. That combined with the fact that I was already seeing work slow down, pushed us to make the decision to keep the kids home with us until the Safer at Home Order was lifted. Therefore, Eric and I entered the final stage of acceptance and set out to do what was best for our family at this time. He spent Friday morning working while the boys played and Hazel and I worked to disinfect the house.
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| Little Miss always wants to know what her brothers are up to. |
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FB Post: Captain’s Log/March Madness Day 13:
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Video: Little Sister
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| Helping Mommy sweep |
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| When the Little Miss insists on being held and you have stuff to do... |
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| In the afternoon the kids and I watched a live video from the Cincinatti Zoo and afterward they encouraged us to come up with our own animal combinations. I drew a Delephant, Avery drew a Shurtle and Asher drew a Dunkey. |
Video: Duplo Bridge Test
Saturday, March 28
Finally it was the weekend again and we did our best to enter the final phase of acceptance and make the most of life in isolation.
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| Avery working hard on his Kiwi Crate for the month. |
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| Asher working hard on his. |
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| Asher and I built a Duplos Tree House |
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| Love Hazel's fat belly in this picture! |
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| She loves him so. |
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| Avery's Dragons for the Lego Challenge |
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| Asher & Avery building bridges. |
Saturday, March 28
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| Hazel taking care of her baby. |
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| Hazel 'helping' me attempt some yoga (don't laugh I have always been terribly inflexible!) |
Video: Girls Play with Cars
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| Needing to get out, Asher and I went on a Pokemon hunt together only to find that playgrounds are now officially closed. :( |
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| Hazel helping me clean up. |
Video: Little Miss Neat
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FB Post: Captain’s Log/March Madness Day 14:
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Sunday, March 29
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| Learning how to draw a dinosaur. |
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| A roof with a view. |
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| Hazel's taken over Emma's bed. |
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| Warm & snugly Daddy cuddles in blankets fresh from the dryer. |
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| Warm Blankies! |
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| FB Post: Tonight this Cadbury Egg and I have a 🔥 date! |
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