A Day in the "Stay-At-Home Order" Life...

I thought it would be fun to do a little day in the life post on what a somewhat typical day looks like around here during these stay-at-home time. 😀 So here is what my day looked like yesterday: 

7:45AM: I wake up to the sun beaming in my face. I forgot to close the bedroom curtain last night before I finally fell asleep around 1:30AM. 😕 I hear the boys downstairs. Bill comes upstairs to go to bed after his overnight shift at work. 

8:00AM: I get up, shower and am greeted at the bathroom door by two meowing cats. They have gotten into the habit of meowing when I turn the shower off. They want treats! I give them treats and then get dressed and head downstairs to start my day. 

The boys have had breakfast. They clean up their messes and I send them upstairs to get dressed for the day and to do their morning chores.

I open our front door and the curtains to let the daylight in and am greeted by a fat robin sitting in the tree outside of our front porch. It puts a smile on my face. 😃

I sit down to figure out the boys' school needs for today. I make Ben a checklist and both boys get onto their Chromebooks to get started. 

10:00AM: Rebecca emerges from her room (what can I say except she is a teenager? 😀) and gets breakfast. She starts her schoolwork. I make myself some breakfast and peruse blogs while I am eating. 

The boys are working on their work. I gather laundry from yesterday (and discovered a stash of dirty laundry in the back of the boys' closet 😞) and started laundry. 

11:30AM: We took a break from schoolwork to walk down to the boys' school to get their free lunch (and breakfast for tomorrow). We also worked on a scavenger hunt that Ben had to do for his Science Earth Day activity! 

12:00PM: Kids ate lunch and then worked on their few chores. I flipped laundry, opened some packages from Amazon and cleaned up kitchen. I also made up some Crystal Lite, using a trick that my grandma used to use--- use an empty, clean milk jug to make a double batch of when you can't find your other pitcher. LOL 

1:00PM: Jacob finished his school work. Ben read to me while I ate my lunch. Rebecca finished up her school work. 

AFTERNOON: We spent time doing the Earth Day art project that I shared yesterday. Bill mowed the grass. I sent off a couple emails to the boys' art teacher to show their work. I also blogged. Bill and the boys played outside. 

EVENING: I made a quick dinner of hot dogs and French fries. Bill left and came back surprising us with a blooming onion and onion rings from a local food truck. I had mentioned to him last week that this person was opening up at a local car lot and that I wanted a blooming onion from there whenever we could get out as I really want to be better at supporting local businesses. It certainly wasn't the healthiest of dinners, but it was good. 

After dinner, the kids did their chores. Bill and the boys played Sorry and I folded 2 loads of laundry and put them away. Rebecca was chatting with her friend on a video call. I then laid down and played Sudoku on my Kindle until it was time to get the kids to bed. After tucking them all in, I headed to bed for the night. 

So there you have it... a glimpse into what is turning out to be a typical day here in our household during this "Stay-at-Home" time.

How do you spend your days?   

Celebrating Earth Day...

… during the Coronavirus 2020 outbreak. Before I talk about Earth Day, let's do a recap of where our state stands. Last week, we were at 8858 confirmed cases and 401 deaths. This week, Ohio is at 13,609 confirmed cases with 584 deaths. In our county, they just announced the 13th confirmed case. 

🌍🌎🌏🌍 So today is Earth Day. 🌍🌎🌍🌏

In a normal time, the kids would be at school doing fun Earth Day activities and we would be planning on going to an Earth Day festival this weekend. Of course with the virus, this is anything but a normal time. The kids did have a few things Earth Day related in their school work today. Ben had to do an Earth Day scavenger hunt and take photos of what he found. He had to find::

-3 kinds of flowers

---a pinecone (He found a squished one on the road on our walk back home from getting lunch. 🤣 )

--- A recycling sign (He took a photo of our bin)

---A rock

---and a nut and 3 leaves.

The boys also had an Earth Day art project to do while following along on a YouTube video.



I even took time to do it with them. It was fun.

Are you celebrating Earth Day today? How are things in your part of the world today? 

Online learning the rest of this school year...

… is apparently the way to finish out this school year as directed by our Governor yesterday. ☹️ He also said that it was too soon to say what would happen in August when school goes back but it could be a mix of online and in school. Jacob and Ben cried when I told them. Ben gave me a thumbs down when I told him that I would be his teacher the rest of this year. LOL I feel so bad for the kids AND their teachers. 😢 It is so hard. I feel bad for the kids whose parents can't/won't/don't have time to be the support that their kids need right now to do their school work. 

In other news...let's see...laundry is ALL caught up. I worked on laundry ALL day on Saturday and then did 2 loads yesterday and got it ALL done! That lasted until the kids took their showers last night and gave me another load to do this morning. LOL 

Yesterday the weather was beautiful! Mid 60s and sunshine. Today the weather is in the mid 40s, windy and chilly again. We played outside a lot yesterday in between the kids doing their school work. 

I cleaned out the freezer and took out a bunch of containers that had one or 2 servings in it for dinner. Jacob and Ben finished off a container of spaghetti and meatballs. Rebecca finished off a container of just meatballs and hot dog buns. Bill finished off the ribs from dinner the night before and I sent the container of chili with him for his dinner at work. I did have to throw out a serving of Mexican pasta as when I opened it up it was freezer burnt and smelled weird. I ended up making myself 2 fried eggs for dinner. The only thing I have left in the freezer for leftovers is a container with tikka masala (this will be added to a fresh batch next week) and a container with pasta that will be the kids dinner one night while Bill and I have date night. I am really trying not to have any food waste. 

The kids have been working on their school work this morning. We walked down to school to pick up their lunch for today and breakfast for tomorrow morning. I am typing this up while they are eating. I will make myself lunch in a little bit and have Ben do his reading to me. (He has a book to read each day out loud.) 

I have implemented the chore charts again. I was finding that in the last couple of weeks I have been doing everything again. Now that we kind of know what to expect the kids will be taking on more chores as well, like they used to. We shall see how this goes.

Other than that, things are moving along. I am staying home, being mom, teacher, cook, housekeeper, etc. Bill is going to work, running errands as needed, and just being him. Kids are doing okay. It is what it is. Oh and I also totally relate to this meme I saw last week on Facebook: 

How are things in your neck of the woods this week? Do you feel like you are cooking ALL the time?  

April 17 2020...

Otherwise known as another day under stay at home.....

For the case of posterity, here are the numbers for Ohio. On April 8 (the last time I posted) Ohio has 4782 confirmed cases and 167 deaths. Today, our numbers are 8858 confirmed cases and 401 deaths. :( Numbers just keep going up. 

This week has surprisingly been busy. Kids are back to their online learning. Monday I had a tele-conference with Ben's Speech therapist. Tuesday, I had a virtual IEP meeting with everyone involved in Ben's schooling. Wednesday, we had a follow-up telehealth appointment with Ben's nephrologist in regards to his blood pressures. All were good meetings. 

The best meeting was with Ben's nephrologist. About 2 weeks ago he lowered his blood pressure readings by a ML to see how his body would react. His numbers have been holding steady and even with the reduction his numbers look great. So after the phone appointment we are going to reduce his blood pressure med to just 2MLs a day. If his numbers stay well, then we will talk about weaning him completely off next month :) :)  

Schooling has been rough this week. Getting back into the swing of things. Today several websites didn't want to load on the kids' Chromebooks. Thankfully clearing data seems to have fixed that problem. Right now all the kids are done with their work for the week...YAHOO!...and Ben and Rebecca are both on Zoom calls with their classes. 

This week has been rough. I think we are all so tired of being at home and any motivation has left. Bill has been uptight as one of the places that his work deals with has a confirmed case of COVID-19. He says that there is a big possibility that they will start requiring masks so I am on the hunt. He had a horrible time grocery shopping yesterday as he had a panic attack as no one is social distancing, etc. We have been arguing more this week and just been stressed out. 

One of other main activities in the house this week has been playing the game of "Sorry" otherwise known as "Ben wins!" Seriously that child has won most of the games that he has played; although I have beaten him a couple of times. LOL 

Well, I need to go take some zucchini bread out of the oven. Rainy, yucky weather here just begged for baking. Hope everyone has a wonderful Friday. 

How are you guys holding up where you are? 

Easter came and now back to schoolwork...

Yesterday we had a nice Easter day. Kids got us up early to get their baskets. They enjoyed their treats that were in them. Ben and Jacob both got WWE themed shirts in theirs and Rebecca got a t-shirt that said "It cost Nothing to be kind" in hers. 

After the kids saw their baskets, Bill went back to bed and I made breakfast for the kids and I. I made cinnamon rolls and fried up some bacon and we had grapes to go with it. After breakfast I watched mass online. Our priest gave a wonderful homily about how this time does suck and it is okay to be sad and angry but know that in the end it will be okay. Message that I needed to hear as there was an air of sadness all over yesterday. 

In the afternoon, we Zoomed with my parents. It was hard being the only ones not there. My parents, sister, her girlfriend, my brother, his girlfriend, my niece and nephew, and my other brother were all there. I could tell that my mom and brother were mad that I wasn't there. I feel at peace with our decision even if it was hard. Bill tried to call his parents and they answered but were on their way out the door to their friends house for Easter dinner. He spent 20 minutes on the phone with them arguing over why that was not safe and how it was not a good decision, etc. It wasn't a good conversation at all. 

The kids spent a lot of time playing games and getting along yesterday! It was nice to see them all getting along and not arguing a ton. 

I made a nice dinner--- ham, augratin potatoes, steamed green beans, cole slaw, deviled eggs (the first time EVER I have made these) and crescent rolls. 

I also made a chocolate pie for dessert with a homemade crust made out of Oreos. Rebecca was amazed that I made the crust by myself and she LOVED it. I looked over and she was licking her plate clean! LOL 

After dinner, Bill and the kids played Ben's new Sorry game and Ben won 2 times! LOL 

Bill then went to work and I got the kids to bed. It wasn't all without drama though. Rebecca broke down in tears as the stress of not going to school or seeing her friends or her teachers really is weighing on her. She confessed that it is frustrating because she doesn't feel she is learning as well remotely and needs that interaction with her teachers to help her progress. My heart broke for her. 

Today we are back to remote/online learning. I am frustrated today as the 2nd grade is going to ALL online....no worksheets, no way for me to print out the pages, etc. This means that I need to come up with a reading/phonics/spelling curriculum for Ben to work through that will also involve him writing and not typing on a Chromebook. :(  All three kids were able to complete their work in a more timely manner today (except Jacob still has one assignment that we could not find online). They even did gym class today (which was sets of exercises including lunges and sit ups among others). 

We are supposed to have fish for dinner tonight but I am not sure if I am feeling it. I really want a juicy hamburger but not sure what we will do. 

How was your Easter? Are you having a good Monday? 


  

Happy Easter!

This year will certainly be different with all the rules about social isolation and a virus running rampant throughout the world. However different doesn't have to be bad. We are planning on doing some of the same things (colored eggs, Easter baskets for the kids, cinnamon rolls, bacon and fruit for breakfast) and doing some different things (watching Mass online, Easter dinner at home, etc.) It will definitely be memorable. 

I hope all of you have wonderful Easter celebrating in a way that will make your day good! May everyone have a wonderful and healthy Easter Sunday! 

Getting some stuff done....

…Otherwise known as Day 27 of social distancing/ isolation due to COVID-19.

Yesterday and most of this week I have lacked any sense of motivation. I was lamenting yesterday about that and said that maybe if I had a list that I would report back on that it would help. Well I think that it did. I still had plenty of time to spend with the kids and got a few nagging things done too. So what did I get done? 

• Laundry (at least 3 loads need to be done)
• Deep clean downstairs half-bath
• Deep clean upstairs bathroom (Bill actually did this for me)
• Sweep mudroom and do a quick organize of pantry ( I also did a quick straighten up of our upright freezer and found a hidden bag of chocolate! SCORE! LOL) 
• Make menu plan for next 2 weeks
• See if we have egg dye kits in basement
• If we do, then boil eggs for kids to color
• Clean off my desk area and empty laundry basket full of crap stuff that is next to my desk.
• Watch Good Friday service online

I also cleaned up the kitchen, had a take out date night with Bill (from Bob Evans (one of the only restaraunts still open for take out in our area)) to celebrate our 16 year anniversary of our first date! (Can I also say that after not eating out for a few weeks, I felt so bloated after dinner. I don't know if it is because I don't typically fry foods at home so we eat healthier or what it was.) I also watched a movie with the kids for movie night. We watched "The Greatest Showman" as it was Rebecca's pick for the week. 

Today, I have a few more things I would like to get done. And since I found that making a list and posting it here helped a ton I am going to take that approach again. 

• Laundry (I have 2 loads to finish up)
• Clean out the laundry basket of stuff next to my desk
• Clean up puzzle and pack away off the small art table (so that Ben can have that table on Monday to do his school work on)
• Dye Easter eggs with the kids and Bill
• Go for a walk with the family
• Watch the Easter Vigil Mass from Rome 
• Make Chocolate Pie for tomorrow
• Make Lemon Bundt cake 
• Lay out ham to defrost for tomorrow
• After kids go to bed make their Easter baskets

I think that that will give me plenty to do today if I get up and get stuff done. Right now Rebecca is still in bed (typical teenager! ;) The boys are building with Legos and watching the "Star Wars" episode of "Lego Masters." I love that this show brings out their creativity. I should probably take this opportunity to go shower while they are preoccupied. LOL

What are your plans for today? I hope everyone has a wonderful Saturday! 

No motivation....

… Otherwise known as day 26 of social distancing/self isolation during COVID-19.

Thank you for all the thoughtful responses on my last post. I told my dad last night that I was following my gut and staying home with Bill and the kids on Easter. It will be different and I know that they are disappointed but I feel the call to stay home and make it a good day for my little family unit. 

https://pixels.com/featured/im-not-lazy-funny-sloth-tired-relax-chilling-gift-j-m.html

In other news I am becoming a sloth. Really have no motivation to do anything, although there is plenty to be done. I am watching way too much TV (LegoMasters, The Masked Singer, Good Mythical Morning episodes on YouTube, etc.). I am doing more things with the kids like throwing the football  with the boys and playing games with the kids (I killed Rebecca 3 times the other night in Bananagrams!). But there is stuff not getting done. So today I have decided to make a list and see what I can get done. Maybe if I promise to come back and report on how I did it will motivate me? If you guys want to yell and tell me to get off my butt I would appreciate it too! LOL 

So what do I want to get done today?

• Laundry (at least 3 loads need to be done)
• Deep clean downstairs half-bath
• Deep clean upstairs bathroom
• Sweep mudroom and do a quick organize of pantry
• Make menu plan for next 2 weeks
• See if we have egg dye kits in basement
• If we do, then boil eggs for kids to color
• Clean off my desk area and empty laundry basket full of crap stuff that is next to my desk.
• Watch Good Friday service online

I think that will keep me busy on this Good Friday. If I can find the motivation. Considering it is already after 11 AM and the only thing I have accomplished today is taking a shower then I am already behind. So I need to get off and do something! 

Are you finding it hard to find motivation to get stuff done? Or are you being productive? 

Blah days, productive days, etc

… Otherwise known as days 19- 24 of social distancing/self isolation during COVID-19. 

Updating the numbers here in Ohio...Last Thursday (April 2), Ohio has 2902 cases and 81 deaths. As of yesterday, Ohio has 4782 confirmed cases and 167 deaths. Again, another huge jump in less than a weeks time. :( We have had 7 cases in our county (and 1 death although this was a resident who had been in Florida since November). 

Monday, our state told stores to start limiting the number of people in them at one time. Yesterday, Bill went to Aldi's for me and he said it that Aldi had an employee sanitizing carts outside and giving each customer a sanitized cart and marking how many were in the store and how many left. He also said that they had transitioned to one way aisles and most of the shoppers were following that and maintaining six feet distance (he did say there were some older shoppers that didn't seem to care and were cutting in front of people and stopping their carts right next to his, etc.). They also had plexiglass up at the registers and the employees all had masks and gloves on. He also had to go to Walmart to drop off a prescription. He said that was surreal. They had a barrier maze up at the one entrance you can use and they had 2 security guards at the entrance with masks on and were checking people off as they entered the store. You then had to go through another maze to get into the store. He just said that the whole thing was super creepy. So thankful he is willing to go to the store for me and the kids. 

In other news, what has been going on? We celebrated Ben's birthday with a blue WWE cake. 

Bill did end up going to get McDonald's for dinner from the drive through as that was Ben's request. He also got a couple of presents from us, including 2 wrestlers: Million Dollar Man and I.R.S. He was thrilled to get them. Ben also got to Zoom with my sister so he was happy with that.

Speaking of Zoom, Ben also got to zoom with his class on Friday and "see" his teacher and friends so he was thrilled with that. The kids were happy when they finished their school work on Friday as that was the beginning of their Spring Break. The school is taking their regularly scheduled Spring Break in order to give teachers and parents a break from online schooling. 

Saturday, I took the kids to the park and met up with what was supposed to be my sister and her girlfriend. Well it ended up being my sister, her girlfriend, my parents, my niece and nephew, my brother AND his girlfriend. My parents brought donuts and presents for Ben-- more wrestlers and a summer outfit. I felt awkward because we are supposed to be social distancing but at the same time we are family. I don't know. (We are still trying to decide what we are doing for Easter. My parents want us to come over like normal, but my gut is telling me to stay home. I just don't know what to do.) 

Sunday, was a lazy day. I watched Palm Sunday mass on Facebook. Then in the afternoon, I watched the movie "Onward" on Disney+. Jacob actually watched it with me (and usually he doesn't watch movies! LOL. It was a cute movie. Then we watched one of the new nature shows that Disney+ dropped titled "Penguins." It was really well done (I love the Disney Nature shows).

Monday we did a little bit of Spring Cleaning. The kids cleaned the toy bins out and Rebecca moved the furniture in the living room and swept underneath them all. I deep cleaned the kitchen table and chairs and walls in the dining room. I made a banana chocolate chip crazy snack cake to use up some brown bananas I had. Rebecca really likes it! 

Sunday I also did a ton of laundry. We tried to Zoom with my in-laws but for some reason we couldn't get on the same video page. Not sure if it was on my end or their end. We will try again at some other point. 

Yesterday, I ran out of steam and it was another day to just be. I did get a Misfit Markets delivery (including a TON of bok choy)
and got that processed and put away. Also, I did have to deal with my van. Bill went to pick up a written prescription for Jacob's ADHD medication at the doctors office after he got off work. He called me to let me know that the battery died in my van and that he was waiting for AAA. They got him jumped and he came home. When he went out later to go to Walmart and Aldi the van wouldn't start again. AAA came back out to jump it and I am hoping he can go get a new battery for it today (fingers crossed). I was also able to cut the boys' hair yesterday as they were looking pretty shaggy. LOL 

Today I am dragging as we had some pretty loud thunderstorms this morning between 2 and 4AM. Woke me up and kept me awake. I need to get the bathrooms cleaned today and my desk area. I will take the kids to get their lunches from school today in a bit and maybe that will wake me up and get me motivated.

Sorry this took a long turn. Hope everyone is having a good day! 

Today is Ben's Birthday and a water heater issue

… Otherwise known as day 18 of social distancing/self isolation during COVID-19. 

Updating the numbers here in Ohio...On March 23, Ohio had 442 cases. As of today we have 2902 cases and 81 deaths. That is a huge jump in 10 days. :( Our county just announced their 6th case. :(  Ohio also just announced that the stay in place order goes through May 1 and that starting Monday stores need to determine, post, and enforce a limit to how many people are inside at one time. We shall see how this goes. I still need to get something for Rebecca for her Easter basket but am thinking about just ordering online. Not sure. 

We are hanging in there. Bill is still working a bit. His employer has laid off about 30% of the workers. His hours have been cut a little but we are trying to make things work. I will admit that I am getting discouraged and can feel the sense of hopelessness creeping in. 

Trying to focus on the positives though... like today being Ben's birthday! He turned 8 years old today. 

A couple of weeks old

A few weeks ago (pre COVID-19 stay at home order)

We can't do many of our traditional birthday things but I am trying to make the day special for him. He came out of his room to find a waterfall of streamers in his doorway. There were donuts on the kitchen table for him (that Bill picked up the other day when he went to get groceries). 

Our day started out crazy as I woke up to a strong electrical burning smell. Bill came to get me and asked me to help him figure out where it was coming from. Upon further inspection, I went to the basement was greeted with this: 

Yep, our hot water tank. Called our landlord, who is under quarantine due to health issues and he has 2 special needs adopted kids at home and he said he would send his son out to look at it. His son thinks it was just the element in the top went bad and he replaced what he could. He thinks this was the issue, but I am to keep an eye on it. I just wish the electrical smell would go away. It has lessened I think but is still here. 

The kids did their school work online. We just found out that after next week ALL work is being done online. It is frustrating to me but what can you do? Next week is our district's Spring Break so I don't think they are assigning any work to give teachers and parents a break. I know that I need it. 

Ben was able to zoom with my sister earlier today. He liked that but started crying at the end because he misses her. 

Currently the boys are finishing up their school work. Rebecca is upstairs on the phone with her friend. Later we will have cake and give Ben his presents. Not sure yet what we are doing for dinner...Ben said he wants hot dogs, because we can't go out. But then he asked if we could get food out to eat here. I am not sure what we are going to do. 

For now, I will leave you with some signs of Spring that we saw yesterday when we went to the park to walk. 

Goose on her nest

How is your Thursday going? (It is Thursday right? LOL) What's happening in your world?