Puzzles and Potter

Never did I think I would see the day our family would be obsessed with puzzles.  We have spent more time in our dinning room these past few weeks than the entire 15 years we've lived in this house!  Everyday (yep...EVERYDAY!) we gather in this room (sometimes multiple times a day) to put together some puzzles.

While Todd and the kids are piecing together, I am reading aloud.  To date, we have completed more than ten 500+ piece puzzles and read the first THREE Harry Potter books.  They build, I read...it's what we do now.

Banana Blooper

Ordering groceries online is something new we’ve had to do during the stay-at-home order. Note to self: double check for typos before submitting your order. Apparently I ordered 22 pounds of bananas!  Ooops!

Yep...that’s about 10 bunches of bananas. Giving away only one of those bunches, we got creative. We froze some for later.  Banana bread and banana pudding were whipped up real quick. The rest went into the fridge and lasted for 3 weeks!  Good thing we know how to make a pretty delicious smoothie in our house...thanks to the Nutri-Ninja. I’m happy to say that not a single banana went to waste and I had some excellent smoothie reviews. 

Buca di Hammerick

I REALLY needed a night out to dinner.  So, my team stepped up and took me out!  Our dinning room was transformed into a romantic candlelit atmosphere, complete with the fancy placemats, plates and even a personalized menu!  Due to the fact that pasta and a special Chicken Limon recipe was whipped up for dinner...our dinning room was renamed Buca di Hammerick for the evening.

 

 

The food was delicious, the service was outstanding, and the price was right!  Allie even played a special song she wrote for her daddy on her ukulele.  We tipped the staff very well for all their efforts!

Easter

Governor Whitmer declared the Easter Bunny an essential worker...and he didn't disappoint!  Easter eggs hidden everywhere and jelly beans scattered too.  The Easter Bunny left some yummy treats and some sweet goodies.  The kids were thrilled with their new Lego sets and 500-piece puzzles!  A sticker by number was the perfect thing too, to pass the time while being at home.

We filled our day with Lego's, stickers, puzzles, egg dying, Zooming with family (sort of) after a lot of technically difficulties, and a bike ride during the little bit of time the sun was out.  We did manage to get dressed for the day (something that doesn't happen very much anymore) and we ordered takeout for the first time in WEEKS!  We stuffed ourselves with barbeque and made mini-bunny cakes for dessert!  Easter in quarantine turned out to be a pretty good one.

Egg Hunt

This is not your usual egg hunt!  The kids and I walked around part of the neighborhood drawing giant Easter eggs on the sidewalk with chalk.  We hope everyone enjoys hunting for eggs, social distancing style...and even make a few of their own in front of their house too!

Not April Fools

The Governor announced today, school is canceled for the rest of the year.  Oh how I wish this were an April Fool's joke.  It's so sad to think that Allie and Ayden will never go back to school this year, with their friends, their teacher, their classmates.  It's over...just like that.  I feel sad for my students whose last year at our school will have no closure.  All of the end of the year events we look forward to...singing concerts, field day, class parties, field trips...won't be happening.

Covid-19 has changed our lives dramatically, and these kids are living through it.  We must shelter in place, stay at home, and only go out for essential things like gas for the car and groceries.  Only one adult may go and must wear a mask in public places.  These kids get to go NO WHERE!  And we don't know when it will be over either.

From now until mid June, we will be learning remotely and I will be teaching virtually.  We transformed our home office into a classroom.  Everyday is pajama day.  There will be no testing and no time restraints.  We can sleep in, take an hour long lunch, eat whatever we want for snacks, and pee when we want.  We follow a schedule because we ALL thrive with routine.  I'm sure it will evolve over time and as things change day-to-day.  But for now, we are making it work.  Learning will continue...and some much needed family time is on the agenda.

 

Ayden is living his best life...he is such a homebody.  He loves wearing his pajamas all day, every day, and just playing at home.  Allie is already missing her friends and I think will be most effected by this turn of events.  There are so many events of hers, that just aren't going to happen.  I feel so sad for her.  However...we will make the best of it.  We will persevere...even though we really, really hate it all.

Drawing Up Some Positivity

Today we spread some positive messages with our neighbors with a little chalk art.  It awesome to sit in our office and notice out our front window the neighbors walking by, stopping to admire and snap a few photos of our messages.