1st Week of June

86th Day of Quarantine

The expected high today was a very cool 77F.  It wasn't too bad sitting out in the sun, but in the shade I didn't last long.

I got out of bed to the sound of William throwing up again.

The church has opened up this week (by reservation) but will continue to stream online.  We will be part of the 'at home' camp for the foreseeable future.  Today though, this sick little boy watched with me from his sick bed.

He's not been able to keep anything down all day. = (

During obligatory outside time, the four girls played in the warm water of the pool we set up last week.  Since four is a tough number to fit in that space, we set up the second pool for Alice and Juliet.  They were mostly wading, and not 'swimming' so the cold water was not as much of a deterrent for them.

For dinner I heated up leftovers.

I was able to snatch up a Sam's order for tomorrow (my first one since March!) So I am pretty excited to be able to go without having to "shop." = )

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85th Day of Quarantine

The expected high today was 80F.  

I made some pancakes to celebrate the first day of Summer Break!

Emily could not wait to get back in the pool.  The hope was that it would warm up after being in the sun all morning, but it was still pretty cold!  Grace was shivering, so we cut our time short.

I came in to knock out a few chores, then watched Emily and William for another hour or so.  It was warmer then, but William was still shivering and spending longer and longer out of the water.

Sarah came by to drop off the summer reading binders for the little three, and they roped her into watching them for 20 more minutes. 

A couple of hours later I watched them again until it was time to make dinner, and by that time they were able to convince daddy to go out and watch.

For dinner we had a frozen PF Changs Ramen, but I had to supplement with the cheap packaged stuff too, since it was a lot of liquid in each pack. Billy thought it was good, I prefer the cheap packaged stuff.

5 of us ate al Fresco (Alice and Juliet were inside.)  After spending another hour or so outside, the shade was starting to creep up on the pool, William was shivering, and it was time to call it a night.

When Emily and I were getting set up to watch Kim Possible (we missed our usual Friday night) William retched on the kitchen floor.  My poor little boy.  The only place he could have gotten ill was from the hospital trip yesterday.  = (

I set him up on the sick bed, and he had a calm night.

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84th Day of Quarantine, 52nd and Final Day of School at Home.

The highest I saw in my cart today was 78F, but I think it warmed up a little beyond that, making for a very pleasant day.

WGJ had an 8:10am appointment in grand rapids.  With such an early appointment, we were back home before 11:30, even after a stop at Sonic.

Sarah came over to do the lawn, while the kids were finalizing all of their assignments.  She also gave Alice a quick driving lesson, which Alice thought was pretty amazing.

I promised them help setting up the pool as soon as everyone finished their work. And, the kids wound up with a bonus surprise from Aunt Wanda: a giant inflatable unicorn sprinkler!  

It took a long time to blow up the inflatables, even with the compressor, and waiting was tough.

Everyone was excited to go out and play, but that water was cold!

Emily and William lasted the longest, getting in a few hours before it was time to come in.

For dinner we had pizza.

We are all so happy to be done for the year, though next week we will be heading up to the school to collect things and say goodbye to the teachers.

I got to meet with one of my BCUMC people last night, everyone else was MIA.  But Kristey and I had a nice conversation until my phone died.

Once my phone had recovered a bit of charged, I dialed into a local bonfire with all my Dimondale ladies.  We are pretty much self quarantining at this point, now that everything is opening back up.  It does make it harder to stay home when all sorts of get togethers are happening, but my children's health is worth it.

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83rd Day of Quarantine, 51st Day of School at Home

The expected high today was 85F.

Sarah and I met up at a thrift store, we scheduled an appointment, but they have fully reopened as of today.

I found one book from our homeschool list, but we already had it.  I did score some poetry books though, as well as a few other titles for our sets.  I bought a bubble maker for the kids, it went over very well!

For dinner we had chili cheese dogs.

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82nd Day of Quarantine, 50th Day of School at Home

The expected high today was 82F.

Grace and Juliet received their birthday gift from the Helterbrand Cousins!

I worked a little on Leon's Birthday gift.  Thankfully I have until December to finish it.  Hopefully I'll get it off of my todo pile long before then. = )

For dinner we had Tikka Masala (but not our usual brand.) It was okay.

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81st Day of Quarantine, 49th Day of School at Home

The expected high today is 88F!  I'm ready for it, after the cold snap the past two days. 

Online school is still going about as well as you can expect for my tired, ready for summer crew.  

Emily had a class meeting, and all the end of year feels are starting to creep up on me.  I'm ready for this virtual learning to be over, but I am going to miss their teachers so much next year.

I took some time to make my supplies look pretty, and got all the flash cards ready for reading this summer.

Juliet had a lengthy conversation with her friend Kennedy.

We had our first virtual appointment for the kids with the endocrinologist. Everything seems in order, and we're not due again for 6 months!

I found time to make the three masks Sarah requested, since Billy bought us Arby's for dinner.

The new elastic is very soft, but I don't know how durable it will be for the long term.  Luckily, the elastic is easily replaced if needed.

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80th Day of Quarantine, 48th Day of School at Home.  

The high today was a chilly 73F.

I met Sarah at the VOA on Cedar and we enjoyed some distance shopping for 1 hour.

The twins were excited to open their (belated) birthday gift from Avia.

Grace had a sweet conversation with her friend Zoey.

For dinner we had egg fried rice.

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later days

May 12th, 60th Day of Quarantine, 35th Day of School at Home

The high today was 56F.  It was sunny and warm-ish, we are expecting one more night of freezing temperatures, so the plants are staying put in their bathroom holding room.

My day started a little earlier than usual with a 7:45 phone call from the company that services our water softener.  They wanted to come by between 1-3.  Today I didn't mind so much (since we're almost always home now anyhow) but usually their less than 24 hour notice drives me nuts.

Homework went smoothly for most of my crew.  Today was a William feet dragging day though, so we were still trying to get through his assignments at 2pm.

I got the regular survey call from the district, and in an effort to expedite the questions, I wrote down my survey answers yesterday.  So, today, I didn't have to listen to the questions or scale, it worked out brilliantly.

Once William finally finished his work, I found the time to finish the masks bound for the Helterbrand House.

I even got them packaged up and ready to go in the mailbox!

Emily had a meeting with her teacher, then a little while with later her entire class.

At 3:30 we went out to see if we could spot the Blue Angel flyover for Lansing, but we are just too far out, and there are too many trees.

For dinner we had beef brisket fajitas (I had intended to make tacos, but lacked the lettuce.)

It was warmer today than we'd seen in a while, but still just a little chilly.  The weather from here on is looking promising though.

later days

May 9th, 57th Day of Quarantine

The expected high today was a sunny, misleading, cold 51F.

In the morning I worked on some masks for the Helterbrands. Since I'm doing them all at once, my goal is to do one or two steps each day, so they are all still unfinished. = )

Sarah came over and detailed my car.  She enlisted the kids to wash the mats with the hose, since they could do that without getting too close to her.  So, they helped, for a few minutes, but she spent hours making my car cleaner and shiner.  I love how clean it is!

For dinner I made General Tso's chicken with rice.

Emily made some Bueno Nachos for us (her, me, Grace, Juliet, William, and eventually Billy!) to enjoy while we watched Kim Possible.

later days

The Cousins Came To Visit!

It is spring break for the Helterbrand Cousins, and they opted to come spend it with us in the frozen north!

We prepared a bit before they arrived:

They came in midday Saturday, and we've had a full table and noisy house since then. = )

They played some in the leftover snow from last week, but we did get a little fresh stuff for them to enjoy on Monday! And, it was the best kind of snow, it came, they played, it melted. = )

My littlest ones have enjoyed having someone smaller around.

Coyt requested fancy, so I tired, but there is only so much you can do with chicken nuggets.

On Sunday, it was cold, but sunny and not windy, so we went to the park to take pictures with Avia. I managed to get a close up of everyone except for Cali.  She and Alice took turns crying at the park.

Avia with all of her Grandchildren:

These pictures were taken seconds apart, and show just how difficult it is to take pictures of all 5!

They are smiling, but Elizabeth looks like she does not trust me...

After pictures, we walked to get ice cream!  Our little shop in the village opened March 1st.

Avia took on all the cousins and non-school aged children, so that Haley and I could visit Sarah and go shopping!  Sarah was about to paint, so she hid from the camera.

Cali and Emily are the two crafters and they made a necklace worth of paper beads with this nifty contraption.

My kids still had school each day, but poor Emily has had a pattern of school/sick/school/sick all week. = (  The twins also had their usual speech appointment.

Emily and Cali were pretending to be little old ladies.

Juliet and Cali had some fun making optical illusions:

Dance party!

This picture is a bit misleading, Alice is actually just a smidge taller than Cali:

Bath time!

They were making "magic weight loss videos" for us. = )

Avia was in charge of entertaining the Helterbrands during the school day, and yesterday took the twins along too, so that I could bring this sick one to the doctor.

She tested negative for flu and strep, and perked up a bit during her appointment. She had me really concerned when she told me that she would probably just "open her present, and not skate" at her party. = (  Luckily, after a relaxing day, she had enough energy to enjoy her party, and managed to make it to school, if slowly, this morning.

we only have about 24 hours left with them, and they are awake*!

later days

*the combination of changing time zones, daylight savings and being on break, has us split on two different schedules!