2nd Week of September

183rd Day of Quarantine.

The high today was 75F.

Today was an exciting day for my Grace; Molly came home from the doll hospital!

She arrived in her hospital gown, complete with ID band, discharge paper work, and a tiny get well soon card.  Grace was so happy and loved on her all day.

Is it Grace and Juliet? Nope, it's Grace and Molly, twinning!

For dinner we had Mac and Cheese, since that was what Grace and Juliet wanted to make.

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182nd Day of Quarantine.

The high today was 73F.

9/11 is always a somber and reflective day.  As of today, I've spent as much of my life post-9/11 as I had pre-9/11.  

We finished our Alice in Wonderland read aloud. It was a nice end to what seemed like a really long week, despite the Monday holiday.

Once we were finished with our school day, I drove down to Charlotte to go to a rummage sale that I caught wind of.  I picked up another sale on the way down, and stopped in at the <cheaper> Goodwill to shop for some Halloween costumes.

For dinner I picked up Rally's and McDonald's on my way back from Charlotte.

I saw this sign posted at the taco bell, and this type of advertising on a "now hiring sign" just feels so appropriate for our current political/economic/pandemic.

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181st Day of Quarantine.

The expected high today was 63F.  It was overcast and chilly.

Today was our last day of extra subjects to make up for having Monday off.  During the Alice in Wonderland read aloud, we did some watercolor painting.  It was a big hit.  Today's subject was Ward*.  

After lessons I went to the farmer's market and bought dinner, some flowers, produce and popcorn!  We had chicken satay, pad thai, and Billy had a burrito with chips and salsa.  I also bought a gourd for the kids to see, since it came up in our lesson on the purple martin today. 

*My poor plant that the chippunk, that lives under our porch, almost killed off by pulling off the leaves and digging up the roots!  It's doing well in recovery, inside our bathroom now.

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180th Day of Quarantine.

The expected high today was 63F.

The only things we added to our curriculum today were the composition part of Language Arts and Nature Study.  Strangely, that ended up adding hours to our day.  

For Nature Study, we were doing the Moth 'extensions' and it called for listening to "Autumn" by Vivaldi.  The kids were silly and tired by the time we got there, so it didn't go as well as I thought it would, but it was still pretty pleasant to lay on the floor, close our eyes and imagine floating leaves and cold wind.

Science called for the making of a shield, in true da Vinci style.  So, the big girls set to cutting and gluing and taping dragons on their shield.

Grace was the self designated "materials manager."

Today was also poetry day, so we had a particularly full afternoon!  The kids really enjoy the tea and biscuits though, and it is nice to see them so excited about 'poetry' even if it is only because of association.

After tea time, the big girls worked on step two of their shields: paper mache.  Truly, we could have skipped this, and my kitchen would have been so much cleaner and they wouldn't have minded even known the difference. But they really enjoyed it, and had so much fun. I just can't wait to see how their shields turn out!  (step three is to paint, and so we are now 'waiting' for them to dry.)

And, once our long day was winding down, our cleaning lady came a day early*! = 0  Usually I prep everything and tuck things out of the way, make sure A/E have their clothes hung and everyone folds up their blankets, but she caught us unprepared!

So, we had a mad rush, lots of things got tossed into computer cabinets and we tried to say out of the way.  She had been coming during the day, but with all the kids out of school, we are back to an evening schedule.  Of course, that is immaterial to us, since we are here all day, every day.

For dinner we had Salisbury steak and potatoes, which is not the worst meal to try to clean up before my kitchen was thoroughly cleaned.  But the dishwasher was full of our tea dishes, so my little tub that holds the dirties was working overtime.

After dinner I cleaned off my desk, and worked on a few more loads of laundry.

*this was the first time she's been in since March, and while I try to keep things clean, I would have been better prepared tomorrow.

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179th Day of Quarantine.

The high today was an exceptionally cold 58F.  The twins broke out scarves gloves and ear warmers for recess.  We are all in for a long winter.

In science the big girls tried to make a 'floating animal' from the da Vinci book.  It didn't turn out so great.  Emily's kind of floated once it dried, but Alice's was just a sticky mess.  At least we had fun.

For dinner we had pork and beans with the leftover hotdogs. 

I finished watching a netflix romcom Love Guaranteed.  It was sweet and completely unremarkable.  

I also worked on ordering books, or tracking down the websites that we will be using in the near future.  I am finding it very hard to believe that we are already in week 4 of our school year!

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Quarantine 178th Day of Quarantine

The high today was 79F. It was a rainy morning, and still pretty cool in the shade.

The Crockers left before noon.  I snapped a few pictures so that Brenda could have a recent one with each of the kids.

I enjoyed a leisurely shopping trip to the VOA before driving to Grand Ledge to pick up Dairy Queen for dinner.  

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Quarantine 177th Day of Quarantine.

 
The expected high today was 71F.

Church had a few issues this morning, but I did get to see the end of service at least.  After church I went to pick up the groceries and then stopped at a garage sale.

Billy and I went to menards and dollar tree in grand ledge to try and track down a hinge that was out of stock at the one closer to us.

After our errand we found a Dairy Queen.  It is a proper Dairy Queen with chicken strips and white gravy!

For dinner Billy grilled out hot dogs, sausages and barbeque chicken.

He also broke out the heat lamps (for the 3rd time ever.)  And it was really chilly out/

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later days

May 11th, 59th Day of Quarantine, 34th Day of School at Home

The high today was a rainy, snowy, cold 49F.

Grace and Juliet were particularly whiny for a Monday morning, after getting lots of sleep.  But Juliet would turn her frown into a smile every time, knowing that I was trying to send her teacher a picture.

Grace was less successful, and posed 'bored' but I also caught her on video harrumphing.

For lunch I heated up all the leftovers in the fridge.

Today was grocery pick up at Kroger. I was the only one in the pick up area when I arrived, and only joined by 2 others before leaving.  Since homework was slow going this morning, I had to get gas and run the recycling after picking up my order.

For dinner we had cheesy hotdogs.  

Emily and I played a few rounds of Cat Crimes.

Facebook has me up in arms about how people are feeling.  If they are typing their true intentions, war might be coming.  I have a super tentative plan, I did order a U.S. atlas, and I have been adding a canned good or two to my grocery pick up each week.  I wouldn't say I'm ready, but it's nice to have a plan. 

later days

April 17th, 35th day of Quarantine, 18th Day of School at Home

Today's expected high is 36F. It is currently snowing, still.  The sky has been at it all day.

Once the kids started on their school work, I managed a few more hats for Diem.  The orange shiny fabric is tough to iron, so it took me twice as long.  The hat also turned out really stiff, so I don't think I'll make any more with that type of fabric.

For lunch I turned some of the leftover brisket and yesterday's chicken into fajitas.  It was really tasty!

I had a parent/teacher Zoom meeting with Alice's class.

And then, right after that, I got to chat with some of my long lost Bear Creek friends!  (I shamelessly stole the picture from Kristey.)  It was so good to see them, and made this time feel less scary and sad.

And then, to finish out our night, all 7 of us snuggled up on the couch and watched and episode of Kim Possible.  Y'all, 19 year old me would not have ever believed this story.

I'm over the cold and the snow, but oh so happy to have the life I have.

later days

April 13th, 31st Day of Homebound, 15th Day of School at Home

The expected high today was 39F. It was cold and windy and we even had a little bit of precipitation.

The kids were back in school today, everyone was working on their Google Classroom, since the paper school work finished up before spring break.

It was a grey, cold day, that lasted a long time.

For lunch we had leftovers, and for dinner ate some pork & beans. = )

With family birthdays and Easter over for a while, we are now searching for things to celebrate in the upcoming weeks.

I finished my book (One of Us is Next) and labelled my Easter Tub with a QR Code.

Kroger's clicklist wait is now a week out, but it seems like it is finally stabilized, and I can order on a pattern.

I guess the coming weeks will be more trying than the rest.

later days

 

March 11th

The high today was a cold, windy, start the day off with a snow/rain mix of 44F.  Hard to believe the difference in the weather with the exact same temperature as yesterday!

Since I worked in a Hamsterkauf* trip to Sam's yesterday, today I took care of all of my appointments that needed tending.  I managed to fit three new appointments into our already saturated schedule.  The scheduling of the appointments is of course not usually a problem, it's the attending that tends to be the difficult part.

After the medicine came, and I completed various chores around the house, I worked on a few vinyl projects.  One of which was for Emily's friend.

It was an early release day, Willow came to spend some time playing outside with a few of my crew.

For dinner we had tacos.

later days

*Should it turn out that I made this trip unnecessarily, we are all set for our summer grilling! = )

March 5th

The high today was 49F.  It was sunny with no precipitation, and a light breeze.

I visited a Mops group that meets the opposite Thursdays from the one I've been enjoying since moving to Michigan. I was hoping to find some more moms that live in my village.  I didn't succeed in finding any, but I did find some Supernatural fans! In real life!

It was an early release day, so the kids doubled up on homework so that tomorrow we can go to McDonald's immediately following school.

For dinner we had oven baked hamburgers.

later days

March 1st

The expected high today was 47F.  Pretty sure we nailed it.  It was slightly windy with no precipitation during the day.

Billy replacing our light fixture in the guest bathroom, since the other one required a special bulb that they are discontinuing at our local Menard's.  The fixture didn't have the correct install hardware, so I'll be making a trip to find the correct one soon!

While my mom had the kids at the movies (they are running a special that kids under 12 get in free with an adult ticket!) Billy and I went to A&W for a root beer float date.

So, for dinner we grabbed a KFC bucket meal for the kids. = )

later days

February 18th

The expected high today was 35F.  The only time I left the house was to take out the trash, so I don't really know how it felt aside from cold.  It sounded quite windy this morning when I was finishing my book though!

My goals for the day were pretty basic:

• finish my book
• embroider teacher bags
• laundry

I managed all three (the first one before I even rolled out of bed...) plus some!  I had to fight my old computer just to get the embroidery done, but I managed to finally get it to boot up!  The multiple thread and bobbin changes are the time consuming parts of this task. 

While I was in crafting mode, I cut and ironed on the fusible fleece to the outer pieces and sewed the zipper assembly.  All that is left now is just sewing all the pieces together (times 5.) = )

Meanwhile I knocked out 5 loads of laundry, made both of my phone calls, planned a few social outings, and fed my hungry children!

For dinner we had 'clean out the freezer' fare which really was only taquitos and fish sticks, but my freezer is much less stuffed now. = )

later days

February 4th

Today the expected high was a chilly and windy 35F.  There was no precipitation, but also no sun.

I subbed for Alice's class, and they were lovely.  really.  The worst part of my day was having to help supervise 2nd recess.  Standing out in the cold and wind and cold for 20 minutes is not really my thing.  I did get to see both Alice and Emily during that time though, which was kind of nice.

After school I signed Emily up with her friend Abby for the talent show (they are going to dance.)  And got recruited for Emily's class tomorrow morning, since her teacher was out sick today (and probably again tomorrow.)

For dinner we had lasagna (meat sauce for me, no meat sauce for Billy, and the kids split the rest of each.)  Considering Alice and Emily both said 'ew' before it went in the oven, they ate really well.  William had a BBQ sandwich as a snack when we arrived home, so he didn't eat much at all.  The twins also ate well, but they weren't openly biased against it from the start. = )

Billy was only a few minutes later than usual for dinner, despite the fact that he had a day work trip to a plant in Georgia today.

It was a good day, but I'm still tuckered out, and already tired from Emily's excessively energetic class that I have agreed to sub for tomorrow morning.

later days

January 12th

Today is icy and cold.  The expected high is only 27F, brrrr!  They haven't re-plowed the roads in the village yet, and normal traffic has been exceptionally light!

I haven't felt well all day, making for a slow morning. We didn't venture out at all on the slippery roads.  Though the plow must have come through at some point, because the roads looked much better this evening.

Our normal Sunday afternoon routine flew by, as Monday approached.  I ran the dishwasher 3 times today!  Which is crazy, because we had soup for lunch, and I made a chicken & rice casserole for dinner, so we didn't make many dishes cooking. = /

I also finished up 3 loads of laundry, which is one more than planned, so that I could add some snaps to Emily's unicorn pajamas and repair the tail.

The twins spent over an hour playing in the tub, and they are so fun to listen to while they play (anything really) until they start to fight. = (

Also, I started on end of year teacher gifts.  The kids wrote out their teachers' names and signed their own.  I cleaned up the file in Paint and moved the files onto the computer I use when embroidering.  Each of my little ones also carefully selected fabrics, and I helped match the lining and zipper to their selection.  I hope the teachers love them. <3

Today is the first day of our 21 day fasting for the book of Mark with JLC.  I'm fasting from candy.  Tomorrow, hopefully, I will remember to print off the booklet so that I can intentionally focus in a meaningful and Biblical way.

I'm still not feeling great, even after a day of taking it so easy.  Hoping for a healing sleep tonight!

later days

Inaugural Zoo Trip!

For their birthday, Bill and Brenda bought the twins a Zoo Membership!  They were so excited to go see all the animals, even though it was c.o.l.d yesterday.

Because it was so cold out, we had the run of the zoo to ourselves!  There was one other pair that we passed a few times, and a field trip showed up just before we left.

The camels were hunkered down against the cold, but apparently didn't like the looks of us. = 0

The petting zoo is closed for the season, which made the twins quite sad.

The had their hair done with "giraffe horns" in honor of our zoo trip.

The feline & primate house was sooooo warm. We spent quite a while warming up.

The tiger was not happy to see us.

It was so warm, we shed our coats!  I gave Grace and Juliet each a dime to toss into the fountain.  Juliet didn't want to put hers in (and she wouldn't give it back.)  She was so sad after she tossed it in.  = (

They were either 'reading' or 'conducting,' I'm not sure which, but they both had sticks in their hands as they pointed to the signs.

We normally avoid the quiet area, since we are not a quiet group, but since no one else was around to be bothered, the twins each enjoyed a 'ride' on the elephant.

This peacock was trying to impress someone, but not us.  He kept turning his bottom my way!

I did finally get a shot of him facing the camera!

The zoo has several peacocks and peahens that have run of the zoo. It's really neat to see them milling about. They even climb up on the roofs and fences of the buildings!

The girls really enjoyed the giraffe statues, both times we passed them. They still hadn't grown enough during the day to mount them as we left.

After lunch, we went into the nice warm reptile house to warm up.  It was nice to thaw out again, and we were able to search and find every animal, except for the gecko. = (

A field trip came in, so we cut our time just a minute or two shorter than we might have stayed, but it was time for us to go watch William!

We stopped by the gift shop on the way out, so that they could plan how much of their birthday money they needed to bring on our next trip to pick up a special souvenir!

Grace and Juliet loved their gift, and are already talking about our next trip!  The big kids were slightly jealous to have missed out, but we will be back, hopefully when its a bit warmer!

later days