3rd Week of August

162nd Day of Quarantine

The high today was 88F.  It was warm during the day, but the nights still get cool.

Billy went to Lowes to pick up supplies for replacing our decrepit basement door.

For dinner Billy picked up Wendy's on his way back from Lowes.

Also, I started season 15 of Supernatural.  I'm really not ready for it to be over yet.

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161st Day of Quarantine

The high today was 87F, and it sure felt like it on our way to the DODC.

Today we finished up our last day of our first week of homeschool!  Today had two elements that we hadn't yet encountered.  The first was dictation, the second written narration.

I tried doing all 5 of them on dictation at the same time, and it was awful. There was whining and when I would work with the big girls the little ones were noisy, and next week we will try something different.

It was so much sweeter then, when we did written narration.  I called them in one at a time for narration, and they picked a variety of books.  Even Grace, who gives me minimal oral narration each time she is picked filled up 2 pages about King Alfred and the Cakes. Since today was the first time, I wrote the big girls as well (they had to have a number of sentences greater than or equal to their grade.)  We will work toward them writing their own, but the podcast I listened to recommended starting with oral and working our way up.

At the end of our school day, we walked down to the DODC by the kids' old school for our nature study.  We were looking for "mini beasts."  We saw butterflies and lady bugs and ants and on the way back Alice even found a myriapod!

For dinner we had a microwave Chicken Fettucine Alfredo kit & bueno nachos

And we watched the end of Kim Possible.  We also watched the cartoon movie (which should have followed the end of season three.)  And we watched the live action movie.  It was exciting, as the voice actor for the cartoon made an appearance! Also, the actor who played the grandmother in this was the mother from the Torkelsons, one of my favorite childhood shows.

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160th Day of Quarantine - Alice's 11th Birthday!

The expected high today is 84F.

We are still finding our rhythm and tweaking our school schedule, but now have a good idea as to how it will look each day.

In honor of Alice's birthday (and so that she could spend max time on her new Sims 4 game) we bent the "no electronics until 4pm rule, and they were able to get on right after we finished reading chapter three of Alice in Wonderland.

Billy walked down to the farmer's market and bought some rice and chicken for dinner (from the Thai restaurant.) It was very good.

We sang and ate birthday cake for dessert.

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Today is the 159th day of Quarantine.

The high today was 77F.

The most exciting thing that my children learned from our poet study today was that Shakespeare had twins (Hamlet and Judith.)

Alice and Emily were filling out a map as part of their geography.  I was happy to have a map that Sarah made up (of Canada, none-the-less) to show them what they can strive for.

We had to leave for Ann Arbor around 1, so I left Emily in charge of making Alice's cake.  She did a great job, and apparently Alice was excited about the custom "topper" that I ordered of her Roblox character. = )  Emily "painted" it with acrylic paint markers, and it looks a lot like her old avatar (I saw her changing the avatar on her account 2 days after I ordered it...)

The drive was fairly uneventful, other than several patches of construction.  We waited in the parking lot for a bit, and the kids all caught a quick nap en route.  They have finished some of the inside construction, and taken down walls so it is now a very different path than we used to take.  There was no one at reception when we arrived, and we were scolded for not 'checking in' by the nurse.  ugh.  We ended up waiting for about 20 minutes which is a really long time, considering they no longer even play movies!  (I totally get the toys being picked up, but you would think that a movie on in the waiting room would be virus proof?)

Grace and Juliet both received excellent reports.  Grace even has a few wiggly teeth on the bottom! William's getting in some permanent teeth, and they already have issues.  The problem is the same on both sides, so we will be making 2 more trips for them to cap his teeth until they are fully in place. Once they are fully exposed then they will put on a more permanent solution to protect them.  Not the best news, but not unexpected, and the primary reason we make the drive to go to a specialty clinic for them.

Since the appointment wasn't until 3, we didn't get to leave until after 5 heading home.  Traffic in Ann Arbor was awful (couldn't even make a right turn thanks to the back up.) We also came to a complete stop on 23 as we approached 96 a couple of times.  Nothing too bad.

However, when we rolled into town at 6:15ish, and were due to stop at Wendy's to procure dinner, the line was all the way to the edge of the parking lot, which would have had me stopped out in the main lanes.  I opted to run home, drop off the kids, and then went to a different Wendy's.  They were busy, and slow, but at least I didn't have whiny, hungry children with me.  With all of that, we didn't end up eating until about 7, which is really late for us.

It was also shot night, so once I unloaded, got everyone fed, I made up shots, then toothbrushes.  It was a hurried bedtime, but everyone got to hear a little bit of whatever story they like, then quick kisses.  Unexpectedly, the three little ones did go to sleep, so Billy and I were able to set up Alice's balloon décor uninterrupted.

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Today was the 158th day of Quarantine.

The high was a very cool 77F.

We started off the morning going out to find a "dew orb" that we read about in the big girls' recitation exercise by Shakespeare.

After some whining during math, and general slowness transitioning between subjects, we finished off the evening with chapter 2 of Alice in Wonderland and playdoh play.  The big girls told me that they really enjoyed it, since they don't get to play with playdoh at school anymore. = )

For dinner we had Salisbury steak and mashed potatoes.

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We are looking at the 157th day of Quarantine.

Today the high was 82F.

It was the first day of school!

Billy had a late doctor's appointment and brought back Arby's for dinner.

Billy and I went for a short walk after dinner, a very short walk since the kids stayed home.  Hopefully we will be able to make it a little longer next time.  = )

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Today was the 156th day of Quarantine.

The high today was 81F with a very cool start to the day.

I woke up a little earlier so that I could clean up all of the paint supplies before online church.  The kids worked on their packets and watched the video from Avia's church.

After church I rushed out the door to run the recycling by Sarah's and go pick up my grocery order.  I stumbled on a garage sale after I left Sarah's and bought a few small Christmas gifts for my crew.

The Kroger gas station had small lines when I arrived, so I picked up my groceries first.  This worked out in my favor, since the lines were going by the time I had my groceries. = )

After putting away the groceries, I listened to a few outstanding podcasts from A Delectable Feast about narration and "things."  I planned on shucking the corn while doing this, but ended up with a few cute, albeit messy, helpers. = )

Once the corn was cooking, it was time for baths, then making dinner.  For dinner we had chili cheesed dogs and corn on the cob.

After dinner, Billy helped me measure and mark for the pictures to go back up on the wall.

There are still blemishes and it is not perfect, but I'm glad that there are no longer medium & giant holes in the wall!  This will make being in the room for hours a day so much better!  = )

later days

2nd Week of August

Today was the 155th Day of Quarantine.

The high today was supposed to be 87F.

Today I finished and submitted my grocery order.  It's weird, since Monday has been my grocery day for soooo long.  But Monday we will be doing pictures and schultueten, so I want to leave the extra time for that.

I convinced Billy to sand the wall, with his new power sander, so that I could paint it before the school year began.

I ended up making a run to home depot, because when I opened the paint we bought (the first month or so that we lived here) rust fell into the paint. = (  It wasn't nearly as packed as I would have thought, at least for a Saturday afternoon.  And on my trip there I observed that Creyts road is reopened and smooth!

Since Grace helped me tape before I left, all I had to do was wipe the wall and roll on the paint.  It didn't take long at all!

We had tacos for dinner with tomatoes from our tiny garden and lettuce from the farmer's market!

Once the day was mostly spent, I finished it off with a few episodes of Supernatural.

I added a few extra canned items and dry beans to the list for our emergency storage.  The USPS is undergoing some scary (at least according to the untrustworthy media) changes, and life is so uncertain right now.  I am trying not to worry, and I hope November 3rd can just stay a normal day and not be the beginning of the end of life as we know it.

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154th Day of Quarantine.

The high today was 87F.

Alice got to say goodbye to Osage during an early playground playdate.  Juliet was the only other one awake enough to want to come, but was sad that Osage's little sister was not there to play with.  A bee spooked Alice after about thirty minutes, so we left earlier than we thought we would.

Billy went to the doctor and brought home Taco Bell for lunch.

I found an outdoor rummage sale advertised a few weeks ago, and was excited to shop as soon as Billy got home.  It's the only one I've seen this year.  Granted, I've not been driving around as much to see if there are other sales, and there are probably fewer since they would need to be held outside.

I found a couple of books from our list and some embroidery supplies for our handicrafts!  I also got a birthday present for one of my nieces and some shirts for Avia's consideration.

For dinner we had General Tso's Chicken and rice.

We finished off the day with Kim Possible and Bueno Nachos.

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153rd Day of Quarantine.

The high today was 86F.

I had everyone get up and out the door two hours earlier than Emily's dentist appointment, because my car needed an oil change.  We us a family place down in Mason, which is at least in the right direction, but a little out of the way. There was no wait at all, so we were very early for her appointment.

The Scooby Doo disk that William picked would not play, and when I inspected it, it was really roughed up!  Not scratches, but white pits or decay (?) under the plastic.  I've never seen a cd with that kind of damage.  Thankfully, optimistic Grace saved the day by bringing a Hello Kitty disk that no-one else wanted to watch.  It's amazing how quickly they went from "no" to "yes" when it was the only game in town.

Emily's appointment felt really long, and the kids were bored.  Billy had his own appointment today, or I would have happily left the crew home with him.

We got word today that Billy's company is going to start bringing people back in at the beginning of October. = (  I will miss him being here with us all the time.

And this afternoon William was treated to an end of summer ice cream treat from his first grade teacher.  We sat 6 feet apart in the park across from the ice cream shop and William got to read to her and show her how much he has improved this summer.  I am devastated that the twins are going to miss out on her next year.  Even though I know that homeschooling is the best answer for our family i find myself focusing on "what should have been" versus the reality of "how it will be."

Saying goodbye was hard for both of us.

For dinner we had quesadillas and farmers market finds (tomatoes, squash, blueberries, chips and queso.)

I organized the new books that came in, and labelled the binders that Sarah sent over.

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152nd Day of Quarantine.

The high today was 86F.

We walked down to get William a professional haircut from the barber.  Billy was only about halfway through his 2nd quarantine haircut when he just could not finish, so his hair has been looking rough for a few weeks now.

Before (grumpy boy:)

After (happy boy:)

I ironed out a few other things in my lessons for next week, then went to a different thrift store in search of book and Christmas gifts.

For dinner we had chicken and cheese flatbread sandwiches.  They were well received considering they were 'microwave' dishes.

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151st Day of Quarantine.

The expected high today is 83F.

Billy was up early again, to get blood drawn, since yesterday they skipped his turn, and I needed to get to the grocery store.  (I offered to take the kids, but he kindly went back today instead, so that we could all have a little easier of a morning.)

Before my dentist appointment, I bagged up the first 12 weeks worth of science materials!  I was impressed by the curriculum, since it had both a master list as well as cards to help group each experiment ahead of time! It only took me an hour or so, since I've been rounding up things from the master list since the spring.

My dentist appointment was short, and I headed straight to the thrift store from there.  I scored a few books from the list, and a few other books of interest.  I also bought a few things for our handiwork time in the afternoon.  I might have purchased a few more Christmas gifts and dropped them by Sarah's.  Maybe.

Then, when I arrived home, we got a brain teaser book in the mail from Aunt Wanda!

For dinner we had beef and broccoli with rice.

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150th Day of Quarantine.

The expected high today is 88F.

Billy was up early, fasting and heading to get his blood drawn for an upcoming doctor's appointment.

Once he returned home, I headed out to pick up a Kroger order and then off to Sam's for another order.  Thankfully Sam's delivers many of the items that we eat, which has helped me space out my trips further.  This was probably the final trip until Avia returns, since we are starting school next Monday.

I was able to go to the dentist and have my temporary cemented back in place (for the next 24 hours.)

The afternoon was reserved for finalizing our school schedule and making sure I had every book that I needed for the entire first week ready to go.  I also made sure that I have all the links we need to videos saved on the tablet.

For dinner, Grace requested the hot dog spaghetti squid.  I told her that was fine as long as she helped me make them.  When Juliet came over to ask what we were having for dinner I told her, but then asked "where's Grace?" It turns out, Grace had gone into her room and fell asleep under her bed.  ::sigh:: But, Juliet picked up the torch and helped me make the squid for dinner. = )

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149th Day of Quarantine.

The expected high today was 90F.

After online church, I disassembled our summer schedule supplies to fit them in with our school materials for next year.  The masking tape color is the child, and then I labeled them with subject.  Sarah is printing off the remaining pages, so I have 5 outstanding binders, and then I think we are ready to go.

The folders match the tape color, except for William.  His sleeves are clear, since the multipack didn't have red (only pink.)

That pile of "stuff" in the back, that's for our science!!

I still need to assemble everything for the first week, to make 100 percent sure that we are good to go.  In between doctor appointments this week, that is my goal, is to get all my materials prepared and ready to roll!

Emily, William, Grace, Juliet and I played Uno tonight.  William won.

For dinner we had soup and leftover pizza.  My mouth is really hurting me where my temporary crown is being held less than ideally in place by the denture paste.

I finished the second book in the Dresden Files

later days

2nd Week of July

127th Day of Quarantine

The expected high today is a respectable 90F.

Today we made a birthday cake for Avia to eat for breakfast after we call her in the morning!

For dinner we had leftovers.

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126th Day of Quarantine

The high today was a pleasant 86F.

I spent the first few hours of my day trying to get a hold of someone at the insurance company, since they are denying the kids medicine, again, due to some missing records from long ago.  I'm pretty sure the records are in California, but they might be in Houston.  So, I've secured forms from everyone, and I'm in contact now with Jacq, our contact at the drug company, and their current endocrinologist' office.

It's so frustrating, but I think that I made some good progress yesterday, and am hopeful that it will be resolved before their current script runs out.

For art this week, we made paper airplanes!  The assignment was to create one from the booklet out of scratch paper, then they could choose one piece of  "nice" paper to create the final product if they wanted.   The only one who wanted to improve her plane was grace. = )

Billy had to run into work today, while he was gone I knocked out a couple of masks to mail to Chelsea.

Once Billy came home, I left to retrieve groceries from Carl's to deliver to Alyssa.  Her baby was in the hospital, and my heart just aches for her her.  Thankfully the babe was released yesterday evening with a round of antibiotics and seems to be on the mend!

For dinner we had pizza.

We finished off the day with a few episodes of Kim Possible.

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125th Day of Quarantine

The high today was 78F.  It was dreary and misty all day.

Another moth picture, this time for Juliet, to draw into the nature journal today.

After our morning lessons, and knocking out my chores, I finished sewing my pile of started masks.  Then I cut out my next round.

I threaded ear straps, stamped my mark, then packaged them up for delivery.  These three are being mailed out to some special people tomorrow! = )

Billy made a trip to Menards and picked up lunch from Bob Evans.  We still had a gift card leftover from Thanksgiving, so I called it in so that we could use it up!

Once he returned I ran to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription and some empty syringes for a project he's working on next week.

For dinner we reheated some of the leftover Bob Evans.  I do love their green beans. = )

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124th Day of Quarantine

The high today was 88F.  We didn't see any rain today, so according to Swithin's Day lore, we will have 40 fair days to follow. = )

Does this tree look like it's leaning to you?

In our nature journal this week the kids are drawing moths.  Emily and I studied one the night before her day, and she drew it from memory.  William picked one from the nature guide.  But today, Grace and I found where one sleeps!  We snapped a picture, and then she drew it from there.

We picked up Billy's car, and the check engine light came on on his trip home.  Sadly, we will not have time to take care of it this week or next. = /

I finally scored some chocolate bars in my grocery order yesterday, so we made a little fire and cooked up s'mores tonight!

And Billy trimmed William's hair for the second time this quarantine.

For dinner we had steak fajitas.

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123nd Day of Quarantine

The high today away 84F.

I picked up groceries, despite that it was a Tuesday.  William's Monday surgery is making my week feel all kinds of weird.

I took Billy's car in with Sarah.  She met me in Mason and gave me a lift home, since she was coming over to mow the lawn anyhow. = )

The twins were singing along to parts of the Frozen II sound track.  It's a little annoying and very adorable.

We had Lunchables/light fare and leftovers for dinner.

Billy and I finished season one of  Carnival Row.

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122nd Day of Quarantine

The high today was warm with a cool breeze, topping out at 78F.

William and I woke up at 5am, so that we could be in the hospital by 7:15.  We made good time, and pulled into the parking garage just after 6:30.  We were quickly taken back, then had a lot of waiting.  Once the time drew near, the surgeon came in and went over the procedure.

Then, it was time for William to have the pre-anesthesia anesthetic.   He seemed to take to it slowly, then it hit hard.  He started talking in mumbles and then laughed an almost maniacal laugh.  Just a few minutes later they wheeled him back.

They had a coffee station in the waiting area, and so I enjoyed a cup while waiting.

His procedure was super short, and he was in recovery longer than he spent in the operating room.  The surgeon came to let me know that it went well, then a while later they called me back.  He woke a little fearful.  He did not like that he could not feel his toes.

The nurse put on a show for him to watch, and when he was coming back around to himself, she brought him a frozen cherry treat!  Once he finished that, he had to be changed back into his own nightgown.  He was excited to ride in a green wheelchair all they way back to the car!

We left the hospital just after 11, and continued the tradition of going to Sonic as a treat.  When we returned to Lansing, we picked up McDonald's for everyone else.

William was charging around and dancing within just a few minutes of returning home.

We bid adieu to our kitchen rug of 13 years, since my new  one came in.  I was sad to say goodbye, but it was frayed on the sides and was developing some pretty big holes in in the middle.  Our new one looks pretty good, since it was purchased to match our current kitchen.

For dinner we had lasagna and the rest of the avocado ranch salad.

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121st Day of Quarantine

The expected high today is 81F.

Billy broke out the jumper cables from his car to see if it were indeed the battery, and it is.  Sadly, Walmart's automotive is currently closed because of the corona virus, and this battery is well within it's warranty. = (  AutoZone and the like will not touch Billy's car because of the terrible engine configuration that makes changing the battery challenging*. So, on Tuesday, because tomorrow is William's surgery, we will have to take it in.

It doesn't escape my notice, that I was finally going to take my car in to the dealership for a laundry list of small issues as soon as this surgery trip was over.  But instead, we'll be taking in Billy's car.  Sad times.

For dinner Billy cooked up some steaks.

I made cupcakes for William so that he could store up some calories before his morning of fasting.

later days

*compared to my Chrysler Sebring, it is an improvement. At least Walmart will change it despite the additional labor.  My Sebring required taking off the left front tire to change the battery (I'm not kidding) so Walmart wouldn't even touch it.

22nd May, 70th Day of Quarantine, 43rd Day of School at Home

Today the high was a lower 64F than yesterday, and it was a chilly rainy spring morning.

I pushed William through his to-do list quickly.  Thankfully Friday is a catch-up day in his class, so he only had a tiny bit of math, piano and reading to knock out before his appointment.

At his 7 year check up, he had a 7 degree spine curve, so we had to go in for his 6 month scoliosis check.

The doctors are currently seeing patients outside, to help prevent contamination.  It as sprinkling during his appointment, thankfully they could hide under the cover of the back lift gate.

So, his spine has progressed into a 9 degree curve, which is sad, so we will continue on the 6 month check pattern.  His next one will be at his 8 year check up.  With his history of bone issues, this is not something that surprises her, and we will just continue to keep an eye on it.

I did have a moment of panic when the nurse weighed him at 9lbs less than our previous visit (that's a 25% decrease in weight!)  The doctor reweighed him, this time on a level surface, and he actually gained 5lbs since his last visit just a few months ago!  This is awesome and means that the protein shakes are doing their job. = )

When we got home, William was trying to find the tree that he had seen a the doctor's office in our new field guide!

Also, I got in the first wave of books that I ordered!

I put them all on our book trolley!  Our second trolley arrived, and Juliet helped me put it together.

I unenthusiastically completed the course I had started for my Teaching certificate.  The lesson itself wasn't bad, but since I didn't get to get started on it until after noon, most of my motivation was evaporated.

I also finished the 5 day series for the introduction to the kids' homeschool in the fall.  I watched this with slightly more vigor, but should have watched it earlier in the day, since I was so spent.

For dinner we enjoyed pizza from our local place, and watched Kim Possible as a nice end of day activity.

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