19th May, 67th Day of Quarantine, 40th Day of School at Home

The high today was a rainy, breezy, chilly 66F.  We did get some sun right before sundown.

Today I woke up before my alarm, and worked on my teaching certification renewal.  I broke down and purchased a subscription to a CPE provider, for $100.  So, now I have one year to knock out my 150 hours.  I have some (maybe a third?) already, but need to finish the remainder before 2023.  But now, I will finish before May 19th 2021.

The kids worked diligently this morning.  Emily had some make up to work on, since she didn't successfully submit it.

For recess, and many hours after, Grace and Emily practiced bike riding along the sidewalk.

I knocked out my third day of homeschool introduction videos.  They are so good, and I should probably watch them before doing my certification lessons, because I'm pretty spent by the end of the day.

For dinner we had tacos.

I received the rolling cart I ordered 2 days ago from Sam's!  I wasn't expecting it for another few weeks, so it's arrival was not on my radar at all.

Today, I decided that blogging every day is just not a good use of my time, so I will attempt once a week.  Maybe making a post that I add the temperature and food to each day?  This everyday posting is just not working out for me.

Now, it is late, but still light out, so it's off to bed for my dear ones.

later days

April 10th, 28th Day of Quarantine, Day 8 of Spring Break

The high today was a brutally cold 36F.  There was a dusting of snow on the ground when I looked out the window.  brrr.

The sharps box was full, so my first stop was a the post office.  No-one was there, and it was a quick in and out.

I made the trip over to Sam's today.  I arrived at around 9:45, got some gas first, and when I made it into the foyer, I was the 2nd person in line, thanks to the new regulations limiting shoppers.  I waited less than a minute, but it felt like there were plenty of people in the store.

I used the scan and go which makes life so much easier!  I also picked up a couple of items for Jessica.  I dropped those off, and since the food bank is no longer accepting in person food donations, went home.

Billy unloaded my car, and once everything was put away we had General Tso chicken with rice for lunch.

My mom sent money so that I could rent the new Trolls movie for the kids.  They were happy campers!

For dinner we had BBQ sandwiches, and William at two of them!

Then, we went back into our 'theater' and watched Onward together, since it is on the Twin's Disney+ from Aunt Rocky.  Once I finished watching it with the kids, I convinced Billy to watch it with me. I didn't cry at all the second time I watched.

We were in bed before 10 after a lovely, movie watching, evening.

later days

March 10th, 13th Anniversary

Today the highest my car recorded was a sunny and warmish 44F.

Today:

• Emily had student council
• I subbed in William's class
• I also ran to Sam's for a Hamsterkaufing trip 
• The twins worked on their homework in the hallway while the big kids went to Maker's Club
• For dinner we had tortellini (and grapes)
• I went to an evening meeting about Alice's upcoming field trip
• Emily and I ran to the store to buy a gift for her friend's birthday party this weekend

It was a busy day, and I am super tired.

later days

Edited 3/14/20:

We did not celebrate our 13th anniversary in anticipation of a trip at the end of the month.  We have now completely dissolved our plans* for that trip thanks to the Coronavirus.  Here's a list of things we've done for anniversaries past:

12th Anniversary - Toledo
11th Anniversary - St. Louis
10th Anniversary - Fish Grille, Waxahachie
9th Anniversary - Ft. Worth
8th Anniversary - Arby's
7th Anniversary - Hookah bar
6th Anniversary - Thai Chili
5th Anniversary - Carino's - Waxahachie
4th Anniversary - Flemming's Steakhouse @ City Centre
3rd Anniversary - Dinner Movie Theater
2nd Anniversary - Le Mistral
1st Anniversary - Paris
Recap of 1st-5th

*We had a two night hotel booked in downtown Detroit.  We had Redwings tickets and concert tickets to see the Big Bad Voodoo Daddies.  We'd also booked an escape room, researched restaurants and planned a lunch outing "south" to Canada.  So, it will now go down as a trip that wasn't.

March 2nd

Today the high was 47F!  The wind was still bitterly cold, but compared to last week, this week was 'warm!'

Sam's was on my agenda today, so after dropping off my dear ones and picking up my mom (with a recycling drop off mixed it) we headed that way.  We both had checks to deposit at the bank, but there was no cash back available on a Monday morning.

After leaving Sam's my mom was recounting a story about a nearby chocolate shop that she had patronized with her friends. Of course I tuned the car around!  I bought a 1/2lb box, and all of mine were so good! (I bought a handful for Billy too!)  = )  The lady in the shop made fun of me because I didn't' even make it out the door before I taste tested one.

Once we were safely in the car with our chocolate boxes, we headed to Jessica's to drop off her groceries. = )  Next stop was returning Avia to Sarah's.  Then I had to dash home, toss the groceries in, and head up to the school to help gauge auditions for the talent show.

Alice and Emily were both auditioning today and did great!  Alice is doing a magic act, Emily and her friend Abby are dancing to 'Shake it Off.'

I had some time afterward to look for dry ice at Carl's without luck.  By the time I finished sorting and storing groceries, it was time to collect my children.  = )

For dinner we had chicken in Ramen with peppers as a side.

And after dinner, we snapped Emily's final pictures as an 8 year old!

She is so excited that she is having trouble falling asleep tonight, but she'll be one happy girl when she wakes!

later days

February 3rd

Today's high, according to my vehicle, was a lovely, 52F!  It was sunny with mostly clear skies.

Watching Alice and Grace, one at the beginning of her elementary education, the other at the end, approach the school today, I felt very sentimental.  How has Alice's time gone so fast?

Once I regained my composure, I came home and checked the mail. Next it was time to pick up Avia. After dumping the recycling tub, we headed to Sam's.

I was thankful for the warm day, since we had driven my card all the way to Grand rapids last week oh, I needed more gas than I typically take in a week. = )

There were not many people at Sam's, which made for a very pleasant experience. Also, they've set up a counter, near the door, exclusively for pickup orders! I'm a big fan.

After leaving Sam's, we headed to Jessica's with her order. Then it was time to drop my mom back at Sarah's.

Before going home, I brought up the water and juice that I had volunteered to bring for the twins' 100 day party this Wednesday. = ) I also brought the water for their Valentine's party, but it turns out that water is heavy. Lol. I was really worn out by the time I made it to their classroom with the water and the juice.

I was home before noon, unpacking the car and putting away groceries.

I snacked on the rotisserie chicken for lunch. Meanwhile, I was cooking up the 5lbs of hamburger meat that I bought to freeze. I also knocked out a load of laundry.

It was soon time for pick up!  Willam was not the biggest fan of the vanilla protein powder that I bought, nor the protein chips. He did, however, eat 1.5 BBQ sandwiches for dinner. There is also plenty of leftover meat for him to munch on this week. = )

Tonight Alice started practicing her magic routine for the talent show. And we started filling out class Valentine cards. Most excitingly, we booked Emily's 9th birthday party!

later days

November 11th Snow

Our first snow this year was on Halloween, but the first lasting snow came on William's birthday.  

Taking them to school was not too bad (but we live really close, so that was not a good gauge.)  The plows hadn't even come through, and it snowed all.day.long.

I had already placed my order with Sam's Club, all the way across town.  I probably would have cancelled, except that I had a friend counting on me to bring by her order.  So, I made the trip, and it took me over and hour and a half.

They had at least started to plow the parking lots on my return trip, but the only snow plow I saw clearing the roads was in my rearview mirror. = (

At home, after school pickup (and another couple of hours to drop of the groceries and drive home) Emily was happy to go back out and play in the precipitation.

For the rest of the week, we didn't see temperatures above freezing, so this is how it looked from my driveway.  But at least the roads were cleared off.

Thankfully, that is all we've seen so far.  But hopefully next time we can get a snow day out of it!

later days.

Busy Summer

I love summer! I love the sleeping in, days in nightgowns, simple meals and long hours of daylight.  However, for the past two weeks we have been living it up!  Go, go, go!

I'm happy now to say we had a ton of fun, but have a very minimal schedule this week.  So, I'm updating my blog and catching my breath before August arrives.

William enjoyed two birthday parties, we went to the Eaton County Fair,  took a trip down the river in a canoe, spied all the animals at the zoo, enjoyed a murder mystery night with some super fun people, and went to a Lugnuts game!

This is how life looks in between. #hastags

One day all of my children decided that the 'no internet connection' game on chrome was more fun than the internet, so they all pulled out their wireless cards. #weirdos

Grace loves dressing up like Masha #mashaandthebear

Shopping online, at home while my children play and pulling up to retrieve all the things we need is the best thing in the world.  #clicklistforthewin

On they way to the library we found a #dimondalerocks rock and saw more construction, this time a road roller! #bonusfun

Catching lightning bugs in the back yard #stereotypicalsummer

The three little ones had to go in for a blood draw. #nofun

Emily had picked out a balloon from the dollar tree earlier in the week, so everyone else wanted one too.  As their treat, following our trip to the lab, everyone got a balloon.  A sweet couple, a few customers in front of us bought them for the kids.  #sosweet

I'm not sure what Alice was doing here. #flamingo

How they watched Coco for the first time #notyetasingalong

They opened their first box and found all sorts of goodies, including an ice cream kit. #favoriteitem

We marked another summer bucket list item off too #icecreamforbreakfast

I took almost two days to migrate my entire library from my old computer to my new one #onlytookayeartostart

And upstairs, I have fabric cut for my next two projects, which I'm hoping to finish this week! #bloggingfirst

Right before my mom left, we took a trip to Sam's, where we had lunch.  While I shopped, they saw a movie #HotelTransylvannia3

While Alice was at her summer camp, we also celebrated Cow Appreciation Day. #chickfila

Met up with some of my favorite ladies and their littles for a playdate at the park. #goodtimes

At one point, William managed to pull the horseshoe pole out of the ground.  It is a really long pole.  I still have healing blisters from banging it back into place. #wiwium

 

 Spent time reading every morning #20minutes

Wore pants around like a hat #sillygrace

Celebrated with Avia, the day before her birthday #germanchocolatecake

And met up with one of Emily's bffs for a playdate at the school playground. Ended up with some entertainment #portapottymaintence

I'm sad to be quickly approaching the end of summer, but we still have a few fun things planned before school is back in session.

later days

Everything Else

My final post of the day, all of the other pictures from my phone that didn't fit anywhere else. = )

The Sam's club near us closed down.  I went back a handful of times to see the stages of it closing, and it was sad, and crazy, and sad.

 

If I already posted about this in the blog (I don't think I did) it is really a very upsetting event for my weekly schedule.  Having to go clear to the other side of town to do my major shopping every week is not a possibility, so I'm having to rework all of my tendencies, in the middle of winter. = /

The kids really like the giant icicles.

Alice's friend Willow came to spend the night.  Everyone really enjoyed having her here. = )

There was a lot of dressing up the entire time!

The snow went away for just a few days, and it was a welcome change for my little ones to go out an play, even though it was still cold!

The twins write with opposite hands. G-J

But they make me feel very loved. G-J

The puppy was getting a makeover from the twins. = ) J-G

Emily went on a field trip to the hospital.  She thought it was pretty fun. = )

Alice did chores for me and Aunt Rocky, so that she could buy her new prized possession.

William looks so grown up these days!  Kindergarten round up is next month, and I can see him more and more as a kindergartner! = 0

There are giant snow piles in every parking lot.  This is not something they ever show in the Hollywood version of winter, so it is still surprising to me.  Understandable, and logical, but surprising.

Speaking of which, it's probably why giant stores have so much extra parking in them, it's occupied by snow piles in the north.  Oh, and all those road signs that say "pass with care" and "turn lane ends" are actually probably because you can't see the stripes on the road during this time of year here.  FYI.

My very busy Juliet:

I was super proud of William.  I helped him put 100 dots on the poster, and tape on the title, but he drew all the W's without fighting me once!  He loved the stickers too. = )

The instructions for the poster were not very clear, in fact, they were just a single line on the reminder for the 100 day food item. So, when we brought William's a day early, the other moms were a bit panicked.  I figured that I'd just overlooked the instructions in the weekly newsletter, but apparently that one line was the notice.  It all worked out though, everyone had their 100 day things the next day. = )  This time of year is so crazy for the teachers, with 100 day celebrations, valentines, count day, parent teacher conferences, and starting to look ahead to next year!

There are nights Alice is Johnny on the spot with her homework, and nights that she would rather pout against the door than to take care of it.  This was one of those times.

Avia bought Juliet a new nightgown, so she was waiting by the washer for me to clean it for her.

Did I mention that it snowed?

later days