What a time to be alive! Amiright?? Seriously, though. Talk about the world turned upside down! The last few weeks have been a blur of family togetherness, and I have to say -- I'm kind of loving it. Hahaha. It probably helped that we had Spring Break last week, so even though we couldn't really GO anywhere, we at least didn't have to worry about school while we were home.
(I saw this new message on Jane's lightbox when I went in the other day to make sure they were doing school work.)
On the whole, though, I'm not hating being quarantined. Perhaps that's the introvert in me, but it also helps that I'm not alone. Figuratively speaking -- because basically the whole world is in the same boat, but also literally -- those 6 kids we have are really coming through in the clutch by providing high key entertainment on the daily.
{It also helps that I'm zero percent worried about their school work. The way I see it is they're living through history right now! Anything they happen to glean from the AMI (alternate methods of instruction) that their teachers are posting is lagniappe. Ethan is the only one whose school work REALLY matters at this point, and he's my most responsible and conscientious kid, so I'm not really worried.}
Alright! For the rest of this post, we're just going to take things from the top...
Ethan is probably the one who has been most affected by the current state of affairs. He has much harder classes and a bigger workload than the other kids, and he's kind of stress case by nature anyway. He's done a really good job getting everything done, though -- and I think that desk he got for Christmas has REALLY come in handy over the last month. Hahaha. He's also the one kid in this house who actually knows everything that's going on in the world right now, so as far as Covid-19 updates, state and federal policy changes, stock market action, and more -- he's my go-to source for news. It's a good thing I have him around to keep me posted. Hahaha.
(He's also very concerned we're going to run out of toilet paper thanks to all of the panic buying. He took it upon himself to put a reminder Post-It note in every bathroom to only use 3 squares each time so as not to waste it. Hahahaha.)
(I'm purposely burying this lead because I know Ethan will be embarrassed, but I feel the need to brag a little bit about what a HARD WORKER this kid is. After putting in hours and hours [and hours] of study, his diligence paid off when he got his latest ACT results. He was pretty stoked as well and made this cake to celebrate. 😊)
Last week, however, was a nice break and change of pace for him. With Spring Break being a homebound affair this year, he and the other kids really gotten creative with their ideas. Amongst other things, he filmed and edited a music video starring the girls, created a stop motion action film using a whiteboard and markers, did some baking, helped get some ideas flowing for a movie the kids want to make, and even helped me out here and there with various yard projects I had going on. All things considered, I think he had a pretty great week of resting and relaxing.
(Apparently the movie is going to be a drama.)
(All I know is it made me laugh out loud when I saw one of their "props" in the bonus room.)
Grace, Grace, Grace. This child is nothing if not entertaining. At the beginning of our self-isolation experience, she created a "Quarantine Bucket List" full of all kinds of interesting activities to keep herself occupied. She's already checked off quite a few -- with Sophie and/or Jane at her side -- and for as whacky as this list is, I'm kind of loving that she's come up with a whole bunch of stuff to keep her entertained without me having to be her cruise director. Hahahaha.
Spring Quarantine Bucket List
1.) Dye hair ✅
2.) Tap closed school ✅
3.) Watch foreign movie ✅
4.) Prank call 10 peeps
5.) Create a soap opera
6.) Cliche cluche
7.) Jump in cupo de creer
8.) Garbage bag fashion
9.) Binge new show ✅
10.) Dance in the rain ✅
11.) Choreograph cheer
12.) Sleep on trampoline
13.) Mystery smoothie caf(aye) ✅
14.) Only accent all day
15.) Sunrise on roof
16.) Random letters in mailbox
17.) Bleach barbie's face and do make up
18.) Make a dank youtube
19.) Necklace out of strange thing
20.) Make barbie wind chime
21.) 21 shots of o.j. and apple juice ✅
22.) Scooter in a graveyard ✅
23.) REAL murder in the dark
24.) Fix apartment 13
25.) Get Hulu and watch LFE
26.) Make a diss track
27.) Video star music videos
So far, Grace has accomplished the following: binge watched a ton of television shows, dyed her hair red, scootered in a graveyard, baked several cakes (with her own formulated frosting that she and Sophie have named "Coco Chaos"), turned the kitchen into an Italian eatery and made dinner for us one night, cut her own hair, and played lots of trampoline games with the younger kids. For as much of an extrovert that she is -- and is HATING being isolated from other people -- I have a feeling that when she's older, she's going to look back on this period of time with a whole lot of fondness.
(Dying her hair was one of the first items checked off the list. Here is the immediately "After" shot.)
(And here's the "after a couple dozen shampoos shot." It's not a permanent color, but given how light her hair is naturally, I have a feeling the red isn't going anywhere anytime soon. And she's not a fan. Hahaha.)
(Hi I am -- Franchesca)
(Papa's Pastaria)
(Hi I am -- Nicoletta)
Sophie (as per usual) has been Grace's sidekick in most of the antics happening around the house. UN-like Grace, however, Sophie has indulged my fancy of trying to be a hairdresser. Hahaha. While Grace was going from blonde to red, Sophie decided to get a few hot pink streaks in her hair. When she got sick of them a week or so later, she let me cut and highlight her hair using my newly developed (i.e. YouTube and Google researched) skill set of bleaching and toning. She was a good sport in humoring my joking claim of practically being a professional, and in the end, I think I did an awesome job and she really likes the result. Hahahaha.
(The Before Before)
(The After Pink Streaks)
(The After Before)
(The Final After)
(Not too shabby, amiright?)
Sophie has probably been the most grateful for not having to wake up for school and has regularly been sleeping in until 11 o'clock each morning despite my best efforts to get her up and moving. {Her reluctance to wake up has been the casualty of her staying up late and having sleepovers in Grace's room almost every night.} Thankfully, she's mostly staying on top of her school work in spite of all of that, and I've decided not to worry about it. Haha.
(I laughed out loud when I walked into the girls room and saw this creation of Sophie's. CORRECTION -- Grace tells me SHE'S the one who created this masterpiece.)
("I'm a cool mom")
(This picture and quote was posted on Sophie's yearbook Instagram story after one of their long Saturdays [prior to the shut down, obviously] -- "Work day quote of the day: 'Everyone says they watched Little Einstein's, but I inhaled it!' --Sophie" Hahahahaha.
My little moonbeam ALSO indulged my itch to practice my "skills" this past month and let me give her a few highlights as well. Hahaha. I think the highlight (get it?) of HER "corona-kation," though, has been how often Grace and Sophie have included her in their plans. From music video making, to hair styling, to binge watching -- she's had some good times with the big girls. {She's also become an avid "Survivor" fan after joining in with Scott and myself as we binged a couple of seasons during Spring Break.} :)
(Modeling her new blonde highlights.)
(Hi I am -- Octavia)
She's ALSO had some good (?) times with the little kids. The younger boys may ultimately start to drive her crazy when they're playing together, but that hasn't stopped her from going back time and again to play hide-and-seek with them, or jump on the trampoline, or try and play some games. Hopefully, by the end of this quarantine she will have had more quality times with them than aggravating ones. Hahahaha. (I'll be happy if I can say the same. Hahahahahahaha.)
(She and Sophie also shocked me by ACTUALLY cleaning and organizing their room really well last Saturday.)
Alex, shockingly, has been really into screen time this past month and LEGOs. In that order. And that was sarcasm -- it is most definitely NOT a shock. I'm still trying to figure out how to enforce screen time limits when the kids are home all day long every day -- but mostly I've been turning a blind eye to it. Doh! Probably not the best long term move, but in the short term, it seems to be working just fine. Hahahaha.
(One of his AMI activities was to build a fort to read in and then send a picture to his teacher.)
Alex has been super excited to do a "LEGO challenge" with his cousin Henry over the last couple of weeks, and I've been super excited to see him doing something with all his LEGOs other than just building the kits and never doing anything else with them. Other pastimes of his Corona-kation have been indexing names on Family Search, learning how to make toast, and making toast for every meal and snack of his day. It's a full life he's living. Hahahahahaha.
(One of his creations -- a spaceship.)
(The elementary school teachers organized a parade of cars to drive through all the neighborhoods to honk and wave at the kids. It was so fun!)
(Still waiting for the caravan to pass by.)
(It became a full family affair -- everyone needed to get out of the house for a bit!)
This kid. He lives his best life no matter WHAT the situation is, so I'd say not much has changed for him. I think he probably misses his friends at preschool, but with 5 siblings and a host of imaginary friends for company, he's pretty much set for the duration. His regular schedule has been shaken up a little bit thanks to his (and Alex's) OT happening at home now each week via teletherapy, but only a TINY little bit. The rest of his week is pretty much wash, rinse, repeat -- "school time" on abcya.com, playing "collections" with whatever inanimate objects happen to be lying nearby, sneaking on screens, begging the big kids to jump on the trampoline with him, and falling asleep wherever he happens to fall each night -- because bedtimes have almost completely gone out the window. For him and pretty much all of them. It's pretty hard to convince them (and myself, honestly) that we need to go to bed on time when we don't have to get up in the morning to go anywhere. It's a real problem. Maybe we'll have solved it by the end of the pandemic. (I'm not going to hold my breath, though.)
(He's the only kid who did not think the parade lived up to the hype. Hahahaha. I kept saying to him "Isn't this so fun??" and every time he'd reply, "No. It isn't!" Hahahaha.)
(He's getting marginally better with those scooter skills!)
The man, the myth, the legend. Hahahahaha. I'm pretty sure he's the only one of his colleagues to be working from home in a closet, but these are strange times and they call for strange measures. Haha. Scott was planning on taking vacation time off for Spring Break this year, but those plans were made in the BEFORE. Instead, he spent the week scrambling (along with the rest of P&G -- and the world) to figure out how to make things work in the NOW. He's been a champ, though, with putting up with the rest of us (loud people) in the house while he's trying to get stuff done. And I have to say -- even though he IS working while he's home -- I still just really like having him home. :)
(Not only is he working from our closet, he's also working at Ethan's old desk -- which is the perfect size for an elementary school student.)
Project time! Hahaha. But seriously, I'm kind of living my best life right now with this whole not-having-to-go-anywhere-or-be-anywhere vibe. When you throw in the fact that I legit get to sleep in every morning, and I've got a full list of "Potential Project" ideas, I'm doing pretty well in spite of the craziness of the times we're living in.
(My list of "Potential Projects" includes: * Alex's baptism quilt * Birthday portraits * Themed photo shoot * Backyard overhaul * Front yard landscaping * Sewing masks * Cleaning/organizing bedroom * Highlight my hair * Design girls' room * Design my room * Index 1000 names * Family history project * Family biography books * Design Grace's room)
Our theme for the school year (if you'll recall) is "Gird Up," and I think it was quite prescient given our present circumstances. Our scripture for the month is, "...if ye are prepared, ye shall not fear," and preparation has been the name of the game for the last several weeks! A few days before everything started shutting down, I woke up on a mission to get our house (or more accurately, our garage) in order. I knew I had procrastinated getting food storage and other emergency preparedness type stuff ready and I felt like I needed to get out there and just get it done. So I made a giant list of everything we needed for at least two weeks' worth of supplies to keep in storage and I went to town. I ended up going to 2 different grocery stores, a Walgreens, and a gas station before I was able to cross the last items off my list, but once I was done, a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders.
(I felt the need to tell everyone who looked at my buggy that I had 6 children so they wouldn't think I was trying to hoard supplies.)
(The garage shelves have never been this neat and orderly.)
(The garage, as a WHOLE, has never been this neat and organized.)
I have a feeling this quarantine is going to last for quite a bit longer, but for now, I'm just grateful we haven't gotten sick of each other yet. ;)
