Day 37

 Yesterday Claire and I walked (and walked and walked and walked).  It was so nice to have a walking buddy!

 Our first walk, we walked 4 miles.  We walked up through the village and passed Claire's school.  My heart breaks for her (and all the kids out there).  She has been so great throughout this whole thing but the poor kid misses her friends, and school, and sports (especially sports).  It stinks.  She kept talking about how she would be walking with her friends to Panera after school and how she would be at practice right now.  It just breaks my heart.

 After dinner we headed over to Chestnut Ridge for another 2 mile walk.  I love being outdoors but seeing the playgrounds closed is so sad.

Grandma and Grandpa met us and we walked together.  Six feet apart the whole time!  It was so nice to visit with them in our "new normal" way. I can't wait until we can all just be together!  But I have to keep reminding myself, we will get there and this is what is best for now.

Day 36

 Yesterday the weather was a little icky but I still got my walk in!  And I had a special guest for the end of my walk.  I loved walking with Oliver and chatting away about books.  These are the times that I need to cherish during all of this madness.

Yesterday was also filming day.  I spent the day setting up my green screen and filming my instructional videos for the week.  This  new way of learning is definitely different but I feel like I am getting there!  Which means everything will probably change soon lol!

Day 35

 Yesterday Kitty and Dawn "safely" dropped off some delicious treats for us!

 I finally found weights!!!  Thanks to Facebook!

 The fire department put on a firetruck parade and drove through the town!  It was really cute, even my big kids enjoyed it!

 Claire had a science project and her and Mark worked super hard on it.

They had a lot of fun and the video came out awesome!

Here is the video!

Day 34

Yesterday I worked on getting my lessons ready for next week.

 This is the part that I really enjoy!

 Claire made some delicious blueberry muffins for dessert.

And Mark let us order from the Byrd House!  Then we ended the evening all snuggled up watching TV.  Bring on the weekend!

Day 33

Yesterday was another busy day over here.  My days seem to be filled with meetings with colleagues, phone calls, researching fun school activities, learning new technology, emailing with parents/students, and planning lessons.  While doing that I help the kids out with their work.  Once we finish all of that is time to relax!  Well kind of, I never really finish.  Mark and I are always answering emails and phone calls throughout the night.

 Last night I met with my buddies and had some well needed laughs!

 Claire and I skipped our workout yesterday and it showed!  She was full of energy last night and her and Mark put on quite the show in the living room.

Love these goofballs.

Day 32

I pretty much spent the whole day on the computer yesterday.  It takes hours to learn to use all this new technology and to try and make it as easy for the kids and parents as possible!  But I am getting there!  

After we all finished our school work, Claire and I exercised. Then we played a game and then we watched Fuller House to finish the night off!

Day 31

 Yesterday I was able to get into school for 15 minutes and get some supplies that I needed for this whole distance learning thing.  I was so excited to have somewhere to go and I couldn't wait to go in.  Then I got there...and I was sad...like super sad.  I have really not been sad this whole time.  I have really enjoyed being with my family and staying in my little bubble.  I think going back into the "real world" messed me up a bit.  I stood in my classroom and I was just sad.  I wanted to be going to work and waiting for my students to come in. I miss working, I miss the gym, I miss our Friday nights at Moes. I miss it all and I could go on for hours.  I snapped out of it and loaded up my car. Then cried on the way home.  Then cried in the driveway and I let myself be sad for a bit.  Then I cleaned myself up and went back in the house and back into my bubble.  I reminded myself how lucky we have been throughout this whole thing and pushed myself to see the positive side of this situation that I cannot control. 

 Mark made dinner and he made his special pudding (which is just pudding with fruit and chocolate in it) and the kids made me laugh. 

 We laughed a lot during dinner.  And it was perfect.  I tried not to let them see me cry but they asked me how school went and they could tell something was wrong.  And they were amazing.  They made me laugh and suggested a game night.

And it was perfect.  Super perfect.  I am lucky to have these people to be stuck with right now and I love them so much!  I am back to my positive self but I have decided to stay in my bubble for a bit longer.

Day 30

Yesterday I didn't get any pictures.   I was busy with school work and we were just chilling out.

Claire and I have been pretty obsessed with watching Cheer on Netflix.  We finally made it to the end and it did not disappoint!  Thank God for Netflix during this whole thing.

Day 29 Happy Easter

Yesterday was Easter Sunday! It was also the day that we were supposed to leave for our trip to Curacao.  We are all pretty bummed to be missing it but we are still trying to make the best of things. 

Claire's closet chandelier finally came in so Mark put that up.

 It came out beautiful!

 Then it was time for some haircuts!

 Oliver's hair didn't come out too bad!

 Claire was very excited to cut Mark's hair!

 This is some serious trust right here!

 Her and I both worked on his hair and it didn't come out too badly!

 Then it was time to Zoom with the family!

It was so great to see everyone!  It wasn't the Easter that we had planned for but it was still great.  The Easter bunny still came (I didn't get a picture of their baskets this year), the kids still searched for their baskets, and we still got to see our family. It could be a lot worse!

Day 28

We had a pretty busy day around here yesterday!

 Mark and Claire took apart the dishwasher and cleaned it out so that hopefully our glasses get a little cleaner.

 It was Carol's  40th birthday so we drove by to wish her a happy birthday.  But before we went we had to finally get gas.  We literally have not gotten gas in over a month!

 Of course, Mark gloved up to pump the gas.  Then threw the glove away immediately.  Then used hand sanitizer!  It is so crazy all the precautions that we take now during our "new normal".

 Claire and I decided to try making "Whipped Coffee"

 It was a bit of a process.

 And it was definitely interesting!

 But after I heated the milk and added some more to it and mixed it a bit.  It looked amazing!

 And it tasted pretty good!  It was SUPER strong but it tasted great.  I probably should have checked the time before I made this ridiculously strong coffee drink!  I had some trouble falling asleep last night due to my fancy drink, but hey...I can sleep in, I don't have anywhere to be!

 Oliver is on student council and one of his projects is to make some signs for some of his teachers.  The weather was really sunny but freezing yesterday!  So we headed outside to get creative.

 We got a special delivery from Camden and Liam!

 Then we dyed Easter Eggs!

 Oliver told us that Easter is his favorite holiday.  I love that he loves every holiday the most while we are celebrating it.  His positive attitude has been so amazing during this whole thing.  Oliver really loves just being together and he can really see the good in everything and that has been so helpful these last few weeks. He really reminds us all to stop and focus on the positives!

Day 27

I didn't take any pictures yesterday.  After we all finished our schoolwork it was time to clean this house.  I can't believe how bad this place gets with us being home all the time.  We all took a job and it went so fast!  Oliver was on "pick up duty", garbages, and vacuuming.  Claire was on bathrooms (thank God because I HATE doing the bathrooms), Mark was on changing the sheets, and I was on kitchen and floor washing.  We all worked together and the house looks great! Also, I decided after washing all the floors on my hands and knees that I am carpeting the whole house lol.

 Also, yesterday was national sibling day. Here we are as kids!

And then as grown ups.  Happy siblings day to these hooligans!