Quarantine day 234 Halloween

 For quarantine Halloween we mostly ate things. We got some Halloween cupcakes, cookies, candy corn, pumpkin pie and orange and black chips. The

happy with getting to eat all the treats.  They carved pumpkins and put on random costumes from around the house for a few minutes. We didn’t trick or treat, and we had a few doorbell rings because we forgot to unplug a strand of orange lights I had around the door I think. We were able to talk to them through the doorbell and tell them we weren’t opening and to stay safe. 

were

Will and Hugh made theirs together.

Timmy made a dalek from Dr Who. ( I didn’t get a picture until a few days later, so they look extra spooky with mold...)

very 

kids

Lexa made a cat, with a unicorn on the back.

Quarantine Day 223 Hugh’s Birthday

 

Hugh turned 5 and had his turn for a quarantine birthday. We put up decorations, ordered pizza, ate cake, and gave him presents. He was very happy. He had been asking how many days until his birthday for months. We started counting at 47 days. 

Quarantine day 219

I made butternut squash soup, roasted acorn squash with butter and brown sugar today. Yesterday it was spaghetti squash. I’m loving eating all the squashes this fall! Will found the can of pumpkin in the pantry and has been bringing it to me at odd moments asking me to make pumpkin pie. Patrick ordered some pumpkins with our vegetables this week but they turned out to be too small and thick skinned for carving plus we only got 2 instead of 4. I’ve been enjoying watching A&M football on the weekends, although I feel guilty watching because they probably shouldn’t be having a football season in he middle of a global pandemic. I just read that 20 football players on the Florida team that A&M just played a few days ago have now tested positive for Covid. So that’s awful. 

We had our own close call a couple of weeks ago. Patrick found out someone who’d been in his office for over an hour 5 days prior had tested positive. The district was not going to tell him because they only contact trace four days back. He only found out because he’s an administrator seeing the information. He got tested. It was a nail biting, stress eating 2 days later that we got negative results back. He bought some more of the portable hepa filters for the house and a 6th month supply of the high rated AC filters. 

Otherwise we’ve just been playing outside a bunch, resting on the weekends.

Hugh and Will have matching shirts they love to wear.

Hugh rode Will’s big bike 

Patrick grilled chicken drumsticks

Will and Lexa inside peeling potatoes for French fries to go with the chicken

Will

Breakfast

Quarantine day 195

 It's raining again today. Patrick cooked pork belly for dinner last night. Lexa's been making some pretty pictures on her laptop. 

They've already had their first reported Covid case at the high school where Patrick works. That took a week with just a fraction of the students there. It was a virtual student just coming to school for softball practice. So she probably got it from or gave it to you he softball team. They also already have one at Timmy and Lexa's middle school within just a few days of opening, so I'm glad our kids aren't there in person. 

Hugh had his first virtual preschool class today. He'll have it just once a week. He was happy to see his old teacher again. They sang songs and looked through their backpacks with school supplies that they were all given that I picked up earlier. He did a little book report afterwords. 

I can hear Lexa singing in her room. She's having choir class right now. 

Will's "ninja car"

Quarantine day 190

 I've been lighting a candle and opening the curtains to see the tree outside while we do virtual school upstairs. I've really been enjoying sitting outside while the boys play during their morning break and after school. They always want to play in the front for some reason. I guess so they can ride their bikes and Hugh can sit in that tree. I've started bringing out my knitting and something to listen to, and mosquito spray because they're bad. It so nice to spend time outside again though. We usually eat lunch at the table in the backyard too. I just cleaned up the kids' toys and trash back there so it's nice. It's amazing how much better just a little bit less hot is. Come on fall!

Lexa and I have finally started back up going through our watercolor painting lessons book after she finishes her last class most days,  and I've started reading The Land of Stories books to them, which they're really enjoying. 

quarantine day 189

 I'm still not used to Patrick being gone all day being back at work after six months of him working from home. I can't just go for walks alone at all hours and remember that I have to bring the little ones with me on any drive through errands I run. There was so much preparation for that first day back, like he was preparing for a trip, laying out work clothes, of which the pants he hadn't worn the whole time home. They were tight. He'd been wearing workout shorts with his dress shirts on virtual work calls. He cooked and packed his lunch, laid out all his masks, hand sanitizers and cleaning supplies to bring. He says he's stressed the whole day there worrying about getting sick. He doesn't even want to sit in any chairs other than his own in his office. It sounds like he's been able to be in his own office alot of the time, doing zoom calls with the other administrators in the offices next to his and observing classes also on zoom. He has to do lunch duty twice a week though and be in the cafeteria with fifty students eating with their masks off. He says he tries to stand as far away as he can against the wall the whole time. 

Yesterday was kind of a rough day with the virtual schooling. Will didn't finish his breakfast in time and took it to his first class. Hugh keeps having tantrums for the iPad.  Will was paying attention nicely and so for the first time I decided to do some chores downstairs instead of sitting and watching him the whole time, but then for some reason our alarm didn't go off, and Timmy never got out of bed, even though I'd already gone in there to wake him up earlier. So he was very late to his first class. On top of that we keep getting notifications that he didn't turn something, in and this is the last week before his report card. It's very stressful. He seems to think he's turned the things in. 

Today has been better though. I hope Timmy finally gets everything taken care of.

Hugh loves to sit in this tree. He usually doesn't want to get down when it's time to go inside.

Will made fruit salad with every kind of fruit we had. 

They put on my sunglasses while we waited for our curbside groceries to be brought out and loaded up. (There's alot of days where Hugh just stays in his pajamas like he is here.)

Quarantine day 185

 Yesterday we were all surprised when we stepped outside to find it was fall!! It was 61 degrees. Will and Hugh quickly ran inside and this is how they felt they needed to dress, mittens and winter hats included!

It’s Will’s reading and writing class now, so it seems like a good time for me to write on here. I read books to Hugh during Will’s reading class and doodle along during their art class. I also read a Highlights and a Ranger Rick magazine to Hugh that I’d saved from when Timmy and Lexa used to get them. 

Will had to think of something to write a personal narrative about, and it was a little sad that he couldn’t think of anything he’d done he wanted to write about. He wanted something recent like a party, trip, some kind of event, but we haven’t gone anywhere really at all in sixth months! He didn’t want to write about Aunt camp or his birthday last winter because they were long ago. There’s plenty of sweet small moments we’ve had at home, but not a simple to write about big outing he was looking for. He finally decided to write about the day he played in the rain. He was really good and actually willing to write yesterday which was the complete opposite of usual. He even just told his teacher writing his story was his favorite part of his week! We’ve been working a lot on learning to read also and I think he’s getting better. 

We had Hugh evaluated (over zoom) for whether he has a speech delay because he’s so hard to understand. But they said he’s normal for his age, which is good news. 

And Hugh wants me to read him another book...