Staving Off Boredom

I feel like we have done a pretty good job of figuring out things to do to keep entertained. Of course, we are still doing our school routine. We just finished reading The Little Princess so this afternoon the girls watched the 1995 movie (the book is SO MUCH better!).

We have also started getting lunch from DCSD (honestly, this gives us something to look forward to- that's why we do it), and then we head over to Hudson Gardens pretty much every day. It's so wonderful because nobody goes there- woohoo! We have the whole gardens to ourselves.

Today the girls brought their pogo stick and did all kinds of tricks including going up and down hills! I was impressed.

Then, tonight we did karaoke- which was also a blast! We may need to do karaoke at least once a week!

I am also trying to call one person I haven't talked to in forever every day. I have been calling old roommates, old friends- that sort of thing. That has been nice.

And, I am making more masks. The CDC has hinted that they may suggest everyone wear a mask whenever they are outside. If that happens, I'm sure I'll be making masks non-stop.

Ben continues to work in the basement. Thankfully, he has a pretty decent set up to get his work done undisturbed downstairs. We know we are incredibly blessed that he still has a job.

We are hoping that on May 1st we will be allowed to go outside and begin to resume some semblance of normalcy. I don't know if we will be so lucky, but that's what we are praying for.

Some days are harder than others. It can be hard to get up in the morning, and there are definitely moments of depression when the reality of what is happening to our world sinks in. I have friends who have lost their jobs and are worried about paying their basic bills. We will likely have at least one vacancy in our rentals as tenants look for cheaper places. It is all so very, very heavy.

But, there are a lot of happy moments as well. Last night Claire had a game planned for FHE and I was literally crying because I was laughing so hard. Tonight, karaoke was a blast.

We can't change what is happening, but I feel like- at least for now- we are still holding pretty strong and doing our best to stay positive and not fall into depression and despair. Getting outside every day definitely helps.

I know I am definitely looking forward to General Conference and hearing the words of our church leaders!

Sabbath Day

Last week sacrament did not go well.

This week we had a plan and it was at least a thousand times better.

Here was our program:

Opening Song: How Firm A Foundation

Opening Prayer: Camille

Announcements: Video of President Nelson asking us to fast (we already were fasting for the pandemic along with the rest of our faith, but we hadn't seen the video so we decided to watch it)

Sacrament: Blessed and Passed by Ben

Talks:
Mom- Words of Mormon 1:7
Audra- Omni 1:26
Dad- Enos 1:2
Camille- Enos 1:4
Claire- Enos 1:22

Closing Song: Teach Me To Walk
Closing Prayer: Audra

Each of us chose a scripture we liked from Come, Follow Me and discussed why we liked it.

It went really well- certainly better than last week.

We also joined in a worldwide fast as asked by our prophet, President Nelson, to pray for physical, emotional, and economic healing of our world. It was a wonderful experience and I'm glad we participated- though I hate the reason we needed to participate. I want this pandemic to end! AGH!!!

Then tonight the girls insisted on playing Pandemic. I started having panic attacks- it didn't help that we lost horribly! We didn't have a scientist. Scientists are very important. It all just hit a little too close to home.

And then, for a laugh. Only not really because it's too real...

Next Day Facebook Post

Thank you for all your kind words and positive vibes and cyber hugs yesterday.

I don't know if things will get less heavy anytime soon.

When this very first started and Audra's events- events she had practiced months for- were canceled, I told her: "Audra, be sad. Cry and mourn because this is really, really sad. Then, tomorrow, we need to put on our big girl pants and move forward. We can't change what is happening, but we need to do our best to deal with what is happening."

It is a time to mourn and a time to mourn with others. It is a time to be sad and to have big feelings.

And, it is a time to be strong. To move forward in grace- for ourselves and others. To move forward in faith and love.

Thank you for mourning with me. And for being strong for me. I also mourn with you- and will be strong with you. Because that's what we need at this time.

Olive Garden

This was a post I wrote on Facebook. I'm trying to document and be real about what is happening. I realize this is a time that our great grandchildren will talk about, and this is how I'm feeling today:

OK, friends--here's a real post.

It's all just so heavy. I'm about to crack and just break down and cry and cry.

We are at Olive Garden waiting in our car for our "car to go" order with about 30 other cars.

I hate this. I know I'm smiling in the picture, but I hate that we are sitting in a car not interacting/afraid to interact with others.

The reality of the hardness of what is happening hurts.

How long will this last? That's the hardest part--we have no idea.

We will be OK. We are, in reality, faring well considering. Overall, we are bored but fine.

But this is hard.

I'm sending 6 foot distance hugs to all of you. I can't wait until we can meet face to face again!

The Kids Thoughts On Covid-19

I decided to record to girls' thoughts on the Covid-19 since it pretty much is the only thing that is going on in the world right now. It has literally changed everything. These are their exact words:

Camille:

What is the Corona virus: A very ill sickness.

Why is it causing so many problems in the United States: Because a man came and brought the corona virus here because he had the corona virus.

How is it changing life in our country: Because we can't play with anybody and we have to stay six feet away.

How is it changing life in our family: We can't go anywhere.

How is it changing your life: Because I can't go anywhere and into friend's houses. We can't play with anyone. It looks normal, but it's not.

Are there any good things about the virus: That we can use our food storage.

What's the hardest part about the virus: Cause all the days are boring. Every single day is the same, especially on Saturday because it's the same- staying at home and being bored.

Any other thoughts about the virus: No.

Claire:

What is the Cornoavirus: The coronavirus is a really bad sickness that looks like a black- like, it's named "Corona" virus because it's black with white around it. (she is referring to what the cells of it actually look like)

Why is it causing so many problems in the United States: Because it's killing a lot of people and there's no cure.

How is it changing life in our country: Restaurants are getting shut down, church is getting shut down, you can't have play dates, you can't play with neighbors, you can't see anybody.

How is it changing life in our family: Well it's not changing our family.

How is it changing your life: Well, I don't get to play with my friends and you have to stay six feet away from anybody and we don't have anything to do.

Are there any good things about the virus: We get to spend more time with your family. (Me: Do you like that? Claire: Depends. You still have meetings and so does Audra. But, I like it but we still have to do school)

What's the hardest part about the virus: Probably not being able to see any friends forever and having stuff that I want to do get canceled.

Any other thoughts about the virus: What's a virus?

Audra:

What is the Coronavirus: Ummm....a sickness that spreads too easily and kills people.

Why is it causing so many problems in the United States: Because people who are getting it aren't quarantining themselves.

How is it changing life in our country: Because everything is canceled and we can't do anything.

How is it changing life in our family: We get to be together all of the time, which is good I guess.

How is it changing your life: I don't get to be with friends and everything is canceled.

Are there any good things about the virus: We get to spend more time as a family. Like playing board games and watching movies. (Me: Do you like that? Audra: Yes, I mean, Claire and Camille do fight a lot and there is no way to leave them)

What's the hardest part about the virus: That we can't go to church and that I don't have band or drama.

How does it impact school: I have to do band and drama on-line which is very weird. For drama we have to say what we are doing during the Coronavirus and then we have to watch a lot of videos about how to make costumes and that type of stuff. For band we have sectionals on line but we don't get to hear each other play because we are all on mute.

Any other thoughts on the virus: I don't think so, except that it's a horrible thing because everyone's dying and things are canceled.

***None of them mentioned how awesome Mo Willems lunch doodles are! Oh, well.

Overall, we are doing fine. We have plenty of food and toilet paper and we are still in good spirits. We know we have at least two more weeks of not going anywhere, though I am certain it will be even longer. It's a bummer, but if we can just ALL do it, perhaps we can flatten the curve and start back in life again soon!

Some Covid Musings

-Claire asked what we are doing tomorrow and I laughed and laughed at her innocence in thinking tomorrow would be any different than the last 6 days.

-I will survive the quarantine just fine. It's having Ben home all day I'm not sure I'll survive.

-You know it's bad when I'm reading books I bought instead of library books

-It's very interesting that gas prices plummet exactly when I have literally nowhere to go. Well played, oil companies, well played.

-My children need a math lesson in measurements. They have no idea what "6 feet" means.

-Mo Willems deserves a Presidential Medal (We LOVE his daily lunch doodles!)

-When this is over, I'm throwing a MASSIVE party. Finger foods will be the main entre. And we are going to play really wild games like this:

Hudson Gardens

We learned that Hudson Gardens is still open, and that it is very empty, so we decided to go. It was a beautiful day, before another storm comes this weekend, and it was great to be outside.

I'm glad we went because tonight our state has been informed that starting tomorrow we are on a "stay at home" order. This actually doesn't really change much for us- we are already staying at home and practicing social distancing. But, it does make it more official. It does, however, encourage people to go outside and go to parks, just not to be close to people. So, we plan to come back here tomorrow.

You Know It's Bad When...

They ask ME to make masks! But, there is a massive worldwide shortage of masks, so health professionals are in desperate need- and so, here we are.

Going On A Bear Hunt!

We biked around and hung these on our neighborhood mailboxes. Here's hoping that people will join in on our bear hunt!

A Quarantined Birthday

It's pretty tough to have a Birthday during a pandemic, Ben learned. But, we tried to make his day special despite the unusual circumstances.

Mac and Ann were super kind and brought Ben over some carrot cake and to sing him Happy Birthday. The girls went and wrote on the driveway and drew a 6 ft social distancing line (which was really about 15 feet. They maybe need to work on measurements).

We had tamales and Spanish rice for dinner:

And, the girls made him a chocolate cake- YUM!

 Then we had a family game night. I noticed this on the Catch Phrase game- too bad "getting together" is now against the rules!

It's a crazy way to celebrate, but everything right now is crazy.

Happy Birthday, Ben!

What To Do During A Pandemic

On Friday, Day TWO of our quarantine because of our road trip, Ben didn't need to go to work so we slept in until 7:30. Lying in bed I thought, "I don't need to get up. I could sleep until 2 and wear my pj's all day and it wouldn't matter. And, I home school!  But, having nowhere to go and nothing to do is really depressing!"

And, it is.

Thankfully, we have our school routine- and that does help.

We also did a puzzle swap with some friends.

We decorated a friend's driveway with Birthday wishes.

And, then we had some snow. It was cold, but we went anyway- and we had the whole hill to ourselves. Yay- social distancing at it's finest!

We are trying to get outside every day to avoid cabin fever. We need to be creative so we don't actually interact with others face to face. It's a struggle, but I'm grateful for routine. I'm grateful we have been doing this homeschool thing for years so at least that isn't an issue at all. I hear of friends getting 15-20 e-mails from their kids' teachers every day to organize 4 different school schedules for their kids. I would go insane!!!

So, we keep our routine and try to get out. And that's how we will try and stay sane in this unbelievable time.

Coming Home To The Apocalypse

But, as we all now know, we came home to absolute chaos. Here's a few of my favorite memes to describe the state of the world right now:

Pre-Apocalypse Trip #4: Ninja Nation

On Tuesday we went to a ninja gym. We were the only ones there and they were sanitizing the whole time. I wasn't at all concerned about germs, which was pretty awesome.

It was so fun! The kids ran off their pent up energy and went home exhausted- a perfect day!

Pre-Apocalypse Trip #3: Zion's

On Monday, we headed to Zion's.

Oh, how this place is amazing! So is Bryce- they are both incredible. I'm glad we got to go. It was a little more crowded than Bryce, but we still tried to do some social distancing.