Basement bathroom project

As soon as we realized that school would likely be called, I said we were doing a house project.  We ordered things for the basement bathroom.

Before:

the floor was hideous

as was the vanity

I also couldn't wait to be done with all the gold braided towel holders

Demo:

First-ever tiling job

After:

We are so pleased with the end result.  

Erin's Birthday

Sunday was my 36th birthday.

I was required to open my gift right away, even before I had my coffee.

I have wanted one of these for at least ten years.  I could never justify the money.  

This is perfect timing because Monroe has been really into baking, and we have plenty of time to be baking.  And, I was completely surprised!

Patrick and Emily delivered me a coffee

 Cupcakes and a gift certificate from Angie and Amy.  We had a nice talk in the driveway.

(Angie's daughter is a wonderful baker)

I also got a bunch of sweet messages from my students.

In the afternoon, I took the kids on a bear hunt.  Our neighborhood had put out a message asking people to put bears in their windows.  I was surprised how many we saw.  We forgot to count, but we talked to neighbors who had counted 47.   The kids had so much fun with this!

While we were gone, Zach used the new mixer to make a delicious banana cake with cream cheese frosting.  He also made homemade pizzas for supper.

After supper, Zach set up a Zoom with our families.  My parents, my siblings, his parents, and his siblings all zoomed with us.  They sang me happy birthday and then watched us eat cake.  It was crazy because in another situation we would never be able to get all of those people at the same time.  In our current situation, though, people don't have anywhere else to be.

We finished the night fire pitting.  

COVID-19

In February, we started hearing a lot about a new strain of the Corona Virus that was impacting a lot of people in China.  In early March, COVID-19 made its way to the US.  We were being told to wash our hands, not touch our faces, and stay home as much as possible.  

Things in Nebraska started to get cancelled the week of March 9th.  The first thing that affected us was the boys state basketball tournament March 12-14.  We were so disappointed.  We were on spring break, so we still went to Lincoln to see my parents.  While we were there, large gatherings, such as concerts, started to be postponed/cancelled.   A lot had changed in two days, but our school was still in session.  

Two days later, on Sunday night, we were notified that we would not be going to school that week.  At this point, it still seemed like a short-term thing.  We kept our boys home from daycare, and decided to enjoy a week of nothing.  

By Thursday, we knew what the expectations were of us as teachers.  We were to provide review packets that students could complete without parents.  We were to assume both parents were still working, and we didn't need to add stress to an already stressful time.

We've been out of school for three weeks now.  It has been an adjustment for sure.  We are all five at home ALL THE TIME.  It's like summer without the fun activities and socializing.  We do go on daily walks, but we definitely feel trapped at home.  I have tried to be very intentional about putting my phone down, so I don't have too many pictures.  But, here's our COVID-19 life at home.

School day 1 for her

and for them

How I'm going to survive three meals a day.

I had no intentions of going to the store until I realized that I would have to.

A fort

YES

Digging for letters

We know the owners of this food truck, and we wanted to support them.  

We haven't done any fast food yet, but it's been hard.

A new plant

One of maybe 5 puzzles we did in the first few weeks

Cooking with Orbies

Our students came March 23 to pick up their first packets.  My team and I went to decorate the sidewalks on Sunday afternoon.

tracing

 We have been outside any chance we have.

No puzzles at the store :(

One of my students watching the week's read aloud

Getting her beauty rest

P

G

playing in the rain

Zooming with friends

We don't look like we're enjoying each other, but we were :)

Zach and Monroe went golfing.  I took the boys to say hi at the end of their round.