COVID-Week #6

Luke worked his second 1,000 piece puzzle.  This one was several Super Bowl teams.

The golf courses opened (under certain restrictions), but its a new thing to do!

We did another hike

Finn in front of the boat at Taylors Falls

Hair Hair Everywhere!!!

Hard to tell from the picture, but it actually looks a lot better.

Not too excited about this

Aiden wasn't too excited and he was our "guinea pig" so I failed to get a before and after picture.

Looking much cleaner.  Not perfect, but it is progress

We just finished Week #6 in quarantine.  Week SIX?!  How can that be?  When the word first came out that schools were closing, it was only for two weeks and I thought that would be hard.  I am halfway glad that I didn't know what was coming.

We received word last week that schools will be closed for the rest of the year.  We will continue our distance learning until school ends on June 5th.  And while I never thought I would say this, we are actually in a good routine with everyone home and we are actually learning a lot in school.  It hasn't been easy at all and we have some pretty bad days occasionally, but for the most part we are doing quite well.  One big bonus, the golf courses opened with special social distancing rules, but that is something the boys love to do and it gets us away from the house for an hour or two.

We did take haircuts into our own hands this weekend for Liam, Aiden, and Finn.  I would not DARE touch Luke's hair.  It is incredibly thick and curly and I don't even know where to start.  Not that John or I had much knowledge on how to cut hair for the other boys, but it seems a bit more achievable after watching a few you tube videos.  Aiden was the guinea pig because honestly he doesn't really care and if we totally messed it up, we could buzz his hair and he would survive.  Liam, on the other hand, would completely die if we messed up his hair.  As crazy as it sounds, after John and I got through Aiden's hair, I think we actually felt more confident.  Finn's went pretty well, the main goal was just to get it out of his eyes and we accomplished that.  By the time I got to Liam's hair, I actually had a plan on what I would do and I understood how to use the clippers much better.  The biggest incentive for learning how to do haircuts, of course, is that it saves us around $60.00 on haircuts every 8-10 weeks!  

COVID-Week #5

Snowman in April

Distance Learning with Finn

The caterpillars have grown from tiny specs to huge and they are getting ready to form a chrysalis any day now.  

It is hard to believe we have just finished FIVE weeks of social distancing.  While it is beginning to feel like ground hog day around here, we are doing very well.  We have school work every weekday from around 8:45 am until 1:30 pm.  Finn and Aiden generally finish by Noon, but Luke and Liam usually finish sometime before 2:00 pm.

John is still working at home and trying to get something done in between all of the interruptions of having all of us at home as well.  We are doing Zoom calls, google meets, band meetings, math class, kindergarten chat, multiple meetings for John, and Moms group on any given day.  The boys and I frequently do video workouts in the basement during the afternoons if the weather is nice enough to go outside.

Luke spends a lot of his free time baking, putting together puzzles, and doing goalie workouts.  Liam enjoys chatting with his friends and doing Minecraft, playing hockey and basketball, and doing workouts with me.  Aiden will play basketball with anyone who is willing and available.  Finn seems to be getting the most out of this as he has the full attention of his brothers and he gets to stay home all the time!  He loves doing whatever Luke is doing and enjoys riding his bike, playing monopoly, and talking on FaceTime with his friend, Silas.  John and I have completed many home projects including a basement and garage cleanup, storage of the hockey boards, and lots of other things on our list that never seem to be completed very easily when we are busy with other activities.

We miss our friends and social outlets, but we are thankful that we are all healthy and although bored at times, we are in very good shape in our current situation.  

COVID-Week #4

A really fun hike on a beautiful but chilly spring day

Taste testing food and guessing what it is!  This was a fun game that Aunt Sarah played with us years ago and the boys still talk about it.

Another hike where Luke and Liam crossed the bridge hanging from the edge trying not to fall in the water

More hiking

Snow on Easter!  There was enough snow that I agreed to pull out the snow pants, hats, gloves, and boots that I already put away for the year.

Checking out the water and rocks

Hiking at a park near our house

Taylor's Falls hiking

Headed to see the waterfall

Luke and Liam at the the top of waterfall

Glacial pothole

They all managed to climb over there on that boulder

Liam is a climbing monkey

Happy Easter 2020!

We enjoyed our quarantined Spring Break and made the most of the things that we can do.  We played lots of basketball and hockey, went on some fun hikes, Luke did lots of baking for us, and we enjoyed a break from school.  John took off on Friday and we drove a little over an hour to an area called Taylor's Falls.  We took our lunch and spent the day there hiking for probably 5-6 hours.  We checked out the glacial potholes on the Minnesota side then drove across the La Croix River to Wisconsin and hiked several miles to see a waterfall.  It was a great way to get out of the house and enjoy some time outdoors.  I have always wanted to visit Taylor's Falls, but it takes a full day to drive out there, hike, and then drive back so we haven't taken the time to do it.  There was an AMAZING malt shop that was open for takeout so the boys also enjoyed malts after the hike.

Tomorrow marks one month that we have been at home.  Our last day of school was Friday, March 13 and school was cancelled for an indefinite amount of time over that weekend.  We have filled up the car with gas only once in a month and that's because it was nearly on empty when this all began.  While it is hard to believe it has been a month already, it is also hard to remember how busy our lives were prior to COVID-19 when we spent most evenings going from one activity to the next.  We have made the most of the extra time together at home, but we definitely miss our friends and sports.  

COVID-19 Week #3

We are starting to go a little crazy over here.

There is a cheetah in the kitchen!

Working on School

Learning our months of the year

Baseball?  That's something we haven't done in awhile!

Climbing up some trees and logs on a beautiful hike

We have officially survived three weeks in quarantine.  We didn't go anywhere all week until Saturday when we were about ready to bust out the doors so we took the boys up to a park and did some hiking.  It was a gorgeous day and we all enjoyed the ride in the car and the hike as well.

We began distance learning at school this week.  The two weeks prior to this we still did some school work but it was mostly organized by me.  This week we had meetings with teachers and classmates and even a test for Luke and Liam.  We generally worked from around 9:00 am until 1:00 pm.  Aiden and Finn usually finished a little before 1:00, but we didn't start any outdoor play or electronics until after 1:00 pm.

I think by the end of this week, we were in a pretty good routine.  The boys are no longer asking to play with friends or do some of the things we can no longer do like sports, the playground equipment at local parks, going out to dinner or to do errands, etc....We are playing games, working puzzles, chatting with friends on Zoom and Google Meet, calling our extended family, watching movies, reading, playing hockey, basketball, soccer, lacrosse, and doing video games.  We don't always get along and some days seem to run smoother than others, but for the most part we are doing very well and we are fortunate to have the resources we have here at home.