Deep in thought re: where should we go this weekend??!...
The options are limitless!!!
I had to work a 12-hour shift at the hospital on Saturday, and admittedly, I was NOT excited to go in. The updates are incessant as the COVID-19 information is ever-changing, and there are so many new protocols and recommendations going in to place that are totally foreign to women's health nursing as I've known it for the last ~9 years. Our hospital's PPE usage has increased by 400% during the last couple of weeks, and there are many conversations going on about how to conserve/reuse PPE and discussions happening about which areas of the hospital will use which items, etc. ACOG has posted a different opinion than the CDC and WHO when it comes to the usage of full PPE during the second stage of labor, and gosh -- without getting into all of it here -- I'll admit that it's infuriating to realize that we are currently "going
to war" with COVID-19 in a T-shirt and shorts because the country is grossly under-prepared for this pandemic and therefore the hospital is up a creek without a paddle. [Here is an article that explains it better from an L&D viewpoint.] I wholeheartedly love taking care of pregnant mommas and being there for
them in the most vulnerable yet best moments of their lives, but never
did I think I'd have to do my job in the context of putting myself --
and therefore my family -- at a huge health risk. I just wish the hospital could help us cover our @$$es a little better [figuratively and literally] since we have no other choice right now than to show up to the frontlines of the fight day in and day out.
Nevertheless, I've been trying really hard to use my 45-minute commute
home from the hospital to decompress and diffuse so I don't bring all
the stress and anxiety inside to my husband and kids who have been waiting to see
me all day. Immediately after pulling in the garage, I step inside, strip down naked in the hallway, and toss everything straight into the washing machine. Brian fills the machine with detergent and starts the cycle on extra-hot as I make a beeline to the shower [where my kids usually appear moments later and observe the rest of my shower through the glass doors, LOL]. They don't understand why they don't get the hugs and kisses they're
accustomed to the minute I get home from work; all they see is me sprinting
away from them and afraid to touch them. When I get out, I Clorox wipe the car steering wheel and door handles and anything else I touched in the 13 seconds it took to undress and run inside. These are CRAZY times, my friends!!! If you're the praying type, please keep all healthcare personnel your prayers as we're trying to effectively take care of affected patients but also keep our family's exposure as limited as possible!
Phew! It felt good to get all that off my chest.
On Sunday, the kids wanted to do some painting after breakfast...
...and we also made more name bracelets. I hope a few of you have received your happy mail by now! ;) :)
Scarlett struggled with threading and keeping the beads on the small, stretchy cord but had a lot better luck putting them onto a pipe cleaner. I'm really impressed with her fine motor skills and also her attention span; prettttttty sure she's the coolest 2-year-old I know!
After craft time, we had an impromptu airplane-flying-turned-yoga session in the living room and then headed outside for our daily dose of vitamin D! The kids have been riding this Power Wheels EVERYWHERE!
The girls helped Daddy level out some dirt on Monday afternoon...
...and then we had a movie night [Ice Age!] when I got home from work. We've never really watched movies with the kids much until the past couple of months, and Harper is really loving everything Disney!
Harper also got some mail on Monday from her teacher, and I successfully
blinked back a few crocodile tears that immediately formed up when I saw what was inside the envelope. Even
though we're adapting okay to the home learning, all of this is just such an
emotional time; the mutual love between these teachers and the kids is so evident, and I truly hate the thought that they probably won't be able to go back
to school this year!
In best news, both of Harper's teachers are checking in with us frequently and are
supporting us in every way possible. I truly appreciate their guidance and hope
they know how much their efforts mean to us. We heart you so hard, Ms. Leah and
Ms. Nicole!!!
Scarlett kicked off Tuesday morning with some guitar playing...
...and then we sat down with bagels as we worked on the letter "J"...
...and learned about pennies...
...and completed a spring "write the room" activity.
Scarlett has a little stack of her own papers to color while I work with Harper on her school assignments, but usually she is most entertained with a piece of scrap construction paper and her new pair of scissors... It's the small things in life, #amiright?!
During Scarlett's nap on Tuesday, I busted out the bag of Starburst Jelly Beans that I've been hiding and Harper and I made a Jelly Bean Graph. She insisted on writing the colors across the axis using her color sight words from last week. In a random sample of JB's, purple took the cake with 12! The best part about this was eating the candy afterwards, of courseeee. Harper plans to pour out another bowl in the next few days and see if purple wins again or if another color will pull ahead. Stay tuned for some [not exciting] results!!! :D
[^^ PS - I found this idea here, and I plan to do some more of the jelly bean activities next week IF the bag doesn't disappear too quickly!]
On Wednesday, we hopped on a Zoom meeting for the preschool class [which Harper was honestly not interested in at all, haha!]...
...and we alsoooo laid down 8,000 pounds of sod! More more more to come on this in a separate post!
While I worked again on Thursday, Brian and the kids laid 6 more pallets of sod. Uncle Blake came down to offer some hours of labor [working from a 6+-foot distance, of course!], and I know Brian appreciated the help so much. I came home at 8:45pm to this sweet sight:
Then! TGIF! Finally! Friday allowed time for us to review the letter "U" and the numbers 10-20. Harper is not usually very excited about working with the teen numbers, but after asking, "Did Ms. Leah say to do this?" she always eagerly tries and finishes. She also finished up her worksheets on parts of a plant and found some YouTube songs explaining how plants grow. We still have the Sprout House taped to her bedroom window but haven't observed any changes yet. Meanwhile, Scarlett and Brian were outside literally "helping plants grow" in the form of laying moreeeeee sod!
Scarlett was extraaaaa fussy today, so during her second nap of the day [!!!] Harper and I started an experiment called the "Disappearing Eggshell" that her teacher did at home and recorded on YouTube. We will be popping the lid and sharing our results tomorrow after lunch!
We also knocked out some yoga [finally determined to lose the rest of my baby weight/food baby]...
...and then cracked open some DIY pizza kits from Gianni's that my mom dropped off for the kids. Scarlett was still napping so I made her kit [thank goodness, actually, because it was an intricate process and also I cannot imagine cleaning up the flour mess behind her!]
The weather was so nice this evening that Brian suggested having dinner on the back porch. He set the card table out and Harper set the dishes on the table and poured everyone a drink! She also brought out the little basket of Easter eggs that we painted at the pottery place a few weeks ago to use as a centerpiece, haha. #thehostesswiththemostest
Brian and the kids finished the night off with a bike ride around the subdivision; this relaxing activity was soon to be topped with one bloodied up knee as Harper crashed the scooter and one skinned forehead as Scarlett walked straight into a set of bicycle handlebars.
CHEERS TO THE WEEKEND! May it be ever more exciting than the weekdays.....!
To be continued...
Harper had to attend an occasional preschool Zoom call [remote learning weeee!] from the front porch...
...but other than that, all 4 of us kept super busy! 
