- COVID Diaries: Week 6 -

Happppppy Friday! TEE-GEE-EYE-EFFFFFF; although what kind of exciting adventures will this weekend really bring?!  ...Unfortunately, a 12-hour hospital shift is the only thing on my agenda.  :(  Regardless, cheers to another week up and another week down! 

This week, the reality of Harper not returning to preschool at all really settled in.  I'm so sad for her and for her two teachers who loved all of their Pre-K students so much.  March through May was their time to soar.  I know Harper is not a senior who's missing the last prom or only high school graduation; people say, "Thank goodness she's only five and it's ONLY preschool!"  But gosh, that's so far from the truth!  This was the year Harper found her independence... the year she made her first "real" friends... the year she flew outside her Momma's nest for the first time... the year she thrived.  I wanted her to continue on the high that was this year, and watching it come to a crashing halt really stinks.  Her last day of preschool was her birthday, and we signed her out early as a surprise.  She didn't know it was her last day of school [neither did we].  She didn't get to give her teachers a hug or say goodbye to her friends for the last time.  Earlier today, I was thinking back to the first few weeks of school last August.  EVERY DAY [for at least a month!] as I pulled up in the car line at 2:35pm, I had to put my sunglasses on to hide my tear-filled eyes.  The sight of her walking out into the parking lot confidently, hand-in-hand with her teacher, long ponytail swinging from side to side, and smiling from ear to ear got to me each time...  It sounds so crazy to recount now, but I had never been prouder of anyone or anything in my entire life than I was watching her in the few moments before she hopped in my car every day.  Where was my chubby-cheeked baby?  Who was this strong, confident, tall school-aged girl?  I loved buckling her into the carseat and driving away, hearing about the things she learned that day or the friends she played with and the memories she'd made.  Day by day and week by week, I witnessed how the preschool environment helped her blossom into such a caring, compassionate, all-around-beautiful human being.  Last night, her teacher made a post on Facebook about how sad she was to be putting preschool graduation diplomas into frames.  And while it's "not a big deal" in most people's eyes, this adorable Pre-K graduation scheduled on May 19 was supposed to be a huge milestone and defining moment for our little family.  Gosh dang it!  This was Harper's year, too, and I'm going to grieve it.

...Holy emotions; you can tell my progesterone plummeted yesterday! ;) :) 

Ahem! 

Ending "pity party for 1"...

...and entering the exciting events of this past week!

Last Saturday morning, the kids "hatched" a pack full of dinosaurs that my mom mailed!  Scarlett had never done any magic-grow capsules before, so of course it was a hit. 

We also picked up the first load of rock to start our landscaping project...

...and then tuned in via Facebook Live to a wedding we were supposed to be at that day! 

Congratulations, Mike and Melissa!  Props to you for still making the most of your day; and what a beautiful day it was!  We're so thankful we were still able to participate in your wedding Mass from afar and are looking forward to celebrating together in person this fall!

On Sunday morning, we deep cleaned the house.  While I scrubbed toilets and bathrooms, the kids both grabbed a bottle of Thieves cleaner and a rag to work on the countertops and windows [have I mentioned lately that I love chemical-free cleaning? #kidtested #motherapproved #cleanlittleminionsclean].  Harper said, "Mom, you are so lucky to have Scarlett and me to clean up your messes all the time!" ...Okkkkk, bro.

When they got sick of scrubbing, they resurrected the sponge dinos!  Brian was just itching [correction: is still itching] to toss the sponges in the trash can, but turns out they're the most-played-with items in our house right now!  I busted out some jelly beans for a mid-morning treat, and Harper had a great idea to sort hers by color before she ate them.

Later on, H&S helped make chicken tacos + guacamole for dinner and muffins for dessert...

 ...and then we all took showers and DID A THING!  Bye byeee,  3" of hair!  Harper was in desperate need for a healthy trim, and she looks sooooo adorable with her new haircut.  I'm actually pretty proud of myself for the way it turned out, though I think I'll still take her in to the salon for a professional trim up/feather out when our hairdresser starts seeing clients again hahah.  Brian even found his courage and let me scissor-trim the top of his mop!  I must say, cutting hair is a lot harder than it looks; I've seen some other peoples' terrible whack jobs in the last couple weeks and I'm prettttttty sure the next time there's a global pandemic, hairdressers should unquestionably make the "essential workers" list!

Work on Monday was emotionally exhausting; too much to even type.  I've already processed and compartmentalized all my feelings/reactions/emotions to everything that's currently going on inside the hospital walls, so I'll leave Monday at a pic and a prayer!

We finished up Harper's plant journal on Tuesday and finally threw the Sprout House into the trash can! I can't believe how tall it grew [but it hasn't grown a millimeter for about a week now and we were ready to kiss it goodbye].

Meanwhile, Scarlett is turning into a cutting MACHINE!  Making messes and darting off [to likely make a mess of another variety somewhere else] is her latest specialty. ;)

After lunch, we made Rice Krispie treats...

...and counted all the way up to 40 to get the perfect amount of marshmallows in the pot [we only ate a few along the way!].

After Scarlett's nap, we did our butterfly release!  I'm working on a video of this now and will share it soon.  To Marshmallow, Ice, Stieren, Flutter, and Flit:  we already miss you guyssss but hope you are enjoying the great outdoors! Fly high, our little friends!!!

Harper had a show-and-tell Zoom call with her classmates on Wednesday morning...

...and then we built a big fort in the living room afterwards.  Harper is most excellent at sketching a blueprint on her MagnaDoodle and then executing the plans with the sticks and balls!  Great job, girl!

[Unknown to me until the Zoom meeting earlier that morning, lol,] Wednesday was also Earth Day!  We talked a lot about pollution, recycling, littering, and many general do's and don'ts of how to take care of the earth so that Harper and Scarlett's kids and grandkids can still live on a nice planet many years down the road!  They thought it was pretty neat.

Amidst all of our Earth Day coloring, the neighbor sent me an "easy recipe" for Earth Day cookies along with a picture of her and her boys making them.  What a great idea, I thought! ...BUT...Wednesday afternoon was the straw that broke the camel's back.....*enter expletives*..........

...and needless to say, the Earth Day cookie-making adventure got moved to the back burner.  After a hot minute to myself [including a mini-retreat to my closet to binge eat the kids' Easter candy] and a full hour of sending the kids outside to ride bikes with Brian, all was swell in the world again.  I mean, you can't stay mad at that face ^^ for long at all, amiright?

I worked on Thursday, but I got home early enough to a) catch a glimpse of Daddy and Harper out for a bike ride and b) clean up another pile of Scarlett's construction paper scraps!

We also watched a few videos on Harper's teacher's YouTube channel and put some birthday cards in the mailbox for the mailman to nab the next day. 

As crazy as the kids made me on Wednesday, I missed them so much on Thursday and squeezed them so tight as soon as I got home from work [after stripping, showering, and sanitizing, per protocol!].

Today is Friday!!!  We finished up studying the life cycle of frogs; thank goodness for YouTube videos/songs, as I literally remember not a thang about tadpoles. ALSO thank you to Harper's teacher who e-mailed out an amazing circle-time video that she recorded. It was so amazing to see her face and hear her voice, and Harper was smiling from ear to ear the whole time.

Ice cream in the middle of the day to celebrate finishing frogs?! Sureeeee, why not!

I also found a cloud activity that we forgot to do last week...

...^^ and we had Grammy over for a French toast + egg casserole + fresh fruit brunch on the back porch!  She wanted to drop something off that she ordered for the girls [stay tuned on what it is and what we make of it - HAHAH].  The weather was gorgeous, and she helped Harper with a few assignments outside while I whipped up brunch inside.  Her visit was good for all of us!  #rebels #somebodycall911 #socialdistancingwho

I'm hoping the warm temps stick around so we can keep having meals on the back porch and also start spending more time together outdoors in the evenings! 

...I'm sure the pests would be happy if that worked out, too! ;) :)

That's all for now!

To be continued...

- Bead Bracelets -

Way wayyyy back during week 2 of quarantine [was that like a year ago now?! ...Feels like it!], we busted out some letter beads to make some name bracelets for friends and family!  I'm not much of a "straight-up-schoolwork" type of mom-made-teacher, but crafting IS my forte and I absolutely love doing fun little projects like this with the kids!  Besides, learning to spell peoples' names + creating color patterns is totally age-appropriate learning for Harper, and grasping + stringing these small beads is great fine motor skill practice for Scarlett; so #win #win #WINNING for all! 

A little side story I must mention:  We ran out of "A" beads right away, boo! But without skipping a beat, Harper ingeniously pulled out all the "V" beads, turned them upside down, and colored a line through the center with a fine-tip Sharpie to transform them into coveted "A's!"  Soooo smart!  That blossoming, innovative little brain amazes me more and more every day.

Anyway, we've gotten a few photos back over the last couple of weeks from some happy recipients, so of course I wanted to share!  To our beloved friends/family:  as sheltering-in and social distancing drags on, we hope that wearing these bracelets reminds you how much we love you and miss you during these crazy times!  We can't wait to see you again!

[Thank you, Jill, for the masks!  I think you got the short end of the stick in trading all these homemade masks for a beaded bracelet, LOL!]

See you soon, sweet friends!!! 

Until then, keep sporting that fancy new jewelry!

- COVID Diaries: Week 5 -

Hello, [literal] long lost friends!!

The -BIG- bad news:  yesterday, Illinois cancelled school for the rest of the year.  It seems soooooo surreal.  I've mentioned before that Harper is very much of a homebody [and has therefore been THRIVING during this shelter-in situation!], but she told me yesterday that she misses her teachers and her friends and would "def'nitely be sad" if she couldn't go back to preschool at all this year.  Gut. Punch.  Right now, I'm really not sure how we will break the news to her!  One of her teachers shared this post on Facebook the other day, and I could barely finish reading it because my eyes were filled with tears!

**********

"I just dropped off homework, next to an empty parking lot & quiet sidewalks. I set the girls’ folders next to folders with their friends’ names— friends they haven’t seen in weeks. I finally let some tears fall over the loss of this. For them. For their teachers. For this school I love so much.
.
I used to be a teacher & here is the thing: August through December you & the students are getting to know each other. You’re building rapport & setting boundaries & sticking to your guns so that order can be established. You are spending that time making sure everyone feels safe and heard, because only then will they start to learn anything. January & February you’re just trying to get everyone back on track after break, you’re scrambling around snow days and preparing for state testing.
.
But March through May? It’s the golden time to be a teacher. And a student. You’ve become a weird little family; you know one another’s quirks- you know when Josh needs to go to the bathroom everyday and you know when Sarah just needs to stretch her legs a bit. You laugh before the punchline because you already know one another’s jokes. There are trips and fun projects that have been saved all year because finally— FINALLY— these students are really YOURS. It’s the sweet spot. And this year, all around the world, teachers and students are missing out on this long awaited payoff. Everyone is still doing the best they can for their students, but they don’t get the daily life that has become so comfortable for them at this point in the year.
.
I haven’t taught for 7 years, and I STILL miss March through May with students. It was a magic you can’t understand if you’re not an educator. Every fresh August I would miss my previous students and wonder who the imposters were sitting in their seats... but then I would remind myself to hold on, to invest in the new ones, to put in the time... because March was coming.
.
So when you hear teachers say they miss their students, they really, really do. In their very guts. And they are grieving losing a March-May with this group that they will never get back. Sure, they will get it again, but not with this group. Our kids will be fine. Sure, they'll be a little behind on a few things and lots of review will be necessary, but they will be fine. I'm not sad about them missing out on some math problems. I'm just sad everyone is missing the magic. So if you've thanked your child's teacher for the work they're doing to still educate your child, that's good. Do that. But also? Thank them for loving them so much that losing March-May with them hurts."

**********

I'm obviously not an educator, but gosh, reading this really made me feel so sad for the teachers and students alike!  AND THEN, we open the mailbox to this:

Gahhhh! From the bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU for loving Harper so well.  We are so sorry you're losing the March through May together!!! 

Meanwhile, we're over here hacking through distance learning like:

Onlyyyyy joking!  I am honestly SO PROUD of Harper and all of her efforts thus far.  Before all of this even surfaced, the general thought of homeschooling was my very worst nightmare; even now, I'm just a mediocre-mom-made-makeshift-teacher, but sweet Harper has been so patient with all of my growing pains and flaws and we're getting through it together!  Praise be to God for extra graces on all accounts!!!  [Also Praise be to God that this is preschool level and not 5th grade or beyond, LOL!]

On Tuesday, we learned the story of creation and made a creation wheel highlighting the events of each day.  I was reading the story aloud [and while we're faithful Catholics, I'm also very science-minded and I must admit that all of these creation stories have always been very far-fetched for me!], but all the while Harper didn't even flinch once or question God's ability to create light/sea/sky/land/sun/moon/stars/yadda yadda yadddddda all in the matter of a week... [But really, day 6?  How did that happen?]  Ohhhh, to have the faith of a child.  Now THAT is something beautiful.

Amidst picking up, sweeping, deep cleaning, tidying, and picking up AGAIN, we also finished up our unit on plants and worked on some beginning sounds [which Harper finished with minimal help; this is huge progress from even just a month ago!].  We also had to un-zip the Sprout House bag taped to Harper's bedroom window, because the plant is sprouting furiously!

For dinner, Scarlett helped whip up crab-stuffed ravioli for Daddy and regular ole' spaghetti for the rest of us!  Nom nommmm.

We kicked off Wednesday morning with manicures.  The kids were literal BFFs allllll day long; it was so sweet! 

...So much so that Scarlett would only let Harper rock her to sleep at quiet time. Wowza!  I love it that they'll always have each other!

After nap time, we learned about different types of clouds and made our very own cumulonimbus rain clouds...

...and also did some shoelace tying practice! Harper got a new pair of Converse All Stars right before the pandemic hit and has been frustrated that she doesn't know how to tie them herself; turns out mastering a tight tie is actually a pretty hard trick to teach.  Keep trying, girl; you'll catch on soon!

On Wednesday evening, our first butterfly hatched!!!  Harper was so excited!  She named it Marshmallow and we mixed up some sugar water/"nectar" to feed it...

...before the kids passed out in bed together for the first time ever!  [Whatttttt is this life?! Please be BFFs again tomorrow and the day after that and also forever!]

No photos from Thursday, though the rest of the butterflies hatched while I was at work!  Now we have ALL FIVE!  Three are named [Marshmallow, Ice, and Stieren] and two are still nameless; we have a poll going on Facebook if anyone has opinions or votes to share!

We cut up an orange and mixed up some fresh sugar water for the butterflies on Friday morning.  Harper loves to feed them, and Scarlett loves to keep her distance [she is scared they will fly up her nose...]. :)  

^^ If you haven't been following our caterpillar/butterfly journey on Facebook, we are planning to release our 5 little friends on Tuesday afternoon and would love you to join us via Facebook Live!  The weather is supposed to be 67* and sunny, so it will be the perfect day to let our friends go.  See you then!

Friday was a BIG DAY for Scarlett; we flipped her carseat to forward-facing AND converted her crib into a toddler bed.  She is soooo excited about both happenings!  ALSO, she went through 1/4 box of Pull-Ups before braving underwear overnight, and she has been sleeping in her "un'ees" for a week now and waking up dry every morning.  GO, SCARLETT!!!  We are so proud of you, big girl!

When Brian finished working on Friday afternoon, all 4 of us went for a little drive to check out landscaping rock.  Word on the street is that we will be starting landscaping labor this weekend.....#joy.

We wrapped up the evening with pedicures and dusting!  Friday nights these days.......they're thrillers, I tell ya'!

I truly hope you all are staying healthy this week [and STILL STAYING HOME, too!].  I've heard of lots of positive cases popping up that are very close to home; with the St. Louis peak expected now on April 25, it's more important than ever to continue strict sheltering-in!  We made it through another week -- AKA 7 days closer to the end of all of this!!!  Sending virtual love and hugs your way! 

xoxox