Water and Snow?

I am hopeful that being home all the time will make me appreciate the little moments. It's not so much different than usual, but I'm going to try to document some of our not so exciting time. 

This morning we started a car wash. Which ended up as three toy washes. Which ended up as three kid washes. Hey, everyone had a blast. Doesn't get much better than playing in water in the kitchen when you're a little kid. Kept them busy for almost an hour, so I'll call it a win. And my floor is so much cleaner than when we started. Double win.

Then, even though there was no snow on the ground this morning and it wasn't even snowing at lunch, THIS happened after I had already put away all the snow gear!!!

Three of the kids were excited to play out in the snow one more time. MiniM.E. isn't really into this social distancing thing, and her attitude towards everything clearly displays her unhappiness to be stuck at home all the time.

By dinner our deck looked like this!

A Weekend of...

Nothing??

This has been the most challenging two days yet. The kids look forward to the weekend all week, counting the days, usually starting on Monday! They love spending extra time with Daddy at a playground or on an outing, or having a family over for dinner, or something... different. But since Daddy has been at home, and we have nowhere to go, even though the kids knew we couldn't do anything, I think they subconsciously were very disappointed with our weekend.

The boys played and climbed.

The girls played dolls.

And Daddy built an epic fort while all the kids complained it was taking too long with the kids.

Just Hanging Around

Today we finally made it out for a "hike". Of all things I've promised about social distancing, the kids are most excited to hike. Odd, since none of them actually like walking. Today we went to the Spring Run Trail to hike/scooter/bike. It was such nice weather, and even though we are social distancing, just seeing other people felt good. And it was a change of scenery from our neighborhood walks.

As we were taking the snack break above, a kid rode by and shouted, "thunderstorm coming!" 

This smart mom had checked the radar an hour or so before we left, but of course, didn't think to check again. Sure enough, it was almost on top of us as I herded the kids back to the trail and encouraged them to MOVE IT!

We didn't make it. Fortunately, it was just pelting rain, no thunder. And it was warm... enough.

I exclaimed over the fun adventure, and the kids all rode home in their underwear. Friday afternoons don't get much better than that!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Not the best climate for celebration this year. We certainly won't be having a party or a play date or be going out to eat (now that restaurants are closed except for take out). I have, in the past, gone all out for St. Patrick's Day with scavenger hunts and rainbows. The girls, especially MiniM.E., remind me of what I did last year, which makes it hard not to do those things again. BUT, I had a lot going with stress of SARSpocalypse, quarterly reports, and trying to help out my mom friends who need homeschooling advice and resources. By the time I was done with "work" last night, it was too late to start a scavenger hunt.

We woke up with a blanket of snow which the kids decided was a trick from the leprechaun, so that worked in my favor.

We settled for green pancakes and green smoothies for breakfast and made leprechaun slime for science.

Slime resulted in clothing and hair full of slime, so we also filled our morning with a bath time.

Maybe later we will venture to the store... at least it will be an activity.

Flu Crazier!

No school, no work, no shopping, no restaurants, no play dates, no Taekwondo, no dance, no music, no library... no one even wants to meet up at an outdoor location. It's like some crazy sci fi movie or alternate universe. We shopped yesterday and everywhere was out of meat, bread, frozen food and toilet paper. This is by far the craziest thing I've experienced.

We are feeling so fortunate that this is already what we do every day. I can't imagine what parents must be feeling that are used to sending their kids to school and now are expected to stay home with them and teach them. So other than no one wanting to play and not heading out for activities this evening and having Daddy home all day, it was pretty much a normal school day for us today.

Lots of playing outside with these cuties. And other than asking for playdates a few times, the kids seem pretty okay with things so far.

We'll see if I'm feeling so chipper come the end of the week!

Flu Craziness

So it's getting a little crazy with the paranoia over coronavirus and the new social distancing. We went from "maybe they'll be a meeting Monday to decide what to do" to "no school for five weeks" in a matter of hours!

We were supposed to spend the morning at a Taekwondo tournament, but it's been rescheduled. We needed a few books and movies from the library so that became Plan B until we looked online and the Saratoga Public Library was "closed to the public until further notice". Figuring we were going to be without the library for weeks, I quickly searched the nearby libraries, and thankfully the library Glens Falls was open for the weekend, to close Monday. So Plan C was get to any library ASAP for books we might need for months. I quickly put together a list of what we would need for school while these crazies played.

We already had a date night/sleepover planned so we went ahead and went out, but the whole thing feels so crazy.

The downtown bar and restaurant scene didn't feel any different- we couldn't even get a table at the restaurant we planned on, so things can't be too bad.

Our friends watched our kids at our house and then we came home and kept their kids for the night. It was a bit crazy, but the kids had a blast (as usual) and will be very tired tonight (as usual). At least we didn't have to rush our morning since church was cancelled for both our families. The kids got to play through the afternoon!

Feels Like Spring!

It was SO NICE OUT Sunday and Monday! I just wanted to stay out all day. 

A perfect day for our rock smashing science experiment. 

And lots of outdoor play. 

Tuesday was a small music class with worry over coronavirus. But the boys totally came out of their shells with less kids and had a blast participating.

Then today we had to put back on the winter coats... but the sun still felt nice and we are trying to spend as much time outside as we can.

100 Day, Nice Weather and a Full Weekend

Friday was a day of school the girls have been looking forward to since... maybe day 5? 100 DAY!!!! They have been so excited that when 99 DAY! came and went and I sat down in the evening ready to take a break, I suddenly realized, "I have to do something for 100 day!" And it's times like these that I am so thankful for the internet!

100 day was a huge success.

And we got to visit the Tang Museum for a story time on the road, which added to the excitement of the day.

100 day was a great way to end the week and start an exciting weekend.

Yesterday the girls and I had girls afternoon. We went downtown to Creative Sparks to paint pottery and it was so nice to spend time with just the girls and our friends: a mom and just the girls. We will have to instate a monthly girls afternoon going forward.

Now that Daddy has a camera phone too, I can steal his photos and get a glimpse of what boys afternoon looked like.

Today was a birthday party where I face-painted. It was small and low key which was just the kind of party the girls are into, so everyone had a good time.

And now to take a break before another week...