Happy Easter!

Phew! We woke up this morning with a lawn dotted in Easter eggs, and while the kids- girls especially- have been very cognisant of Easter being about Jesus this year, I knew they were worried the bunny might not make it because of the virus. We did have a backup plan, just in case. Eggs were filled and ready to hide in the event the Easter Bunny didn't feel it safe to deliver the goods to Saratoga.

I had a very special Easter morning because the girls woke up early to make me my favorite breakfast. It was a delicious surprise!

So it was a happy but quiet Easter. We ate breakfast, opened Easter baskets, the girls sang a beautiful Easter song, we watched church with cinnamon roll brunch, watched a firetruck parade, had an egg hunt, played outside, and ate Easter dinner.

Just for giggles we took a family Easter portrait this year to remember our Easter in Social Quarantine.

A Seder Dinner

Since we will be celebrating Easter a little differently this year, we've been trying to add in some Easter activities that we might not normally do to make up for the fact that it will be a quiet holiday.

Last weekend after our online church in the living room, we set up a Palm Sunday parade with paper palms and robes of colorful scarves and everyone had a turn riding through the crowds of cheering onlookers pretending to be Jesus riding on a donkey (our toy ride on puppy).

Last night, we had a Passover dinner where we celebrated Passover in a less ritualistic manner than would be typical of a Jewish family, but with a similar menu. Each item we ate had a Jewish and Christian meaning. We found our inspiration for the meal here. The kids' favorite part was the homemade matzoh, which was just about the easiest thing to make with four kids, unless you try to do it by the Passover regulation and complete it from first combination of ingredients through baking in 18 minutes or less.

While no one was really very excited about the actual food (except Daddy), everyone tried everything and it was a fun tradition to start. Looking forward to next year!

The Fun Never Stops

It might be getting a little monotonous, this social distancing phenomenon. Some say difficult times. And I know a lot of families are struggling through. And we certainly have our moments and the days can be long.

But the kids are doing so great at not complaining and (mostly) playing well together, that I have to consider myself extremely lucky.

And who can be frustrated when you look at these adorable faces??

Even when I am out of ideas of how to keep the kids entertained, they always come up with something. Today it was running through the "sprinkler" (upturned spray nozzle) in the "really hot" (mid 60s and breezy) weather.

You couldn't have paid me to partake, but look at the fun they had.

Daddy can be a lot of fun too- he is great at thinking up silly things to do, and it has been nice that his commute home from work has been a lot shorter and we've had time to play outside in the evenings.
It was hard to top the sprinklers from this afternoon, but a double decker swing so the four kids can swing on a three-swing swing set made everyone's evening.

Social Distancing: Week 3

I think two weeks was sort of a novel experiment, with a hope that maybe we'd realize it was overdone, or it would end surprisingly soon... But at the start of the week, when the president announced we would continue in this manner through April, I think it kind of threw me into a funk. Not that I am a people person, particularly. Not that this is that stressful on us, as we are always at home, I never work, and Bob still has a job. But I see it wearing on the kids- not being able to get out of the house for fun or activities or see friends. And I see it wearing on Bob, having to work from home, and for myself- the days can get long with no place to take the kids aside from a walk or the backyard.

So we trudged through the week. We did school. We played outside. We had online dance and online Taekwondo and online music. We didn't stress about fitting in all the new extras. And we felt almost normal busy, but with a haze of discontent with the situation.

As we woke up to a rainy day with no promise of playing outside, I have to admit, I was less than thrilled.

But in the fashion of many other bloggers, I am going to turn my cranky, complainy mood around. Many people are posting about how they are thankful for what this unprecedented situation is giving them. Or about what they realize that they were too busy to see before. I am happy that so many people can see the light in a gloomy time.


I already know what many are coming to discover...

I am thankful that this is (close to) my normal every day.

That every day I get to spend the whole day with my kids.

That every day I get to teach my kids and learn from them, rather than giving that job to someone else.

That every day I get to chat with them over lunch.

That every day my kids get hours to go outside and play with each other and pretend and imagine.

That every day my kids get time to themselves, to choose whichever activities they like.

That my children already know (mostly) how to play together, get along and resolve disputes.

That when our afternoon activities come around (online or in real life), my kids aren't already burnt out from their day.

That every day we eat dinner together, even if sometimes it doesn't happen until 7.

That we (usually) really enjoy all the time we have together.


This isn't normal, and the news is uncomfortable to hear, and it doesn't feel good to be in a state of constant concern, or worry, or frustration. But in such a time, I am thankful for my supportive husband and these adorable kiddos.

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!