COVID-19 Quarantine Day 75

Sorry for no new blog posts the last week.  It was the last week of school and we were just busy.  Here is a very brief update of what's been going on: 

*School is done for the year 

*I might be getting a new job

*Sis dyed my hair pink and purple again like last summer

*We went to the farm for Memorial Day weekend

*We're still going on our vacation in about 4.5 weeks

*We're planning on having the engineers and their families over for dinner Thursday if the rain will stay away 

*It feels good to be sleeping in my own bed again

*My garden looks great after a few days away

*My friend Kelly made me a Harry Potter mask 

*Linda sent Michael and I K-State masks in the mail

*While dying my hair this weekend, we're also did Avery's, Laney's, and Mama's

*I'd like to do a little clothes shopping before vacation, but I'm not sure if any stores have dressing rooms open 🤷🏼‍♀️

*From today I have the next 12 weeks off work!  Money wise it will stink, but not be unbearable.  Mentally, I'm looking forward to it. 

*I have a real Pea pod forming on one of my pea plants! 

*My corn is finally about 6 inches tall, so I need to plant beans this week!  The three sisters are almost complete! 

*I planted more seeds a week or so ago and now have more flowers, herbs, and cucumbers coming up! 

*Michael's and my 11 year anniversary was Saturday

I think that's about it.  Not really in any sort of order.  Here are a few pictures too.  ❤  I'll try to sort out this jumbled mess last today, but it's not even 8am yet, so this is what you get.  😉

COVID-19 Quarantine Day 67 - Coronavirus Through the Eyes of a Child

I posted this on FB and I thought it would be worth saving here as well.  😊

🦠 Coronavirus through a child’s eyes. 🦠

Ask your child the questions and have a giggle, not only now but in a memory a year from now.

Avery 7, Connor 6

1. What is the Coronavirus? 

A- A kind of sickness that can make people really sick or sometimes kill people

C- A bad allergy

2. Who is the president of the US? 

A- Don't know

C- I do not know

3. How many days have we been on lockdown?

A- 2 months

C- 50,000

4. Do you want to go back to school? 

A- Yes

C- Yes

5. Who is the first person you are going to hug when lockdown is over? 

A- Mrs. Miller

C- Dax Wilde

6. Where is the first place you want to go? 

A- On a field trip with my class to Jumpy Jump Land

C- Braums!

7. What do you think we can do to get rid of the Coronavirus?   

A- Everybody could take medicine every day, then when we go out and come back we take showers.

C- Use torches and fire it away.  It probably won't even work.

8. Are mommy and daddy good teachers? 

A- Yes.

C- You are, but dad's not a teacher.

9. How did the Coronavirus start? 

A- It started on an animal, then it suddenly jumped onto a person.  I don't know how it's made, but a lot of sick people got together and made it.  At the hospital. 

C- With Grandma

10. If you had to wear protective clothing to help you, what would it be? 

A- All my socks, all my pants, all of my underwear, all of my shirts, all of my gloves, and all of my hats

C- Space suit

11. Are you enjoying the lockdown? 

A- Nope!

C- Yeah.

COVID-19 Quarantine Day 67 - A Favorite Small Business Closes it's Doors Permanently

Guys, I'm so so sad.  Sente is closed permanently.  I know it's only the first of many wonderful small businesses that will be forced to close due to COVID-19.  I'm so sad.  I'm just glad we were able to take the kids and Mama and Daddy to enjoy it before it closed.  Michael and I had several dates a few months before COVID-19 hit, and I'm very glad we did.  This special business will be greatly missed.  Here are some pictures from our time there.

I hope I'm not making blog posts like this often as my favorite places go out of business.  This is one of the businesses that we have been unable to help during this time of closures.  We've done our party to help coffee shops, restaurants, and breweries, but this type of business we just couldn't help.  We will maintain memberships at the Zoo and Exploration Place, and Michael and I were already discussing the monthly membership at Sente, but it didn't come back after it shut down in March.  I'm so so sad.  

COVID-19 Quarantine Day 64 - Sunny Garden Make Up Post - Number 3

Yay!!  Two down!!  I guess it's no wonder that the one yesterday crashed my app.  🤷🏼‍♀️  Here are the rest of my garden pictures.  😊

Overall, everything looks pretty good!  A little messy from mud splashing up onto plants, but not too bad.  They probably wouldn't have got so muddy if I had hay laid down around the plants like I did last year.  But I can't run to Lowe's as often as I need things anymore, so I'm trying to get by with what I've got.  Also, see my helpers coming in to assist me with my gardening?  😂  Some day I'll trust them and be able to let them in a little more freely, but for now they're still under close supervision!

So pretty!  😍

They yellow squash is at the bottom of the stairs, so the house protects it from the weather a lot.  They seem to be doing very well!

Did I ever explain why I have 2 yellow squash plants in a pot?  I planted seeds and they never came up, so I planted more seeds and bought plants and finally got some yellow squash in my garden.  Then the seeds decided to come up in the little pot I planted inside.  Oops!  So these squash are for the kids to take care of.  We also painted "cactus" to keep them company.  😉😂

I'm also starting to have some herbs come up in my herb pot on the upper deck.  Later yesterday I also saw basil seedlings coming up!  Didn't get a picture of them though.

So there you have it!  The sun came up and I ran out to check my garden while there was time!  Turns out the sun was out all day yesterday.  The kids went out to play and had popsicles while they laid in their pool floaties on the driveway, it was really good.  😊  Only 1 more week of school, then Memorial Day out at the farm (Michael said we could stay until Monday, well, the kids and I could anyway, but he can join us until Monday since he has the day off!!), then sweet summertime!  ❤🌞

COVID-19 Quarantine Day 64 - Sunny Garden Make Up Post - Number 2

Back again!  Fortunately I had the foresight to copy and paste that last post before I tried to exit the screen I was in, because I would have definitely lost it.  One thing you're missing in this post versus the one yesterday is that I was super jazzed and enthusiastic that the sun had come out.  I'm not quite as giddy today, but I am happy the sun is out again today as well.  When are these storms supposed to end, anyway?  We had a monster of a storm last night!  Anyway, back to pictures...

Peas and green onions look good.  I'm trying to guide the peas over to the fence so they'll climb up it, but they want to go the other way because it's where they get sun.  If I can get them to at least start growing up the fence, they'll keep going.  They just have to get a little taller and I can get them over there.  😊

Zucchini, yellow squash, and butternut squash look good.  Flowers are persevering despite being hit pretty hard by the storms.  Okra is still teeny tiny.  🤷🏼‍♀️

I have some tiny asparagus coming up!  I think I have about a half dozen stalks.  Figured I would have had more by now, but who knows.  At least I have something!  Hopefully the rest are coming soon!  🤞  I need to add some more dirt to the trenches, but I don't want to discourage more spears from popping up.  🤷🏼‍♀️

Avery's carrots continue to grow like weeds!  Really probably need to thin those out some...

Lettuce and most of the strawberries look good!  The head lettuce didn't take the beating from the rain as well.  Also, I think my Honeoye strawberries are completely dead now.  Note to self: get strawberry plants earlier next year and don't buy the ones of clearance on their last leg.

Ok, there are still a few more pictures I want to post, but I'm getting nervous again, so I'm going to copy and paste this and then try to post it.  Stay tuned for the next installation!  😉

COVID-19 Quarantine Day 64 - Sunny Garden Make Up Post ‐ Number 1

Hey guys.  I wrote a nice long blog yesterday, but put too many pictures in it and it crashed.  Then I was defeated and never reposted.  The gist of it was that I was happy that the sun came out for a bit, so I went out to the garden and check on things and took some pictures.  I'll have to make it two posts now, obviously.  Here we go...

My boots came in, so I slogged through the yard to go out and check on my garden.  Aren't they pretty??  Between my birthday and Mother's Day I have 4 new pairs of shoes!  😁😁😁

I believe this robin is the reason I have all sorts of holes in my strawberry patch.  I love that he's here eating bugs, but he sure does make a mess.  He's here every day and when I'm in the garden he waits on the fence and watches me.  🤣

I was thinking of possibly getting some dowel rods to prop up some of my corn.  They're leaning, probably a combo of trying to get sun and getting hammered by rain the last week.  Zucchini plants look good!!

My basil looks like it's kind of over the rain.  The peppers, chives, and tomatoes seem to be doing fine though.

Zucchini and cucumbers look good.  I need to plant a few more cucumber seeds in the pile.  But I need to fertilize everything too and haven't gotten around the that either...  Looks like the sun is shining today too, maybe I'll get all this stuff done, finally...

Green onion, broccoli, and cauliflower all look great!  They are probably most protected from weather.  I also learned last year that they prefer cooler weather.  So I think they're really thriving at the moment.

Ok, I'm only halfway done, but I better post.  Because if I lose everything again, these pictures will never make it up...

COVID-19 Quarantine Day 63

Good morning, everyone!  

The kids are down to 7 days of school, they're done with their work for the week, and I don't expect them the be assigned much more.  Should be a pretty quiet next week.  I'll do a little work, but with students finishing up their assignments, there isn't much for me to do either.  I know I said most of this yesterday, but I'm totally looking forward to summer and being done with home school.  

I'm also desperately missing the sun and wishing it would come back out.  

It's been 7 days since Connor's party and since we left the house.  Everyone is healthy and no one has spiked a fever yet.  That makes me feel pretty good that we didn't catch anything when we all got together, but we'll wait another week, just to make sure.

When that week is up, though, I have plans to get out of the house!  Michael and the kids bought me another massage for Mother's Day!!  And I got an email from Beau Monde saying they were opening up again soon, so I sent them an email and said, any day, any time, I want in!  I figured being one of the first people into the spa after they've deep cleaned and reopened limits my exposure, plus, they have a shower in their locker room, so I figured I'd just bring a change of clothes and shower right there, then I won't have to come home and disinfect my car and take my decontamination shower at home.  So yeah, long story short, I have a 60 minute massage followed by a 15 minute steam+scalp massage on Wednesday next week!  Wednesday marks day 14 of our post-birthday quarantine, so I figure I should know by then if I'm sick.  I am really looking forward to this massage!  It's a stress reduction massage and I would say that in light of the way things have gone in the last few months, I need it.  Of course I haven't been nearly as stressed as others, but the massage is going to be a welcomed relief and a nice, temporary trip outside of the home to focus on self care.  I think the last week indoors because of rain has figuratively (and literally) dampened my spirits.  I'm not nearly as positive when it's raining all day, every day.

Good news, though, my rain boots came in!  So I can slosh through the yard to get out to my garden and check on things today!  Yay!!  What's funny is that as soon as Michael got my sprinklers installed in the other 3 beds, the rain came and we ended up turning the sprinklers around all of the yard off.  So we haven't had a chance for the sprinklers to do their work.  Maybe today while I'm out looking at things, I'll snap a few pictures so you can see how the sprinklers look, even if they aren't being utilized at the moment.  Rain is free, so we'll take it.  This reminds me of a woman from Valley Feed and Seed a month or so ago, when I was buying seeds and plants.  She said hopefully we wouldn't get so much rain that everything floods again like it did last year.  I told her I had raised beds, so the flooding didn't hurt my garden nearly as bad, because it just ended up running out the bottom (and sometimes sides).  I'm glad again, for the raised beds.

Yesterday the kids had an assignment at school for art class to recreated famous works of art.  Connor really didn't want to do the assignment and I was getting frustrated because he was saying no to EVERY painting I suggested, so I tapped out and Michael worked with Connor, while I worked with Avery.  They're not perfect, but I think they turned out pretty cute!  😉

Alright, I have a Zoom in an hour.  I better get up and around.  Have a good, rainy day!

COVID-19 Quarantine Day 62 - Video Game Shopping

Connor is downstairs with Michael looking at video games online.  He got a lot of gift cards and money from his friends for his birthday.  They are cracking up looking at all of these silly games!  He's having a really good time looking at videos of games to pick what he would like.  I think we'll have to keep that in mind and give him money in his stocking for Christmas so he can choose his own game.  I just love him so much.  He's growing up so fast, spending his money on expensive new video games!  😂❤🎮

COVID-19 Quarantine Day 62

It won't stop raining.  I haven't been out to check on my garden in a few days.  It's soggy out.  The rain boots Michael bought me for Mother's Day haven't come in yet.  This kind of weather doesn't leave me motivated to do much more than lay in bed and watch TV and drink coffee.  All the rain lately reminds me of last Spring when we got so much rain.  Nebraska was really badly flooded when we're drove through on our Memorial Day vacation.   The kids hustled through their school work this week, so they're basically done with school now, a week and a half early.  I think I'll give them a few days of not doing much before I enforce the daily summer checklist.  I know the work hasn't been that bad, but I'm with the kids and ready to be done with online school for a while. 

COVID-19 Quarantine Day 60 - Healthy Meals

Sis and I are trying to eat healthy, so here's what I enjoyed today!

Avocado toast, probably my favorite breakfast!  On the left is toast wish mashed avocado, sprinkled with shredded parmesan, and topped with a fried egg.  On the right is a slice of bread with mayo spread on it, topped with sliced tomato and sliced avocado.  On top of that is a slice of swiss cheese and then the whole thing is broiled until the cheese is melted and the bread is toasted.  I love this meal and have some variation of it every time I have ripe avocados on hand.  ❤🥑

For lunch I tried a new recipe!  These are cauliflower fritters.  I had a green cauliflower in the fridge that I wanted to use up.  I went to pinterest and found the recipe.  It's got minced garlic, chili powder, green onion, and parmesan cheese in it (among other things to hold it all together).  I air fried them instead of frying them in oil.  They turned out really tasty and are super filling!  I saw cauliflower crust pizza recipes and thought about making that, but I've made it before and it takes a terribly long time, so I skipped it this time.  

For dinner, Michael made fajitas!!  Don't they look delicious!?!?!??!  I accidentally bought 2 lbs of key limes on the click list last week, so I'm trying to find ways to use them.  🤦🏼‍♀️🤣  We also got a couple things used up out of the freezer (chicken and peppers).  I got a bag of avocados on the click list too.  If you've ever used avocados, you know their perfectly ripe timing is about 23 minutes.  So I'm using those bad boys in everything the next couple days!!  Michael made an avocado chicken salad yesterday for me for lunch for Mother's Day.  It was amazing!  If I keep posting pics of my food, you'll see lots of avocado recipes for a couple days.  😉

That's all I got.  😉  I took pictures of my food today and just had to share!  😁

COVID-19 Quarantine Day 60 - Mother-Daughter Trip Planning!!

Yesterday I sent a lot of pictures to Mama and Sis of the 3 of us together.  Several of the pictures were from the Mother-Daughter trip we took 3 years ago.  

In our group chat we were talking about how we needed to plan another trip together!  The three of us had so much fun that weekend!!  So here are some ideas of places we could go....

-Vegas

‐OKC

-Branson

-KC (again)

-Austin

-St. Louis

-Chicago

-Denver

-Colorado Springs

-New Orleans

Obviously, we're not going anytime soon, but maybe things will have settled down more by this fall and maybe we could get away for a weekend.  😊  What do you think?  What's the best spot for a girls weekend??

COVID-19 Quarantine Day 60 - Happy Mother's Day!

Another holiday spent in quarantine.  Yesterday was Mother's Day.  Fortunately, our family was able to get out and see family this week before Mother's Day.  We had a nice quiet day as a family.  Michael made me breakfast, the Kia made me gifts, Avery and Connor spent a lot of the day sweeping and mopping floors for me, Michael and I played a lot of games of Dominion, I enjoyed Mimosas from the supplies Sis gave me for my Mother's Day gift, and Michael and I watched a lot of Bones.  It was a very calm and chill day.  😊  Check out my awesome gifts! 

New Under Armour sandals, Rain boots to garden in, Ding Dongs, flowers, a massage, and a hand drawn picture of Buckbeak the Hippogriff, Harry Potter, and Hagrid.  I didn't get a picture yet of the paper cake Avery made me that my gifts from her were in. 

Mama and Daddy were at an estate sale over the weekend and got these for me!!!  They're both signed by Bill Snyder and Willie the Wildcat.  😁  I love them!   Can't wait to hang them up!  💜🖤💜🖤💜

Sis got me supplies for Mom-osas!  She also gave me homemade baked goods, but I don't have a picture of them because I ate them too fast.  😍

Throughout the day I drank the whole bottle of champagne.  🤣  I had lots of fruit here st home that I could add to them, so they're all super pretty!  ❤  Of course, after my fun holiday, I'm back to eating healthy today.  😉

I hope all of my fellow moms had a terrific Mother's Day as well!  I love you all so much! 

Happy Mother's Day!!!!