COVID-19 Quarantine Day 60

Well, it's been 2 months now.  A virus that began in China eventually made its way to the United States and has caused millions of people to stay in their homes to limit exposure so as to not overwhelm the hospitals all at once with sick people.  The number of cases grew exponentially and we began using the term, flatten the curve, to encourage people to stay home and work together to limit the number of cases at a single time.  While people were still allowed to go out, we began using another term, social distancing, tip reminds people to stay physically away from one another so as to limit the risk of contracting the virus.  We found out people can be infected and asymptomatic for a long time.  We found our the virus can live on surfaces and in the air.  People rushed to buy all of the hand sanitizer, soap, toilet paper, and Clorox wipes.  When states shut down businesses and schools, people went out to protest.  Many ignored social distancing and failed to wear masks while out protesting.  I would love to see a news report indicating how many contacted COVID-19 right there at those protests.  Eventually, states began to open again, that's where we are now.  We believe we've hit our peak, and that things will be easier on hospitals and safer now.  I can only assume a second wave is coming.  Historically, that's house these things have gone.  The second wave tends to be worse and more deadly than the first.  Though, again, historically, people have learned by the 3rd wave and are finally taking things seriously.  We've only gone through one wave so far.  People are getting cabin fever and with spring here and summer approaching, people will be out more and more.  We'll remain extremely cautious in our home.  With summer approaching, we have an opportunity to continue to quarantine for several more months.  While we'll go out occasionally fire groceries, to pick up a meal, or to get a haircut, our summer won't look much different than our spring has.  We still want to go to Kentucky and Tennessee at the end of June, but that's a month and a half away.  Time will tell if that travel is possible or a needless risk.  I still can't believe we've been home, staying away or only very carefully and occasionally seeing people outside of our family, for 2 months now.  This entire pandemic has felt so surreal.  But I know our lives will be forever changed because of it.  However, eventually people will forget, wil relax, wil not remember the fear or what life was like during this time.  It will just become a page on a history book, like the Spanish Flu.  It will be something the world will only look back on when a similar crisis comes up long into the future. Hopefully they learn from us and mobilize faster to save more lives.  Hopefully they trust the epidemiologists and listen when doctors get concerned, because they have the knowledge and can see the way the dominoes will fall, far easier than the average person.  And when they get worried, it's cause for concern.  Maybe one day those protesters will see that government officials were looking out for their health and lives and feel silly for shouting (without masks) in the faces of elected officials.  But I find very few people are willing or able to rationally listen to a point of view outside of their own entrenched worldview.  When presented with alternative reasoning for shutting down states and economies, considering the welfare of their fellow man, I've found many just yell louder, screaming about their freedoms and rights.  What a privileged worldview, that an individual's rights outweigh another's life.  What a legacy that person must be leaving to be more important than the lives of his or her fellow man.  I've also found, that the quiet people during these times have the most poignant things to say.  But I've yet to see someone stop shouting because they genuinely wanted to know what the quiet, thoughtful person in the corner thinks.  A time of uncertainty and anxiety like this reveals so much about people.  I'm not suggesting everyone live in fear, but I do wish people cared more about one another during these times than about being the loudest voice in the room. 

COVID-19 Quarantine Day 57

Good morning, everyone!  Hope you're having a nice Friday!  I have to admit, after the rain yesterday and doing very little work due to Connor's birthday, getting to work today is getting to be a bit of a struggle.  I don't really want to work, lol.  Fortunately, the kids did most of their schoolwork at the beginning of the week, so it will be okay.  We don't have a lot of work to do today anyway.  Actually, right now as I'm typing this, I'm working on a split screen and watching a training on dyslexic readers.  Because technology is just okay sometimes, there are a lot of pauses where they're trying to get people to respond to questions, but they're calling on specific people, so I'm doing a lot of waiting, which is why I'm also blogging.

**Edit**

Ended up getting to the good stuff on the training and never finished here.  So I'm back now!  Hope you all had a nice day.  😊  Kids got their work done for the day and are downstairs playing on the Switch.  Michael can't wait for them to go to bed so he can play.  Sis and I decided today to eat healthier and drink more water, so that's what I've been focused on a lot of the day.  I really hate drinking water.  Not much else to report.  I wish it would warm up.  I went out and checked on the garden.  There was a little damage because of the hail and storm yesterday, but not too bad.  Mostly the plants on the east side that aren't as protected by the trees.  It was too chilly to stay out for long though.  I had Caesar Salad for dinner.  It was a premade bag from Walmart and it was REALLY GOOD!  The dressing was super tasty and it also had course black pepper in a little packet to sprinkle on my salad!  I loved it!  I left it off Michael's because he doesn't like pepper, but he's totally missing out.  Michael and I have been watching the Marvel movies in chronological order of their universe.  We started with Captain America: The First Avenger.  Then we went to Captain Marvel.  Next we watched Iron Man.  Now we're about halfway through Iron Man 2.  I might have to ask Michael is we can watch Big Bang tonight before bed instead.  We've been staying up watching movies the last several nights and I haven't got as much rest.  I typically fall asleep watching TV and Michael keeps watching.  We're usually watching shows we've already seen, so I'm not missing anything.  But I haven't watched all of these Marvel movies and the ones I have seen I haven't seen recently, so I don't want to fall asleep and miss anything.  So it's been passed 11 several nights in a row when I go to sleep and I'm more of a 930 kind of person.  😂👵  Anyway, day 1 of this 14 day quarantine is done now.  I'm hopeful that with us staying home and me staying well covered on the last day of school when I have to go back and close things up, that the family can all go out to the farm together for Memorial Day!  🤞  Assuming everyone is ok with that.  We shall see.  And then, summer will be here!  And the kids and I will be free to spend as much time out there as we'd like.  I just wish Michael could be out there more with us.  Anyway, I'm rambling again.  Have a wonderful night and I'll talk to you more later!  Happy quarantining!  😁💘

COVID-19 Quarantine Day 56 - Happy Birthday, Connor!!

Good morning, everyone!  I hope you're well this morning!  It's almost 9am now, but I have already been up for 4 hours!  😳😳😳  Let me explain...

As I mentioned yesterday, this week is Teacher Appreciation Week, Connor's Birthday, and Mother's Day.  So yesterday I did a lot of running around in the morning, picking up groceries and last minute things for each of those three holidays.  When I got home I took a shower and used the Clorox wipes on everything.  After lunch the kids and I began our journey around Butler County.  We stopped by the homes of three teachers and delivered homemade cards and flowers for Teacher Appreciation Week.  We stopped by three grandparents' homes and delivered hand painted rocks and cards for Mother's Day.  We stopped by two aunt's houses to deliver hand painted rocks and cards as well.  All in all, we were away from home out seeing everyone for 4 hours yesterday.  Then, when we got home, the kids had Bible and Bingo on Zoom.  After that we all got some dinner and relaxed for the rest of the evening.  I ended up falling asleep while Michael and I were watching Iron Man.  I think it was because of that, that I woke up this morning in a panic.

Just after 5am this morning I woke up.  I was worried that Connor's presents weren't going to be wrapped by the time he woke up, so I got up and got to work.  In case you haven't heard yet, Michael and I finally got Connor a Nintendo Switch for his birthday.  We wanted to get him one for Christmas, but with all the other gifts we were buying during the season, we just didn't have enough for an expensive video game system.  However, after Christmas, Michael and I were already talking about possibly getting Connor the Switch for his birthday after our tax return came in.  Then we also got the COVID-19 stimulus check since then, so we knew we could manage it.  Michael had already opened it, set up accounts for him and both of the kids (I told him I didn't think I needed one), and charged it.  But when I woke up this morning, I worried that he hadn't wrapped the presents last night.  I was right.  So I got up and wrapped everything, cleaned the living room a bit, and prepped the pancake batter.  I got everything taken care of before he woke up, so my morning panic worked for good.  😉

Edit: Started this this morning, finishing a recount of our day now.  😊

We started our morning with snuggles.  We all 4 squeezed into Connor's bed and snuggled together, Connor's favorite way to wake up.  After he got up, Connor opened his gifts.  He was very excited about his Nintendo Switch, but showed about as much enthusiasm getting it as Michael does when I get him awesome gifts I'm stoked about.  Cool.  Thanks.  🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️  He got a Mario game from Avery and a Zelda and Lego Jurassic World game from Michael and me.  Michael is probably more excited about this Zelda game than Connor is.  He's totally geeking out.  I guess it's the best Zelda game to date.  I imagine Michael will be getting some after hours play time in after the kids are in bed in the near future.  We also got Connor a case that has Mario and Cappy (from his new Mario game) on it, to hold the Switch and a bunch of games.  He got some new clothes which he was not excited about, but his new shirt has Mario on it, so he liked that.  He also got a Pokemon book that lists ALL the Pokemon and their evolutions and power-ups and such.  He was pretty excited about that one.  😉  He said, It's just like the one Dayton and Dax have!!!  I think he was very pleased with his gifts.  He was a little confused about who got him the Switch though.  When I explained that Michael and I got it for him he said, I thought it was too expensive?  Oh sweet boy.  It was.  I explained that we saved up the money to get it for him.  It was just so sweet.  He hasn't been asking for a Switch because he knows it's expensive, but we knew he wanted one.  It was a good moment to be able to get it and give it to him.

After his presents, I had some work to do.  So it left him with plenty of time to play his new game.  I told him he didn't have to do any schoolwork today, so he just vedged and played games for a couple hours.  It was good!  ❤  

To get Connor to his surprise party, we asked him if he wanted to go hide painted rocks around the neighborhood.  Once again, his reaction to finding his friends and family there, who he hasn't seen in a couple months was, Hi.  🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️  Check out that blog to see how the party went.  Long story short, it was a really good party.  We have to quarantine hard core for the next 2 weeks, but it was worth it.  It was great to see everyone and Connor loved seeing his friends.  It was cold, but it was great!  ❤

After the party we all had to take hot showers to thaw out.  Then Connor played his video games some more.  We kinda skipped lunch, but had Chili, Kippy Burgers, and Hot Dogs for dinner.  Although Connor requested chili to make chili dogs, he didn't actually eat chili on his hotdog.  What he did eat was a bowl of chili, a kippy burger, and a hotdog.  That boy is going to be expensive to feed! 

This evening Connor spent his time before bed doing one of his favorite activities, building with Legos.  TJ gave him 2 Lego sets for his birthday.  One was a Fantastic Beasts HP set, the other was just a set of a couple hundred mixed Legos.  Connor used the mixed Legos to build a castle.  ❤  

I love him so very much!  I think he had a really nice birthday.  😊  Here are a few pictures!  Enjoy!

COVID-19 Quarantine Day 56 - Birthday Party

We had a pandemic birthday party!  😳  People didn't stay socially distanced either.  😳  But our little boy had so much fun playing with his friends and seeing friends and family and teachers.  We'll be quarantining hard core for the next 2 weeks because we had a lot of exposures.  But I trust the people who were there, so I feel good about how this will all turn out.  Even so, we will not be going ANYWHERE for the next 2 weeks, just to be safe.  😊  Here are some pictures of Connor's party!  ❤

I didn't get any good pictures of Connor because he was too busy playing.  But he had a great time!  ❤  Happy Birthday, Baby Boy!

COVID-19 Quarantine Day 55 - Hundreds of Weeds and Nematodes

Good morning, all!  I hope you're having a nice day!  I'm going to have quite a busy day today.  With Connor's birthday being tomorrow, Teacher Appreciation Week being all week, and Morher's Day being this weekend, we have a lot to do.  And despite being a teacher and a mother, I don't feel like I can just rest and enjoy my own celebrations, I have work to do to make sure others feel loved and cared for as well.  So I'm out running errands all day today!  😳  Wish me luck!

Now onto the reason for this blog, weeds and nematodes.  I am just about certain there was grass seed, at least some, in the dirt I had delivered.  😠  2 days ago I was out weeding the garden, I didn't start counting right at the beginning, but ended up pulling 420 weeds out that evening.  Yesterday I went out again and pulled another 340 weeds!  😱  Now, given, these are tiny, sometimes single blades of grass, but I go out each day and pull everything I see so they don't get crazy and overrun my garden.  And, obviously, they would be doing that rather quickly if I wasn't out there thinning them out!  I didn't have problems with grass in my soil last year, just seeds from the trees that sit over the garden.  So I'm irritated to have introduced new weeds into my beds.  I'll just keep pulling them though, because I'm trying not to use chemicals on my garden this year.  So if you need me, that's where I'll be, out pulling weeds.

As for the nematodes, I noticed when I was planting my strawberries that there were grubs in my dirt!  😡😡  There's no landscape matting on the bottom of box 1, so they could have come up that way.  There's also native soil in box 1, so I could have introduced them to that box myself.  Either way, I didn't notice them in box 2 when Avery and I were planting carrots, so I can only assume they're only in one box.  I did some research online and found that a non-chemical way to deal with grubs is using beneficial nematodes.  These are microscopic worms that naturally occur in soil and prey on various bad insects.  Anyway, long story short, I bought some and put them in all 5 of my garden boxes.  They keep a lot of pests away.  I just hope the kill all the grubs in box 1 because they are super gross.  We'll see.

That's all I have for now.  I need to get going on my errands.  Have a wonderful day! 

COVID-19 Quarantine Day 53

The kids are down to 3 weeks of school.  This last semester has really flown by!  It's had it's ups and downs with fear and anxiety from COVID-19 and figuring out how to do distance learning but also increased family time and more togetherness.  I know not all families have done as well through this time.  We are very fortunate to have had things relatively easy the last couple of months.  This week is Teacher Appreciation Week.  I wish I could do more for Avery and Connor's teachers.  They have been so wonderful all year and especially through this pandemic.  I didn't know either of them well at the beginning of the school year and had a few reservations.  But Sunflower doesn't have bad teachers.  Both of these women have loved on and challenged our kiddos and pushed them to get better all year long.  It has been a really good school year.  Things won't change a ton in our home once school is out for the summer.  The kids each have a list of items they have to complete each day.  These lists ensure that the kids are doing a little something productive for their brains, our home, and our family each day before they get to vedge out in front of technology.  😂  I've been pretty lenient on the lists while home school has been going on, because I didn't want to overwhelm them too bad.  They had lists similar to these last summer and it worked tremendously well.  😊  I'm hoping this summer goes as smoothly.  

I'm sure you're probably tired of hearing about it, but my garden looks fabulous!!  Only a week or two ago it was mostly dirt.  Now I have plants in and seeds coming up and everything is looking super good!  I'm getting impatient with the asparagus and hope it will start popping up soon, but even the zucchini and yellow squash seeds that I planted, the ones I was worried weren't coming up (so I bought plants a week ago) are coming up now!  Check put how great it looks!!

This was 2 days ago...

This was 5 days ago...

This was 10 days ago...  (Looks like it was raining that day) 

This was 11 days ago...

This was 12 days ago...

And finally, 16 days ago...

Quite the change in a little over 2 weeks!!  It's just going to get more and more lush and green!  I can't wait!  And then, eventually, flowers too!  I'm so excited!!

I planted an herb garden yesterday!  I've been trying to weed my herbs out of the regular garden because I think the seedlings look like weeds.  So I thought I'd try raising herbs up on the upper deck so I can keep a closer eye on them and the area won't be as prone to weeds, so it's less likely that I'll accidentally pull them out.  We'll see how it goes!  🤞

One of my Kindergarten students and her mom (the room mom for my Kindergarten class) came and decorated my front door and brought a treat for me for Teacher Appreciation Week!  It was so good to see them, and I feel so spoiled to have such a sweet class of kids!  ❤

Finally, when we opened the door, we also noticed that the flowers around the front flower bed were blooming!!  Look how pretty they are!!

Today is a great day!  ❤

COVID-19 Quarantine Day 52 - More Pictures

That was close!  It crashed twice, but somehow managed to save the blog!  Also it wouldn't publish on wifi, but once I turned it off and used data, it did fine.  The internet is weird.  So is my phone.  But I blame the crashing mostly on the app.  It's what has caused me to stop blogging all together, several times.  It's just too discouraging to lose all that work.

Here are more pictures to enjoy!  Hopefully no problems posting this blog at the end!!

Gardening Guard Dogs! 

Avery's pictures from school

Gabby was having a really rough day moving the other day.  Michael thinks she might have pulled something.  So we let her lay on the bed with us that evening.  ❤🐺

Check out the ramen I made!!  Not bad!

On Wednesday Mama and Daddy brought Connor's birthday present over!!  He hasn't walked anywhere (but down the stairs) since then.  He hovers everywhere!  😂😂😂

Mama and Daddy also brought Arts over!!  😍😍😍

That's about all I have for now.  Pretty soon I need to post some of the new recipes we've tried lately!!  ❤  Have a nice Sunday!!!

COVID-19 Quarantine Day 52 - Pictures

Hey, I have a lot of pictures on my phone that I haven't posted on the blog in a while.  If I don't get them on here, I'll forget to do it.  So here are some snapshots of Quarantine Life lately!  ❤

Getting ready to watch Mulan outside last night 

I watched the movie from the hammock!  Super comfy!

Morning garden!  😍  About 9am, full sun

Countryside had a family movie night!  We watched a FB Live video of the 3 children's ministry director's showing what special themed food and drinks and crafts and decor they had set up, then we posted pictures of what we were doing, making magic carpet crackers, on FB, then we all watched Aladdin from our own homes.  The kids chose the Live Action version.  It was the first I saw it!  It was really good!  This was Friday night.

Avery used her chalk combs to color her hair blue and then it got all over her face,  😂🤦🏼‍♀️  Probably not bathing the kids as often as we should.  But hey, Michael and I aren't showering as often as we should either because #QuarantineLife 🤷🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️🤷🏼‍♀️

Mama got me 3 new Fiestaware settings!!!  😁😁😁😁  The daffodil color is exactly the same as the egg yolks!!

More pretty garden pics!  Can't remember if I posted them here or not.  I know they're on FB....

Ok, that's all for this post.  I still want it to actually post.  I'm also going to select all and copy this post to my clipboard in case it all goes kaput when I try to save it.  🤞