Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

While stuck at home during quarantine (online school has been extended through April), we've been experimenting with new recipes. We found this recipe for chocolate peanut butter bars online and had to try it. It was really good and the animal crackers in it gave it a nice crunch. We'll probably make it again.

Trampoline!

After years of the kids begging for a trampoline, we caved and got one. While we were at the store getting "essentials", we also bought a trampoline, something else to keep the kids entertained while in quarantine. So we came home and set it up with all of their help. And they love it! They spent hours the first day jumping on it, so much that some of them ended up sunburned. We'll have to remember that. I wish we had bought one many years ago.

Flying Kites

Well, we've been issued a stay-at-home order too, which I forgot to mention in the post about online school. Since we're stuck at home, except to go buy essentials, I pulled out the kites I bought before spring break for something to do.

Online School

Well, the covid-19 hype isn't dying down and now they've told us that we are doing online school for this next week. I hope it doesn't go much longer than this. I'm super bummed. Last week, Jonah missed a field trip to iFly. I know they aren't going to try and do that one again! Anyway, this is Annmarie all set up to do online school. The older kids all have their chromebooks from school. Jonah and Annmarie will take turns on the desktop computer.

Homemade Ice Cream

While trying to make good use of this extra time at home, we decided to make ice cream. I happened to have a strawberry ice cream mix in the freezer, fresh strawberries in my fridge, and plenty of ice and rock salt as well, so we pulled out the ice cream maker and used whole milk to mix with the ice cream mix and made some strawberry ice cream. Not everyone liked it because they don't like strawberries in general, but I thought it was pretty good. It didn't last long!

Preschool

I decided to do preschool this week anyway. I have such a small class and it's in my home that I can keep super clean. Plus, I had my older kids home to help. Today, being St. Patrick's Day, we made these fun rainbow pots of gold. Eliza came up with the craft. I had such good helpers today. And one of my students didn't come because with the extended spring break from school, his family stayed in Arizona another week. It was his birthday this week, so we made a video of singing happy birthday to him and I sent it to his mom. I hope we can resume things normally in another week.

I also continued piano lessons this week with anyone who would come.  I had seven students out of my  thirteen who did not come.  I told them I would still be teaching as long as people would come.  I guess some music teachers are going to virtual lessons, like using Zoom.  I don't want to do that, it doesn't seem like it would work well with beginning students.  But we'll see what happens.

Birthdays

In addition to all the coronavirus fun, we got to celebrate two birthdays.  Jonah's birthday on Friday the 13th and Annmarie's birthday today, Saturday.  Jonah wanted In-N-Out for lunch for his birthday, so I took him.  So far, In-N-Out is still open.  I heard a lot of places, like nail salons and hair salons, are closing down.  I guess dentists and eye doctors too because they are in contact with saliva and eyes, which are ways the virus spreads.  Anyway, we went to In-N-Out for lunch.  Jonah had pizza for dinner with cake and ice cream.  I did not do a fancy cake.  But when I stopped at the store to buy ice cream, the cashier was like, "oh, ice cream is an essential item" all sarcastically.  I retorted back that it was my son's birthday and he would have ice cream with his cake, even during a pandemic.  It's crazy, people are buying stores out of toilet paper, paper towels, liquid hand soap, soap, shampoo, hand sanitizer, and clorox wipes and baby wipes.  I was lucky to have bought some toilet paper two weeks ago just because we needed some but now you can't find it anywhere.  I think the city of Wylie just put out an order that stores in Wylie that carry toilet paper will limit TP sales to one package per purchase.  So I guess if we can only find a four-pack, we'll have to go back to the store multiple times or something.  Hopefully we won't run out.  I did get Aaron some for when he and his family arrive too.  I'm not too worried though.  It will be another week or two before we need it and if I see it next time I'm at the store, I'll grab a package just to be sure. 

I digress.  We celebrated Annmarie's birthday with a heart cake.  Now Jonah is nine and Annmarie is seven.  Glad this year wasn't a party year! 

Ice Skating and Coronavirus

Well, Spring Break has been great so far. Westley has gotten some hours at work and we have had fun playing outside and watching movies. BUT...

the world has gone crazy! Apparently, there was this virus in December in China that jumped from a bat to a human called SARS-COV-2. They call it covid-19, or coronavirus 2019.   Now it's spreading around the world and our country started closing borders for people coming from certain countries. It's been declared a pandemic so school has been canceled for next week. The kids are having an extra week of spring break, but everything is shutting down, so we can't do anything or go anywhere. Some places, like California, have issued a "shelter-in-place" order where people have been told not to leave their homes for anything but essentials for 14 days. We haven't had that here, yet, and I'm hoping we won't. This is a corona virus, which is one of the viruses that cause a cold, but this is a new strain, so that's why people are scared. Some people are dying from it too. It's being compared to the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918. I don't know what I think about it. It seems so far away. Aaron and his family are coming back from Japan because of it. Hopefully it passes through quickly. I guess the goal with closing borders and telling people to stay home is to slow the spread of it.

That all said, we got word about the district closing school on Wednesday night. Today, Thursday, we went ice skating anyway because that was in our plans already. We used our POGO passes.  Westley was working and Corey stayed home with Nathan.  It was fun to ice skate and sort of not think about all of the chaos.

Spring Break!

We kicked off Spring Break with cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Jonah wasn't able to go outside yet, so he made a hopscotch game on the floor with some toy cars. Later on, when they did go outside, Jonah was helping Nathan learn to ride his two-wheel bike. Spring Break is going to be great! I love these breaks from school!

Cheerleading Tryouts

At my encouragement, Eliza decided to try out for junior high cheerleading. I worked with her as much as I could on the cheer used for the tryout. She practiced a lot and worked hard, but, alas, it wasn't meant to be. She did not make the squad. I still think the squad would be lucky to have her. And she was disappointed, especially since one of her good friends from church did make the squad. We'll see how that pans out next year. That can often divide friends. I know Eliza won't let it change her, but her friend might. Anyway, even after all of that disappointment, she is still smiling! She will find her niche. Perhaps volleyball will be exactly that! Love this girl!

Nathan's Four-Year Checkup

We had Nathan's four-year checkup. This is the one where they get all of their updated shots for when they start school. He was so good during the exam, just calmly sitting there, letting the nurse and doctor do their jobs. He is growing well and developing normally. And the doctor was impressed that he knows all his letters and numbers. She even asked where he went to preschool! I told her I have a home preschool and she seemed interested, since she has a preschool-age child. I might have to do something about that!