New Life- Week 2

This week (and really this whole experience actually) can be summed up nicely by A Tale of Two Cities, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times".  I feel like I am on this crazy roller coaster and I can't get off.  For example, Thursday morning was particularly difficult for several people that I love.  I was overcome by worry for them and their future and ended up having to hide in my room for a bit while I cried my eyes out.  Fast forward to Friday late afternoon and I am making homemade pizza for my family while they get their cars ready for our drive in movie (more on that in a minute) and deciding on what movie we are going to watch.  In that moment I am overcome with gratitude for my family, all that we have, and for this special time I have to be with them more fully.  It's really the craziest thing and for those of you reading this right now, I am sure you get it, but for anyone in the future, I don't have words to truly express what it is like.

Anyway, so what did we actually do this week?  The weather was poor off and on this week so we had to miss our daily walk a few times.  We typically go outside in the afternoon everyday as well so this week we cleaned out the garage and spent lots of time playing in there with balls, chalk, and scooters.  Also this week we made homemade playdough, played with Legos and made muffins.  Thursday was Brendon's birthday so we heart attacked his front door.  We tried to be sneaky, but their dog, Trixie, started barking before we even made it to the door...not so sneaky.

Elsie found a bunch of bloomers in her drawer this week and decided she wanted to start wearing "underwear".  Everyday she insists on underwear over her diaper and under her pants.  We are almost out of diapers and I really should bite the bullet and potty train her, but honestly I can't bring myself to take it on right now.

Probably the best thing we did this week was our "drive in movie".  I don't have a lot of brilliant ideas as a parent, but this was one.  On Friday afternoon I got out old apple boxes for the kids to decorate as cars.  Merrick made a Lambo.  Carrigan made an Audi, which she called an Olympics car.  Elsie made, well, I am not exactly sure, but she had fun.  Car decorating turned into car racing.  Eventually we watched a movie and the kids sat in their "cars" for a "drive in movie".  Between the decorating, racing, and movie watching, we had hours and hours of entertainment...genius!  The only downside was that Merrick was really too big for his car so he ended up having to cut the box so his legs could hang out.

Just like that it was another week in the books.  Jeremy and I asked either other after week one if we could do this indefinitely and both said "no".  We had the same conversation this week and both said, "probably".  This is definitely getting more comfortable. 

New Life-Week 1

It's now been a week of our new life, no school, working from home, avoiding all people outside our family of five.  In some ways it has been really hard.  The kids are dying to see their friends and cousins and play at the playground.  Merrick is really missing baseball.  Jeremy is missing all sports and being able to work in a quiet office that isn't full of three small children.  Carrigan and Elsie have already started playing "school".  I am missing the regular routine and being able to go shopping when I need or want to.

On the other hand, this past week, in some ways, has been one of the best weeks ever.  I have been trying really hard to focus on the blessings in this situations and they have been plentiful. Everyday the kids and I have gotten outside for a long walk.  The weather has been beautiful and spring is in bloom.  There is beauty everywhere you look.  We have gotten creative; creating art, playing an imaginary baseball game, baking, cooking, making bath bombs, and making letters to leave out for our friends to find.

Most importantly this week has meant a significant increase in family time.  We have had time at eat lunch and dinner together everyday.  We have playing board games and sports at the park.  We have taken walks and read books.  It occurs to me that we will likely never have this much quality time together as a family ever again and so I am really trying my best to savor it.

At this point it is difficult to say how long this new way of life may go on, likely for months.  It is scary sometimes.  I worry about the economy, Jeremy's job stability, and how we will ever meet our family goals for a new house.   It's ok though.  I get to have my family and that makes up for everything else.

 

It's the End of the World As We Know it

This week started out normal enough.  Carrigan was in a musical at school "The Panda and The Moon".  She played a peacock.  Elsie had a big week too, she rocked her first ever piggy tails.

By Thursday, the world came to a screeching halt.  Anyone reading this right now knows exactly what I am talking about, but for future me, this week marked the the beginning to the Coronavirus outbreak in the Oregon.  By Thursday every event and activity you can imagine began to be canceled, church was canceled, sports were canceled, and school was canceled.  The kids went to school Friday and I went to a million grocery stores and we prepared for our new life.

Saturday was the first day of "social distancing" as we call it.  Thankfully we had a surprise distraction, snow!  The girls and I went out front, built a snowman, and tried to sled down the neighbor's driveway.  It was the first time that Elsie actually liked the snow, mostly she liked eating it.  Jeremy and Merrick met some friends at the middle school to sled and then Merrick spent the day hanging out with them.  We mostly stayed to ourselves with the exception of some family and a few close friends.

The problem is that by Saturday night I no longer felt comfortable with our interaction level of the day.  Jeremy and I had a long talk about it and decided that "social distancing" would no longer be enough for our family and that we are going to start practicing "social isolation".  Tomorrow Jeremy will start working from home and the kids and I will do our best to keep ourselves occupied with limited to no social interactions.  I really hope this blows over quickly, but in the meantime I am kind of looking forward to having this time to grow closer together as a family in a way we never have before.  It will be interesting for sure.

Even More Home Renos

What can I say about this week?  It can be summed up in one word, exhausting.  We have, once again, inexplicably been unable to sell the house.  Rather than reducing our asking price again, we decided to get a little creative.  We spent this week working our tails off on little projects that would make a big visual impact.  On Tuesday we will have new photos take.  We will then pull the house from the market for a day to reset the clock and relist with the new photos.

So what have we done over the last week?
New hinges and knobs on all the doors
New flowers outside
New knobs on all 58 drawers and cupboards in the house
Painted all cabinet hinges
Replaced 4 lights (in the entry, at the top of the stairs, in the kitchen, over the dining table)
Moved the location of the dining room light
Painted all bathroom vanities
Painted two of the bathroom mirror frames
Installed two new towel bars in the bathrooms
Installed new wood blinds in the kid's bedroom

Ok I am exhausted all over again just thinking about everything.  I snapped a couple really poor pictures just for you too see, but let's just say that it's a good things we have a professional photographer coming.  Maybe I'll post those pictures too when I have them.