2020: What the Hell

It started so strong.  We had a great vacation in Disney World.  I got to go on a fun girls trip to Nashville to celebrate my best friend getting married.  Then our basement flooded.  Then AveryAnn got the flu and we had to cancel her birthday party.  It wasn't all bad, there were some fun times in February too. Then March came and we were so naïve.  Then came postponed school, cancelled Spring Break plans and postponed baseball season.  Then came furloughed jobs, "distance learning",  and virtual ballet.  Its a wild world.  They called school for the year.  Which is just crazy to me.  Barrett passed first grade but I'm sad we didn't get to do all the fun end of the year things.

All that being said, we've been trying to make the most of our time in quarantine.  Thankfully, Patrick is still working.  The kids and I have been filling our days with school, tv (too much tv), playing outside and facetiming anyone who will answer.  The kids have done great for the most part.  They have been getting along so well.  I've really enjoyed getting to see them interact and play together so much.  There has been very little fighting and that's been really nice.   We're really hoping this is the last week of being at home.  Not that we have a ton of places to go but it'll be nice to have the option.  It will also be nice to send the kids to the grandparents for a night or three.
Here are some pictures from our time in quarantine...

This was our first day of my lesson plans.  Before we knew school was cancelled for the rest of the year.  We were so hopeful.

It was St. Patrick's Day.

Cuddling is at an all time high.  Which I loved at first.  Its starting to wear me out though.

That week we went to ride go carts with Drake.  (This was before we were told not to leave our houses unless absolutely necessary)

I finally ordered a new rug for a basement after the flood in February.  I got this half of the den set up.  The other side still looks like a unorganized garage sale.

This dog needs a nerve pill.  She is over us being home all the time.  She has to be touching me all the time because if she isn't one of the kids is trying to touch her and she's not here for it.

I read a book.

Watching the kids play outside.  Thankfully we've had some great weather.

He let AveryAnn do his makeup.

We found a caterpillar.  And the loved it to death.

My uncle passed away. My mom's family is pretty big and we're all still pretty close.  It was so hard not being able to hug each other.  Only my mom and her other 5 siblings were able to stand at the graveside but the rest of us were able to stay at our cars and luckily the priest was able to speak loud enough we could all hear him.  It was a beautiful service and kind of fitting because he was always a very simple man.  Never cared for much fanfare.  He lived a wonderful life and was so loved.  He will be missed.

The funeral was the weekend before Easter so I made the kids wear their Easter clothes since I knew we weren't going to be going to Mass for Easter.  We went to my parents after the funeral and had lunch (and celebrated Easter.) It was good to all be together.  

Love this little family of mine. 

I finally broke down and let Patrick cut Barrett's hair.  I wish I hadn't.

Our first day of distance learning with our school curriculum.  Barrett has been pretty good about doing his work.  His teacher told me if he just did an hour a week he would be nearly a whole grade ahead.  I don't know if that's true or not but that's our goal, one hour each week.  We usually do about 30 minutes a day of the computer work and then he reads for another 30 minutes.  I need to get him writing to practice his handwriting.

AveryAnn's teachers dropped off her workbooks and all the print outs for the rest of the year for her to work on as well.  She hasn't been nearly as eager as her brother.

We started Zoom ballet.  She doesn't love it as much as actually going to the studio but she's enjoying it.  I've enjoyed getting to watch since we can't see what they're doing in class at the studio.

The Easter bunny made his rounds the week before Easter.  The kids picked out their own outfits.

I picked flowers from my yard for our Easter centerpieces.  I'm going to do a separate post on our Easter Sunday. 

Then we had tornadoes and spent Easter evening in the basement.

Her idea of wearing a mask per the CDC recommendations.

Reading in the sun.  

More cuddles.

They've been so sweet together.

Her hair is so long I have to put it up in the twist towel when we wash it.  She thinks she is so cool every time we do it and it makes me smile so much.

We finally broke out the baseball slip 'n slide.  They've laughed a lot.

My roses are blooming and so pretty.

I had to go pick something up and I told her she had to wear clothes.

She told me she was wearing clothes.  We've got to get back to real life before they become complete animals.

We escaped to the lake for a change of scenery on Sunday.  It was cold, both the water and the air.  The kids did swim, I couldn't believe it because I was freezing just sitting in the sun.

I ordered this sweatshirt for him for baseball season.  He got it this week and has worn it everyday.  He put it on and his hat and said "mom, I look like a professional baseball player don't I?"  I just love him so much.  We're really hoping we get to play baseball this season even if its just a few weeks.
That's what we've been up to the last six-ish weeks.