Still alive

Hello out there! I can't believe I haven't posted since the beginning of June, but things continue to stay busy in our neck of the woods. I'll try to catch everyone up as to what has been going on....

JUNE

In June we were DYING with the kids home and both of us trying to work. I was still working ALL.THE.TIME (actually I haven't stopped) and since camp wasn't starting, we managed to find someone who babysit for us a few times before that could babysit the kids for 8 hours/day during the week. She had been really good about social distancing so we felt okay with our decision. She made life a lot easier for the month that she was with us and there were only a few times when Wes came into a video call I was having for work (one with elected officials as I was trying to give a presentation to cry about his broken shark toy- good times).

These are our crumbling concrete front steps....

Wes really enjoyed watching the men that were fixing them.

Not quite finished product, but close enough

The cicadas at our house were SO LOUD this summer. I guess this year was both a 13 year brood and early risers from the next 17 year brood. The kids had fun catching them, helping them fly away, and Wes even named a few. Thankfully they are mostly gone now, but they left dead carcasses everywhere.

We celebrated CP's birthday in style by ordering out Alinea, a super fancy multi-Michelin star restaurant that costs something like $400/plate for a 15 course meal if you are dining in person (before adding alcohol). During COVID-19 though, they offered a much less expensive 6 course delicious meal, so I surprised CP with take out. It was really, really good.

Like with Mother's Day, Izzy wanted to make sure that CP had a good birthday so she made him a pinata and a scavenger hunt. It was adorable and I loved how she put so much thought and effort into it.

JULY

We spent a long Fourth of July weekend with my parents at their house in Michigan. I was supposed to take one day off (Thursday) but then ended up working half the day because meetings popped up that I had to attend (sigh). We had a great time otherwise with a family party for Wes' birthday and then on Sunday CP and I got to drive back to IL WITHOUT THE KIDS. My mom had offered to take the kids for a week earlier in the year and it was desperately needed to spend some time away, just the two of us. CP and I still had to work during the day but I didn't work at night (well, one night) and we got to hang out, go to dinner almost every night, and enjoy each other's company. The next weekend we drove back to MI to spend the weekend there and pick up the kids. They had a great time; grandma was a little exhausted (lol).

Once getting back from MI the kids went to summer camp which meant they were out of the house (!), back on a schedule, and playing with friends. The camp does an excellent job with safety (temperature checks, questions upon arrival, masks inside, etc.) so we felt comfortable with the kids there all day. Wes had about two weeks of rough drop-offs because he wanted to be home with me, but got back into the schedule and enjoyed being back with friends. I'm happy to report NO COVID cases for either camp!

Enjoying the dinosaur sprinkler, the baby pool, and the watermelon beach ball given to Wes by my sister for his birthday.

Watching Hamilton our outdoor movie screen on July 3rd. Izzy LOVED it and cried at the end when Hamilton died. Wes stayed awake the entire time. Both kids frequently request us to play the soundtrack- parenting win!

Wes obviously helped decorate his cake. :-)

Enjoying ice cream during grandma week.

Michigan beach

Wes came home to open a lot of Star Wars-themed gifts from family members.

We ended up having a very small birthday party for Wes in our back yard with our "quaranteam families" where our slip and slide that CP bought earlier in the year made an appearance. 

Oh and halfway through July I read an intermittent fasting book because I had gained some weight during our shelter in place and started fasting for slightly longer periods than I had been doing. I also started to try to drink black coffee which I still choke down, but it's getting a little better every day. 

I also got fed up with my daily plantar fasciitis pain no matter what I did so I saw a doctor and decided to get a cortisone shot. It's been nice to walk/work out without pain but I'm not sure I will ever run again......

AUGUST

So far in August the kids finished up camp. We learned that Izzy would be starting off going remote for 1st grade so we have essentially enrolled her in 1st grade daycare (*groan*)....but it will be outside of our house, she will be with 9 other friends, and will have teachers helping her do her e-learning. CP is back at work every day but with remote e-learning he has gotten the go-ahead to work from home two days a week starting next week. 

We were supposed to go to Wisconsin for a week of camping with friends but didn't go because then we would have to quarantine for two weeks as a family and Wes couldn't go to daycare. Sadly, I didn't get my badly-needed vacation time.....hopefully soon.

Today was Wes' first day of Pre-K and he had a great day ("Mommy, I didn't have any consequences!"). This week is going to be tough as I found a camp that will take Izzy from 9-3 (school/1st grade daycare doesn't start until next week) but I generally have calls from 9-6 so she will be watching tv/amusing herself while I am on those calls until CP gets home with Wes.

Izzy has now lost 7 teeth!

We are trying to make sure the kids get out and get a lot of exercise. Our local pool is open for up to 100 people during a two hour block so we often reserve time slots when we can. Both kids are going off the small diving board and Wes is actually swimming without floaties! Now that Wes is on a two wheeler we have been doing long family bike rides too- up to 7 miles for the kids and they are doing great!

I thought it would be fun to get this bird feeder so that the cats could watch birds come to the window. Cocoa is OBSESSED and the birds couldn't care less these days that he is jumping at them in the window. Keeps him nice and occupied for some of the day.

Brain dump over. Time to get back to work (*sigh*).

Quarantine Diaries- Week Nine

Week Nine of Sheltering in Place

Wes randomly running around the house in a Spiderman costume

Wes created a Millenium Falcon (he continues his Star Wars obsession)

Izzy has gotten quite good at climbing trees. She gets quite sad that we don't have a good climbing tree at our house, so this is a tree in a nearby church parking lot.

Needing to get outside picture #104958934 of quarantine.

Quarantine Diaries- Week Eight

Week Eight of Sheltering in Place

Mother's Day! I woke up before the kids and started to do some work. Once the kids woke up I was told to get back into bed so that they could serve me breakfast in bed (obviously with a lot of help from CP). Izzy wanted to get dressed up for Mother's Day, wrote me a card, and made me a present (she started making it a week in advance because she was so excited). Breakfast was fruit, bacon, and an omelette with spinach, mushrooms, shallots, and goat cheese. It was delicious!

Izzy's fancy Mother's Day outfit and jewelry.

My Mother's Day flowers.

First family bike ride with everyone on a two wheeler! Go Wes!

Wes coloring during his Zoom call with his preschool class.

We found Cocoa sneaking a nap on Wes' bed.

Backyard scavenger hunt found on Pinterest to do something different.

First long family bike ride. We went over 4 miles and Wes didn't really complain.

Our halfway point was a prairie where Izzy found this cool egg.

We also found a half-eaten crawfish.

That night CP and I were flipping channels after the kids went to sleep and found cornhole on ESPN2. Just one step closer to the Ocho......  ;-)

Quarantine Diaries- Week Seven

                       Week Seven of Sheltering in Place 

(Not a lot of pictures this week because partway through the week I did the Spring 2020 DITL this week)

I did A LOT of weeding while listening to podcasts. As you can see from the right hand side of this picture, I have a lot more!! :-(

While I was weeding, CP stained our backstairs. They look so much better!

Did the Skittles experiment with the kids.

Izzy pretending to be working at my desk. She basically hit the keyboard and said, "yes, yes, perfect." Not quite what I do every day. :-)

That weekend Izzy got a major haircut thanks to me. I didn't necessarily mean to go that short..... I also did CP's hair which was also super stressful.

Wes got a haircut from CP

Our tree is blooming in our back yard!

CP had some Amazon gift cards from work so he blew it on a 16' outdoor screen & projector. I didn't realize how big it would truly be, but here it is! We figured that it would good for social distancing with friends and their kids.

That night we watched our first outdoor movie- Indiana Jones #2 (Temple of Doom). The kids LOVED it.

Quarantine Diaries- Week Six

Week Six of Sheltering in Place

One of our favorite activities these days is to go on a walk and the kids will jump over/onto rocks.

The kids help me make homemade ice cream- vanilla with Reeses Peanut Butter cups

Fitness Blender kids workout video. The kids really liked this one.

Wes put a bunch of worms at the bottom of his motorcycle to keep them safe (this was after I explained they would fry in here and made him take them out). Wes' favorite animal these days are worms!

Scooter/balance bike ride while I walk in the neighborhood.

Later that afternoon, Wes did so well on the balance bike we got him on Izzy's old two wheeler and he ROCKED it. He quickly fell over the first time I set him off, but he got up and back on and immediately got the hang of it on his next try!! He did run into Izzy's bike at the very end of his run because he couldn't figure out braking, but was off and biking!

CP and I made regular and strawberry margs for our friends for Cinco de Mayo. We usually have a party with friends with yummy food that CP makes, but obviously that wasn't going to happen during a pandemic. So we made the margs and dropped them off at friend's houses and everyone had to drink them before our virtual call after all of the kids went to bed. It was fun (or as fun as it could be during a pandemic).

Quarantine Diaries- Week Five

Week Five of Sheltering in Place

So many dandelions growing all over the place...let's paint with them! We then sent all of Izzy's drawings to family across the country.

We did our semi-annual clean up of the garage

We found a rainbow in Chicago! The kids were so excited.

One morning Izzy came into my room and wanted to show me her journal and read me her "poem" because she knew I had been working so hard. (*crying*)

Cosmic Kids Yoga

The kids doing pushups at a local park.

It rained ALL DAY LONG this day so that afternoon I took the kids for a walk so that they could jump in 100 puddles. They got so muddy but loved it SO MUCH.