Quarantine Life

So this whole past month has just felt strange... thanks to the Corona virus. We are on lock-down in North Carolina right now, and the kids are off school until at least May 15. When we found out the kids were going to be out of school for awhile, I decided to take some time off work. What originally started as a week and a half off has turned into a LOT more than that. Thankfully I had a little PTO time I was able to use for some of it. Arnold has had a strange half on/off schedule at work, but we are so blessed he is still getting paid. With my anxiety, this whole situation has been hard. I know it is a lot harder for those who are sick, or healthcare workers, or something similar. But I don't handle changes, disruptions in my routine, and unknown circumstances well. Just ask my husband. This whole time at home has been filled with mood swings, anxiety attacks, and insomnia. But I HAVE tried my best to stay as positive as I can. And I did come up with a few things that have come out of all this that have been good.

1. More time with the kids. On a normal workday I hardly see them at all. Sometimes we're like strangers passing in the night. But lately I see them a lot. I have gotten to experience distance learning with them, and be like their teacher. They have opened up to me about some things and we have talked more. We do daily devotionals as a family. They are getting older and I know I don't have a lot of time left to really spend that good quality time with them, and impart wisdom, and make memories. So this has been a good time for that.

2. More time for hobbies. I have gotten to do a LOT of reading. I have read a few books that were on my to-read list. I have been doing my own daily devotional dealing with either parenting or marriage. I have colored some in "fancy" coloring books with Rachel. And you'd think I would have blogged a lot more!

3. Sleeping in. I'm not a morning person. Never have been. Need I say more?! ;)

And here are some things we have been up to during this Quarantine time....

We have been doing distance learning at home. The kids got lessons from their teachers, and every week day we try to make sure they work on that, and get some reading done, and we try to get Brooke to practice her trumpet and the kids to get outside a little bit for sun and exercise. I also throw in some corny videos for them to watch from Netflix or Scholastic Study Jams....they roll their eyes at it, but they always learn something! ;) I started out making a pretty strict schedule, but that didn't last (haha.) Hey, as long ad we are getting some kind of education in them during this time, I am proud! 

Arnold and I have a date night every month, and that has changed with the lockdown and only being able to order out. So in March we went riding in the car together one night to pick up some Texas Roadhouse to-go. They actually have some pretty awesome "family pack" deals during this time at a lot of local restaurants. We got the pack with BBQ, sides, salad, and their delicious rolls. It is only $24.99 for a family 4 pack! (Rachel doesn't eat BBQ-- but that's another story for another time.)

Our church has been putting a virtual service online every week, and they decided to still have their musicians go on wed. night and play some praise songs, and record it for the service. So Arnold has gotten to go a few times and play guitar. We do airplay on his phone on sundays and send the service to our TV screen, so it's kinda cool seeing your husband on "tv." ;) The kids got a big kick out of it the first time. 

We have done a lot of things together including working on yard work, getting home projects done, taking walks around our neighborhood, watching the sunset, and other things we usually don't have any time for during the week. 

We did a little spring/easter decorating at the house. I put out some new throw pillows on the couches. The bunny pillow was handmade by a friend at church! I just love it. And when I was taking the picture, of course Rachel had to jump in. She loves the attention ;) 

A few times we have taken the kids to Dairy Queen or Pelicans to get treats. Last time Brooke tried the new Cotton candy dipped cone. I also introduced Rachel to the Rugrats, and she is hooked. I think we have already watched like over half the series on Hulu already. 

We saw the viral facebook post about painting a window or door design with a cross and sections with tape to take off later, to make it look like stained glass. I thought it was a perfect thing for the kids to do, although they got bored halfway through painting and Arnold and I finished it up ;) We used regular masking tape and Arnold made the design on the door. Then we used Crayola washable paints for the colors. I haven't had the heart to wash the door yet, but it CLAIMS it's supposed to be easy to clean off! 

Finished product! It really brightened up our screen door and even though not a lot of people saw it but a few neighbors and maybe the UPS man (haha!)(its on theside of the house) it still made me happy every time I saw it :) It was perfect for Easter. 

We celebrated Easter but of course it wasn't the same. Every year I dress the kids up and we try to color coordinate and take a nice family picture at church or my parents' house. It bummed me so much to not do that this year. I know we could have dressed up and taken one outside anyway, but the kids were whining so much about that, so I just let them spend the day in their lounge clothes. (sigh.. teenagers..) I still made them baskets.. and was able to fill them up nicely thanks to amazon, walmart pickup, and stuff like that. We watched our church service on the tv like we have been doing. 

We had no clue what to do for easter dinner. Most of you know I am NOT a good cook. Or even if I kinda am when I follow directions.. a huge holiday meal like that would stress me out. I would HATE it. So we decided on Olive Garden takeout! haha. Totally random but it sounded good, and they even had a promotion where I got a 2nd meal for free for lunch the next day ;) I DID however miss my Mom's cooking very much, and was sad not to spend Easter at their house this year. 

That same easter weekend I was missing my parents so much and I knew they had missed seeing the kids. My dad had also been saying he couldn't find TP anywhere in stores. So I split open one of the big packs we had at home, filled up a basket with it, some paper towels, and some M&M eggs, and added a note that said you've been Egged and TPd! (I saw it on pinterest ;) And we drove over to their house and dropped it off thru the window and waved and talked a few minutes. They are totally used to my crazy shenanigans by now, so I don't think they were even surprised I asked to take this picture of them for later. 

We have been trying to spend a lot of time outside, taking walks together and walking our little guy, Sheldon. I tried to take a nice pic of the kids outside the other day since we were already all together, but the wind was crazy. Their hair was going everywhere, and poor Shelly's ears too :D 

Speaking of more time for hobbies.. I read Little Fires Everywhere so quickly! It was such a good book! I started the series on Hulu, too, after I saw it on there. I am only 3 episodes in, but it is good so far. 

Arnold and I binged the Mc Millions series on Hulu. It was pretty good, Arnold was probably more into it than I was. I can't believe so many people out there are that stupid and lack of morals. They didn't even get that much punishment after what they did, either. But the series was entertaining. Except for that Agent Matthews. OMG he bugged me so bad. Anyone else watch and know what I'm talking about?!?! 

And YES we were THOSE people who binged the Tiger King, also. I saw it hyped up so much, tried one episode and was hooked. It is not my type of TV at all usually, but it was a train wreck, and I could not look away. That Joe Exotic is one strange man. In one scene of the series that showed his bedroom, his quilt looked awfully familiar to me. I'm pretty sure we have the same one!! It is purple with flowers and came from Walmart several years ago. That makes me feel so disturbed.. although I couldn't NOT share that little tidbit with my friends ;) So what did everyone else think of this show? And I always have to ask everyone now.. did Carol do it? Because Arnold and I say oh heck yeah she did! That woman is creepy, and even crazier that Joe Exotic.