Week 6 Quarantine: Putting on Our Imagination Cap

This week we had to get a little more creative to stay sane.  Although last weekend we ended up going to my sister's for a swim twice (which felt like Christmas!) that's the only interaction we've had with the outside world other than picking up food and medicines.  We went on walks and played a few games, rode bikes, etc, but to keep it interesting, here's what we did this week.

I tried, mainly for my own motivation, to come up with one small different thing to do each afternoon when all the homeschooling was completed.  Eleven years ago when I had three small children at home and my husband was deployed I did the same thing with our evenings to not get stir crazy.  So Monday I made some Kool-aid that someone had given to us a long time ago for the caffeine free kids below 13 years old and sweet tea for the teens.  We normally only have hot tea, coffee, and water around the house so this was a treat.  I also blew up a baby pool to get the boys outside since it was in the 90's.

Tuesday we watched The Yearling in the afternoon.  We have the book and some of the big kids have read it.  It's a very old movie, and in all honesty some of my kids did not want to watch it.  Hannah worked on her own projects, and Drew caved and watched it with us anyway.

Wednesday I laid down a big piece of butcher paper for the kids to draw a city on together.  They worked on it for a long time and then spent the rest of the week adding to it and coloring it in.  They even turned it into a "Seek and Find" at the end.  My kiddos are big into "Seek and Find" books.

Thursday, I taped up the back door window to have them color in the sections with dry erase markers to make a "stained glass" look.  I saw it online, but they used washable paints.  We just made do with the lighter colored look of the markers.  I drew the Sacred Heart in the middle and added the Divine Mercy rays.  It was hard to get a picture of, but here's what I got.

We also went to Wendy's to get free Junior Frosties that afternoon.

On Friday, Bobby came to me after his rest time and asked if he could use our oranges to make a pyramid like he saw in his book he was looking at.  He promised to put them all back when he was finished.  He sat down and went right to work making a hollow pyramid.  He wanted me to take pictures, and then he requested that I record him making it so he could teach his cousin how to make one.  I love creativity!

See video here https://youtu.be/Wv2W21aA-N0

Drew's getting a lot better at riding his bike with all this free time to practice riding with his big brother.  Drew hope the big kids will never go back to a brick and mortar school.  He loves them being home!

Bobby is a star on the trike, but he is refusing to persevere on his balance bike still.

Judah is working on balancing on his real bike, but often falls back to riding on the little trike because it is easier.

Friday I spent most of the day in the kitchen making homemade tamales.  It is a long process, but having this assembly line shaved off hours of time for sure.  We made chicken, beef, and vegetable.  I froze most of them.

Bob started the line with getting out the corn husks with tongs and laying them on the wax paper for Genna to measure out the dough onto.  Hannah and Drew spread out the dough into a square.  Judah scooped the filling, and Isaac wrapped them up.  All I had to do was oversee at this phase.

There's my littlest helper enjoying the tongs and being able to help too.

Saturday, after weekly chores, we played a game and I got out a big puzzle for the eat-in kitchen table to work on this week.  Brian also smoked a brisket for dinner.  And then there was this...

Dad playing on the trampoline with the boys

And I couldn't help but catch this adorableness.

Week 5 Quarantine: Even the Introverts are getting antsy.

This week we found out that the big kids' school is not opening up until next school year.  They will continue with distance learning using Google Classroom which they just got up and running this week.  It seems as though we still have to pick up packets though unless we want to print a billion pages to complete and scan to submit.  This charter school is tech-free and they are trying to keep kids off the screens and allow for bigger families with only one computer.

All sports were announced to be sending refunds and cancelling the seasons, both connected with the school and outside sports.  Basketball is now limited to our own hoop in the driveway, even the neighborhood court is closed.  I challenged the older four kids to make 100 free throws to earn a Sonic drink, but I should've made it a higher number because it only took them two days.  I raised it to 300 for the net one or they can do 1000 and earn a trip to a Japanese Hibachi grill after restaurants open back up.  I challenged Judah to learn to tie his shoes because I had tried multiple times to teach him with no success.  I guess he just needed a motivator because it only took him half an hour to learn.  Not he is supposed to master his bike without training wheels to get the net drink reward.

Bobby is the only one not trying hard to earn his reward.  His challenge was to master his balance bike.  He won't stay on it for more than five minutes and gives up quite easily.  Apparently, the baby thinks he can whine, cry, and weasel his way to his reward.  I'm too stubborn for that though.

I was happy the school's not reopening, antsy or not, I love having my kids at home.  However, I was heartbroken that my gym announced they are closing the branch on our street that I have been missing so much.  I had a wonderful routine for the first time since I was pregnant with Hannah, more than 15 years ago.   I am a big group fitness person and look forward to exercising if I have a class to go to.  I was doing some weights as well right after my cardio classes because it was easy to tack on an extra 15-20 minutes at the end.  There's another branch in the opposite direction, but it is older and didn't have as good of a class offering or as excellent of teachers or a women's workout room which I love having for weights.  Sadness.

I took a picture of the crochet project I was in the middle of when I ran out of yarn.  I have only found this yarn at Hobby Lobby and their online store is out of stock of the color I need.  I am hoping when they open up their stores I'll be able to find it.  My back up plan is to trim it in a different color and not do the sleeves.  But I've come so far and it has been months in the making because I am always pausing it to make gifts.  This one is supposed to be for me.

Since I got stuck on that project I've been painting my nativity scenes, and I finally got the gold thread in the mail and was able to complete the front of the saint doll.  I have made two more drawings for saint dolls in the future as well.  Here are some more in progress pictures.

St Stephen with his stones and palm leaf (My drawing first draft is on the right, but Hannah thought his head wasn't big enough.)

Queen of Heaven

Our Lady of Lourdes

I also mended Hannah's quilt and a darned a throw blanket as well this week.

Week 4 Quarantine: Holy Week and Easter

Week 4, and we're starting to see men growing out their beards, including my own husband that typically has to be clean shaven for work.

One day this week I went to my mother-in-law's house and helped her organize and de-clutter which was a nice break.  I gave the younger children a light school load that day.  My older children are most days completing their work in less time than it is supposed to take them.  I like that they have more time for free reading, family time, and hobbies.  Just like the old days when we homeschooled. :)  We started watching The Chosen as a family this week.  So far it's been okay for the little ones, but we haven't watched many episodes yet.

This week was Holy Week, and we were forced to miss my favorite Mass of the year on Holy Thursday.  We ordered pizza that night and live streamed the Mass.  

Good Friday we were able to have a thirty minute chapel time for just our family in the Eucharistic Chapel.  They allowed sign ups of only eight people, and so we were able to fill a whole spot.  That was a nice way to break up the monotony of staying home.  At 3pm we watched the live-streamed service and then did our own Stations of the Cross here at home that we were able to do each Friday of Lent that we were quarantined.  The only difference this time is that we did it in the afternoon before our soup dinner on Good Friday instead of after our soup/fish dinner, like on the other Fridays.  Isaac plays the piano for us and Brian and Genna led the singing of Stabat Mater while Brain and I led the Stations prayers and readings.  We have a set of nicely illustrated pictures for just this occasion that we hang around the living room/dining room area.  Normally it is after it gets dark, and the younger three kids like to carry flashlights and light up the pictures as we pray.  The readers and piano players wear head lamps.  I will cherish the memory of this time.  I hope the kids remember it fondly as well.  Bobby asked if we could always pray with flashlights.  After the little children were in bed, the older three and Brian and I watched the movie Passion of the Christ.

Holy Saturday Isaac blew out a dozen eggs, and I used the insides for breakfast tacos.  I also hard boiled two dozen eggs in preparation for our egg dying.  We cleaned the house as we always do on Saturday morning, and I dropped off my nephew's birthday gift on his doorstep before our Zoom birthday party for him at noon.  After that we played Dutch Blitz as a family, and Nanna arrived to spend the holiday weekend with us.  (I think I left out in my earlier posts that she has come to stay with us for a few days once her resort closed down as well.  We had a big dinner, and Brian prepared his Apple Strudel to be baked after Easter Vigil.  Judah and Bobby both sacked out on the couch during the Vigil and Bob couldn't recover from that, so he asked to be taken to bed.  The rest of us ate our dessert and stayed up way past our bedtimes. 

Easter morning we slept in and gave the kids their Easter baskets after coffee.  Then we did our Resurrection Eggs.  By then it was close to lunch, so Brian started the ribs and chicken in the smoker and we all ate lunch...and candy.  Isaac and I tried to make our own sweetened condensed milk so that he could make his key lime pie while Brian hid the eggs.  Then the Easter egg hunt was on.  The big kids made us promise not to put pictures of them hunting for eggs on social media.  So here are the cute innocent ones...

Couldn't catch this guy's face once again.  Too busy getting those eggs.

Barely was able to get this one to pause long enough to snap a picture, but he's still looking for those eggs.

After the hunt was over the real chaos began.  We moved everything out to the gazebo outside to dye the eggs, both hard boiled and blown out eggs.  Bob wanted us to do everything for him as he doesn't like to get his hands dirty.  This was difficult for us since the older kids were trying to do their eggs and I was trying to learn how to do the wax on the Pysanki eggs.  Next year, the older kids are going to first help the younger ones and only once they are completely finished and off to play will the older kids do their own.  It was just too much all at one time.

Here are the Pysanki eggs.

We had a nice dinner and a video chat with some good friends to end our evening before the kids went to bed.  He is Risen!  Alleluia!

Week 3 Quarantine: The Rainy Days

It's been raining for awhile and our walks been thwarted many days.  The children have taken to screening people as they go up and down the stairs in our house, "Have you had any flu-like symptoms?  Have you been out of the country in the past two weeks?" as a game.  Quarantined Kids' Games...

Making Tents in the Living Room

The decrease in walks have brought about a bit more fighting amongst the younger ones.  We had to bring back our "Tummy Time" again.

In case, you missed this technique of mine for resolving fights between littles, I make them touch tummies until they are laughing and have forgiven each other.  I started this when the girls were little.  It had been a while since I needed it.

Grocery stores are actually getting better.  They're not stocked with toilet paper and dried beans, but they also don't have lines waiting outside just to get in.

The schools continued to send home packets, but since they are going to be closed at least until May 4th, they are now moving towards using Goggle Classroom, despite trying desperately to avoid screens, being a Classical, technology-free school.  They can not sustain the printing costs of the packets.  Next week will be the last week of printed packets.

Some of the children, mainly Hannah, are sick of games.  I found a new Christian book series for her that are re-tellings of fairy tales that the library had on ebooks.  Melanie Dickerson writes them.  She read five of them this week and as I write this a week later, she has read fifteen of her books.  She's a little hooked.

I have been remiss to mention that our churches have been closed.  Our priest has been sending out ways to fulfill our Sunday obligation from home since we are prohibited from attending Mass.  Another benefit of having no outside activities, we have been able to do our nightly read alouds every night again like we used to when we were a fully homeschooled family.  And we are able to pray together more often than just bedtime prayers.  We say the Divine Mercy Chaplet together often at 3pm, and our decade has turned into a full rosary again.  Our dinners and, therefore, our bedtimes have been later and more relaxed.  SO nice not to worry about the clock all the time!

We started the carrots in soda bottles and the Marigolds a while back in my Botany class, but we added a bunch of vegetable seeds when I was able to talk Brian into making me a couple of wooden planters to put them in.  I bought a pack of vegetable seeds that grow well together in a two foot planter.  So we are going to try it this summer since it wouldn't hurt to have some fresh veggies growing in our own backyard the way things are going.

I have been working on a few different projects in the evenings.  I am making myself a light spring crocheted sweater, but unfortunately Hobby Lobby closed down before I finished it and I am stuck without any yarn to finish it up because online they are "Out of stock" of the color I need.  I am so close to finishing.  I then started making five sets of nativity scenes like I made for my nephew out of wooden peg people for gifts next year at Christmas time.  I also ran out of peg men though and was temporarily paused on this project as well, but Amazon came through and I now have new ones to complete the sets.  Then I was suddenly inspired by a tapestry to draw this.

I am also working on a saint doll for a new baby boy, but again ran out of thread in one spot.  Grrr.


I've had a few "get togethers" via various video conferencing methods this week.  I had a harder week, but it was just because I can't be alone here easily.  I took a walk by myself one day and made a few extraneous trips to drop things off on my siblings' doorsteps and to Sonic just to get out alone.  The rain induced bickering was the main cause I think.

Week 2 Quarantine: An Introvert's Dream

Week 2 has been actually kind of fun.  My husband is working from home.  The oldest three kids have had school packets sent home and were to complete the daily portions independently to be dropped off at wave times the next Monday.  This is my homeschooling mom's dream come true...I keep on homeschooling the youngest three and the older ones get a quality education that they can complete on their own (that I don't have to grade!) for free.  I LOVE having them all home with us.  My oldest kids have only been in school for a short time anyway and already are excellent at handling their own school work load.  I rarely have to even help with homework.  I am sure this isn't easy for people with young children who are usually in school and need someone to stay on top of them and answer a lot of questions.  I already do this for my young ones, so it isn't any different.  The best part so far is that all our activities are cancelled so we are now focusing on school each morning.  We are making a lot of progress.

Every afternoon this week we played a game (or sometimes several) together.  Ticket to Ride, Sushi Go!, Marrying Mr. Darcy, Antidote, 5 Second Rule, Ultimate One Night Werewolf to name a few.  One afternoon, we were getting tired of games, so we watched the live action Lion King together since we had never seen it.

We started walking every day together, usually to the park.

The little kids and I started doing "Lunch Doodles with Mo Willems," together.

These are Judah's drawings.  The first one is a creature with many legs, and his stripes are falling off.

I drew a fun spider as my creature with many legs, and Bob copied me.

The grocery stores have limits of how many people can go in at one time.  They even have monitors on the busy aisles letting only about four people on one aisle at a time.  Brian and I decided to go to two different stores at the same time because of all the limits on how many items you can buy at one time.  If we can only buy two loaves of bread, that will only last about three days.  A 10 lb bag of chicken breasts doesn't even last us three meals.  A giant jar of peanut butter won't make it a week in this household.  We decided to gradually stock up on some things like canned food and rice and beans.  Each time we go to the store we'll just get a few more items to add to our pantry just in case the grocery stores have a problem restocking at some point.

I know many extroverts that are sick of this already, but I had a wonderful week.  I think I needed a breather from our activities, the hustle and bustle.  The lady at the check out counter of HEB was talking to me.  Upon discovering I had six kids, she expressed her sympathies that I had them all at home with me.  I had to tell her that I love having them all home, but I'm a homeschooler and so it isn't as hard of an adjustment for me.  Plus, we re-assigned chores this week and I am getting so much more help around the house again from the older kids.

Week 1 Quarantine: The Coronavirus Strikes

and I suddenly have time to catch up on my blog.  My house is the cleanest and most organized that it's been in a long while.  I've been homeschooling and tackling big projects.  EVERYTHING  is cancelled.  We are literally down to the private in home piano lessons and online guitar lessons at this point.  No church.  No school for the big kids.  No field trips, dances, or sports.  No dentist and doctor appointments.  Nada.  All cancelled.  This is the weirdest thing ever.

I went to pick up my prescription refill and was stopped by a very commanding voiced lady who screened me with questions like, "Have you been out of the country in the past two weeks?"  "Do you have a fever and a cough?"  etc.  After I answered all the questions to her liking I was allowed to approach and get my prescription.

Hannah and I went to the grocery store after the initial mayhem died down and the shelves were just so bare.  I felt like I should just swipe my arm across the shelves and take the rest.  I felt sorry for the last few remaining jars of crunchy peanut butter, and, oh, the lima beans and split peas!  All the other beans were taken.  How sad for those lima beans and split peas!  And just forget about toilet paper at this point.  I am sure this should be remembered as the Great Toilet Paper Apocalypse.

First on my to do list was to get our homeschool closet and overflow of books back under control.  This has been bothering me for a long time.  I also had a growing pile of books that just would not fit on our wall to wall bookshelves.  I was brainstorming one night as I was falling asleep and it suddenly occurred to me that I have a few bookshelves and dressers being used "outside of the box" for other purposes.  I moved a dresser that I had been using for crafts in my room to the boys' room, therefore freeing up a bookshelf to take down to the school room.  Then I had a bookshelf used for my sewing stuff that I moved down.  For now I condensed my sewing and craft supplies into bins until Brian can build or find me a sewing table/storage.  I'm imagining one of the old TV entertainment centers re-purposed with a drop down table for my machine, but we'll see.  For now, at least my school room looks better.

When I finished putting my sewing stuff up, I saw a project waiting to be completed that I figured I should just do now.  So I grabbed the fabric letters that Isaac had cut out for me and the fabrics I had sitting out, and in less than an hour I had Luna's new pillow ready for lounging.

The next day, I thought the game room needed a little make over and some better vacuuming since my vacuumers are sometimes less than thorough with the corners.  I was only able to get rid of a few more toys since I have really pared down already so much, and the kids really haven't added too much to the collection since then.