Day 2: Feeling Very Lucky

 Day two of social distancing went well--although we were probably the most social we will be for the next several weeks.

At 9 on the nose, both kids snuggled in for school. I have been making a lot of work plans and school schedules for friends, and I keep emphasizing structure combined with choice and voice. At our house, the structure is school starts at 9--no ifs, ands, or buts. The voice and choice, though, is that they choose where to start on the work plan and where to do the work. Issa, my type A angel, starts with the first period of her day and claims the futon:

 Buddy is not at all complaining about the extra snuggles with all of us home. Issa works straight through her school schedule, then does her active time, and ends with her chores.

Evan, however, starts with everything he can do on his laptop and sprawls somewhere different about every thirty minutes:

Evan likes to mix up his day: a little school, a little activity time, a little school, chores, finish school, finish activity. 

The work plan helps me keep track of where they are in their day, and we are all doing well. I am so glad we started this way because I am now also working from home for the duration. Meredith moved to all online classes and only people who absolutely need to be are allowed on campus.

Midway through our day, we went to Evan's school to help bag food for families. Weaver Street Market made a huge donation--like pallets of food. A local camp also donated everything fresh that they had on hand when their events got cancelled. I was so unbelievable proud of my kids. They spent two hours hauling and packaging. Evan and one of his friends packaged a gallon of garlic cloves into family sized portions. Issa hauled boxes of everything, helped bag rice and beans, and tried to help organize the massive effort. We ended our day portioning and bagging meat. It was a lot of work, but the end result is over 100 families will have groceries, and that is absolutely worth it.

We all enjoyed Irish stew and soda bread for dinner:

 And Issa and I ended our day with a craft project:

 Frosty was ever so helpful.

Someone in our neighborhood had the brilliant idea of a community activity that everyone could do in their own homes. Every couple of weeks, we will pick a new theme, and people can create an object to hang in their window or door. Our first theme was flowers, so Issa and I made these beauties for the door:

The idea is that as people take walks through the neighborhood, they can look for the items and know we are all still connected. Issa and I are going to go through the neighborhood and take pictures of the flowers and create a scavenger hunt sheet for any families who want to try to find them all!

Issa and I both feel better doing things--even small things--to help people feel more connected. We both need to feel like we are helping, and having the opportunity to do that yesterday was hugely helpful. We are still feeling really good, but this new normal is still very new. We are still having an adventure, and I'm so grateful to be writing a chapter in which good is winning.

Day One: Success

We are officially hunkered down now. I went into the office yesterday morning, but that will be my last time for a couple of weeks.Our schedule works really well, and the kids are finding their work loads pretty manageable. Evan was finished by 1, and Issa was finished by 2:30. They had plenty of time to play outside and binge watch some favorite shows. 

Brad and I are planning a few surprises over the next couple of weeks to try to avoid the crazy: we've ordered a couple of new card games to pull out for a fun family game night, we will do take-out from some of our local spots, we see some long family walks in our future. Today, the leprechauns came and left leprechaun sandwiches for breakfast, and Buddy the Elf brought fun socks and earrings. A little magic in the midst of the unknown goes a long way.

We are also embracing the "okay, sure." For instance, Issa found a new reading spot:

 It wasn't on, but she said it was cool and quiet. You do you, boo.

We also are embracing the fact that school projects mean full desks:

Issa is doing a research scrapbook on the Black Death for English. It makes no sense to put those supplies away every day. That said, we absolutely are keeping up with the tidy circles, dishes, and laundry. I tend to get overwhelmed when things get messy and give up, so I'm working hard to stay ahead of it.

For better or worse, this is our new normal. It's 9 am right now. Brad and I have already done our workouts. All four of us are dressed and started on our work days. Tonight, I will make Irish stew and soda bread and we will celebrate how truly lucky we are.

We are having an adventure!

We are having an adventure!

That has become my new tagline. COVID-19 has us all on our toes, and I am choosing to embrace taking life one day at a time. 

Last Thursday, we got the word that the kids' schools would be closing starting today. The next two weeks they will be doing school work at home, and the third week was our already scheduled spring break. Hopefully, we will be headed back to school on April 6.

Friday, Brad and I spent the entire day at the elementary. I am always proud to be a teacher, but those folks raised the bar on Friday. In less that 24 hours, they sent every child home with differentiated work, books to read, and managed to have school on Friday. Brad and I helped make copies and assemble packets, and I am still marveling at the quality of the work that went home.

When your mom is a teacher, school from home looks a lot like school at school. Brad and I spent part of Friday night making a plan for what the days will look like, and then I helped each kid make a learning plan for the week. Our front door is now is our school bulletin board:

We are a family that thrives on routine, so we set some general guidelines for the days:

 I wanted the kids to feel like they had plenty of choice and voice, but I also don't want them to turn into sloths.

Evan's teacher sent home brilliant work and overall instructions. We just turned that into a daily checklist:

 All of Issa's teachers had separate assignments, and Issa was a little overwhelmed at first. When we actually got it in a table, though, it wasn't so bad:

 The silver lining in this is that we will get plenty of family time! Instead of Mom going to Chicago last weekend, Shannon came here for the next three weeks while her office is working remotely. The kids are learning the kind of self-pacing and self-management they will need in college. I am learning to be more flexible and calm. These are all good things.

Let the adventure continue...

Surprise!

When the trailers for Call of the Wild came out, Evan thought it looked like a great movie. I told him then that if he read the book and talked with me about it I would take him to see it in the theaters.

He read, and loved, the whole book! Bless his heart, he was devastated when John dies, and he was so thrilled to imagine Buck running with the timbre wolves. It's not an easy read, but he did it.

So...yesterday after school, I waited for the bus. As soon as he got off, I just told him to get in the car. He had no idea where we were going, but he figured it out as we got closer: 

He was beyond thrilled--and too darn cute. Every time there was a tense moment, he would lean over and tell me what was going to happen so I wouldn't worry. It was hysterical.

We don't often manage to pull off these surprises, but I sure do love it when we do.

Everything Hurts Except My Soul

Please check out these fitbit statistics from yesterday:

Our campus is on spring break, and that is the traditional week that I get our front yard spring ready. Unfortunately, it is supposed to rain everyday but yesterday here. Fortunately, my student teachers had a work day yesterday and didn't need me. So...instead of spreading all of that yard work over a week I did it all yesterday. Our front beds are weeded, bushes and trees pruned, and the spring pillows are on the front porch.

I was pretty tired by the time Evan got off the bus, but it is sweetheart week at dance this week. Every dancer is invited to bring someone special to class with them, and I got to go with Issa last night. I thought we might learn a little combo. And we did. And we also did their stretch routine and turns and leaps across the floor. We were originally slated to do 45 minutes, but they invited us to stay for the second class, so I danced for an hour and half.

This morning, I did manage to get up and do my workout, but I'm pretty sure every muscle in my body is screaming at me this morning. Even my toes hurt from turning.

But...my soul is so full. I spent a full day in the sunshine listening to nothing but birds and the wind in the trees. I got to dance with my girl and see her face light up when I tried--even when I was terrible. This soul feeling is absolutely worth every muscle screaming at me.

This Girl

I truly couldn't be more proud of this girl:

 We had another competition weekend, and she is so sick. Seasonal allergies struck early, hard, and fast, and she's battling anemia. We are on the upswing, but she is feeling pretty rough. She pushed through, though, and had the best solo performance of her life. Many of her teachers and I were in tears as she danced.

Sunday, the boys came with us because it was time to prop dad and brother:

 And the team earned the top studio award:

That picture may go down as the worst picture in the history of pictures, though.

We were able to have a lovely family dinner after the competition, and everyone was tucked in early. We are really thinking this was the start of a fabulous week.

We Are Ready

Brad and I had a little impromptu Monday night date night last night. (We are at the point where anything we do just the two of us outside of the house counts as a date.) Last night, it was high glamour: we made our coronavirus supply kits:

We are truly not overly concerned. But...our friend in infectious disease sent the message yesterday that it was probably time to prep. He is less concerned about the virus and more concerned about the mass panic that might happen.

I knew as soon as we got the message with his recommendations Brad would be all over it. He takes great pride in taking good care of us, and Disaster Master kicked into full gear last night. In addition to the prescription refills and two weeks of non-perishables our friend suggested, Brad added propane tanks for our camp stove, extra toilet paper, and batteries. We are also stocked with fire wood and flats of water.

We talked with the kids about the kits, and Issa admitted she felt better, and that was all it took for Brad to breathe a little easier. He really does love us so well.

A Mother/Son Project

When Issa and I were working on her bathroom, Evan announced he wanted to build something with me. He and I rarely have anything just the two of us, so I jumped all over that! We had been talking about building a cat tower, so he and I went online and picked a kit. Sunday, we did the building.

Brad totally made fun of my process, but it works! We laid all of the pieces out in alphabetical order before we started:

 Evan did all of the tightening, and aside from us both about losing our minds trying to build the apartment, it went really well! Inserting rods in the corners takes a lot of patience; those holes just did not want to line up and you can't see in there at all!

 But...in about an hour we had a finished project that made Evan very happy:

 And the cats are enjoying it, too. Inks just runs up and down it:

 Frosty likes to climb to the top and pass out:

I'm so grateful for these moments when I can be with the kiddos one on one, and I think the cats are very happy with this particular project, too!

Back in the Pottery Studio

Last night, I finally made it back to the pottery studio for the first time in over a month. I've either had work commitments or the kiddos had something going at school. I've missed it.

Last night, though, I was exhausted by dinner. I also knew I was teetering on the edge of burn out. I knew I needed the outlet, but the thought of the drive down that gravel road was more than I could handle. Enter Brad.

He drove me last night. The dear, sweet man drove me and sat in the car to work and read while I played in the studio. I broke a bowl when I tried to trim it. I trimmed another bowl that may be the most regular bowl I've ever made. And...I threw a gravy boat. I was trying to make a tea cup, but I think it's going to be a decent little gravy boat!

I felt so much better as I was leaving. There is something about center clay that centers me. Even when I make a flop or break a piece, I leave feeling more whole, and I'm so grateful to have a husband that makes that possible.

Such a Fun Weekend with My Girl

I had such a fun weekend with my girl!

Friday and Saturday, we had a dance competition in Greensboro. Her team killed it this weekend:

We had two not insignificant injuries (not Issa), but these girls never missed a beat. They supported each other, cheered their teammates on, and came home with a lot of trophies and pride.

My plan for Sunday was to basically collapse, but Issa asked if I would help her reorganize her bathroom. We really haven't done a thing in there ever, so it was past time, as the before pictures prove:

I told her I would give her $75 to invest in organization/storage and anything else she needed to make the space a place she wanted to be in and wanted to keep tidy. She spent $74.89, including some sparkling water that matched the new color scheme for us to enjoy while we worked:

The first step was just to take everything out. She threw away or donated a ton of stuff she just didn't need anymore. We had some old accessories that matched the old shower curtain that found their way out, which cleared up a lot of space under the sink. She also got rid of all the headbands and bows she hasn't work in years. The empty space:

Then we started working. She and I assembled a shelving unit, and she was so impressed with us! She scavenged some things from her room to improve organization, and we found some baskets to contain all the bottles. We organized small things in pretty containers, and made the space look more like a teenager:

She is thrilled with the finished project, and she loved getting ready for bed in her new space. Now here's hoping it stays this clean...

When you have a ten year old boy...

We have a message board on the outside of the half-bath door, which is off of our kitchen. Usually, I put something seasonal up there. Until yesterday, it had a cute Valentine's Day message. Then Evan found the letters:

He thinks he's hysterical, and I have to admit I did laugh pretty hard.

All of the Arts!

We girls had a very fun weekend!

This whole week is Spirit Week at the studio as we prepare for our first whole company competition this weekend. Saturday happened to be Sparkle Saturday, and we were on it! We had tickets to Mean Girls at DPAC, and we decided to add a little extra sparkle:

 Issa actually wore my sophomore year homecoming dress:

 And little brother wanted a selfie before we left:

 He and Dad stayed home for wings and stranger things; everyone thinks they got the better end of this deal.

Mean Girls  was solidly fine, although Issa loved it. Sunday, however, we went to the ballet:

This presentation was actually four ballets, and they were all amazing. My favorite, though, was a hauntingly beautiful piece set to Adagio for Strings.

We came home and made dinner together, which we followed with a Whitt's run. Everyone settled in for an early night, which I think makes it an absolutely perfect weekend!

Best Valentine!

Brad and I had our first date on Valentine's Day 22 years ago. That day, he brought me 11 red roses because he had sent the 12th to school the day before. He has always been an amazing gift giver.

This year, though, he outdid himself:

Allow me to introduce Inkspots Loveletters, also known as Inks. She is actually quite small weighing in at just over six pounds, and we are guessing she is about nine months old.

I had a calico growing up that I adored, and Nuzzle, our first cat that became truly my cat, wasn't a calico but had the personality of one. It's been two years, and just before Christmas I told Brad I was ready for another cat--and I really wanted a calico.

My sweet husband has been stalking shelters and rescues since then, hoping that someone would arrive to be a Valentine. Wednesday, he called me at work and asked if I could slip out a little early to come meet this sweet face; she came home with us that day.

She was a stray, and we are quite sure she had never been in a house before ours. She is the sweetest little snuggler, and she is the first cat I have ever had that plays hide and seek. She will snuggle her little self somewhere, and when I walk in the room and call her name, she will just start purring until I find her. Thank goodness she has a very loud purr box.

22 years ago, we ended up at Taco Bell because the other restaurant lost Brad's reservation. Tonight, we plan to go to Moe's because we both love it and hate the whole fancier restaurant on Valentine's vibe. We will come home and snuggle in with Inks, and I can't think of a better way to spend the holiday.

Girls' Weekend!

I have so very many things to post, but this week has been a blur! I think I will start with last weekend...

Issa, Mom, and I headed west Saturday morning to go to Biltmore. They are hosting the Downton exhibit, and we girls were very anxious to see it!

We arrived in time for a small bite of lunch, and every Biltmore weekends must start with bubbles:

After some charcuterie and hummus, we headed to the big Inn for high tea. None of us had ever been there, and it certainly didn't disappoint. The first course was scones, and we were so enthralled we forgot to take pictures. The second course was the tea sandwiches:

 Smoked salmon mouse on black shortbread, a beet and yogurt gelee, a traditional cucumber sandwich, chicken salad on a croissant crustini, and an asparagus and herb cheese tart. Issa was not a fan of the mouse or beet options, but we thoroughly enjoyed the course.

The third course was the most creative cheese course I have ever experienced:

 They called it "A Wish for Summer," and it looked like an upside down ice cream cone. The goat cheese was lovely and placed on a red wine reduction with pink pepper corns. The cone was dipped in cocoa nibs, and it was perfect once we figured out how to eat it. We had been advised to just break the cone and use it to scoop the cheese. For the record, that is much more difficult than it seems.

The final course was the dessert, and they did not disappoint:

 A fig tart, raspberry petit four, shortbread cookie, lemon pannacotta on a violet shortbread, and chocolate cheese cake.

Our sweet hostess spent most of tea gushing over our three generations ans snapped this picture:

 After tea, we went to part one of the Downton exhibit. The whole first part was an interactive display about the show and it's relationship with real history. We spent an hour opening drawers to see the artifacts and reading. It was so fun to see many of the letters that are referenced in the show written out, and we learned so much about the time period.

The second half were some of the actual sets from the show. Mr. Carson's butler's pantry was so fun:

 And Issa went nuts in the kitchen:

 But we all lost our minds over the servants' dining room, complete with the call bells:

 The final room was the family dining room, and we learned so much about the etiquette of the time:

 We ended our day at the Bistro for dinner. Just as we were finishing eating the fire alarm went off, which was hysterical. Nothing seemed to be amiss, and we were back at our table in about five minutes, but it will be a memory!

Sunday morning, we got up early to go see the house:

 We were one of the first people in, and the new audio guide features members of the family talking about how they unearthed the house's history and curators talking about how the maintain the collection. We actually got to see them refinishing some floors and restenciling a wall!

After lunch at Cedric's, we went to see the second half of the Downton exhibit, which was all costumes. The plaques talked not only about the show but also about the fashion of the times. We actually went through the exhibit twice!

Issa was so thrilled that Sybil's pantsuit was there:

 And we all loved seeing so many of the gowns up close:

 After some final shopping we headed home. It was a whirlwind trip, but I am so grateful for the time. We laughed so hard, and it was lovely to travel with Issa when she could really hang with the grown-ups.

Elementary School is Killing Me

Full disclosure: we are over elementary school at our house. Evan is ready for the freedom and increased independence of middle school, and I am pretty much over all of the homework signing and what have you. 

Then this came home yesterday:

                                

Be still my heart. I have to admit, my first thought was "thank goodness he finally cut his hair." After that, I couldn't help but marvel at how he has grown in these six years from that tiny reluctant reader into my big kid who loves books. He is still just as ornery and sweet and every bit our Evan. I can't wait to see what the next six years bring.

Weirdos

We openly admit our dogs are weirdos. Yesterday, I finally captured some of their weirdness in a photo:

It's a little hard to tell, but they are playing tug of war with a stick. They do this often. They run together with sticks, each holding one end. They play keep-away with sticks, pretending they are going to let the other grab an end and then run away. Occassionally, Buddy eats sticks.

They are weirdos, but I can't imagine our lives without them.

First Competition in the Books!

Our first competition and convention of the season is in the books, and it was a huge one! We traveled to Reston, Virginia for West Coast. West Coast is absolutely my favorite weekend of the season because it really is completely focused on improving as a dancer.

For the first time, Issa competed her solo there. She had quite the look traveling from our hotel room to the competition room in her costume, spirit jersey, and sneakers:

 She was a bit nervous, and we had a rocky start. I might have accidentally glued her eye shut trying to get her lashes on. Oops. But...she slowly settled, and I loved seeing her smile in the dressing room.

 She did an amazing job onstage, and we are so grateful to Mrs. Lauren A. for this beautiful solo:

But I'm even more grateful for how well she loves our girl:

This was a new weekend for us. Issa is old enough now I don't go to the classes with her. I spent my days in the hotel room fixing food, getting costumes ready, and working. I loved being with her for the competition, though, and I love how much she is settling into herself. She knows what she needs, and she was so incredibly grateful for everything I did. I finally had to tell her to stop saying thank you.

We made it home before nine last night, and although we are both tired, I wouldn't have traded one second of this weekend for anything.