Well, we finished week two of the quarantine. It kinda feels like we're living in an alternate universe or something. Almost like we're part of a movie or like we're being punk'd.
I'd like to say we're settling in, and we are somewhat, but there's also a lot of fighting and frustration. Along with that, there are moments when I know we are all grateful for this pause and time together.
The kids get restless and tire of my nagging a little earlier in the morning than I wish. We are trying to do some schoolwork and have some kind of a routine. We got official word that the kids will be out of school at least until April 30th. Most of the teachers have contacted us and we're hoping to start doing some distance learning starting Monday.
Jason is on a rotating schedule at work. Starting this week, he'll go into work one week and telework from home the next week. We'll see how that goes. It's a little stressful having him come and go. We're trying to only go to the grocery store once every two weeks.
It's devastating hearing about all the death and sickness in the world. Different countries and states are doing different measures of "shelter in place". So much judgement about who is doing the social distancing correctly and going out more than they should. My siblings have had squabbles about it multiple times.
Jason has taken over the dinner prep and making. It's awesome! He's been making homemade bread and rolls for our meals. Definitely a bright spot in our day.
I've been trying to do some Primary stuff from a distance. Posting videos and lesson helps on the Halawa Ward Facebook page. Trying to connect in some way. My fitness group is obviously on hiatus. We all miss getting together and having the energy during workouts, but it's okay. I'm still posting MWF workouts on the Facebook page and people are posting times. My friend, Ali, and I have done some workouts via FaceTime.
All in all, we're healthy and sometimes happy. Haha! We are joining the rest of the church in a worldwide fast for healing tonight and tomorrow. Looking forward to conference.
Oh yeah...last night we finished a music video that the kids made of Panic at the Disco's version of "Into the Unknown" from Frozen 2. The Perry's challenged us to a lip sync battle. It was stressful and anxiety ridden, but it turned out pretty dang funny.
Saturday, March 28, 2020
Thursday, March 26, 2020
Coronavirus Quarantine Update 1
We are living in a different world. The coronavirus is all over the world now and Oahu is on "shelter in place". That means we are supposed to social distance (six feet away from everyone that's not family) and only leave our house for food and essentials.
The kids had spring break for the first week of all of this, but we've tried to get back into some kind of routine this week. We haven't heard from the schools...just that we won't be going back until April 30th or later. A lot of the kids in our hood go to private school and are facing hours of work every day for distance learning. I hope we hear from teachers soon, but I'm not jealous of their stress. It seems like a lot to ask of kids during this confusing and frustrating time.
We've started some online stuff that the school offers and I'm making the kids read, some keyboarding online lessons, and chores. Today I'm hoping to talk them into doing a lip sync video to send to the Grunig, Wright, and Perry families. They challenged us to a competition.
To add to the scary, there was a tsunami warning a couple days ago for us. It was a really scary 45 minutes before they cancelled it and said it wasn't a threat. A 7.8 earthquake off the coast of Japan put it all in motion. Lucy got a text from a friend and was immediately very upset and crying. I tried to keep calm while Jason talked about going to fill up the van with gas and gathering some food. We were just trying to be quiet about it and knew the likelihood of it taking over our home was very small, but felt like we should be prepared.
Our nerves are raw and we are wondering what the future will be like, but we're also enjoying this time together as a family. Yes, it gets trying...the fighting, the whining, the constant noise..but I'm grateful that Jason isn't deployed and has been able to be home with us. I can't imagine what all of the nurses and doctors and hospital employees are going through, not to mention their families. Prayers for them and all the people working on solutions. We know it's going to get worse before it gets better. That's hard to think about.
So many concerns for my parents and for my kids mental and physical health. Lucy is so anxious about the future. Tristen is home from his mission, awaiting possible follow-up mission in Lubbock, Texas. Graduation, prom, her NY trip were cancelled. Silver lining is that she hasn't been super invested with much at Radford High, so she hasn't been overly upset by that. She had a counseling appointment yesterday via FaceTime. Hopefully that's helping.
Graham misses his friends, but only shows that sadness every once in a while. I can tell he's processing. Benjamin and Sullivan seem okay and are eating up the time together, although I'm sure it's confusing.
That's all I've got for now. I hope to get on and journal little bit every day and tell what we're up to. Here's some things we're doing to pass the time:
Wall ball against the garage
Basketball
Card game tournament... think UNO, BS, Phase 10, Cover Your Assets
Lots of movies at night. We set up a system to choose movies that's fair to everyone..I worry that I'm letting Benny watch more than he normally would (PG-13). Sullivan is always in bed when we watch.
Benny and Graham are playing Fortnite A LOT. George in Utah and friends down the street are meeting up online and playing. It's fun to hear them talking and strategizing.
Jason is baking lots of bread and has made a dinner menu for the next three weeks. He's in charge of dinner and shopping.
I'll check in tomorrow!
Monday, March 9, 2020
Family Anniversary
Happy Anniversary to us! We decided to take the kids to dinner on our wedding anniversary. I've seen friends who do this as a tradition each year and I love the idea. It's the day our family started! We went out to eat alone the next night, I think....only fair. We went to Chili's....close and easy.
Oh how I love this family of mine. Since our story began 19 years ago we have lived:
Logan, UT
Lemoore, CA
Oxnard, CA
Phoenix, AZ
Sicily, Italy
Oahu, HI
Jason and I lived in 4 different houses before Lucy joined us. Since then, we've moved...
Logan to Layton (while Jason went to OCS)
Layton to Lemoore
Lemoore to 2nd Lemoore house (when Graham was born)
Lemoore to Layton (While Jason deployed)
Layton to Oxnard
Oxnard to 2nd Oxnard house
2nd Oxnard house to 3rd Oxnard house (They decided to sell)
Oxnard to Phoenix
Phoenix to San Diego (6 weeks while we replaced visas and all personal info..robbed)
San Diego to Sicily
Sicily to Oahu
CRAZY RIDE WITH MY FAVORITE PEOPLE!
Monday, March 2, 2020
Misc. Jan. and Feb.2020
Here's couple snapshots into life for January and February:
Graham and Ben both played basketball this season and had a great time!
November-March was filled with a lot of evening games. Graham and I against Jason and Ben.
The Winner family dropped in for dinner! They came to HI on a trip and we had them over for pizza. It was so fun catching up and spending time with them. We reminisced on times in Lemoore over 12 years ago.
A little Sunday Superman...totally normal for us.
I started subbing this year at schools in our district. I spend most of my days at the kids school, Alvah Scott Elementary. I was lucky to be able to sub Sully's kindergarten class. It was fun and difficult at the same time. He didn't like when I did things differently from how they usually manage things.
It's been a lot of fun seeing Benny and Sully during the day. Ive subbed a couple times at Graham's junior high, too. He's not as thrilled to see me. Ha!
Sullivan was giving me a tough time when I was on the phone with Susanna. She talked to him and said if he had 6 good days, she would send him a treat. She delivered!!!! We love Susanna!
These pics are before pics from when we got haircuts....I forgot to get the after pics.
I made this fun word search for the kids in our Halawa Primary. I'm still the primary president of our little ward. Only about 15 kids that I've really gotten to know. I love them!
More basketball....
Lucy started working at Panda Express in January and stayed till March. We finally went to go see her and have dinner during her break. She didn't love the job. She got suuuuuper anxious and upset hours before her shifts. Good money and food, though.
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